5/19/25

Today, we had the opportunity to tour Delft University of Technology, tour their green village, and partake in a Climate Fresk.

After we arrived, the first thing we did was take a tour of the Green Village. This space exists as a testing ground for sustainable innovations, and due to the university’s legal status, requires less permits and legislative navigation to perform testing. Companies, university affiliates, and others all are able to test their designs here.

The first design we saw was a bridge made without glue. According to our guide, many glues can be harmful to the environment, so a non-glued bridge is more environmentally friendly. Another testing area we saw was for a self-driving car to test whether it could detect obscured traffic signs and respond accordingly.

They also were testing designs of houses with green roofs to keep houses cool as some of the heat will go towards evaporating the water in the plants. This is an extremely sustainable solution to cooling houses as there is no external energy input required.

Another sustainable innovation found in the green village was the hydrogen tanks. A problem faced with many renewable energy sources is that they only harness energy at certain times (for instance, solar panels when the sun is out and wind turbines when it is windy). To solve this, energy can be stored in these hydrogen tanks during peak energy production, and then, released through the process of electrolysis during peak energy usage.

Pictures of some of these innovations can be found below:

After our tour of the Green Village was complete, we were free to explore the entirety of TU Delft’s campus. On a walk, Alec and I happened to see the human powered car. Another striking thing we noticed while walking was the large number of bikes. There were rows and rows of bikes present which is an extreme culture difference between the US and the Netherlands. The ease and prevalence of biking in the Netherlands also reduced car use which is extremely sustainable.

After our free time, we had the opportunity to partake in a Climate Fresc workshop. Here, we discussed the cyclical nature of human activities and the result of climate change, meaning human activity drives climate change, and climate change affects human activities. After completing the Fresc, we discussed potential solutions to the issue of climate change from each of the three sectors (business, citizens, and government).

All in all, today, we saw the prevalence and commitment to sustainability in the Netherlands and will bring many ideas discussed back to the US to make our towns greener.