bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Financial and legal relations and key legal concepts of ‘MEGASCIENCE’
Authors: Tkachenko R
Published: November 2020

The article looks at some issues related to legal regulation of funding, development, construction and operation of large-scale research facilities. In the course of study there have been singled out the peculiarities of social relations in ‘mega-science’ and various approaches to its definition have been provided. It has been established, that norms of financial law regulate the system of public relations, connected with financial activity in the field, including budget funding and involving other sources to construct large-scale research facilities, tax relief for research organizations involved in the construction and operation of global research facilities, and financial control over the process of mega-science projects implementation. Suggestions have been made about the necessity to devise and adopt a special federal law of the Russian Federation that would regulate such social relations and those in the field of international collaboration related to international research conducted by member states at mega-science plants. Possible formulations of key concepts used in mega-science have been provided.
Copyright and protection of scientific results: the experience of Russia, the United States and the countries of the Near East
Authors: Ponomareva D V , Maggs P B , Barabashev A G
Published: November 2020

In this article, the authors analyze the legal regulation of the copyright protection of the results of scientific activity in Russia, the United States and the countries of the Near East. Considerable attention is paid to the review of key regulatory acts of the states operating in the designated area, as well as international treaties affecting aspects of the copyright protection of intellectual rights in the field of science. The authors consider the main ways of protecting the scientific results by means of copyright. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the judicial practice of the states, which plays a vital role in defining approaches to the legal regulation of the scientific results. The authors emphasized the similarity and difference between the systems of copyright protection of the results of scientific activity, the role of the judiciary in the functioning of such systems. In the end the conclusion is made about the prospects for harmonization of the approaches to the legal regulation of the results of scientific activity by means of copyright. The article will be relevant to practicing lawyers, researchers, students and everyone who is interested in IP law.
Megascience projects in modern nuclear physics and personnel training
Authors: Barbashina N S , Astapov I I , Delov M I , Moshkova D M , Vasiliev A N
Published: November 2020

Modern nuclear physics is impossible without the implementation of projects of the megascience class, for the creation of which the efforts of many organizations and countries are consolidated. The level and complexity of experiments carried out with the use of such facilities is provided by scientific researchers with a wide range of competencies. The education of such researchers is an important task for scientific and educational organizations. These issues were discussed at the 2nd conference “Personnel training and legal support for the implementation of scientific projects of the Mega-science class” organized by National Research Nuclear University MEPhI and Kutafin Moscow State Law University on June 25, 2020. The aim of the Conference was to discuss the policy management issues of implementation of the Mega-science class research projects.
Public policies as obstacle to sustainable CDWM practices
Authors: Andersson R.
Published: November 2020

The sustainable management of construction and demolition waste (CDW) should play a significant role to achieve the SDG11 for sustainable cities and communities as well as the SDG12 on responsible consumption and production. However, the construction sector is still a major contributor to the waste generated within the European union and contributes with around 25-30 percent of the total amount. The EU followed by the Swedish agencies and the professional associations have defined successive policies to increase the recycling ratio of CDW and mitigate its negative effect. The role of these public policies is to define and to encourage the implementation of sustainable solutions. In the case of management of CDW and in particular the renovation and demolition waste, those policies are not delivering the expected result. Building on multiple regulatory levels with the intent to govern professional’s behavior, they so far fail to support change in practice. The aim of this study is therefore to study and analyze how the policy framework and professional guidelines are defining the conditions for adopting more sustainable waste management practices in the industry. The study is based on a document analysis of grey literature in terms of governmental reports, official guidelines, regulatory publications and other publicly published documents concerning CDW management. The analysis highlight ambiguity and contradictions within the material as to how the challenges concerning CDW should be addressed. There is a misalignment between the different actors view on definitions, responsibility and the design of roadmaps toward a more sustainable agenda. This ambiguity and complexity could explain the maintaining of the current practices, hampering practitioners to act. We therefore emphasize the need for a more coherent framework to create the necessary conditions for the industry to move towards a more sustainable agenda.
Development of regionally specific green building design & assessment standards for the Qinghai-Tibet plateau region of China
Authors: Liu Y , Wang J , Ren J , Zheng W-X , Shao T
Published: November 2020

