Minister Hugo de Jonge (‘Spatial Planning and Housing’) says so in a parliamentary letter published late last year on the policy agenda to standardise and stimulate circular construction.
The minister wants to encourage builders to use more biobased materials instead of traditional materials such as concrete, stone and brick. Therefore, stricter emission requirements for construction will apply. The storage of CO2 in materials will also be taken into account. The MPG, a standard for the environmental impact of materials in a building, will become stricter in the coming years and will apply to more buildings than now.
Additional incentives
In addition, according to De Jonge and the LNV and IenW ministers, additional incentives are needed to encourage farmers to grow more fibre crops, including flax, hemp and elephant grass. Currently, they provide farmers with less income than conventional food crops. Stimulating demand for natural fibres for construction materials will boost prices, it is expected.
The minister also wants loose initiatives to be bundled into new, integral value chains, within which agreements are made on demand, delivery, quality and price. This requires a willingness to change among both farmers and builders, but also investments to increase the production and processing capacity of biobased raw materials.
Elaboration
The Dutch cabinet will decide in the first half of 2023 on the details of this development. Consultancy firm Balance (part of Eiffel) is investigating the possibilities of creating regional chains and breakthrough projects. These should raise awareness and familiarity with the subject matter and highlight preconditions for structural policy. In addition, the ministers of Housing and Agriculture are developing a generic method for certifying carbon storage in biobased building materials. They will come up with a proposal by 1 July.
For more information, visit the central government website.
Image: Leitenberger Photography/Shutterstock
