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Climate change has become one of the most significant problems of recent years. It results in a higher incidence of extreme events, such as strong winds, heavy precipitation, floods and droughts. Their consequences have a negative impact not only on the environment, but also on the engineering structures and the safety of the population. In this article, the relationship between the built environment and the effects of climate change is characterised in order to propose systemic changes to improve the adaptation of cities to climate change. Weather- and climate-related hazards for the built environment are analysed, and the possibilities to reduce the risk and mitigate the effect of construction disasters, should they occur. Moreover, a case study conducted in Central Europe has been presented. Based on quantitative data from the Central Office of Building Control in Poland from 2006-2018, the occurrence of construction disasters, their causes and consequences were examined. It was found that the main cause of disasters occurring in Poland during this period were random events (73%), which consisted in particular of extreme weather events such as strong wind or strong wind with accompanying heavy precipitation causing floods and landslides. The highest number of construction disasters (1113) was recorded in 2008, and as many as 95.6% were caused by random events. The conclusion indicates the need to prepare the built environment for climate change and to develop appropriate solutions to reduce the risk of climate-related hazards and to mitigate their effects. Based on the conducted analyses, a conceptual framework of improved climate-resilient built environment management was proposed.

This paper describes the development of a simple method for mixed non‐covalent and covalent bonding of partially purified inulinase on functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (f‐MWCNTs) with polypyrrole (PPy). The pyrrole (Py) was electrochemically polymerized on MWCNTs in order to fabricate MWCNTs/PPy nanocomposite. Two multiple forms of enzyme were bound to N‐H functional groups from PPy and ‐COO− from activated MWCNTs to yield a stable MWCNTs/PPy/PEG immobilized preparation with increased thermal stability. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to confirm functionalization of nanoparticles and immobilization of the enzyme. The immobilization yield of 85% and optimal enzyme load of 345 μg protein onto MWCNTs was obtained. The optimum reaction conditions and kinetic parameters were established using the UV‐Vis analytical assay. The best functional performance for prepared heterogeneous catalyst has been observed at pH 3.6 and 10, and at the temperatures of 60 and 80ºC. The half‐life (t1/2) of the immobilized inulinase at 60 and 80ºC was found to be 231 and 99 min, respectively. The reusability of the immobilized formulation was evaluated based on a method in which the enzyme retained 50% of its initial activity, which occurred after the eighteenth operation cycle.

A new method to reduce the severity ofblocking artifacts in block DCT-based compressed images and video streams is presented in this paper. The proposed algorithm works in three steps. measurement of the visibility of the artifacts, edge detection, and adaptive processing ofthe degraded image. Thefirst step is performed in the DCT domain, while steps two and three are performed in the spatial domain. The algorithm 'sperformance is tested experimentally.

Dominant share of the residential stock in the European countries has an exploited service life and is in a need for façade refurbishment. This paper contributes with an establishment of a tool for assessment of the sustainability of design options for buildings` façade refurbishment. The tool is based on a multicriteria system, assessing four design criteria, relevant to the process of façade refurbishment. The criteria are evaluated by several surveyed participants by utilizing the Analytic-Hierarchic Process (AHP).The tool is applied on several façade refurbishment design proposals assessment on a case-study of a residential building situated in Skopje, Western Balkans, Europe. Each of the façade proposals is assessed regarding their energy performance, CO 2 emissions, investment costs and return of investment. Further, the results of the LCA analysis of the applied materials shows the contribution of each of them to the overall sustainability performance. The results of this research show that the use of wood and modified wood products as façade elements used for buildings` façade refurbishment can substantially decrease the greenhouse emissions and contribute to the carbon offset. However, due to the higher investment costs, the return of the investment is longer, leading to lower sustainability assessment ranking. It is concluded that the refurbishment of the façade with a conventional contact façade has the highest ranking on sustainability, followed by façade refurbishment with contact façade combined with only roof refurbishment/ glazing refurbishment or both. Also, the modified wood wall types show high sustainability ranking regarding their refurbishment potential.

The conventional building design and construction have detrimental impact onto the environment. With the current pace of development of the contemporary society, these issues cannot be fully addressed with the concept of sustainable design and construction, which is based on causing less harm to the environment. Thus, the regenerative concept is gaining relevance, as it is changing the construction paradigm toward the delivery of a human-centric environment, which, when coupled with the circular economy, aims to enable the natural environment to evolve. In order to have a more frequent delivery of regenerative buildings, it is necessary to broaden the knowledge on regenerative design, which is the objective of this paper. The aim is to investigate the design process, strategies, and technologies that are applied during the design and construction of a refurbished residential building, which is intended to be the first regenerative building in Spain, and is currently in the process of certification as per the Living Building Challenge (LBC) standard. Therefore, a literature review was performed, followed by a site visit of the case-study building. The research is organized according to the seven categories (petals) of the Living Building Challenge standard, and all 20 imperatives of the LBC are discussed. Additionally, the aspects of costs and project management are investigated. The findings point out the main design features and challenges toward the realization of regenerative refurbishment, in order to fully adhere to the demands of the LBC, and discusses their potential for a broader application in rural as well as urban settings. The analysis of the case-study design and construction can serve as a valuable insight to deliver future regenerative buildings and accelerate their implementation in the construction industry. This article is based upon the work of COST Action RESTORE CA16114, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).