Establishment of regionally specific green building (GB) standards has been proved to be an effective way to promote GB development in different regions. China released its first national Evaluation Standard for Green Building (GB 50378) in 2006. Since then, regionally specific GB standards have quickly been established in its different provinces/cities. However, such standards were not established in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau region until about ten years later, which made it the last region in the country to possess its own regionally specific GB standards. Supported by research funds from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development of Qinghai province and Tibet autonomous region respectively, the research group of this paper studied on how to develop regionally specific GB design and assessment standards for the Qinghai-Tibet plateau region. Literature review, field investigations, questionnaire surveys, group interviews and case studies were conducted to clarify regionally specific conditions and needs, based on comprehensive analysis of which, sub-zones were established and specific provisions were established or customized to suit regionally specific conditions. Main results, experiences and lessons learnt from the research are introduced and discussed, further researches in the relevant field are also recommended.
Not even close to the goals - A “snapshot” of Swedish property owners’ energy renovation plans
Authors: Wahlström Åsa , Glader Karin
Published: November 2020

A pre-requisite to reach the EU 2030 and beyond targets is a significantly increased ambition among property owners regarding energy-efficient refurbishments. The Swedish Energy Agency and the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning are on the Swedish government assignment developing a strategy with policy instruments to increase energy-efficiency oriented renovation. In order to design the right policy instruments, deeper knowledge is needed on the potential for energy efficiency and property owners’ present actions. To gain more insight into these questions an interview study with 20 building owners, covering more than 15% of the Swedish property area of multi-family buildings, schools and offices were performed in 2016. The interviews aimed to identify how building owners reason on different energy saving levels, what level of energy efficiency they currently are realizing and what obstacles and possibilities they expect if they take further steps in energy renovation. The interviews were based on four different common packages of energy-efficiency measures defined as renovations levels: 4, 15, 30, and 50 percent respectively. In 2019 the strategy was updated based on follow up interviews with mainly the same building owners. The interview results were used, together with assumptions of future renovation rates, in a calculation tool called HEFTIG. This tool enables long term calculation and visualization of energy-efficiency measures. The present situation was compared with scenarios made in 2016 and new scenarios were developed for 2030, 2040 and 2050 for the Swedish building stock. The result is a “snapshot” is that the property owners’ current actions are far from the cost-efficient potential and that the potential is larger for heating than for electricity. The results also show that the energy renovation rate has to increase in the near future if the EU targets should be reached.
The ecological footprint of João Monlevade city, Brazil – Conventional Method
Authors: Lage Morais Cataryna Raisa , Cardoso Fernandes Ana Rosa Aon , Franco Elton Santos , Marques Izabel Cristina , Marques Sakiyama Nayara Rodrigues
Published: November 2020

The Ecological Footprint (EF) is a measure of the burden imposed by a population on nature. It represents the soil area required to sustain resource consumption and waste generation levels, expressed in units of a hectare per person. This work aims to calculate and evaluate the EF of a small city in Brazil, João Monlevade (JM) - Minas Gerais (MG). For the calculation, the conventional method proposed by Wackernagel and Rees in the ‘90s was used. It is based on the sum of the footprint of variables calculated from the annual average of consumption items, dividing the total consumption by the population size, subtracted from the biocapacity. JM’s biocapacity and EF are 0.048, and 0.643 ha / inhabits, respectively. Therefore, local consumption exceeds the support capacity of the natural environment, making it necessary to have an adequate environmental municipality planning. The most significant footprint was related to CO2emission from burning fossil fuels, 0.47 ha / inhab., indicating the need to implement mitigation measures. It is concluded that the calculation of the municipality’s EF points out more sustainable ways for a better population life quality. However, the calculation requires improvement, with the definition of other relevant indicators and data careful analysis.
Comparison of the greenhouse gas emissions of a high-rise residential building assessed with different national LCA approaches – IEA EBC Annex 72
Authors: Frischknecht R , Ramseier L , Yang W , Birgisdottir H , Chae Ch U , Lützkendorf T , Passer A , Balouktsi M , Berg B , Bragança L , Butler J , Cellura M , Dixit M , Dowdell D , Francart N , García Martínez A , Gomes V , Gomes Da Silva M , Guimaraes G , Hoxha E , Wiik M Kjendseth , König H , Llatas C , Longo S , Lupíšek A , Martel J , Mateus R , Rasmussen F Nygaard , Ouellet-Plamondon C , Peuportier B , Pomponi F , Pulgrossi L , Röck M , Satola D , Verdaguer B Soust , Szalay Z , Nhu A Truong , Veselka J , Volf M , Zara O
Published: November 2020

