Plataforma sobre Adaptación al Cambio Climático en España

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Energy

Climate resilient retrofit of a Rotterdam building

The old office building at Groot Willemsplein, Rotterdam, dating back to the 1940’s, was renovated to give it a new life with commercial functions on the ground floor and flexible office spaces at the other floors. The most important climate adaptation and mitigation measure implemented is the energy-efficient cooling and heating system. An Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) system supplies the building with heat and cold. In summer, heat will be absorbed and stored in a ground water aquifer, this stored heat can be used in winter to heat the building.

New locks in Albertkanaal in Flanders, Belgium

The Albert canal in the eastern part of Flanders connects the industrial zones around Liege with the harbour of Antwerp. Ships can continue their way at both ends of the canal: via the river Scheldt to the Netherlands and via the river Meuse to France. In the future the Meuse basin, from which the Albert canal receives its water, is projected to experience more and longer periods of low river discharge, as a consequence of climate change, and so less water is expected to be available for sluicing ships. This would limit inland navigation.