Kyra is a curious engineer with a background in sustainable energy systems and urban development. She is enthusiastic about working with parametric modeling and CAD tools to support the energy transition in urban centers.
At AMS Institute, she has a role as a research engineer in the MultiCare project led by the TU Delft, integrating energy retrofits, circularity and cultural heritage assessments in a multi-criteria decision-making analysis to support the climate resilience of existing buildings.
Furthermore, she works on integrating retrofitting strategies for non-residential historic buildings of the Amsterdam city center as part of the High-Hanging Fruit research program of AMS Institute under the lead of Maéva Dang.
Continuing from the Metropolitan Engineering Analysis and Design Master, she started working at the AMS Institute on projects involving sustainable urban heating systems.
Alongside her research work, Kyra is a climate justice activist and is involved in urban projects envisioning a post-capitalist city, where she focuses on degrowing consumerism and moving towards direct reuse of resources within cities.
She wants to emphasize reducing our energy use rather than only the transition, as this is highly necessary to supply all energy in a renewable and fair way. Retrofitting the historic architecture of Amsterdam in a way future generations can enjoy motivates her to contribute to a fossil-free energy system for Amsterdam.
“The question is not if we will create a fossil free future, but when. Therefore, we should aim to create a just energy transition accounting for all living beings.”
Kyra Koning
Research Engineer
