Special Issue "Energy for the Future: Participatory and Multidisciplinary Approaches to Sustainable Post-carbon Cities and Societies"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Chiara D’Alpaos
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
Interests: environmental and energy economics; investment decisions under uncertainty and dynamic stochastic optimization; regulation and management of public utilities; public procurement and efficient auction mechanisms; public policy valuations and multicriteria decision aiding
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the EU established important climate policy objectives to be reached by Member states to decarbonize its economy and foster a clean energy transition. Cost-effective solutions are needed in all sectors, to reduce fuel poverty, increase security of energy supplies, reduce dependence on energy imports, favor economic growth and job creation, and generate environmental and health benefits. In line with the 7th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7) on affordable and clean energy, the EU Directive 2018/2001/EU promoted the use of energy from renewable sources and the creation of energy communities to foster the transition from a fossil-based to a zero-carbon energy sector and post-carbon and sustainable cities and societies. To reach this challenging objective, governance and regulatory frameworks should favor a decentralized and proactive citizen-oriented organization of the energy sector and society as a whole. A strong effort is required to forge new paradigms of urban development and innovative partnerships to ensure that benefits are inclusive and fully shared. The Special Issue will investigate potential technical, economic, and social benefits, and related policy and regulatory implications, of this transition. Relevant areas include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Energy markets
  • Energy efficiency and energy security
  • Renewable energy sources
  • Energy communities
  • Urban planning
  • Building design and architecture
  • Urban governance
  • Impact investing and corporate social responsibility
  • Public policy
Prof. Chiara D’Alpaos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • energy transition
  • multidisciplinary and participatory approaches
  • sustainable
  • urban development
  • affordable and clean energy

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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Article
Initial Impact and Socioeconomic Compensation for the Closure of a Coal-Fired Power Plant in a Local Entity
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7391; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137391 - 01 Jul 2021
Viewed by 583
Abstract
This work contributes to improving the relevant information for the local participatory process, in a context of just energy transition. A proposal has been prepared for an objective estimate of the initial impact and the minimum socioeconomic compensation for the closure of a [...] Read more.
This work contributes to improving the relevant information for the local participatory process, in a context of just energy transition. A proposal has been prepared for an objective estimate of the initial impact and the minimum socioeconomic compensation for the closure of a conventional coal-fired thermal power plant in the affected local entity. This has allowed (1) specifying and contextualizing the effects into which the initial impact of the closure can be divided, with the inclusion of the circular effect; (2) obtaining an indicator of the minimum compensation that would need to be set to neutralize this impact; and (3) establishing recommendations and conclusions based on the evidence obtained. Full article
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Article
The Use of Cool Pavements for the Regeneration of Industrial Districts
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6322; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116322 - 02 Jun 2021
Viewed by 693
Abstract
Industrial districts are characterized by the presence of low and extensive building volumes and by predominantly sealed, impermeable surfaces, which contribute to several environmental problems and to the deterioration of outdoor human thermal comfort conditions, especially during summer hot days. To tackle these [...] Read more.
Industrial districts are characterized by the presence of low and extensive building volumes and by predominantly sealed, impermeable surfaces, which contribute to several environmental problems and to the deterioration of outdoor human thermal comfort conditions, especially during summer hot days. To tackle these issues, this study proposes an approach for the regeneration of industrial districts based on the application of cool materials. Reflective and evaporative pavements were selected as suitable solutions to reduce summer overheating, while ensuring the functionality required by the industrial production, and contributing to stormwater management. The effectiveness of the approach was tested in a portion of the industrial district of Padua (Italy). In summer conditions, the replacement of conventional pavements with cool materials results in a reduction of the ground surface temperatures up to 14.0 °C and a consequent decrease of the air temperature at pedestrian level between 0.6 and 1.2 °C. The effects of human thermal comfort conditions highly depend on the selected cool material and on the morphology of the urban canyon. Finally, the reduction of external surface and air temperatures also contributes in cooling indoor spaces (average decrease from 1.0 to 2.5 °C), with impacts on the energy efficiency of the industrial buildings. Full article
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Article
Framing Sustainability. Evidence from Participatory Forums to Taylor the Regional 2030 Agenda to Local Contexts
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4435; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084435 - 15 Apr 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 434
Abstract
The present article introduces an original theoretical framework to investigate how public participation reframes governmental sustainability topics along four dimensions: exploration, prioritization, embedding, and integration. The literature highlights public participation as a strategic sustainability governance tool that can help governments extract local communities’ [...] Read more.
The present article introduces an original theoretical framework to investigate how public participation reframes governmental sustainability topics along four dimensions: exploration, prioritization, embedding, and integration. The literature highlights public participation as a strategic sustainability governance tool that can help governments extract local communities’ knowledge to better design policy. In light of this, the article proposes the participatory assessment grid (PAG) to assessing participatory contribution to framing sustainability. The present study adopts a topic detection method to gauging and comparing qualitatively and quantitatively the seven Veneto region participatory forums’ output. In so doing, the article tests the PAG and highlights the bottom-up contribution to the sustainability strategic plan formulation within the regional 2030 Agenda design. As the analysis reveals, participatory forums’ communicative content gives several potential contributions to government policy formulation that are drivers both to enhance public engagement and improve sustainability policy design. Full article
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Article
How Can I Help You? Questioning the Role of Evaluation Techniques in Democratic Decision-Making Processes
Sustainability 2020, 12(20), 8568; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208568 - 16 Oct 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 824
Abstract
In the past, evaluation techniques were considered to be “decisional techniques”, “decisional tools”. There was a rough idea that, after the important data had been collected, the technique in question would, by itself, indicate the best decision. Evaluations of this kind clearly depended [...] Read more.
In the past, evaluation techniques were considered to be “decisional techniques”, “decisional tools”. There was a rough idea that, after the important data had been collected, the technique in question would, by itself, indicate the best decision. Evaluations of this kind clearly depended on the more or less implicit adoption of a “rational-comprehensive model”, which tended to downplay the ethical and political dimension of decisions, while stressing the role of both technique and technicians. This approach has been widely criticized. Partly as a result of such criticism, many evaluation techniques are now considered to be not “decisional tools” but forms of “decision aid”. The problem is that the expression “decision aid” lacks clarity and is by no means unequivocal in urban decisional situations. We believe in this regard that there is a gap in research and in the academic literature. Starting from this conviction, the article presents an investigation of what being a “decision aid” might mean for a technical evaluation today. The aim is to provide a conceptual framework within which to critically revisit and rediscuss the question, with particular regard to urban sustainability issues. Full article
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Review

