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The Netherlands, Ecobuilding
Cities join forces to retrofit districts
Cities join forces to retrofit districts
Cities have started to join forces to become more energy efficient . This trends stems from the findings of the first climate assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in 1990, which was quite alarming.
Many tongues, one voice, one common ambition
Many tongues, one voice, one common ambition
There is much need to develop energy efficient solutions for residential buildings in Europe. The EU-funded project, MeeFS , due to be completed by the end of 2015, is developing an innovative multifunctional and energy efficient façade system to retrofit residential buildings.
Modular facades for tailored retrofitting
Modular facades for tailored retrofitting
Innovative solutions are required to improve the energy efficiency of the existing residential building stock in Europe. But combining such innovation with better management and new business models creates unique retrofitting opportunities .
Energy efficient building in the public eye
Energy efficient building in the public eye
The heating and cooling of buildings take a large share in the energy consumption in Europe . The average energy consumption in the non-residential sector, such as public and industrial buildings, is estimated to be at least 40% greater than in the residential sector.
Buildings rising from the ashes
Buildings rising from the ashes
Urban mining is increasingly being taken seriously by industry because it gives access to materials—such as expensive metals used in electronics—that are buried in waste tips and landfills.
Climate proof sea defences with a green twist
Climate proof sea defences with a green twist
Coastal areas offer great challenges when balancing the need to protect natural habitats, with the requirement of human and economic activities . Dikes, for example, may not constitute the solutions of the future.
Virtual cities for very real benefits: from Local Digital Twins to the Cityverse
Virtual cities for very real benefits: from Local Digital Twins to the Cityverse
What is a digital twin? A virtual clone of a real system, such as a factory, a building or a city, which uses data to mirror its current state and behaviour .
When heating is a luxury: countering energy poverty to save the planet
When heating is a luxury: countering energy poverty to save the planet
After working all of his life as a sound technician for the Bulgarian state television, Emil is now retired. He lives in a 120 square meter house in Gorni Lozen, a village not far from Sofia, but only uses its ground floor and basement because he can’t afford to heat the whole of it.
Sustainable is beautiful
Sustainable is beautiful
In architecture, there are two kinds of sustainability: one simpler, smaller, and ethical in its relationship with the environment and with people; and another which is “fashionable”, used as a label in a speculative way, without an understanding of what it really means.
Circular is better: recyclable buildings to save the planet
Circular is better: recyclable buildings to save the planet
Maguy Soldevila is a former art teacher. Some years ago, she quit the frenzy and the pollution of the French city of Lyon to move into a typical house of the 1960s, in the small village of Sail-sous-Couzan.
3D printed bioplastic: the future of construction?
3D printed bioplastic: the future of construction?
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a major part of the fourth industrial revolution and it will transform the construction sector, according to Zoubeir Lafhaj , an expert in the future of construction, from the graduate engineering school École Centrale de Lille, in France.
Nano-coating to protect buildings against pollution
Nano-coating to protect buildings against pollution
The photocatalytic properties of anatase , one of the three naturally occurring forms of titanium dioxide , were discovered in Japan in the late 1960s.
Green buildings: is the market ready to pay more for them?
Green buildings: is the market ready to pay more for them?
The European construction industry and home-builder citizens are increasingly aware of sustainable choices. Some solutions can be more expensive than others, although sometimes this only concerns the construction phase.
Building retrofits critical to Europe’s low-carbon pathway
Building retrofits critical to Europe’s low-carbon pathway
From thatched roofing in cold regions to reflective walls in hotter climates, for centuries buildings have been constructed with materials that maximize comfort within a given environment.