Introduction: The international research project IEA EBC Annex 72 investigates the life cycle related environmental impacts caused by buildings. The project aims inter alia to harmonise LCA approaches on buildings. Methods: To identify major commonalities and discrepancies among national LCA approaches, reference buildings were defined to present and compare the national approaches. A residential high-rise building located in Tianjin, China, was selected as one of the reference buildings. The main construction elements are reinforced concrete shear walls, beams and floor slabs. The building has an energy reference area of 4566 m2 and an operational heating energy demand of 250 MJ/m2a. An expert team provided information on the quantities of building materials and elements required for the construction, established a BIM model and quantified the operational energy demand. Results: The greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts of the building were quantified using 17 country-specific national assessment methods and LCA databases. Comparisons of the results are shown on the level of building elements as well as the complete life cycle of the building. Conclusions: The results of these assessments show that the main differences lie in the LCA background data used, the scope of the assessment and the reference study period applied. Despite the variability in the greenhouse gas emissions determined with the 17 national methods, the individual results are relevant in the respective national context of the method, data, tool and benchmark used. It is important that environmental benchmarks correspond to the particular LCA approach and database of a country in which the benchmark is applied. Furthermore, the results imply to include building technologies as their contribution to the overall environmental impacts is not negligible. Grant support: The authors thank the IEA for its organizational support and the funding organizations in the participating countries for their financial support.
Key action fields for nearly carbon-neutral districts: stakeholder-specific strategies and practice
Authors: Hess S , Kreulitsch D , Rizaoglu I Kalpkirmaz , Honold A , Schmid M , Stobbe M , Nytsch-Geusen C , Lützkendorf T
Published: November 2020

In accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, many countries aim at nearly zero carbon emissions of their building sector by 2050. The research college EnEff.Buildings.2050 is a collaboration of five PhD students and their supervisors to support this goal. In this paper, five key action fields for transformation of urban districts are described, and decisive stakeholders are identified and linked to the action fields. As a case study, the urban district Mierendorff-Island in Berlin is introduced.

Three strategies to support transformation are identified: Firstly, new digital planning tools should be applied to assess and improve the energetic performance of new and existing buildings and to illustrate it to decision makers. Secondly, digital processes should be combined throughout the lifecycle of a building by building information modeling (BIM). This can ensure the energetic quality and enable cost-effective construction, servicing and monitoring. Thirdly, start-ups and contractors need support for development of new business models and technical solutions, which can e.g. enable disruptive technologies. Awareness of stakeholders on the transformational state of a district enables them to identify windows of opportunity to spring into action. Framework conditions and support measures determine if they act in favour of the transformation or not.
Passive and active personalized heating systems at a lower indoor ambient temperature
Authors: Loy Nick Van , Verbeeck Griet , Knapen Elke
Published: November 2020

Dwellings in Belgium are comparatively larger than dwellings in other European countries. Moreover, their size is not always in line with the actual occupancy rate. Nowadays, most of these dwellings are heated by a single-zone, mostly convection-based heating system which heats all rooms simultaneously and completely. However, analysis of the effective spatial use shows that residents only use specific spots within a room at different times of the day, thus current heating systems do not correspond to the actual use of space. Nowadays, manufacturers focus mainly on increasing the efficiency of heating systems, while increasing the sufficiency of heating, i.e. using heat only at places where people are staying, can save a large amount of energy. In recent years, personalized acclimatizing systems in office buildings are well researched, especially for comfort improvement. However, less research is focussing on the opportunities of personalized heating as an energy saving option in residential buildings. Therefore, an experiment was performed on passive and active personalized heating systems, tested with 16 subjects, in a simulated living room at an ambient temperature of 18°C. The results of this experiment show that by making use of passive as well as active elements, people can feel comfortable at an indoor temperature lower than the commonly prescribed temperature of 21°C.
A topology optimization framework to facilitate adoption of advanced district thermal energy systems
Authors: Allen Amy , Henze Gregor , Baker Kyri , Pavlak Gregory , Long Nicholas , Fu Yangyang
Published: November 2020

Advanced district thermal energy systems, which circulate water at temperatures near ambient conditions, and facilitate the utilization of waste heat and renewable thermal sources, can lower the carbon-intensity of urban districts, advancing the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Optimization of the network topology — the selection of the best subset of buildings and the best network to connect them, to minimize life cycle cost — can increase adoption of these system in appropriate applications. The potential “solution space” of the topology optimization problem grows factorially with the number of buildings in the district, motivating the consideration of a design heuristic. In this study, a heuristic for the network selection was evaluated with an exhaustive search, for a prototypical four-building district. For the prototypical district considered, the heuristic was effective in selecting an optimal network topology. Additionally, it was found that, in this case, the selection of the subset of buildings was more influential on the life cycle cost than the selection of the network topology. This work is part of a larger effort to develop a topology optimization framework for district thermal energy systems, which is anticipated to address barriers to adoption of ambient-temperature systems.
Renovation as a catalyst for social and environmental value creation: Towards holistic strategies for sustainable housing transformation
Authors: Jensen S. R. , Entwistle J. M. , Hansen H. T. R. , Strange A. , Kirkegaard P. H.
Published: November 2020

