Reviewing the Role of Key Performance Indicators in Architectural and Urban Design Practices

Energy use and relative CO2 emissions drive climate change that affects both the environment and human health. Extreme events caused by climate change, such as heat waves, flooding, and droughts are increasingly frequent and dangerous and the quality of life in cities is progressively decreasing. The building sector is among the most energy intensive sectors and mitigation and adaptation strategies are needed to reduce the emissions and impacts of climate change. This article presents a literature review created using the SCOPUS database on 515 articles setup to investigate the role of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in architectural and urban design processes and to understand how KPIs can be used to improve sustainability in the design of buildings and cities. Findings from the literature review highlights the potentiality of KPIs as a tool for managing complexity and for measure performances starting from the early design stages up to the lifetime of buildings and, in general, design. In parallel, the analysis of results showed that KPIs are commonly used to evaluate performance at a very different scale, but the building scale is the most considered. The use of KPIs in architecture, focusing on sustainability, should be implemented more in the future to allow for a better control of architectural performances

Characterising the water-energy-food nexus in Kuwait and the Gulf region

Economic challenges as a result of the recent fluctuations in oil prices have exposed unprecedented risks to Kuwait and the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, including securing long-term sustainable access to and use of water and food resources. The strong interlinkages between the availability of water, energy, and food resources have been termed the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) nexus. Here, we characterise the nexus for Kuwait across different spatial scales, reviewing available literature and focussing on empirical data from the most widely used global and regional databases on water, energy and food. While there are certainly issues of water scarcity, trade-offs between sectors at the domestic level are limited. At the international scale, high oil export revenues shield Kuwait from the immediate impacts of higher prices in food imports, but they expose Kuwait to water scarcity and food production risks in other countries. At the global scale, we consider climate change mitigation linkages with Kuwait’s WEF nexus. Whilst there is great uncertainty about future international climate policy and its implications for oil and gas revenues in Kuwait, our analysis illustrates how implementation of policy measures to account for the social costs of carbon could be significant

Human capital and liberalization in Central Asia: comparative perspectives on development (1991 – 2020)

The report includes studies on selected development topics in Central Asian countries. The purpose is to contribute insights on the role played by human capital and liberalization in four essential areas concerning sustainable development: science, foreign investment, renewables, and online presence. Methodologically, the presented studies mainly rely on the analysis of data available from international organizations. The strength of the analysis is derived from the scale of the data on the countries accumulated over the three decades of their independence. The comparative studies offer new ways of understanding Central Asia, considering the distinct features of the countries in the region and how these changed over the period from 1991 to 2020. The authors made an effort to write the report in a manner accessible to non-specialists. Findings and implications could be of interest to policymakers, scholars, and students in the field of Central Asian studies

Sustainable Qatar

This open access book provides a topical overview of the key sustainability issues in Qatar, focusing on environmental sustainability from a socio-political perspective. The transition to a sustainable Qatar requires engagement with diverse areas of social-political, human, and environmental development. On the environmental aspects, the contributors address climate change, food security, water reuse and desalination, energy, and biodiversity. The socio-political section examines state strategy and regulation, the place of environmental law and geopolitics and sustainability innovators and catalysts. The human section considers economics, sustainability education, the knowledge economy, and waste management. In doing so, the book demarcates the ways in which the country encounters and grapples with significant challenges and delves into the range of options for future pathways to sustainability in Qatar. Relevant to policymakers and scholars in energy and environment, urban and developmental studies, as well as the arenas of politics, climate change and policy, this book is a landmark collection on environmental policy in the Gulf and beyond. ; This volume provides a topical overview of the key sustainability issues in Qatar, focusing on environmental sustainability from a socio-political perspective. The transition to a sustainable Qatar weaves together pillars of social-political, human, and environmental development, and so this book tackles each aspect accordingly. In the environmental section, the contributors address climate change, food security, water reuse and desalination, energy, air quality and biodiversity. The socio-political section examines state strategy and regulation, the place of environmental law and geopolitics, and sustainability innovators and catalysts. The human section considers demographic trends and models, economics – including the circular economy and green finance – transport, the built environment, and waste management. In doing so, the volume demarcates the ways in which the country encounters and grapples with significant challenges, and delves into the range of options for future pathways to sustainability in Qatar. Relevant to policymakers and scholars in energy and environment, urban, and developmental studies, as well as the arenas of politics, climate change, and policy, this book is a landmark collection on environmental policy in the Gulf, and beyond

Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Both New and Rehabilitated

Buildings are one of the main causes of the emission of greenhouse gases in the world. Europe alone is responsible for more than 30% of emissions, or about 900 million tons of CO2 per year. Heating and air conditioning are the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions in buildings. Most buildings currently in use were built with poor energy efficiency criteria or, depending on the country and the date of construction, none at all. Therefore, regardless of whether construction regulations are becoming stricter, the real challenge nowadays is the energy rehabilitation of existing buildings. It is currently a priority to reduce (or, ideally, eliminate) the waste of energy in buildings and, at the same time, supply the necessary energy through renewable sources. The first can be achieved by improving the architectural design, construction methods, and materials used, as well as the efficiency of the facilities and systems; the second can be achieved through the integration of renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, etc.) in buildings. In any case, regardless of whether the energy used is renewable or not, the efficiency must always be taken into account. The most profitable and clean energy is that which is not consumed