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Review
Evaluating the Transition Towards Post-Carbon Cities: A Literature Review
Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 567; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020567 - 08 Jan 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1090
Abstract
To achieve the new European targets concerning CO2 emission reduction, the concept of a post-carbon city has been promoted, which is focused on low-energy and low-emission buildings provided with intelligent heating and cooling systems, electric and hybrid cars, and better public transport. [...] Read more.
To achieve the new European targets concerning CO2 emission reduction, the concept of a post-carbon city has been promoted, which is focused on low-energy and low-emission buildings provided with intelligent heating and cooling systems, electric and hybrid cars, and better public transport. This paradigm entails the inclusion of aspects not strictly related to energy exploitation but referring to environmental, social, and economic domains, such as improvement in local energy security, people’s opinion on different energy solutions, economic co-benefits for private users, environmental externalities, and so on. In this domain, it is of particular importance to provide the decision makers with evaluation tools able to consider the complexity of the impacts, thus leading to the choice of the most sustainable solutions. The paper aims to investigate the scientific literature in the context of evaluation frameworks for supporting decision problems related to the energy transition. The review is carried out through the scientific database SCOPUS. The analysis allows for systematizing the contributions according to the main families of evaluation methodologies, discussing to what extent they can be useful in real-world applications. The paper also proposes emerging trends and innovative research lines in the domain of energy planning and urban management. While the energy transition is an important trend, the analysis showed that few studies were conducted on the evaluation of projects, plans, and policies that aim to reach post-carbon targets. The scales of application refer mainly to global or national levels, while few studies have been developed at the district level. Life cycle thinking techniques, such as life cycle assessment and cost-benefit analysis, were widely used in this research field. Full article
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Planned Paper 1

Article

Energy efficiency in urban context: a review of European-funded projects

Marina Bertolini1*

1   Department of Economics and Management, University of Padova; [email protected]

*   Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-0498274258

Received: date; Accepted: date; Published: date

Abstract: According to the European Union, buildings are responsible for around 40% of CO2 emissions in the EU area. For this reason, the new regulatory framework Clean Energy for All European Package (2019) supports policies to reduce emissions by increasing energy efficiency in buildings, following the Directive on Energy Efficiency ((EU) 2018/844) that states the binding targets of at least 32.5% energy efficiency by 2030, relative to a ‘business as usual’ scenario. This is the prosecution of a long-standing policy, which in the past has mainly influenced public authorities, but also aggregations of private bodies and the realization (or renovation) of large strategic investments (such as hospitals) that impacted and changed the fruition of buildings and relevant infrastructures. Projects’ development also activated new forms of collaboration between European institutions and arose collective international initiatives for energy efficiency (e.g. The Covenant of Mayors initiative). The paper aims to offer a review of the European funds allocated on this area in the past years, having also a view on current opportunities for renovations. An analysis of most representative projects will be carried out, in order to indicate possible future policy developments of grant design.