Renovation of the existing building mass represents an important potential for energy savings in the building sector. In Denmark, this is especially relevant within the domain of social housing. Energy motivated renovations are, however, only a long-term sustainable solution if they also support the wellbeing of the residents. Failure to do so may result in homes lying idle and in need of re-renovation or demolition. On the positive side, focusing on potentials for catalyzing social value creation as part of a holistic approach to sustainability may help justify more costly energy renovation measures. The paper presents a tentative framework for articulating the relationships between material transformations and their joint environmental and social impact. The framework is based on a literature review and a synthesis of effect studies of social value creation in multifamily housing renovation. As part of the concluding perspectives, the paper discusses potentials for further development of the tentative framework into a support tool for use in early design processes, as well as potentials for visualizing financial benefits associated with the social value creation.
Assessment of the environmental impact of timber and its potential to mitigate embodied GHG emissions
Authors: Lukić I , Premrov M , Leskovar Ž V , Passer A
Published: November 2020

Currently, the world is undergoing the biggest wave of urban growth in history. To accommodate this unprecedented growth, adding more than 230 billion m2 of new floor area to the global building stock by 2060 is expected. As embodied emissions are responsible for 11% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally, an increase in embodied emissions from new construction will put tremendous additional pressure on the natural environment. To investigate the environmental impact of timber and potential of mitigating the increase in embodied GHG emissions from new residential constructions, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed for the production stage of three low-energy modular buildings. The results suggested that by substituting reinforced concrete (RC) and masonry (M) with cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the building structure, 14.62% and 12.94% of emissions could be avoided on a building level, respectively. However, the substitution leads to a significant increase in land use impact. In order to get a sense of mitigation potential on the larger scale, the mitigation potential of embodied GHG emissions is investigated for an expected residential building stock new floor area growth predictions depending on the regional residential building structural material choice in the world key regions for periods from 2017 to 2060. Under the assumptions made, the preliminary results suggest that by 2060 a certain amount of emissions could be avoided if conventional structural materials were substituted with CLT, however, emissions from new floor area additions are still substantial. Moreover, global GHG mitigation potential raises new concerns and questions that need to be further investigated. In addition, the importance of considering the land use impact in the LCA studies of bio-based construction materials is highlighted.
The social dimension of barrier effects of transport infrastructure
Authors: Eldijk J Van , Gil J
Published: November 2020

Motorways and railways increase regional accessibility but can at the same time reduce local accessibility by creating barriers in pedestrian and bicycle networks. This can influence several SDGs, such as SDG 5 (gender equality), 10 (reduced inequalities), and 11 (sustainable cities and communities). This paper presents some first principles of how quantitative indicators of direct barrier effects can be adapted in order to address specific social groups. To demonstrate this, the indicator ‘Choice’, from a set of four indicators previously developed, was adapted to assess accessibility by children to parks, and waterside and leisure facilities. The indicator was applied to a case in Gothenburg, Sweden, where a GIS-based analysis measured changes in barrier effects brought about by hypothetically placing an existing motorway and railway in tunnels. The results demonstrate how such local accessibility indicators can be adapted to make them relevant for impact assessments of infrastructure projects, and thus enable the measurement of compliance with social sustainability targets in transportation infrastructure planning.
Sustainable buildings need sustainable design processes: the case of the Woodside Building for Technology and Design, the first University building in Australia to aim for the Passivhaus certification
Authors: Sangiorgio A , Brambilla A
Published: November 2020

Energy performance certificates (EPCs) 3re conventionally employed to certify the design according to different indicators. However, they 3re often used to evaluate the design outcomes, overlooking their potential as decision-making tools during the design process Among those, Passivhaus is currently being debated in Australia. Currently, there are only less than 30 certified cases, and all of them 3re residential buildings. Thus, the question about its suitability for commercial cases in the Australian context is still open. This paper contributes to the discussion, analysing the case study of the Woodside Building for Technolog>f and Design in Melbourne. the first University Buildmg to aim for the Passivhaus certification. The paper quantifies the impacts of the Passivhaus criteria on the facade design, benchmarking the energy demand agamst the 2016 Building Cede of Australia (BCA-2016) deemed to satisfy (DTS) design approach. Results show that the approach adopted in this C3se studs- leads to much better environmental performance when compared to the minimum performance required by the Australian standard DTS design approach. This building sets a nesv sustainability target in the Australian design culture, showing that it is necessary to change the way buildings are designed, toward a more sustainable and integrated design process.
Using data-driven models to estimate the energy use of buildings based on a building stock model
Authors: Verellen Evelien , Allacker Karen
Published: November 2020

