Climate friendly business site between Waal and Amsterdam-Rhine-canal, Tiel, NL

Tiel East has to deal with several water related problems:

• Seepage water from the River Waal and Amsterdam-Rhine canal.
• Groundwater levels fluctuate freely with the water level of the Waal because of the absence of a separating clay layer. This causes wet feet in autumn and winter and dehydration and subsidence of the soil in the summertime.
• Because of the high groundwater level in the wintertime, surface water from heavy rainfall has nowhere to go. Drainage is useless because it would just extract more water from the Waal.

Tiel East has a building task of 1100 houses. At the moment, all building activities have been stopped because new development would create even more problems for the surrounding area. Therefore water is now the leading principle in Tiel East. This creates opportunities for an integral approach of climate and waterproof building.

For the past year, a team of experts of several organisations have been studying possible solutions for the water problems in Tiel East. The inhabitants of Tiel East also are involved from the beginning. The ambitions that had to be kept in mind were:

• Robust (as natural as possible
• Sustainable (combining work with work, energy efficient, multiple use of space)
• Climate proof (safety, space for water)
• Improving the liveability (use of visible water, variation in public areas)
• Water Awareness

The result of the expert meetings and the meetings with inhabitants is an integral scenario for water in Tiel East, a combination of innovative design principles and technical measures.

The overall goal of Tiel East within Future Cities is:

Sustainable, climate and water proof building. How can water management, climate resilient building and renewable energy be combined and turned into new options?

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