The recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on 19 May 2010. For new buildings, the recast fixes 2020 as the deadline for all new buildings to be “nearly zero energy” (and even sooner for public buildings – by the end of 2018). This book gives practitioner an important tool to tackle the challenges of building refurbishment towards nearly zero energy. This book is welcome at this time and sets the scene for professionals whether practitioners or researchers to learn more about how we can make whether old or new buildings more efficient and effective in terms of energy performance.

Reducing the impact of climate change is one of the main challenges of today’s society. As such, it is necessary to reduce the high energy consumption that comes with constructing and using buildings. Current energy policies are promoting decarbonization of the built environment using the nearly zero-energy building’s concept. This book presents information on nearly zero-energy buildings, including materials, design, and new approaches.

This book addresses the main challenges in implementing the concepts that aim to replace the regular fossil-fuels based energy pattern with the novel energy pattern relying on renewable energy. As the built environment is one major energy consumer, well known and exploited by each community member, the challenges addressing the built environment has to be solved with the consistent contribution of the community inhabitants and its administration. The transition phase, which already is under implementation, is represented by the Nearly Zero Energy Communities (nZEC). From the research topics towards the large scale implementation, the nZEC concept is analyzed in this book, starting with the specific issues of the sustainable built environment, beyond the Nearly Zero Energy Buildings towards a more integrated view on the community (Chapter1) and followed by various implementation concepts for renewable heating & cooling (Chapter 2), for renewable electrical energy production at community level (Chapter 3) and for sustainable water use and reuse (Chapter 4). As the topic is still new, specific instruments supporting education and training (Chapter 5) are needed, aiming to provide the knowledge that can drive the communities in the near future and is expected to increase the acceptance towards renewable energy implemented at community level. The sub-chapters of this book are the proceedings of the 5th edition of the Conference for Sustainable Energy, during 19-21 October 2017, organized by the R&D Centre Renewable Energy Systems and Recycling, in the R&D Institute of the Transilvania University of Brasov. This event was organized under the patronage of the International Federation for the Science of Machines and Mechanisms (IFToMM) - the Technical Committee Sustainable Energy Systems, of the European Sustainable Energy Alliance (ESEIA) and of the Romanian Academy of Technical Sciences.

Towards Nearly Zero Energy: Urban Settings in the Mediterranean Climate discusses tactics that can be used to effectively reduce energy consumption towards zero energy. With energy usage in buildings accounting for over 40% of primary energy use and 24% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, this remains an unavoidable objective. The book looks at the life of the systems of energy production from renewable sources amidst the exceptionally challenging global economic crisis that the Mediterranean areas and other societies are currently experiencing. By using an innovative and interdisciplinary approach of socio-oriented technological design, the book indicates tools and measures that can be developed at the public, legislative, and market levels to counterbalance the large pay-back times of energy efficiency measures. In particular, the book displays guidelines and best practices to activate new forms of economic incentives in order to attract potential investors that demonstrate that a large set of possible solutions is technically feasible to achieve nearly zero energy, even in high energy consuming circumstances and urban settings. Furthermore, by discussing and comparing the economic and energy impact of different technology options, this work offers guidelines and best practices to activate new cost-effective forms and social incentives in order to attract both potential investors and motivate the urban stakeholders toward nearly zero energy. - Strategies and zero energy solutions for practitioners - Policy s and economic resolutions to combat legislative barriers - Examples and case studies of nearly zero energy urban environments

This book focuses on the ways in which military installations and small cities can implement and integrate triple net planning and energy, water, and waste sustainability strategies into broad installation operational management, arrive at the best decision, create policy and communicate effectively to stakeholders. It explores current and emerging technologies, methods, and frameworks for energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy within the context of triple net zero implementation practice. Recognizing that the challenge extends beyond finding technological solutions to achieve triple net zero outcomes, the contributions also address the need for a systemic view in the planning phase, as well as adequate communication and policy measures and incentives.

Towards Net Zero in the Building Industry looks at the contributions that the building and construction industry can (and must) make to help achieve net zero carbon emissions. The building industry accounts for close to 40% of global emissions and this book brings together a global group of contributors from 15 countries to examine ways in which the industry can help with overall CO2 reduction. Coverage includes factors such as building design strategy, materials selection, use of local materials with a low carbon imprint, renewable energy use, energy conservation, greenery and appropriate aesthetics, building size and scale, climate suitability, building functionality and comfort, material recycling, and adoption of green policies. Chapter 6 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Although the disciplines of architecture and structural engineering have both experienced their own historical development, their interaction has resulted in many fascinating and delightful structures. To take this interaction to a higher level, there is a need to stimulate the inventive and creative design of architectural structures and to persuade architects and structural engineers to further collaborate in this process, exploiting together new concepts, applications and challenges. This set of book of abstracts and full paper searchable CD-ROM presents selected papers presented at the 3rd International Conference on Structures and Architecture Conference (ICSA2016), organized by the School of Architecture of the University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal (July 2016), to promote the synergy in the collaboration between the disciplines of architecture and structural engineering.

Consuming over 40% of total primary energy, the built environment is in the centre of worldwide strategies and measures towards a more sustainable future. To provide resilient solutions, a simple optimisation of individual technologies will not be sufficient. In contrast, whole system thinking reveals and exploits connections between parts. Each system interacts with others on different scales (materials, components, buildings, cities) and domains (ecology, economy and social). Whole-system designers optimize the performance of such systems by understanding interconnections and identifying synergies. The more complete the design integration, the better the result. In this book, the reader will find the proceedings of the 2016 Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) Regional Conference in Zurich. Papers have been written by academics and practitioners from all continents to bring forth the latest understanding on systems thinking in the built environment.

This book presents the current state of knowledge on nanomaterials and their use in buildings, ranging from glazing and vacuum insulation to PCM composites. It also discusses recent applications in organic photovoltaics, photo-bioreactors, bioplastics and foams, making it an exciting read while also providing copious references to current research and applications for those wanting to pursue possible future research directions. Derek Clements-Croome, Emeritus Professor in Architectural Engineering, University of Reading (From the Foreword) Demonstrating how higher energy efficiency in new and existing buildings can help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, this book details the way in which new technologies, manufacturing processes and products can serve to abate emissions from the energy sector and offer a cost-effective means of improving competitiveness and drive employment. Maximizing reader insights into how nano and biotech materials – such as aerogel based plasters, thermochromic glazings and thermal energy adsorbing glass, amongst others – can provide high energy efficiency performance in buildings, it provides practitioners in the field with an important high-tech tool to tackle key challenges and is essential reading for civil engineers, architects, materials scientists and researchers in the area of the sustainability of the built environment.

​This book presents the outcomes of the symposium “NEW METROPOLITAN PERSPECTIVES,” held at Mediterranea University, Reggio Calabria, Italy on May 26–28, 2020. Addressing the challenge of Knowledge Dynamics and Innovation-driven Policies Towards Urban and Regional Transition, the book presents a multi-disciplinary debate on the new frontiers of strategic and spatial planning, economic programs and decision support tools in connection with urban–rural area networks and metropolitan centers. The respective papers focus on six major tracks: Innovation dynamics, smart cities and ICT; Urban regeneration, community-led practices and PPP; Local development, inland and urban areas in territorial cohesion strategies; Mobility, accessibility and infrastructures; Heritage, landscape and identity;and Risk management,environment and energy. The book also includes a Special Section on Rhegion United Nations 2020-2030. Given its scope, the book will benefit all researchers, practitioners and policymakers interested in issues concerning metropolitan and marginal areas.