Keywords: Energy Transition; Energy efficiency; European Funds; EEEF.

Planned Paper 2

The tax bonus for the energy and seismic efficiency of the Italian real estate assets - A complex model for optimizing investment

Gianluigi De Mare* – Emilio Coppola* – Massimo Latour1 – Giancarlo Savino2 – Rosa Maria Caprino*

*PEL – project evaluation laboratory, www.pel.unisa.it, [email protected]

1 Laboratorio Strenght of Unisa, [email protected]

2 Energy Manager, [email protected]

Abstract: Legislative Decree 34/20 has opened in Italy to new important measures of tax exemption for energy and seismic efficiency works on building structures. In reality, similar incentives had been in place for several years without however having triggered the desired recovery effects on the construction sector. The very complicated fiscal mechanism and the presence of certain critical issues, primarily the one inherent to liquidity in the investment path, did not determine the movement of important capital (only € 15 billion in five years when the construction sector weighs in Italy for about 150 bln per year). The research developed tends to intervene on the most delicate points of the tax exemption mechanism according to two profiles. The first is the construction of a complex model that leads to the optimization of the types of interventions to be implemented to maximize savings for the property owner. The second concerns the identification of innovative technical and technological solutions that allow to reach the eligibility requirements of the tax relief without unsustainable impacts on the inhabitants of the buildings subject to regeneration. The work in progress is sponsored by the Association of building contractors in the province of Salerno. A case study illustrates the concrete results of the model.

Planned Paper 3

Article

Sustainable design of temporary buildings in emergency situations

Rossana Paparella and Mauro Caini

Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy; [email protected], [email protected]

*   Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39 048 8276840

Abstract: Emergency situations that occur anywhere in the world following natural disasters, humanitarian, health emergencies or following armed conflicts or in the presence of migratory flows, require adequate and immediate responses. The aim of this work was to identify the project requirements useful for creating modular systems for residential, multifunctional and hospital use, which, even if temporary, can ensure an high performance standard in terms of comfort and energy efficiency, and at the same time guarantee the possibility of use in the widest possible range and in rapid execution times. The guiding criteria were those of transportability, re-employability, energy efficiency and settlement in the territory. All these buildings are designed to respond to an emergency that in terms of time can be defined in the medium and long term, a period that can vary from a minimum of 2 years to a maximum of 5, a long period which occurs to be increasingly responsive to reality. The design proposal relates to modular living systems made with dry, temporary, re-usable and energy-efficient technology. The concepts of standardization and modular coordination are applied in order to minimize the production and execution times of the modules. The latter, taken simultaneously with the criteria of temporariness, reversibility, flexibility and energy efficiency, become basic requirements for the project and allow the achievement of standards, levels of comforts and above all performances comparable to those of sustainable buildings of the latest generation.

Keywords: Sustainability, Temporary modular systems, Dry technology, Energy efficiency

Planned Paper 4

Article

An interoperable and interdisciplinary model, based on IFC standards for the value analysis of building projects

Carlo Zanchetta1* and Elisa Castagna2

1   Department of Civil Environental and Architectural Engineering, Univrsity of Padova; [email protected]

2   Department of Civil Environental and Architectural Engineering, Univrsity of Padova; [email protected]

*   Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-049 8276840

Abstract:

The evaluation of projects, especially in the analysis of the technical-economic feasibility, involves the activation of value analysis procedures which point at the maximization of the performance of the building or the infrastructure, against a containment of management and construction costs.

The discipline of value analysis therefore entails the need to compare project scenarios according to common evaluation criteria. To this end, simulation models must be activated in which the change in performance depends on the variation of design and technological choices that determine the change in costs.

However, the performance evaluation takes place in relation to the technological units of the project while the design choices, and the consequent approach to cost management, takes place at the level of choice of the technical elements and products. The research illustrates the definition of a heuristic approach aimed at compiling the performance parameters of the technological units and environmental units that allow to analyze the quality of the work as the technical choices and related costs vary. These parameters are defined within the IFC ISO 16739 standard in order to ensure maximum replicability of the evaluation model and determine a stable relationship between performance and costs.

The problems analyzed concern:

  • the availability of information standards for the interoperable management of data relating to the performance of the technological units and the parametric costs that characterize them;
  • verification of IFC-based interoperability protocols between information modeling and simulation environments;
  • the identification of any IFC property sets that are necessary to support value management procedures in the absence of suitable parameters within the ISO standard.

 Keywords: BIM; IFC; Value Analysis, performance simulation.

 

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