Carbon dioxide reduction in the building life cycle: a critical review

The construction industry is known to be a major contributor to environmental pressures due to its high energy consumption and carbon dioxide generation. The growing amount of carbon dioxide emissions over buildings’ life cycles has prompted academics and professionals to initiate various studies relating to this problem. Researchers have been exploring carbon dioxide reduction methods for each phase of the building life cycle – from planning and design, materials production, materials distribution and construction process, maintenance and renovation, deconstruction and disposal, to the material reuse and recycle phase. This paper aims to present the state of the art in carbon dioxide reduction studies relating to the construction industry. Studies of carbon dioxide reduction throughout the building life cycle are reviewed and discussed, including those relating to green building design, innovative low carbon dioxide materials, green construction methods, energy efficiency schemes, life cycle energy analysis, construction waste management, reuse and recycling of materials and the cradle-to-cradle concept. The review provides building practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of carbon dioxide reduction potential and approaches worldwide. Opportunities for carbon dioxide reduction can thereby be maximised over the building life cycle by creating environmentally benign designs and using low carbon dioxide materials

Toilet training: what can the cookstove sector learn from improved sanitation promotion?

Within the domain of public health, commonalities exist between the sanitation and cookstove sectors. Despite these commonalities and the grounds established for cross-learning between both sectors, however, there has not been much evidence of knowledge exchange across them to date. Our paper frames this as a missed opportunity for the cookstove sector, given the capacity for user-centred innovation and multi-scale approaches demonstrated in the sanitation sector. The paper highlights points of convergence and divergence in the approaches used in both sectors, with particular focus on behaviour change approaches that go beyond the level of the individual. The analysis highlights the importance of the enabling environment, community-focused approaches and locally-specific contextual factors in promoting behavioural change in the sanitation sector. Our paper makes a case for the application of such approaches to cookstove interventions, especially in light of their ability to drive sustained change by matching demand-side motivations with supply-side opportunities

What is the state of the art in energy and transport poverty metrics? A critical and comprehensive review

This review investigates the state of the art in metrics used in energy (or fuel) and transport poverty with a view to assessing how these overlapping concepts may be unified in their measurement. Our review contributes to ongoing debates over decarbonisation, a politically sensitive and crucial aspect of the energy transition, and one that could exacerbate patterns of inequality or vulnerability. Up to 125 million people across the European Union experience the effects of energy poverty in their daily lives. A more comprehensive understanding of the breadth and depth of these conditions is therefore paramount. This review assessed 1,134 articles and critically analysed a deeper sample of 93. In terms of the use of metrics, we find that multiple indicators are better than any single metric or composite. We find work remains to be conducted in the transport poverty sphere before energy poverty metrics can be fully unified with those of transport poverty, namely the stipulation of travel standards. Without such standards, our ability to unify the metrics of both fields and potentially alleviate both conditions simultaneously is limited. The difficulties in defining necessary travel necessitate the further use of vulnerability lenses and holistic assessments focused on energy and transport services

Ancillary human health benefits of improved air quality resulting from climate change mitigation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policies can provide ancillary benefits in terms of short-term improvements in air quality and associated health benefits. Several studies have analyzed the ancillary impacts of GHG policies for a variety of locations, pollutants, and policies. In this paper we review the existing evidence on ancillary health benefits relating to air pollution from various GHG strategies and provide a framework for such analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We evaluate techniques used in different stages of such research for estimation of: (1) changes in air pollutant concentrations; (2) avoided adverse health endpoints; and (3) economic valuation of health consequences. The limitations and merits of various methods are examined. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for ancillary benefits analysis and related research gaps in the relevant disciplines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that to date most assessments have focused their analysis more heavily on one aspect of the framework (e.g., economic analysis). While a wide range of methods was applied to various policies and regions, results from multiple studies provide strong evidence that the short-term public health and economic benefits of ancillary benefits related to GHG mitigation strategies are substantial. Further, results of these analyses are likely to be underestimates because there are a number of important unquantified health and economic endpoints.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Remaining challenges include integrating the understanding of the relative toxicity of particulate matter by components or sources, developing better estimates of public health and environmental impacts on selected sub-populations, and devising new methods for evaluating heretofore unquantified and non-monetized benefits.</p

Temporal Climate Impacts

Spreadsheet to facilitate the calculation of time-dependent Absolute Global Warming Potential and Absolute Global Temperature Potential due to a temporally resolved (year by year) emissions inventory (CO2, CH4, other well-mixed forcers, and examples of short-life forcers). Examples and instructions are included within the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is intended to be a tool for LCA practitioners to quickly assess whether temporal aspects of GHG results are relevant and should be reported upon

Hydrogen-deuterium data for the Chemical Engineering Journal

Novel low energy hydrogen-deuterium isotope breakthrough separation using a trapdoor zeolit

How building design and technologies influence heat-related habits

The discrepancy between calculated heat demand and measured heat consumption – the performance gap – suggests that the energy efficiency of houses affects the energy-consuming habits of its occupants. This coincides with the theories of practice describing how materiality affects practices through reconfiguring practical understandings, e.g. comfort expectations. Heat-related habits are investigated in the paper across material contexts, e.g. building characteristics and technologies. Evidence based on a combined questionnaire survey and administrative data on occupants (n = 1216) living in single-family detached houses in Denmark shows that the practices of adjusting thermostats and the amount of clothing worn indoors as well as perceived indoor temperature correlate with building characteristics, e.g. energy efficiency of the building envelope and technical installations. These correlations are moderated by the socio-demographic characteristics of occupants. However, building characteristics are found to be less influential on the frequency of opening windows. The results indicate that occupants dress warmer and keep lower temperatures in energy-inefficient houses. This suggests that material arrangements have a significant influence on occupant expectations and practices, which lead to increased indoor temperatures and energy demand. A challenge for building regulations will be to account for how energy efficient house characteristics and technologies adversely affect occupants’ energy-consuming behaviour

How building design and technologies influence heat-related habits

The discrepancy between calculated heat demand and measured heat consumption – the performance gap – suggests that the energy efficiency of houses affects the energy-consuming habits of its occupants. This coincides with the theories of practice describing how materiality affects practices through reconfiguring practical understandings, e.g. comfort expectations. Heat-related habits are investigated in the paper across material contexts, e.g. building characteristics and technologies. Evidence based on a combined questionnaire survey and administrative data on occupants (n = 1216) living in single-family detached houses in Denmark shows that the practices of adjusting thermostats and the amount of clothing worn indoors as well as perceived indoor temperature correlate with building characteristics, e.g. energy efficiency of the building envelope and technical installations. These correlations are moderated by the socio-demographic characteristics of occupants. However, building characteristics are found to be less influential on the frequency of opening windows. The results indicate that occupants dress warmer and keep lower temperatures in energy-inefficient houses. This suggests that material arrangements have a significant influence on occupant expectations and practices, which lead to increased indoor temperatures and energy demand. A challenge for building regulations will be to account for how energy efficient house characteristics and technologies adversely affect occupants’ energy-consuming behaviour