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The SBE19 Brussels - BAMB-CIRCPATH "Building as Material Banks - A Pathway for a Circular held in Brussels on 5 to 7 of February 2019, is an initiative of the Consortium of the H2020 BAMB Project together with the Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) series of conferences. Being within the SBE series, this event gathers the support of CIB International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, iiSBE International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment, the United Nations Environment Programme, and FIDIC International Federation of Consulting Engineers. The goal of this series of regional and international conferences is to disseminate innovative policies and developments in the field of sustainable urban environment to a broad international audience of specialists in policy, design, construction and operation of buildings and related infrastructure. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

We investigated how a community of microbial decomposers adapted to a reference site responds to a sudden decrease in the water quality. For that, we assessed the activity and diversity of fungi and bacteria on decomposing leaves that were transplanted from a reference (E1) to a polluted site (E2), and results were compared to those from decomposing leaves either at E1 or E2. The two sites had contrasting concentrations of organic and inorganic nutrients and heavy metals in the stream water. At E2, leaf decomposition rates, fungal biomass, and sporulation were reduced, while bacterial biomass was stimulated. Fungal diversity was four times lower at the polluted site. The structure of fungal community on leaves decomposing at E2 significantly differed from that decomposing at E1, as indicated by the principal response curves analysis. Articulospora tetracladia, Anguillospora filiformis, and Lunulospora curvula were dominant species on leaves decomposing at E1 and were the most negatively affected by the transfer to the polluted site. The transfer of leaves colonized at the reference site to the polluted site reduced fungal diversity and sporulation but not fungal biomass and leaf decomposition. Overall, results suggest that the high diversity on leaves from the upstream site might have mitigated the impact of anthropogenic stress on microbial decomposition of leaves transplanted to the polluted site.

This work evaluates, for the first time, the possibility of producing multifunctional alkali-activated composites combining ultra-low density, low thermal conductivity, high acoustic absorption, and good moisture buffering capacity. The composites were prepared using cork as a lightweight aggregate. This novel material might promote energy savings and tackle the CO2 emissions of the building sector, while simultaneously improve the comfort for inhabitants (e.g. humidity levels regulation and sound pollution reduction). The composites apparent density (as low as 168 kg/m3) and thermal conductivity (as low as 68 mW/m K) are amongst the lowest ever reported for alkali-activated materials (AAM) composites and foams, while their sound absorption ability is comparable to the best performing AAM foams reported to date, but in addition these eco-friendly composites also show good ability to passively adjust the humidity levels inside buildings. The multifunctional properties shown by the cork – AAM composites set them apart from other conventional building materials and might contribute to the global sustainability of the construction sector. Peer Reviewed

The potential impacts of climate-induced changes in air pollution levels and its impacts on population health were investigated. The IPCC scenario (SRES A2) was used to analyse the effects of climate on future PM10 concentrations over Portugal and their impact on short-term population exposure and mortality. The air quality modelling system has been applied with high spatial resolution looking on climate changes at regional scale. To quantify health impacts related to air pollution changes, the WHO methodology for health impact assessment was implemented. The results point to 8% increase of premature mortality attributed to future PM10 levels in Portugal. The pollution episodes with daily average PM10 concentration above the current legislated value (50 μg·m−3) would be responsible for 81% of attributable cases. The absolute number of deaths attributable to PM10 under future climate emphasizes the importance of indirect effects of climate change on human health.

