Public authorities in the Netherlands are entrusted with the task of enhancing the well-being and living standards of all its inhabitants, both now and in the future.

The protection and enhancement of the living environment is an important aspect of this duty and is enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution:

"Public authorities shall endeavour to ensure a good quality of life in the Netherlands and protect and enhance the living environment."

In seeking sustainable development - the main objective of environmental policy - it becomes apparent that concern for the environment is part of the wider concern of well-being and living standards.

Starting an energy saving campaign in municipal buildings is a first step towards reducing CO2 locally. Well aware of this, Utrecht has developed a municipal energy saving plan and has progressively reduced, over the past five years, the energy consumption of its buildings. By means of:

This case study shows how important continuity in current campaigns is in sustaining the savings.

Utrecht occupies approximately 400 buildings and power-consuming facilities (such as water pumps and bridges). Road and traffic devices in the city also consume a great deal of electricity. Added to this is the gas and district heating consumed.

In 1996, Utrecht launched an extensive energy saving project for municipal buildings. In three steps Utrecht reduced the energy consumption in 100 buildings such as office buildings, theatres, schools and libraries. These 100 buildings make up approximately 80% of the total energy consumption in municipal buildings.

The three steps are:

The expected energy savings in steps 1 and 2 will be 5% over energy consumption in 1996 and 15% when the implementation of energy efficient measurements is included.

In 2001 Utrecht saved approximately 12% in heating over 1996 levels. 'Good housekeeping' of the heating installations was responsible for this result. In 2001, the CO2 reduction compared to 1996 was 560 tonnes of CO2.

For these reductions, approximately 375 newly built houses (according to legislation for energy saving in houses in the Netherlands) can be heated in a year. The cost reduction will be over € 120,000 per year for the flexible part of the energy costs.

City of Utrecht - Environmental Department
Inge van de Klundert

01/01/1996

case

Urban Policy > Urban environment > Environmental sustainability

Energy efficiency