Sustainable heritage

The Municipality of Wassenaar attaches great importance to the preservation of its monuments, image-determining characteristic buildings and buildings located in the protected villagescape. The municipality puts the preservation of cultural-historical values first. Sustainability also plays an important role in this. 

Historic properties are already durable by their very nature. The longevity of old materials can be maintained extra long through regular maintenance, skilled repairs and caring occupancy. In addition, historic buildings typically have thick walls, small windows and shutters. By and large, pre-1900 monuments are more energy efficient than 21st century buildings. They are often centuries old and don't pollute the environment (anymore) because of their very economical use of materials under the motto, "preservation of historic materials, techniques and details comes before renovation." 

At a time when energy prices are rising, sometimes you want more and things can be done better. Then it turns out that simple measures often already provide a lot of comfort and energy gains. It is advisable to first investigate what is possible with your building. You will be surprised how many age-old techniques and solutions are still up-to-date.  

TIP: Choose a natural time, e.g., like a restoration or remodeling project that needs to be done. Don't implement everything at once. Take measures and see the effect on your energy consumption and then take the next step. This way you keep control of the process.

The most important tip we can give you: Health that the energy measures you take are taken in conjunction with the architectural possibilities and in conjunction with the historical values. This will prevent you from causing constructional or cultural-historical damage to your property with your measures. A balanced package of measures is good for your building, for the environment and for your wallet. And that starts with actively reducing your own energy consumption, for example by using LED lighting and by not always leaving electrical appliances on standby.

Saving energy without large investments

Start with the easy measures that are usually inexpensive and do not affect the cultural-historical values of monuments. These measures are often permit-free. 

Consider crack sealing at doors and windows and making the connections of window frames to walls and walls to roofs airtight. Easily achievable is placing radiator foil behind radiators and insulating central heating pipes. Also reduce your energy consumption by heating rooms differently. And rooms you keep cooler, such as the bedroom, are preferably north-east facing. Use porches and sunrooms as buffer spaces that you don't need to heat (compartmentalize) or heat less. Use thick curtains and shutters. Did you know that this alone can give a 30% reduction in heat loss?

Also look at appliances: purchase fuel-efficient machines and LED lighting. Reduce the number and duration of showers or purchase a shower heat recovery system (WTW).

Larger investments

In addition to low-cost solutions, there are many ways to make historic buildings more radically sustainable; and thus save even more energy, such as by insulating and in combination, or subsequently by generating energy. 

These measures usually do require a permit (environmental permit for the activity of altering a monument).

Note: Insulating often leads to damage to your home if not done properly.
In all cases, insulating increases moisture in your home. Therefore, a good ventilation plan is very important.

Tip: Whenever possible, work with local, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products. This way, the environment is affected the least.

Generate energy: through collective or on your own property

You can also generate your own energy as a member of a collective, such as the Wassenaar Energie Coöperatie. Do you want to generate solar energy on your own property or on your monument? First investigate what you need (what is useful?) and whether the number of panels on a (non protected) outbuilding fits. Only then look at the roof of your monument. 

Be well informed about the consequences and returns. Realize that heat pumps generally require high energy consumption and are therefore only profitable in combination with solar energy or solar collectors. 

As an orientation to the possibilities, the municipality is making available the Wassenaar Green Menu Card.

Green Menu Wassenaar

The Wassenaar Green Menu Card uses various themes to show you the options, tips and tricks for making historic buildings more sustainable. Customization is always the key word, especially for protected heritage. Use the Green Menu to compile a wish list. Or do a self-scan via the Care program Preserving Monuments from monumenten.nl.

Preserving monuments? More can be done than you think. 

On April 15, 2024, the information evening "Making Monuments Sustainable? More can be done than you think." took place at Raadhuis De Paauw. During this evening, employees of Monumentenwacht Zuid-Holland, the National Restoration Fund, Groene Grachten and the municipality gave numerous tips and tricks to save energy yourself and get started with making your home more sustainable. View the presentations at the bottom of the page. 

Questions

With questions about more information, please contact the Heritage Counter: erfgoed@wassenaar.nl. 

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