Special Issue "Building Carbon Emissions and Their Impact on the Climate Change"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ali Bahadori-Jahromi
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Computing and Engineering, University Of West London, London W5 5RF, UK
Interests: sustainable engineering; building simulation; building design; building engineering; building envelope; carbon dioxide (CO2)
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Large-scale shifts in weather patterns and an unprecedented change in climate has given rise to an interest in how climate change will affect the emissions and energy of residential and none residential buildings; however, the functioning of non-residential buildings is a complex operation where energy use is high compared to residential buildings. In recent decades, climate projections  have unequivocally led to the conclusion that the climate has been changing due to anthropogenic activities, and since climate change has a direct effect on the built environment, it is critical for the industry to quantify how the change in climate impacts buildings, including the functioning of buildings. Therefore, it is of prime importance to produce a detailed inventory of the carbon emissions related to the industry and to minimize them using different credible and verifiable scientific methodologies.

This Special Issue focuses on the following:

  • Assessing the carbon emissions and energy consumption in buildings under current and future climate projections;
  • Identifying cost-optimal design solutions to reduce the overall building emissions and conserving energy;
  • Achieving a nearly zero-energy building (NZEB) standard;
  • Reviewing the current practices for designing NZEBs;
  • Achieving the desired outcome by developing a framework to seek out the energy efficient measures (EEMs);
  • Presenting the ideal life cycle costs (LCCs).

The expected results of this Special Issue will encompass multiple industries, enabling them to calculate the operational carbon emissions and energy use of their building, perform a cost analysis, help reduce the carbon footprint and assist them in reaching the global target of net-zero by 2050 as put forward by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Prof. Dr. Ali Bahadori-Jahromi
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

  • carbon footprint
  • energy simulation
  • life-cycle assessment
  • greenhouse gas emissions
  • environmental impact

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
The Role of Embodied Carbon Databases in the Accuracy of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Calculations for the Embodied Carbon of Buildings
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7988; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147988 - 16 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 478
Abstract
Studies conducted by major national and international scientific bodies have indisputably concluded that the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) since the mid-20th century has led to irreversible changes in the climate. Data has shown that the contribution of the building sector [...] Read more.
Studies conducted by major national and international scientific bodies have indisputably concluded that the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) since the mid-20th century has led to irreversible changes in the climate. Data has shown that the contribution of the building sector accounts for 39% of these emissions. Reducing GHG emissions associated with the construction phase of buildings, or embodied carbon (EC), will prevent GHG emissions from entering the atmosphere earlier, reducing the negative impacts. However, to achieve any meaningful reduction, there is a need for consistency and accuracy in the calculations. The accuracy of these calculations is primarily tied to the accuracy of embodied carbon factors (ECF) used in the calculations, values determining the environmental impact of a product or procedure per unit weight. The emissions of any product can be calculated by performing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). While the requirements for carrying out an LCA have been standardised in ISO14044, the lack of a definitive national ECF database in the UK means that EC calculations can vary drastically based on the chosen database. An LCA has been carried out on a standard Lidl supermarket design within the A1–A3 boundary. For the calculation, the ECFs were sourced from two different databases, using the GHG conversion factor data published in 2020 by the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change and data published in 2019 by the Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE). The latter is currently accepted as the most consistent database for carbon factors in the UK. This study showed that using a more detailed database compared to using a more general database could result in a 35.2% reduction of embodied carbon, while using more detailed data from a single database can reduce it by a further 5.5%. It is necessary to establish the most accurate baseline for embodied carbon so that any carbon reduction attempts can be as effective as possible. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Carbon Emissions and Their Impact on the Climate Change)
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Article
Uncertainties in Non-Domestic Energy Performance Certificate Generating in the UK
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7607; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147607 - 07 Jul 2021
Viewed by 421
Abstract
In light of the recent launch of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard targeting the energy performance of commercial buildings, this study compares the energy performance certificates of three UK hotels generated by two different software, EDSL TAS and SBEM, both accredited by the [...] Read more.
In light of the recent launch of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard targeting the energy performance of commercial buildings, this study compares the energy performance certificates of three UK hotels generated by two different software, EDSL TAS and SBEM, both accredited by the UK government for the purpose. Upon finding the results discrepant, the study finds that the two software’s different assumptions for the air permeability rate contribute to the discrepancy. While modifying this value makes the results from the two software more aligned, further issues regarding the validation process arise. The study continues to find that the underlying issue can be found within the National Calculation Methodology’s assumption about domestic hot water consumption in hotels. These assumptions are compulsory to follow when generating a non-domestic energy performance certificate in the UK, therefore, any uncertainties within them can affect all the buildings seeking an energy performance certificate within that sector. Finally, the study discusses that, for meeting the carbon dioxide mitigation goals, it is necessary to make changes to the current procedure of energy performance certificate generating in the UK to increase its reliability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Carbon Emissions and Their Impact on the Climate Change)
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