The City of the Sun project is spread across three eco-town locations 40km north of Amsterdam, Heerhugowaard, Langedijk, and Alkmaar. The project in Heerhugowaard known as Stad Van De Zon is designed to be CO2 neutral in the residential district, this has been accomplished with the imaginative use of PV solar electric panels on some 1600 roofs, planting 70 hectares of woodland, and erecting 3 local wind turbines. This ambitious state of the project shows the potential of local and regional authorities working together with market parties to deliver CO2 neutral developments in new houses.

The construction methods and careful selection of materials have resulted in a typical low energy residential house that uses 60% less natural gas (reduced from 800 to 300m3) and produces some 3,300 kWhrs of electricity each year from a typical 3.4kWp PV system on the roof.

Photographs reproduced by courtesy of Hallokaties, www.isozero.nl