A wave of energy efficiency-focused activity has spread across Europe in recent years, with ambitious goals for improving the energy performance of existing buildings through various directives. Among these existing buildings, there are older structu...
The reuse of architectural heritage is a topic of great interest for scientific research, involving aspects ranging from the architectural compatibility of the interventions to the performance updating of the artefacts, from the point of view of both...
Energy retrofitting of historic buildings presents complex challenges, particularly when using internal insulation strategies. While such interventions can enhance thermal comfort and reduce energy demand, they can also pose risks of condensation and...
Achieving a satisfactory level for indoor environments of historical buildings is an ongoing problem that needs to be solved due to a large demand for deep retrofits in the whole of Europe. The implementation of the indoor environmental quality index...
This paper compares national hydrogen (H2) infrastructure plans in Canada, the United States (the USA), Singapore, and Sri Lanka, four countries with varying geographic and economic outlooks but shared targets for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050....
The intervention on historic buildings through building energy retrofitting has become one of the current challenges of improving energy efficiency. Nonetheless, this building typology presents certain complexities. Among them, one of the most releva...
The energy-saving requirements for most buildings focus on improving the insulation and airtightness of a building’s envelope. In this paper, the authors have investigated the effect of additional internal insulation on energy consumption for heating...
In most cases, internal insulation is the only solution to improve the energy efficiency of historic buildings. However, it is one of the most challenging and complex energy efficiency measures due to changes in boundary conditions and hygrothermal b...
22 December 2021
Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) can help the European Union (EU) in accelerating the cost-effective renovation of existing building stock. However, there are many risks and barriers that can inhibit the application of EPC. These barriers include...
Historic buildings account for more than one-quarter of Europe’s existing building stock and are going to be crucial in the achievement of future energy targets. Although a drastic reduction in carbon emissions would slow climate change, an alt...
Reusing existing buildings is a valid response to the architectural challenge associated with addressing climate change and can aid the regeneration of the historic built environment. This demands sensitive architectural conservation strategies that...
The nascent electrification of transport has heralded a new chapter in the driving force of mobility. Developing regions such as sub-Saharan Africa already lag in this transformative transport transition. A potential transitional step towards full-sc...
In an office building, the internal heat and the skin load are both expected to change. Thus, this study is an initial step that searches for optimum replacement measures when a heat source system is replaced on an office building in Korea. The opera...
This paper analyzes the potential of retrofitting in “greening” of European inland vessels and coastal ships, which are normally not the focus of major international environmental policies aimed at waterborne transport. Therefore, greenin...
Many existing structures require retrofitting and reinforcement due to aging and damage. The stability of the retrofitted structure is key to the retrofitting scheme, while construction safety during the retrofitting process is another crucial consid...
The maritime industry, a cornerstone of global trade, faces mounting pressure to decarbonize and align with international greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This study investigates how project...
The performance redevelopment of Architectural Heritage is a current research topic, in particular for the impact on energy saving and, consequently, on the comfort management of historical buildings. In order to evaluate the energy performance of th...
The overhead gas-insulated transmission line (GIL) in ultra-high-voltage converter stations, distinct from traditional buried pipelines, demands a thorough investigation into its seismic behavior due to limitations in existing codes. A refined finite...
Energy efficiency is one of the most prominent global challenges of our era. Heritage buildings usually have a poor energy performance, not necessarily because of their intrinsic constructive features but due to their mostly dilapidated condition owe...
Electrical energy usage in buildings is a challenging issue because many old buildings were not originally built to achieve energy efficiency. Thus, retrofitting old buildings to net-zero buildings can benefit both the owner and electric utilities. I...
The main part of Italian building stock was built before the energy and seismic regulations, so most of buildings need comprehensive refurbishment to achieve the performance required by laws that are in force. This paper presents an experimental stud...
Early evacuation during bushfires remains the safest strategy; however, in many realistic scenarios, timely evacuation is challenging, making safe sheltering a last-resort option to reduce risk compared to late evacuation attempts. However, most Aust...
The sustainability and efficiency of buildings represents a crucial issue since the building sector is currently responsible for more than 40% of energy consumption and emissions. This concern is extended to historical buildings, as they are typicall...
Electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Electric retrofits involve converting an ICE vehicle to an electric drivetrain, aiding the tran...
Reducing the energy consumption of the existing building stock is of paramount importance in the race to reach national and international climate goals. While multiple initiatives are in place and provide guidance, heritage-protected buildings are of...
The building heritage of many seismic regions worldwide is largely substandard and seismically deficient and would require seismic retrofitting interventions. The use of natural materials with low embedded emissions could lead to a low carbon footpri...
