A.m.j.r. (fons) Van Der Linden

Biography

Fons van der Linden obtained his Masters in Constitutional and Administrative Law from the University of Maastricht. In addition to Law, he studied Slavonic Languages ​​and Cultures in Leiden. Since 1 September 2013, he has been a PhD student at the Center for Energy Questions. His PhD research focuses on the regulation of energy efficiency for the living environment in relation to local sustainable energy facilities.

Research Interest

Due to increasingly stringent requirements in European and national legislation regarding the energy efficiency of the built environment, it will increasingly be necessary to make use of local renewable energy facilities. If these were to form a fixed component in the area development, they could give an important boost to the realization of higher energy efficiency at area level. Among other things, the regulation of the living environment is of great importance. However, in practice this does not always offer clarity about possibilities and conditions. For example, energy efficiency at area level is a relatively new phenomenon and it is unclear whether setting such requirements in the current legal framework is possible. Moreover, in this context the relevant links between the regulations of the living environment and energy legislation are still insufficient: in the context of energy efficiency of the living environment, the main focus is currently on physical characteristics of buildings (insulation, building materials, connection to heating networks) and not so much to other properties, such as concluded energy contracts. The aim of this research is to arrive at better legal frameworks in order to stimulate the development of local sustainable energy facilities and thus make the best possible contribution to energy efficiency at the area level. In order to achieve this goal, this research aims to find out how the relevant regulations (in particular environmental and energy legislation) can be applied or adapted to allow the development of small-scale, integrated energy initiatives to make an explicit contribution to the energy optimization at area level.