Climate-proof construction projects – what do they cost?
The population and jobs in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area are growing rapidly, causing a rising demand for homes. The number of new homes needed between 2016 and 2040 is as high as 250,000. How can we afford this climate-proff new construction?
In the spring of 2020, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area took the initiative to draw up a ‘Letter of Intent on Climate-Proof Construction Projects’, a broadly supported regional set of agreements to realise home construction in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and the municipalities in the province of North Holland outside the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area in a climate-robust way. Together with the regional and chain partners, an ambitious set of agreements has been prepared to achieve this objective. For the sake of the next decision-making phase among all intended partners in this collaboration, the mere awareness that climate-proof building will bring more benefits in the long run (due to avoided damage and avoided future costs) does not suffice.
Insight into the financial consequences of these agreements and ambitions today is also important. In June 2021, basic safety levels for climate-proof construction projects in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area were tightened and extended, and the letter of intent was resubmitted to the regional partners.
In cooperation with Arcadis, &Flux has provided insight into these financial consequences.
By selecting measures for three soil and water systems and three district typologies on the themes of heat, drought, excess water due to extreme precipitation, biodiversity & nature inclusivity, and reducing the consequences of flooding, a clear picture has been obtained of what is needed for climate-proof building. Any additional costs have been calculated on the basis of these selected measures. With this working method, the measures do not only apply to the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area but also to the provinces of Utrecht and South Holland, where similar agreements on climate-adaptive construction are in place.
Result: the additional costs for the measures per constructed home amount to 1,200 to 2,500 euros. At the same time, measures in the public area and the existing built environments need to be realised as well. On this basis, an ‘all-in’ price per hectare can be calculated: 90,000 to 310,000 euros. This sum includes the costs per constructed home, the costs of the public area, and the costs of the existing built environment.
The complete report is provided here.