A review on current advances in the energy and environmental performance of buildings towards a more sustainable built environment

Abstract

Nowadays, debates addressing climate change, fossil fuels depletion and energy security highlight the need for a more sustainable built environment in order to reduce energy consumption and emission trends in the buildings sector. Meeting these targets is a challenge that calls for innovative research to improve the use of renewable energy sources, new technologies, and holistic tools and methodologies. Such research should integrate the dynamics and main drivers of energy supply and demand in buildings to support new policies, plans and actions towards lowering the built environment burdens. This paper brings together ten research topics concerning the energy and environmental performance of buildings, which can support a shift towards a more sustainable built environment. Background information and state of the art literature on the covered research topics is briefly summarized, gaps are identified and guidelines for future research are provided. The selected topics cover different stages along the lifetime of buildings (from design and operation, to retrofitting and endof-life), different scale approaches (from building elements/components, to the building, district and urban scales), and different methods to assess the energy and environmental performance of buildings (life-cycle assessment, generative design methods and retrofitting tools). Other topics are discussed such as: nearly zero-energy buildings, the control of domestic energy resources in smart grid scenarios, the need to include end-users' behaviors in the dynamics of energy demand, the advantages of improving thermal storage by using phase change materials, the importance of reducing heating and cooling energy demand (maintaining indoor thermal comfort), and the optimization of heating and cooling fluids, and their system control.

The challenging paradigm of interrelated energy systems towards a more sustainable future

“…A proposal was specified to implement a campus sustainability management system [3]. The present paper, besides being a showcase of many issues on energy for sustainability, gathered together for a wide and structured view on contemporary issues, also shows how the diversity of competences grew among young researchers [5], as a result of the existence of the PhD programme and the intrinsic fertility of the co-operative multidisciplinary environment it requires to operate. This paper presents several subjects on energy systems towards a more sustainable future.…”

“…Exploring the organisational dimension of electricity distribution becomes more relevant as the importance of the social sciences and humanities gains momentum within energy research [112], [113], for which interest on individual behaviours and their potential can be observed as a growing field of study [5], [114], [115]. In this context, DSOs are complex technological and policy-driven businesses, for which a better understanding of their ability to adapt towards smart grids can contribute insights to ongoing policy debates [116].…”

“…However, buildings affect anthropogenic activities and demands well beyond in-dwelling requirements. As an example, location, design and density in the built environment influence mobility choices, including active travel [5], [262], [263], [264]. The interplays between buildings and the urban scale should be addressed, in order to adequately assess and evaluate different planning strategies and policies.…”

The potential impact of low thermal transmittance construction on the European design guidelines of residential buildings

“…As stated by Soares et al [1], debates addressing fossil fuels depletion, climate change, and 2 energy security emphasize the need for a more sustainable built environment in order to reduce 3 energy consumption and emission trends in the buildings sector. To achieve this, researchers are 4 studying the relation between the envelope thermal properties, geometry, and the use of dynamic 5 systems to determine the impacts on the energy performance of buildings.…”

“…It was concluded 27 that most of the ideal W W R values are found in the range of 0.30 to 0.45, which can represent a 28 5 % to 25 % improvement in the total energy use. Ma et al [7] aimed to show the effectiveness of 29 process assumption-based design (understanding buildings as dynamic thermal systems) together 30 with heat balance design as a tool to achieve real buildings' energy savings. The authors evaluated 31 the relationship between the maximum W W R of a thermally autonomous building and the ambient 32 temperature amplitudes with different envelope thermal resistances.…”