Episode 5: Zero-carbon building construction in the Dutch city of Delft Better Cities By Design

In this episode of Better Cities by Design, Co-founder and Architect Tim Vermeend and Chief Marketing Officer Jasmijn Rijcken, from the Urban Woods, are our guests. Together we discuss how they have designed and will construct the tallest residential building in the Netherlands without a concrete core, in the city of Delft.

At the intersection of urbanization and climate change, there sits a major challenge: how can we keep constructing buildings for people to live in cities, when doing so generates massive carbon emissions that are fueling climate change? Globally, constructing and operating buildings is responsible for nearly 40% of energy-related carbon emissions. In the Dutch city of Delft, an innovative company may have found the solution: the Urban Woods. Tim has designed the Urban Woods with a wooden core, instead of concrete, which is almost universally used. The production of concrete is devastatingly carbon-intensive, so swapping out concrete for a wooden core will make the construction of the Urban Woods not just carbon-neutral, but carbon negative, because the wood used will have absorbed carbon as it grew in the forest.

Chief Marketing Officer Jasmijn Rijcken also joins the conversation and shares how the Urban Woods will be much more than merely a highly sustainable apartment complex; the building is designed to create a sense of community amongst residents. People who live in the Urban Woods will also have an app which will allow them to do things like upgrade their apartments in various ways, rent workspace in the building for the day, or even rent out a spare room to host visitors.

Join Host Davion Ford, Tim and Jasmijn, as they chat about the Urban Woods.