In order to increase the renovation rate in Belgium, an approach is needed to refurbish clusters of buildings rather than individual buildings. To allow for a meaningful clustering of buildings, the energy performance of the existing buildings should be known. Nowadays all energy related data at building level in Belgium are confidential and cannot be shared with municipalities, private institutions or researchers. Crucial information regarding the energy use of the existing buildings is hence lacking to allow for such clustering. Using different machine learning techniques, i.e. decision trees, random forest models and k-NN models, these missing energy data for the buildings of the city of Leuven are predicted.
Neuron – Digital console innovative by Arup
Authors: Chan Felix , Lam Tony
Published: November 2020

At the age of digital era, supervised / unsupervised machine learning, sharp data analysis and neuron network are some of many ways to formulate optimization problems with millions or billions of variables. Classical building system and environmental optimization algorithms are not designed to scale to instances of this size; new approaches are needed.

The Digital Platform developed by Arup – Neuron is an innovative console which embodies 5G, IoT, Big Data, Cloud Computing and AI technology for smart building with advanced data analytic capabilities. It can fully integrate with the existing Building Management System as well as various data sources generated from the IoT sensors, enabling prompt and adaptive response to dynamic environment, serving as a foundation for buildings to consolidate and connect data from disparate equipment and devices to provide customised insight and machine learning models for built environmental management and improvement, new building design, operation and asset management, energy monitoring and optimisation.

One significant success achieved with our integrated digital platform is that it has been adopted by multiple clients in the East Asia region in managing their building. With full implementation and other appropriate energy saving and/or retro-commissioning practices, Neuron is expected to save up to 30% total HVAC energy consumption for a typical existing commercial building. Apart from energy saving, Neuron also focuses on creating a better indoor environment, which could significantly improve employees’ productivity.

Neuron, as a smart building console, is set to have a momentous impact on Hong Kong, not only for a better built environment, but also a game changer for the East Asia region to excel in the era of digital economy. This paper elaborates how Neuron could help in digital transformation of new and existing buildings in the new era. The challenges and experiences of projects will also be discussed.Start your abstract here…
Towards wind modelling for sustainable building/urban design
Authors: Pietrzyk Krystyna
Published: November 2020

In view of climate change and resource depletion the analysis of wind impact on built environment could be used for conscious building/urban design protecting humans against high winds but also taking advantage of wind forces in terms of ventilation of spaces or production of wind-driven energy. There is a strong need of developing the modelling technology that would enable predictive studies in this field. Climate change mitigation and adaptation became the point of departure to introduce the notions of risk/chance analysis that could help to examine the architectural/urban design from the holistic perspective. The need of addressing different parts of wind velocity spectrum is acknowledged. The steps forming the process of design for sustainable wind environment are listed. Both the necessary test activities, and the simulation ones, as well as, the ones leading to the application of risk/chance assessment are discussed. Wind thresholds referring to different aspects, levels and scales of studies should be examined. They constitute the boundary of the uncertain set of expected acceptable solutions. In some cases, probabilistic model of thresholds could be considered. Joint project within the Digital Twin Cities Centre (DTCC) at Chalmers is referenced, where the newly established Vinnova Centre of Competence could offer the platform for the development of new modelling technology.
Energy inequality as a risk in socio-technical energy transitions: The Swedish case of individual metering and billing of energy for heating
Authors: Platten J von , Mangold M , Mjörnell K
Published: November 2020

Improved energy efficiency in the housing stock is an important undertaking in the energy transition but is associated with both opportunities and risks. While there are possibilities to reduce energy inequalities in the housing stock, inequalities also risk being aggravated as actions for energy efficiency usually aim at the least energy efficient—and thus sometimes the least privileged—parts of the housing stock. In this paper, we use two different energy performance metrics (kWh/m2and kWh/capita) to investigate the energy inequality in the Swedish multifamily building stock and explore the effects of these inequalities in the energy transition. More specifically, we investigate the implementation of individual metering and billing of energy for heating, which was recently implemented in the least energy efficient part of the housing stock. It was found that low-income households were overrepresented in the affected buildings. The consequence of this implementation is thus that the strongest protection against energy poverty in Sweden (collective billing for heating) is removed in a part of the housing stock where two of the predictors for energy poverty—low income and low energy performance—are overrepresented. It was concluded that acknowledging inequalities is crucial to avoid risks associated with the energy transition.
Barriers and drivers to the uptake of innovative, affordable, and zero-energy dwellings in Belgium and Ireland
Authors: Souaid C , Van Der Heijden H M H , Elsinga M G
Published: November 2020