Abstract Alternative vehicle propulsion technologies are being promoted to reduce energy consumption and environmental impacts in transportation. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is often used to assess and compare the environmental impacts of these technologies, but, in its traditional form, it lacks the ability to capture the transient effects as new vehicles displace older vehicles in the fleet. Fleet-based life-cycle (LC) approaches – which combine the LCA methodology with fleet models that describe the stocks and flows associated with a class of products over time – have been proposed to circumvent this issue. This article presents a critical review of the literature addressing fleet-based LC approaches by providing an overview of modeling approaches, its main applications, and an analysis of the key aspects underlying environmental and energy impacts of vehicle fleets (focusing on electrification pathways). Fleet-based LC approaches have been applied with different purposes (e.g., to model recycling processes, to assess trade-offs between manufacturing and use impacts; to optimize product service life). The issue of evaluating the impacts of introducing alternative technologies is appropriately addressed by a fleet-based LC approach, because it allows for the capture of displacement effects, technological improvements over time, and changes in background processes. Several studies have used such an approach to assess scenarios of evolution of the light-duty fleet. The main key aspects are: fleet penetration rate, electricity source, fuel economy improvements, and vehicle weight reduction. Emission reductions were found to be very dependent on the underlying assumptions. Reducing fuel consumption is one of the key ways to reduce fleet GHG emissions, but it needs to be combined with other measures, such as high penetration of advanced technologies, to bring about significant reductions. The electricity generation source has also a large impact on the fleet GHG emissions and increasing renewable energy penetration is key to reduce overall emissions.

As alterações climáticas são já há algumas décadas consideradas uma ameaça real às cidades, que via de regra não estão preparadas para lidar com a incerteza que caracteriza o referido fenômeno, tampouco com seus impactos. Nas cidades costeiras essa ameaça é ainda maior em função de fenômenos como a elevação do nível médio do mar e as alterações nos padrões de precipitação intensa de curta duração, que aumentam exponencialmente o risco de inundação destes territórios, ameaçando a sua manutenção e desenvolvimento no futuro. Sendo os sistemas de transporte uma das estruturas principais para o funcionamento de uma cidade, a vulnerabilidade destes à momentos de inundação, pode determinar um alto risco para suas funções básicas. O que este trabalho pretende é abordar a vulnerabilidade dos sistemas de transporte às inundações em cidades costeiras; como os impactos das alterações climáticas são ou serão capazes de alterar os padrões de mobilidade em uma cidade; e como é possível responder a estas incertezas através dos processos de adaptação para a resiliência, com exemplos práticos de cidades que tiveram que lidar com estas questões em situações pós-desastre. Climate change has for some decades been considered a real threat to cities, which are mostly not prepared to deal with the uncertainty that characterizes this phenomenon, nor with its impacts. In coastal cities, this threat is even greater because of phenomena such as the rise in mean sea level and changes in the patterns of intense short-term precipitation that exponentially increase the risk of flooding of these territories, threatening their maintenance and development in the future . In the other hand, transport systems are one of the main structures for the operation of a city, so their vulnerability to flooding can determine a high risk for one of the basic urban functions. What this paper intends is to address the vulnerability of flood transportation systems in coastal cities; how the impacts of climate change are or will be able to change the mobility patterns in a city; and how these uncertainties can be addressed through adaptive processes for resilience, with practical examples of cities that have had to deal with these issues in post-disaster situations.

In a way to reduce the external energy dependence, increasing also the investments in renewable energy sources and aiming for the concretization of the European renewable objectives, the Portuguese government defined a goal of 5100 MW of installed wind power, up to 2012. If the drawn objectives are accomplished, by 2010 the wind power share may reach values comparable to leading countries like Denmark, Germany or Spain. The Portuguese forecasts also indicate a reinforcement of the natural gas fired generation in particular through the use of the combined cycle technology, following the European tendency. This analysis sets out to evaluate the total generating cost of wind power and CCGT in Portugal. A life cycle cost analysis was conducted, including investment costs, O&M costs, fuel costs and external costs of emissions, for each type of technology. For the evaluation of the externalities ExternE values were used. The results show that presently the wind power production cost is higher than the CCGT one, at least from the strictly financial point of view. CCGT costs increase significantly when charges for externalities are included. However, they only reach levels higher than the equivalents for wind power for high externality costs estimations. This partially results from the low load factor of the wind farms in Portugal and also from the lowemission levels of the gas fired technology used in the comparison. A sensitive analysis of the technical and economical parameters was also conducted. Particular attention was given to the natural gas prices due to the possible increase over time. The fuel escalation rate is the parameter that has larger effects on the final costs. It was verified that the total cost of wind plant is more influenced by the load factor than the total cost of CCGT.