01 Feb '17

Increased workload

8685
door Patrick Gijssels
‘Take an aerial photo of my desk so you can see what I am working on, laughs Jan De Gols, swinging his arm around the room. Every square inch of office or desk space is covered with folders, files, cardboard boxes and documents. De Gols is the sustainability officer for Meise municipal authority.

 ‘What has changed during my nine years in the job? The workload, definitely. Mainly because of the surge in legislative activity at all levels: European, federal, Flemish, provincial, municipal. The positive impact has been the environmental awareness of the inhabitants.’

De Gols has chiefly been busy in recent months with the Covenant of Mayors, according to which the authorities pledge a 20% cut in their and their inhabitants’ CO² emissions by 2020. ‘We are focusing first of all on our own buildings. Energy-intensive buildings, schools, a sports hall and swimming pool built in the 1970s and 1980s. Their energy consumption levels need to be reduced.’

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