Housing is a major contributor to CO2 emissions in Europe and America today and the construction of new homes offers an opportunity to address this issue. Providing homes that achieve "zero carbon", "carbon neutral", "zero-net energy" or "energy-plus" standard is becoming the goal of more innovative house-builders globally, whilst energy providers seek to decarbonise the energy supply to new and existing development. Various new technical systems for achieving these goals are beginning to emerge. For example the passive house whose energy requirement for space heating and cooling is almost zero; the smart grid that has revolutionized the management of energy, whilst enabling the connection of small-scale, renewable energy producers and electric vehicles to the grid; or the European super-grid which will enable zero carbon energy to be generated in the Sahara desert and stored in Norway. This book explores the diverse approaches that are being adopted around the world to deliver zero carbon homes and the different societal systems and geographic circumstances in which they have developed. It postulates a roadmap for delivering zero carbon homes, together with a toolbox approach for policy and practice to suit particular national and local circumstances. A series of case studies are presented that offer lessons for delivering zero carbon homes. These examples are also used to demonstrate how prototype systems can move into the mainstream. The book highlights some of the instruments and mechanisms that could be used to support this transformation and addresses the wider implications of introducing these innovative systems in terms of industry, lifestyle and urban form.

Buildings allow several kinds of human activity: work, eat, sleep, play, etc., and they have a role in determining quality of life: ugly and uncomfortable buildings can be the worst place to live. The energy performance of buildings has a special role in improving and guaranteeing quality of life because it concerns architectural design, energy cost, consumption and energy poverty, and thermal comfort—both indoor and outdoor. Following a multidisciplinary approach, we present several case studies and articles about the correlation between building and quality of life. The included research highlights the relationship between BEP and quality of life in terms of wellbeing and thermal comfort and household smartness following UE Directive 844/2018, as well as the reduction of energy poverty and the impact of buildings on the environment and global warming. Also in this book is a city-scale study that attempts to evaluate the effect of climate change on building performance and building energy efficiency mapping and, moreover, reports some cases of indoor environment quality as well as thermal comfort in nearly zero energy buildings; finally, detailed scientific literature on energy poverty and outdoor wellbeing quality of life are presented.

"The 21st century will see monumental change. Either the human race will use its knowledge and skills and change the way it interacts with the environment, or the environment will change the way it interacts with its inhabitants. In the first case, the focus of this book, we would see our sophisticated understanding in areas such as physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, planning, commerce, business and governance accumulated over the last 1,000 years brought to bear on the challenge of dramatically reducing our pressure on the environment. The second case however is the opposite scenario, involving the decline of the planet's ecosystems until they reach thresholds where recovery is not possible, and following which we have no idea what happens. For instance, if we fail to respond to Sir Nicolas Stern's call to meet appropriate stabilisation trajectories for greenhouse gas emissions, and we allow the average temperature of our planets surface to increase by 4-6 degrees Celsius, we will see staggering changes to our environment, including rapidly rising sea level, withering crops, diminishing water reserves, drought, cyclones, floods ... allowing this to happen will be the failure of our species, and those that survive will have a deadly legacy. In this update to the 1997 International Best Seller, Factor Four, Ernst von Weizsäcker again leads a team to present a compelling case for sector wide advances that can deliver significant resource productivity improvements over the coming century. The purpose of this book is to inspire hope and to then inform meaningful action in the coming decades to respond to the greatest challenge our species has ever faced 6 that of living in harmony with our planet and its other inhabitants."--Publisher's description.

This book introduces the concept of Intelligent Buildings to the wider construction community. Edited by the Father of Intelligent Buildings, Derek Clements-Croome, the book explains that intelligent buildings should be sustainable, healthy, technologically aware, meet the needs of occupants and business, and should be flexible and adaptable to deal with change. This means the processes of planning, design, construction, commissioning and facilities management including post-occupancy evaluation are all important. Buildings comprise many systems devised by many people and yet the relationship between buildings and people can only work satisfactorily if there is an integrated team with a holistic vision.

Towards Net Zero in the Building Industry looks at the contributions that the building and construction industry can (and must) make to help achieve net zero carbon emissions. The building industry accounts for close to 40% of global emissions and this book brings together a global group of contributors from 15 countries to examine ways in which the industry can help with overall CO2 reduction. Coverage includes factors such as building design strategy, materials selection, use of local materials with a low carbon imprint, renewable energy use, energy conservation, greenery and appropriate aesthetics, building size and scale, climate suitability, building functionality and comfort, material recycling, and adoption of green policies. Chapter 6 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Independent, scientifically based, integrated, policy-relevant analysis of current and emerging energy issues for specialists and policymakers in academia, industry, government.