A popular water pipe system used in many countries is one formed by prestressed cylindrical concrete pipes (PCCPs) formed by identical precast moduli joined together in situ. This technology was and still is quite popular in many water supply systems...
This paper presents basic principles of built-environment physics’ modelling, and it reviews common computational tools and capabilities in a scope of practical design approaches for retrofitting purposes. Well-established simulation models and metho...
This work analyzed the thermal behavior of an existing building, considering different retrofitting strategies. The methodology starts with an in-situ survey that allowed for obtaining information about occupation, work schedules, envelope materials,...
A popular water pipe system, used in many countries, is one formed by prestressed cylindrical concrete pipes (PCCP). This study used the results of an experimental investigation on ten (10) PCCP samples taken from an existing water pipeline. The obje...
Retrofitting existing buildings is regarded as a main driver of decarbonization, yet retrofitting activities are lagging behind their ambitious goals. This study explores 86 German construction practitioners’ perceptions of organizational, poli...
The building envelope has a direct impact on the overall energy consumption of a building. Thus, an improvement in the building envelope using energy-efficient material can yield the desired energy performance. This study is based on the materials an...
The world has not been able to achieve minimum greenhouse gas emissions in buildings’ energy consumptions because the energy and emissions optimization techniques have not been fully utilized. Thermal comfort is one of the most important issues...
Energy consumption in buildings has increased significantly as population and economic activities are concentrated in urban areas. Air conditioning accounts for a significant percentage of energy consumption in buildings, especially in tropical clima...
A considerable part of Southern European countries building stock was constructed before the implementation of national thermal regulations, and as such, it is currently exposed to challenges such as energy poverty and climate change. Portuguese publ...
Addressing the urgent global challenge of man-made greenhouse gas emissions and climate change necessitates collaborative action between shipping lines and government regulatory agencies. Aligning with the International Maritime Organization’s...
Around 30% of the European building stock was built before 1950, when no regulations about energy efficiency were in force. Since only a small part of them has been renovated by now, the energy performance of this building stock is on average quite p...
With building construction representing one of the largest sectors responsible for the use of natural resources, retrofitting existing heritage buildings becomes a necessity, albeit a challenging one. The emergence of specific guidance on retrofittin...
The building operation sector in China represents 22% of the national energy consumption and 22% of the carbon emission, of which urban residential buildings accounted for 24% in 2019. Such figures for the housing sector are projected to increase sha...
This paper presents possibilities for anti-seismic improvement of traditional timber carpentry joints. It is known that the structural response of historical roof frameworks is highly dependent on the behavior of their joints, particularly, their cap...
This study proposes a sustainable multi-criteria optimization framework for the energy retrofit of collective residential buildings in Algeria, particularly those constructed between the 1970s and 1980s. Through on-site surveys, energy consumption an...
A calibrated building simulation model was developed to assess the energy performance of a large historic research building. The complexity of space functions and operational conditions with limited availability of energy meters makes it hard to unde...
Because of global environmental changes and the continued warming of the planet, the increase in carbon dioxide emissions has had a major impact on the environment. The development of zero-carbon buildings, the promotion of energy conservation and ca...
As climate change concerns are rising rapidly, energy efficiency promotion and implementation could be sustainable solutions within energy transition. In this context, buildings, including educational ones, play an important role in reducing energy n...
Carbon-neutral design is pivotal for achieving the future energy performance targets of buildings. This paper shows research projects that promote the environmental sustainability of university campuses at the international level. GHG accounting meth...
Educational buildings comprise a considerable portion of the public non-residential building stock. In order to assess the influence of the main parameters involved in the design and possible retrofitting of educational buildings, a secondary school...
The Australian built environment is pivotal to achieving national net-zero targets, yet progress remains slow due to fragmented policy frameworks, low retrofit adoption, and uneven integration of emerging technologies. Despite these challenges, littl...
Modern heritage buildings designed in the 1950s and 1960s often feature poor seismic performance capacities and may require significant retrofit interventions. A representative case study in Florence, i.e., the edifice housing the Automobile Club Hea...
This study develops and operationalizes a multi-dimensional framework for sustainable building retrofit that aligns with national 2050 net-zero objectives. First, we conduct a scoping review of international standards (e.g., ISO), sustainability repo...
Building information modeling (BIM) platforms to enhance design and construction processes have been rising recently, with BIM-based tools such as Autodesk Revit’s Architecture. The importance of BIM can be mainly seen in reducing energy consum...
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