Heritage groups concerned about solar panels on canal house roofs

Critics have warned that plans to lift restrictions on the use of solar panels on listed buildings will damage their appearance and jeopardize their status as UNESCO heritage sites.

The government’s listed building department, Rijksdienst Cultureel Erfgoed, requires owners of listed buildings to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40% by 2030 and 60% by 2040. decree In 2020.

However, plans by Amsterdam’s local council to allow solar panels on the roofs of all protected buildings from 2025 have cultural heritage groups worried.

The capital has some 9,800 protected buildings and the canal system and its buildings are on the UNESCO list. “This could jeopardize its status,” Karel Loeff of heritage group Erfgoedvereniging Heemschut told reporters. advertise.

“The rules around heritage sites are very strict. It’s about authenticity, including the roofscape. Because suddenly everything is about sustainability, putting solar panels on it is a very serious intervention,” he told the newspaper.

“It’s clear that there are people in the local council who don’t care. They think it’s just a tourist attraction,” said Walther Schoonenberg of the Friends of Amsterdam City Centre association VVAB.

In response, a council spokesperson stressed that any changes to the UNESCO site would be discussed with the heritage organisation in order not to affect its status.

In addition to Amsterdam, other local councils such as Rotterdam, Utrecht, Haarlem and Nijmegen are also relaxing regulations on historic buildings to facilitate the switch to clean energy.

Schoenberg said there are many flat roofs in the center of Amsterdam that are not known to the public and could be used to install solar panels. “As to why the city center has to bear most of the burden of sustainability, it is not clear. There are many other areas of the city that are better off. But it seems more attractive to do it in the city center,” said Schoenberg.

Marilies Schellhaas, director of the Netherlands UNESCO committee, said Amsterdam’s canals would not lose their world heritage status overnight. “There will need to be a long discussion before that happens. Amsterdam’s canals are a world heritage site for a reason. They are beautiful and should remain that way.”