★ Sustainability

Sustainability has been an important source of inspiration for Peter Luscuere during his entire career in the built environment, be it in industry (Philips), research (TNO), health Care (RTB van Heugten) or Cradle to Cradle® (Royal Haskoning).  Especially the cooperation with Michael Braungart in the "Royal Cradle"-project within Haskoning has been a big step forward. Some  50, mostly young professionals, were inspired by lectures and applied insights to their own projects.

According to Luscuere, sustainability in the built environment is nowadays primarily defined by four vectors: energy, water, materials and fertile Top Soil. The consumption of these carriers and subsequent effects of this consumption determines economical, ecological and social effects. Health effects, reducing biodiversity and global climate change are the most prominent ecological effects, depletion and subsequent scarcity of materials the economic ones and unfair distribution of natural resources or industrial waste prominent social ones. All our lives we have been indoctrinated to think in reducing negative effects of our activities, most prominently captured in the concept of our "Footprint". We should reduce it and its negative impact on our environment. This is the concept of efficiency: reducing consumption and minimizing effects. On the other hand the concept of positive footprints is a game changer: effective solutions which are beneficial to us cannot be big enough. Buildings eg which produce more renewable energy as they consume, including the embodied part. Such buildings exist and cannot be big enough from an energy point of view. This concept can be extended for all sustainability defining vectors, leading to the concept of "Beyond Sustainability".

These ideas and much more come beautifully together in the concept of Cradle to Cradle® which is a much more holistic approach, see further under Portfolio or under Partners.