Despite efforts to promote and accelerate the adoption of innovative, affordable, and zero-energy dwelling solutions, the number of dwellings complying with standards such as the EPBD remains relatively low as we reach year 2020. Studies have already explored potential challenges and opportunities to the uptake of such designs. However, despite previous findings and recommendations, the market’s response remains slow. Building on existing knowledge and as part of the Housing 4.0 Energy project, this study investigates current financial, cultural, legislative and technical barriers and drivers to the implementation and uptake of small, innovative, affordable, zero-energy dwellings in small towns in Belgium and Ireland. Focus groups gathering housing providers, decision makers, stakeholders, and contractors were conducted in Leuven and Kilkenny. Outcomes revealed that participants’ general perceptions around barriers and drivers are similar between the two countries and are validated by previous research findings. However, a closer look at context specific barriers reveals considerable differences. The identification of these contextual differences enables a better apprehension of the current situation in every location leading to the formulation of context specific recommendations and a better allocation of precedence. Thus, this paper demonstrates the importance of context specific investigations not only in the identification of challenges to energy efficiency innovations but also in establishing more effective implementations.
More than a thought experiment -- conceptualizing and implementing an Urban Living Lab
Authors: Klautzer Lisa , Hong Seo Yeon , Narayan Rumy
Published: November 2020

In the context of growing urbanization,1 cities are focal points of social interactions. Embedded in bi-directional feedback loops with wider regional environments and the global ecosystem, cities present, simultaneously, ideal reference points and vital arenas for generating debates about and testing pathways toward emerging sustainable models of livability and a redefined prosperity. The latter no longer limited to mainstream economic definitions but encompassing a more holistic societal prosperity, nurtured by shared experiences, enhanced knowledge generation and exchange, eclectic encounters and ample space for creative expression. The paper presents the conceptual development of an Urban Living Lab (ULL). It employs existing literature on ULL to enable a basic frame of reference, draws on the concept of contextual logic and a philosophical understanding of flow to inform processes for rolling out such a multi-stakeholder engagement experiment. The paper attempts to conceptualize an approach that employs community participation to define contours of a socially inclusive and livable society. This approach aims at empowering networks for transitioning towards such a society within a specific context.
Public Health and Sustainable Development: training future generations in a developing country
Authors: Salazar-Ceballos A , Alvarez-Miño L
Published: November 2020

The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Colombian Caribbean Region is a priority, specifically in the city of Santa Marta, because in this city are several factors involved in public health problems known as Social Determinants of Health: the city has lack of vegetation and high population density which can be a conditioning factor for the progressive increase in temperature and for heat index; and power outages are common. Therefore, in this paper is presented the curricular design of the course “Public Health and Sustainable Development” offered at Universidad del Magdalena. This course covered three topics in its order: 1) the relationship between sustainability and health; 2) the knowledge about SDGs and their global agenda; 3) and ways for increase healthy life and sustainable development in context. With these three topics the SDGs analyzed were: #3 Good health and well-being #4 Quality education, #6 Clean water and sanitation, #7 Affordable and clean energy, #11 Sustainable cities and communities, and #13 Climate action. The evaluation was based on rubrics, the students presented oral workshops and group written reports, and a final report that addressed the relationship between health and public and SDG. It can be concluded that the students achieved a first level of knowledge in the relationship between public health and the SDGs. This work identified that there are three main environmental problems of the city of Santa Marta: the public supply of drinking water for human consumption, continuous increase of high temperatures, and lack of vegetation. In this way, new buildings must generate an impact on public health, guaranteeing a healthy urban environment. In Santa Marta, the University must have a central role as an integrating axis, promoting healthy and sustainable behavior in society; and based in this work there are elements for a climate emergency declaration in Universidad del Magdalena.
The challenge of integrating Life Cycle Assessment in the building design process – a systematic literature review of BIM-LCA workflows
Authors: Obrecht Tajda Potrč , Röck Martin , Hoxha Endrit , Passer Alexander
Published: November 2020

