• Energy Research

In the last decade, our built environment has been exposed to a significant and wide range of crises, from primary (e.g., pandemic, climate change-induced hazards) to secondary crises, such as their associated physical and mental health impacts. However, previous literature has mainly focused on the impacts of a single type of crisis in the built environment and solutions for individual impacts. Hence, in the face of multiple crises and their impacts that we are facing now, understanding the possible solutions and their characteristics is crucial to achieve a more resilient built environment. This paper aims to gain a better understanding about how different crises impact the built environment and which solutions have been proven effective, particularly as a response to multiple crises. First, a systematic literature review is presented, identifying main crises impacts on the built environment and their solutions. Secondly, through a qualitative data analysis, the main interconnections between the identified crises impacts and solutions were established. Findings highlight that the main solutions that provide resilience to multiple crises in the built environment, are (1) green and healthy infrastructures; (2) adaptable infrastructures; and (3) equitable and inclusive infrastructures. Finally, key characteristics for the design of resilient solutions for the built environment are discussed and an evaluation framework is proposed. Peer reviewed

Due to the high heating demand, energy savings in residential buildings in cold climates has played an important role in reducing carbon emissions. This study aims to investigate differences between the United States and Finland regarding characteristics and energy retrofit practices of current multifamily buildings (MFBs). The study focuses on net zero energy or nearly zero energy performance in cold and very cold climatic conditions. First an overview is presented of the status of multifamily housing stocks in the two countries, followed by an explanation of energy use patterns of residential buildings in both countries. Then, building codes related to energy efficiency in Finland and the United States are examined as well as major differences between the codes. Lastly, to further understand the different strategies and techniques used in energy retrofit projects, a dataset of 57 MFBs from both countries, both net zero energy buildings (ZEB) and nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB), were collected and analyzed. The preliminary results indicate three differences: (1) For the existing national MFB stock, the United States has a higher average energy use (EUI), at 266 kWh/m2 per year (cold and very cold regions), compared to that of Finland, at 235 kWh/m2 per year, (2) Finland has more stringent energy code requirements that contribute to lower energy use in studied case projects with a mean EUI of 80 kWh/m2 per year compared to 148 kWh/m2 per year in the U.S. sample,(3) In the Finnish studied cases, the heating and ventilation systems play a more critical role in explaining the building energy use differences in the sample, while in the U.S. cases, building envelope thermal properties explained the energy use intensity variations in the sample. Overall, the comparison of the Finnish and American cases showed that good technical practices from Finland can be learned to reduce the heating demand in cold and very cold climate regions of the United States.

Rising global temperatures and more frequent heatwaves due to climate change have led to a growing body of research and increased policy focus on how to protect against the adverse effects of heat. In cold and temperate Europe, dwellings have traditionally been designed for cold protection rather than heat mitigation. There is, therefore, a need to understand the mechanisms through which indoor overheating can occur, its effects on occupants and energy consumption, and how we can design, adapt, and operate buildings during warm weather to improve thermal comfort and reduce cooling energy consumption. This paper brings together experts in overheating from across Europe to explore 10 key questions about the causes and risks from overheating in residential settings in Central and Northern Europe, including the way in which we define and measure overheating, its impacts, and its social and policy implications. The focus is not on summarising literature, but rather on identifying the evidence, key challenges and misconceptions, and limitations of current knowledge. Looking ahead, we outline actions needed to adapt, including the (re)design of dwellings, neighbourhoods, and population responses to indoor heat, and the potential shape of these actions. In doing so, we illustrate how heat adaptation is a multi-faceted challenge that requires urgent and coordinated action at multiple levels, but with feasible solutions and clear benefits for health and energy. © 2023 The Authors

Research on architecture education in the climate emergency is heavily action focused: while there is a vast body of research around sustainability knowledge and an increasing amount of research on teaching methodology and pedagogy, there is a limited amount of research focusing on the values and cultures that architecture education operates through and promotes, and their connection to unsustainable professional practices. Drawing from interdisciplinary scholarly debates, this paper explores broader societal value systems which have formed the foundations of unsustainable values and cultures in architecture, and mirrors them against the key values, cultures and pedagogies of the architectural design studio. The Modernist ideals of rationalism, logic and positivism have justified the separation of humans and nature and have validated the exploitation and oppression of nature and vulnerable communities for profit and the accumulation of capital. In architecture education, this worldview has promoted transmissiveapproaches to learning, forming hierarchical and exclusive cultures around the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Instead, architecture education should transition towards a holistic worldview that does not separate humans from nature, but instead highlights the interconnectedness and interdependence of all life without overlooking the responsibilities that only humans can carry out in caring for the environment. Drawing from the field of environmental education, the approach we suggest promotes critical thinking and reflection with collaborative and inclusive learning cultures fostering mutual dialogue and critical attitudes.

Society continues to face many crises, from climate change, loss of biodiversity and air pollution to the pandemic, with associated impacts to human health and wellbeing. The built environment plays an important role in both mitigating and adapting to these impacts and in safe-guarding citizens. The presence and access to green spaces in the built environment plays a fundamental role in citizen’s ability to cope with adversity of different kinds and scale, while in itself supporting biodiversity. This paper aims to (1) synthesize knowledge about the diverse role that green spaces, and by extension the rewilding of our built environment, play as part of a resilient society and built environment and (2) the specific conditions and characteristics of green spaces and the built environments to maximize their benefits, while avoiding unintended consequences. This is done through a systematic literature review to present existing knowledge about the role of green spaces in a resilient built environment and society, followed by a qualitative content analysis that identifies the conditions and characteristics of green spaces as resilient solutions. Findings highlight the importance of the diversity of green space provision in type (e.g., ecological corridors), scale (e.g., community gardens, green roofs and walls), and location (e.g., parks, forests), and that they can support social inclusivity, community resilience and wellbeing. Furthermore, findings highlight that green spaces need to be designed in such a way that they (1) support biodiversity, (2) are interconnected with the context, (3) accessible and (4) appealing for citizens to protect and appreciate them.

Reducing space heating energy demand supports the UK’s legislated carbon emission reduction targets and requires the effective characterisation of the UK’s existing housing stock to facilitate retrofitting decision-making. Approximately 6.6 million UK dwellings pre-date 1919 and are predominantly of suspended timber ground floor construction, the thermal performance of which has not been extensively investigated. This paper examines suspended timber ground floor heat-flow by presenting high resolution in-situ heat-flux measurements undertaken in a case study house at 15 point locations on the floor. The results highlight significant variability in observed heat-flow: point U-values range from 0.56 ± 0.05 to 1.18 ± 0.11 Wm−2 K−1. This highlights that observing only a few measurements is unlikely to be representative of the whole floor heat-flow and the extrapolation from such point values to whole floor U-value estimates could lead to its over- or under- estimation. Floor U-value models appear to underestimate the actual measured floor U-value in this case study. This paper highlights the care with which in-situ heat-flux measuring must be undertaken to enable comparison with models, literature and between studies and the findings support the unique, high-resolution in-situ monitoring methodology used in this study for further research in this area.