Alice Moncaster (Open University) introduces new research that examines trade body information: Embodied Carbon of Concrete in Buildings, Part 2: Are the Messages Accurate? The claims made about thermal mass, durability and carbonisation...
Despite policies and recommendations to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the construction sector, there are still some processes, such as the production of cement, that are expected to have a steady increase over the next years...
With energy prices at all-time highs, and Russia’s war against Ukraine contributing to market uncertainty, EU countries are taking action to alleviate the situation for citizens and businesses. Financial support to those most affected can...
With the current rising energy bills, the EU has to find long lasting effects of efficiency measures and demand reduction. Energy efficiency is indeed a key element of the EU energy policy. For example, structural energy efficiency...
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Reducing the lifecycle carbon footprint of buildings while fostering innovation in renovation
To reach the European climate targets set out in the Fit for 55 package and Renovation Wave, carbon emissions must be cut by 55% compared to 1990 levels. Building construction and operations are responsible for 36% of carbon emissions in...
The BPIE report "Whole life carbon and industrial renovation: realising the opportunities to reduce the lifecycle carbon footprint of buildings" focuses on opportunities to leverage both the whole-life carbon impact of renovation and...
Buildings are one of the largest energy consumers responsible for 36% of energy related CO2 emissions, not including embodied emissions from production, construction, renovation and end-of-life. The building sector is also consuming 50% by...
This briefing represents a call to action for policymakers to include a clear legislative roadmap for WLC into the EPBD revision. This would ensure the key role of buildings in the clean energy transition to meet the EU climate targets by...
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An innovative way to recycle concrete
Reusing concrete scrap is a key component of some of these pollution control initiatives. For instance, Japanese researchers recently invented high-pressure compaction as a simple method of recycling concrete. However, more development is...
Concrete is one of the most used and most polluting building materials. Hence, researchers and the industry are trying to find ways to make it more sustainable, such as through recycling. Researcher from the Institute of Industrial Science...
Residencial Basa de la Mora III is part of a block of flats located in Miralbueno, on the edge of the city of Zaragoza, in Spain. It consists of 65 dwellings with an average living area of 85 square metres and 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms per...
This certified Passive House multi family dwelling in Zaragoza (Spain) has been built taking in particular consideration the occupants´ comfort, such as indoor air quality (IAQ) and acoustics, and ecological aspects, such as aerothermal...
Successfully applied in other industries, the application of modularity and construction 4.0 strategies are seen as key to step up the pace of building renovation to achieve European Union (EU) climate goals for 2050. This led to the...
With an insufficient rate of existing building renovation, there is need to step up the pace of building renovation to achieve European Union (EU) climate goals for 2050. Industrialization and related technological innovations, especially...
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The future of bioengineered building materials
The construction industry must adapt to meet the challenges of a growing population and increasing environmental damage from anthropogenic climate change. Recently, there has been an increased focus on innovative technologies that improve...
Research on construction materials has led to the innovation of the bioengineered materials which are more sustainable and eco-friendly compared to the old most-used materials such as concrete, wood, steel, etc. The implementation of the...
The way we build now and, in the future, will quickly change from best practices to essential ones for construction professionals. There’s a clear need for this.
The building sector accounts directly and indirectly for around 38% of...
Why is it important the way we build? How is the construction and building industry going to be transformed in order to met the energy transition targets? According to Iulia Potor, from Partel, by integrating Life Cycle assessment for...
Although the potential of the retrofitting of existing buildings has been identified, guidelines come in the form of general suggestions, failing to address the diversity of each project. In practice, the detailed implementation of the...
How can the renovation rate be improved? Brussels Leopold neighbourhood is used as case study to present the definition and analysis of the existing building typologies and their components as a valuable option while also improving the...
The goal when building in the Efficiency House Plus standard is to ensure that the renewable energy generated on-site over the course of a year exceeds the energy required for the building´s operation and use. The energy required for...
The City of Feuchtwangen in Bavaria, Germany developed a teaching and research campus for energy-related studies within the Faculty of Applied Engineering Sciences at the Ansbach University of Applied Sciences. The so-called research hall...
The methodology developed within the Horizon 2020 ePANACEA project will be demonstrated and validated in five European pilot countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Spain) through 15 real case studies.
The report "Demonstration...
This document contains a detailed description about the ePANACEA testing and demonstration activities concerning the case studies of each pilot country. It includes a description of the process and the development of the activity schedules...
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ePANACEA Report on internal test and feedback of new EPC acceptance across the five pilot countries
Features of the energy performance certificate (EPC) must be accepted by users in order to be used. Acceptance is influenced by different factors. For example, whether a technology is easy to use and appears useful. However, today's EPCs...
This Horizon 2020 ePANACEA project report presents the theoretical background which prepares for the testing strategy for the acceptance workshops and provides insights on how the EPC can be improved for end-users. Methodology used to test...
As the building industry is ramping up its efforts to minimize embodied carbon emissions, structural elements have been the main focus. Embodied emissions from insulation materials have gained less attention. On January 1st, 2021,...
The building has been paying a lot of attention to minimise embodied carbon emissions of structural materials, such as concrete, whereas embodied emissions from insulation materials have been gaining less attention. However, they do play a...
This building received a mention at the national and international levels for the Energy & Temperate Climates Prize of the Green Solutions Awards 2020-21.
The latest lighthouse project of Umwelt Arena Schweiz in cooperation with...
This case study of residential buildings represents the first residential building in the world with an intelligent and consistent combination of photovoltaics, battery storage, synthetic e-gas/biogas and intelligent energy management (...
The “EPAH Handbooks: A Guide to Understanding and Addressing Energy Poverty” is a series of practical guidebooks for local governments and practitioners to ensure that the social dimensions of the local energy transition are addressed...
The “EPAH Handbooks: A Guide to Understanding and Addressing Energy Poverty” provides guidelines for policy-makers and practitioners to tackle and assess energy poverty at the local level with the aim of efficiently address the local...
Introduction to ENSNARE project and its drive towards Construction 4.0
The ENSNARE project aims at boosting the uptake of novel and highly efficient solutions for NZEB renovation via comprehensive methodology, tools, and technologies that...
The “ENvelope meSh aNd digitAl framework for building REnovation” (ENSNARE) project is a H2020 project to promote and develop innovative technologies to achieve NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) renovation by via comprehensive methodology...
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Policy brief - Financing instruments for the adaptive use of cultural heritage buildings
Financing the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage is a challenging undertaking and requires the orchestration of complementary funding sources to cover both renovation and operational costs. This Policy Brief has been developed from the...
This policy brief aims to highlight the financial initiatives active in specific areas in order to finance the reuse of cultural heritage buildings. The brief discusses both challenges and recommendations for policy makers, heritage...
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Technology and innovation pathways for zero carbon building by 2030 - strategic vision from IEA Technology
The rapid deployment in the building sector of clean energy technologies and behavioural shifts, supported by innovation strategies, has the potential to significantly reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030 and paves the way to...
The building sector is increasingly working towards the implementation of clean energy technologies and occupants´ behaviour shifts in order to reduce GHG emissions and achieve the zero-carbon building stock targets. IEA Technology gives...
On the site of the former "Altenburg ob Kunstadt", the Burgkunstädter town hall, one of the most beautiful half-timbered houses in Franconia, has formed the town's skyline for over 300 years. In 1689/90, the master of baroque half-timbered...
The Burgkunstädter town hall is one of the most suggestive half-timbered house in Franconia and it shows an impressive decorative half-timbered structure. The aim of the overall renovation of the old building was to preserve and emphasise...