To foster sustainable development in construction sectors, environmental impacts need to be reduced dramatically. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique is the most firmly established methodology used to quantify these environmental impacts and, therefore, has been applied with increasing frequency to assess the environmental performance of buildings. To effectively improve a building’s environmental performance, an integration of LCA in the design process is required. This can be achieved by coupling LCA with digital design tools, e.g., Building Information Modelling (BIM). To identify the pro and cons of streamlining the integration of LCA and BIM, a comprehensive Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was performed. We identified more than 50 relevant BIM-LCA case studies and analyzed the applied BIM-LCA workflows in detail. In most of the studies reviewed, the LCA has been applied in an early design stage. The authors primarily used LCA tools and manual or semi-automatic methods to exchange data between BIM models. In most cases, contemporary BIM-LCA workflows utilized conventional spreadsheets (e.g., Excel worksheets). However, the results of the analysis show that an automated link between LCA and BIM can be achieved if certain challenges are overcome. By automating exchange of information between BIM and LCA tools and improving the reliability of this process, the LCA application can be streamlined in design practice and, hence, the necessary improvements of the environmental performance of buildings can be supported.
The influence of life cycle inventory approaches on the choice of structural systems to reduce the embodied greenhouse gas emissions of tall buildings
Authors: Helal J , Stephan A , Crawford R H
Published: November 2020

The construction of tall buildings generates a high spatial and temporal concentration of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Research has shown that as building height increases, more resources per floor area are required to withstand the increasing effects of wind and earthquake loads. This has major implications for the environmental performance of tall buildings since the embodied GHG emissions (EGHGE) of structural systems tend to represent the greatest portion of the life cycle GHG emissions of tall buildings. In mitigating the effects of climate change, life cycle assessment (LCA) has been proposed as an early stage design tool to facilitate the choice of structural systems for tall buildings. However, international standards on LCA do not specify which of the three main life cycle inventory (LCI) approaches to use - process analysis, environmentally-extended input-output analysis or hybrid analysis. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the influence of LCI approaches on the choice of structural systems for tall buildings to minimise their embodied GHG emissions.

The effects of LCI approaches on the choice of structural systems for tall buildings are evaluated using 10 tall buildings, ranging in height from 10 to 50 storeys, parametrically designed using finite element modelling. Two alternative structural systems are proposed and various LCI approaches are used to compare their EGHGE. The paper demonstrates that varying the LCI approach can significantly influence the values of EGHGE of structural systems for tall buildings by up to 116%. Notably, the paper demonstrates that, in minimising EGHGE, the adopted LCI approach can influence the choice of structural systems for tall buildings. The findings of this study confirm the need for clarity, transparency and comprehensiveness in the use of LCI approaches for comparative LCA studies, particularly in the structural design of tall buildings.
Dynamic and consequential LCA aspects in multi-objective optimisation for NZEB design
Authors: Frossard M , Schalbart P , Peuportier B
Published: November 2020

Multi-objective optimisation coupled with building energy simulation (BES) and life cycle assessment (LCA) models is a promising method to eco-design net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) in line with sustainable objectives such as UN SDG’s goals 7, 11, 12 and 13. This paper presents a method of building multi-objective optimisation based on NSGA-II coupled with the BES model COMFIE and the building LCA tool EQUER to identify NZEB designs that minimise construction costs and GHG emissions. A dynamic electricity mix model was implemented in LCA to evaluate more precisely time-related impacts of heating and solar photovoltaic production. Three different LCA approaches defining the multi-objective optimisation problem were compared: static LCA (considering an average annual electricity mix), dynamic attributionnal LCA (average hourly mix) and dynamic consequential LCA (marginal hourly mix). Results show minor differences in optimums quality between static and dynamic attributionnal approaches but important differences in optimums design parameters between attributionnal and consequential approaches. The influence of the LCA approach on multi-objective optimisation results emphasises the need to specify guidelines for practitioners about the choice of the LCA approach.
Challenges in the achievement of a Net Zero Carbon Built Environment – A systemic approach to support the decision-aiding process in the design stage of buildings
Authors: Scherz Marco , Passer Alexander , Kreiner Helmuth
Published: November 2020

By limiting global warming to 2°C, the climate goals set by the United Nations in 2015 (Agenda 2030) will clearly be missed. The shrinking of our GHG budget has shown that the implementation of a weak sustainability concept - i.e. equal consideration of all sustainability dimensions (environmental, economic and social) - is not sufficient to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on the strong sustainability concept - i.e. focusing on the environmental dimension of sustainability - this article highlights the challenges in the achievement of a Net Zero Carbon Built Environment by the implementation of a systemic design model in the early design stage of buildings. The visualisation of individual planning practices and their systemic behaviour in relation to other planning practices respectively to the SDGs support planners to manage the complexity and to reduce the additional effort within the implementation of sustainability aspects in the early design stage of buildings. Next to the visualisation of the environmental impacts of planning practices, the effects on other SDGs can be highlighted. Furthermore, the planner is supported in the decision-aiding processes in the early design stage. With the application of the systemic design model and the implementation of identified planning practices the contribution to the fulfilment of Agenda 2030 increases.
A multi-objective optimization framework for designing climate-resilient building forms in urban areas
Authors: Javanroodi K , Nik V M , Adl-Zarrabi B
Published: November 2020

