I am a Graduate Student in Engineering and Policy Analysis, at the Delft University of Technology. With a background in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and a Bachelor in Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management my interests lie in exploring how data can be utilized to address societal issues. Moreover, I am a Working Student at the Energie Lab Zuidoost, where scientific expertise from different disciplines and a close cooperation with stakeholders is combined to create knowlegde on realizing a social energy transition.

My research focuses on exploring how equity can be included in the distribution of renovation resources at the city level to address energy poverty. Besides the CUSP lab, I will be working together with the City of Amsterdam to explore how equity can be included in the distribution of renovation resources across Amsterdam.

Research Description:

In the wake of tackling energy poverty by its roots and protecting vulnerable households, the European Commission is keen to use renovation, also referred to as retrofitting, as a lever to address climate change, energy poverty, and the access to healthy houses by aiming to renovate 35 million inefficient buildings by 2030, with the so-called Renovation Wave. This strategy aims to reduce energy bills by renovating buildings while also creating many additional green jobs in the construction sector and improving residents’ quality of life, health, and well-being.

Nonetheless, recent research has shown that renovation programs have failed to address energy poverty as climate and social policy suffer from fragmented jurisdictions lacking an intersectoral integration between renovation and social policies while neglecting vulnerable groups such as low-income households and disabled persons at the city level. As a response, various scholars have called for an explicit consideration of equity in the European renovation policy. Using a Case-Study Mixed-Methods approach, this research suggests exploring ways to identify vulnerable groups and include equity into renovation policy at the city level. These results will support policymakers to include equity in the current distribution of renovation resources to address energy poverty.