With the increasing global awareness about the impacts of climate change on the built environments, the need for improving the climate resilience of buildings is being more acknowledged. Despite the high number of relevant studies, there is a lack of frameworks to assess the resiliency of buildings and urban areas. This study presents a multi-objective framework to optimize the form of buildings against its energy performance and thermal comfort considering its resiliency to the uncertainties of climate change during three thirty-years periods (2010-2099) of a warm region. Three performance sections related to building’s form are identified and categorized for the impact assessment including (1) urban form, (2) orientation, and (3) transparency with ten influencing parameters. The analysis of non-dominated solutions out of the optimization process showed that the annual energy performance (cooling and heating demand) of the urban areas can improve about 34% in both typical and extreme weather conditions whilst maintaining thermal comfort by optimizing the overall form of the buildings with similar built density and heights. Moreover, Buildings with 15 to 30-degree rotations and 33% glazing ratio showed the highest energy performance. Finally, the top 20 resilient building forms with the highest energy performance and climate resiliency were selected out of the database of results to derive design suggestions.
Portfolio Approach in Green Building Certification
Authors: Kwok Grace , Lai Andy , Cheung Frank , Li Leo
Published: November 2020

Hong Kong has over 9,000 high-rise buildings, of which over 1,500 are skyscrapers standing taller than 100m with 350 buildings over 150m. These buildings contribute to about 60% of the total carbon emissions of Hong Kong, therefore in Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2030+, existing building energy saving is one key focus where potential for energy saving is very significant. However, it is often difficult for existing building especially aged buildings to undergo green transformation due to the existing site constraint such as space and capital limitation and at the same time requiring continuous operation of the building. This paper presents a case study of a portfolio of high-rise buildings and comprehensive building development with buildings ranging from 60 to less than 5 years in operation, situated in the most densely populated commercial district in Hong Kong undergone a “Green Body Check”, benchmarking using Hong Kong’s Green Building accreditation - BEAM Plus for Existing Building and identified appropriate green measures to improve its performance. The aim of the developer is not only trying to reduce the carbon emission of its portfolio, but to lead by example and showcasing the impact to the portfolio but also to the tenants and beyond. This study aims to highlight the importance of continuous monitoring and benchmarking, adopting green building accreditation as a framework in evaluating the existing performance and effectively identify improvement measures. Lastly to appreciate major players in the building industry to lead and drive the industry greener and more sustainable in order to tackle the global climate change crisis.
Reducing embodied impacts of buildings – insights from a social power analysis of the UK and Sweden
Authors: Moncaster A M , Malmqvist T
Published: November 2020

With one of the highest carbon footprints, the construction sector should be at the forefront of climate action. Reducing embodied impacts of construction also means ensuring that buildings are durable, low maintenance, and fit for purpose, while maximizing resource efficiency. However, thirty years in to research in this field, embodied impacts continue to be ignored in the majority of building projects. This paper traces the recent history of embodied impact assessment within industry best practice in two contrasting countries, the UK and Sweden. Our data is drawn both from personal involvement in a number of projects and from qualitative case studies of the development of low embodied impact buildings. Through these we consider what has historically held progress back, what the new drivers are in both countries, and what the remaining barriers (both overt and hidden) might be. By applying social power theories we identify deep and complex reasons for the lack of traction, including in policy formation and professional practices. The insights provided help to explain the slow progress so far, as well as to support increased reduction of emissions across the building sector, and thus enable progress towards achieving several key Sustainable Development Goals.
Integration of local resources in the Guinea-Bissau single-family house architecture design
Authors: Baptista J L , Ribeiro J T , Romeiras J A
Published: November 2020

This paper presents an architectural project design for housing for a middle-high class family in the Biombo region, Guinea-Bissau (Gulf of Guinea region, West Africa). Climatic conditions, natural and labour resources, social characteristics and local architecture all have to be reconciled from an integrative perspective and a challenge for architect designers. To implement the architectural project design, a methodology tested in rural Angola has been adapted, which simultaneously benefits and harnesses resources from global industrial technology. Passive cooling and sun protection strategies are applied and the articulation between local and global technologies is promoted, guaranteeing a dwelling house with dignified comfort conditions that are appropriate to the region.