Download or read book The Sociology of Energy Buildings and the Environment written by Simon Guy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-02-04 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing the social sciences to the heart of environmental debate, this book demonstrates the relevance of sociological analysis for environmentally critical issues like energy consumption. Focusing on energy efficiency and the built environment, the authors take a critical look at the production and use of technical knowledge and energy-related expertise. Challenging the conventional assumptions of scientists and energy policy-makers, the book outlines a new role for social research and a new paradigm for environmental policy.

Download or read book Net Zero Energy Buildings NZEB written by Shady Attia and published by Butterworth-Heinemann. This book was released on 2018-03-26 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB): Concepts, Frameworks and Roadmap for Project Analysis and Implementation provides readers with the elements they need to understand, combine and contextualize design decisions on Net Zero Energy Buildings. The book is based on learned lessons from NZEB design, construction, operation that are integrated to bring the most relevant topics, such as multidisciplinarity, climate sensitivity, comfort requirements, carbon footprints, construction quality and evidence-based design. Chapters introduce the context of high performance buildings, present overviews of NZEB, cover the performance thresholds for efficient buildings, cover materials, micro-grid and smart grids, construction quality, performance monitoring, post occupancy evaluation, and more. Offers a roadmap for engaging in energy efficiency in high performance buildings projects Combines solid grounding in core concepts, such as energy efficiency, with a wider context that includes the technical, socio-cultural and environmental dimensions Covers key areas for decision-making Provides a logical framework to analyze projects in the context of environmental change Presents worldwide examples and cases for different climates and societies

Download or read book Energy and Electricity in Industrial Nations written by Allan Mazur and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy is at the top of the list of environmental problems facing industrial society, and is arguably the one that has been handled least successfully, in part because politicians and the public do not understand the physical technologies, while the engineers and industrialists do not understand the societal forces in which they operate. In this book, Allan Mazur, an engineer and a sociologist, explains energy technologies for nontechnical readers and analyses the sociology of energy. The book gives an overview of energy policy in industrialised countries including analysis of climate change, the development of electricity, forms of renewable energy and public perception of the issues. Energy is a key component to environment policy and to the workings of industrial society. This novel approach to energy technology and policy makes the book an invaluable inter-disciplinary resource for students across a range of subjects, from environmental and engineering policy, to energy technology, public administration, and environmental sociology and economics.

Download or read book Building Futures written by Jane Powell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-11-24 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A reduction in the energy demand of buildings can make a major contribution to achieving national and international carbon reduction goals, in addition to addressing the interlinked issues of sustainable development, fuel poverty and fuel security. Despite improvements in thermal efficiency, the energy demand of buildings stubbornly remains unchanged, or is only declining slowly, due to the challenges posed by growing populations, the expectations of larger, more comfortable and better equipped living spaces, and an expanding commercial sector. Building Futures offers an interdisciplinary approach to explore this lack of progress, combining technical and social insights into the challenges of designing, constructing and operating new low energy buildings, as well as improving the existing, inefficient, building stock. The twin roles of energy efficiency, which is predominantly concerned with technological solutions, and energy conservation which involves changing peoples’ behaviour, are both explored. The book includes a broad geographical range and scale of case studies from the UK, Europe and further afield, including Passivhaus in Germany and the UK, Dongtan Eco City in China and retrofit houses in Denmark. This book is a valuable resource for students and academics of environmental science and energy-based subjects as well as construction and building management professionals.

Download or read book Research Handbook on Energy and Society written by Webb, Janette and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2021-12-10 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This incisive Research Handbook examines the relationship between energy and society, across both macro- and micro-scales, in the context of the climate crisis. Featuring an extensive examination of current research in the field from fifty expert international contributors, it offers important insights into the inter-connections between the globally organised fossil fuel energy system and the changing structures of society.

Download or read book Environmental Sustainability in Building Design and Construction written by Xiaoming Wang and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-01 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph offers analyses of construction activities using various key concepts and assessments of sustainable development, and provides students and researchers with methodologies and design aspects for the sustainable development of the built environment. Additionally, the book demonstrates various national and international policies for assisting architects, engineers and policy makers in understanding the relevant decision-making approaches to sustainable development in construction. The book begins by reviewing the background of sustainability and sustainable development. The focus then turns to the effects of climate change on the built environment, including impacts of energy and carbon emissions, as well as constraints on water and waste management. The remaining chapters discuss the necessary approaches to achieve sustainable waste management, energy efficient building design, and resilience and adaptation in the built environment In eight chapters, the book encourages readers to think independently, logically and objectively about the complex issues presented by the applications of sustainable development in construction, including resource efficiency, environmental impacts, human health, building economics and social development.

Download or read book Energy Performance in Buildings and Quality of Life written by Kristian Fabbri and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-12-10 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buildings allow several kinds of human activity: work, eat, sleep, play, etc., and they have a role in determining quality of life: ugly and uncomfortable buildings can be the worst place to live. The energy performance of buildings has a special role in improving and guaranteeing quality of life because it concerns architectural design, energy cost, consumption and energy poverty, and thermal comfort—both indoor and outdoor. Following a multidisciplinary approach, we present several case studies and articles about the correlation between building and quality of life. The included research highlights the relationship between BEP and quality of life in terms of wellbeing and thermal comfort and household smartness following UE Directive 844/2018, as well as the reduction of energy poverty and the impact of buildings on the environment and global warming. Also in this book is a city-scale study that attempts to evaluate the effect of climate change on building performance and building energy efficiency mapping and, moreover, reports some cases of indoor environment quality as well as thermal comfort in nearly zero energy buildings; finally, detailed scientific literature on energy poverty and outdoor wellbeing quality of life are presented.

Download or read book Energy Efficiency written by Fereidoon P. Sioshansi and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2013-02-14 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy Efficiency: Towards the End of Demand Growth is a detailed guide to new energy efficiency technologies and policy frameworks affecting the profitability of efficiency projects. The contributions drawn together by F.P. Sioshansi feature insights from recognized thought leaders, detailed examinations of evolving technologies, and practical case studies yielding best practices for project planners, implementers and financiers. This volume challenges the "more is better" paradigm in energy production, examining efficiency technologies and measurement across the supply chain. Comparative financial analysis of efficiency vs. increased generation Case studies from four continents highlight the examples of successful technologies and projects Explains how existing and developing regulatory frameworks impact cost and implementation

Download or read book Global Energy Assessment written by Thomas B. Johansson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-08-27 with total page 1885 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Independent, scientifically based, integrated, policy-relevant analysis of current and emerging energy issues for specialists and policymakers in academia, industry, government.

Download or read book Architecture Sustainable Development vol 1 written by Magali Bodart and published by Presses univ. de Louvain. This book was released on 2011-07 with total page 917 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book of Proceedings presents the latest thinking and research in the rapidly evolving world of architecture and sustainable development through 255 selected papers by authors coming from over 60 countries.

Download or read book Constructing Green written by Rebecca L. Henn and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2013-08-02 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts consider green construction and the social, institutional, and cultural changes associated with it, through a sociological and organizational lens. Buildings are the nation's greatest energy consumers. Forty percent of all our energy is used for heating, cooling, lighting, and powering machines and devices in buildings. And despite decades of investment in green construction technologies, residential and commercial buildings remain stubbornly energy inefficient. This book looks beyond the technological and material aspects of green construction to examine the cultural, social, and organizational shifts that sustainable building requires, examining the fundamental challenge to centuries-long traditions in design and construction that green building represents. The contributors consider the changes associated with green building through a sociological and organizational lens. They discuss shifts in professional expertise created by new social concerns about green building, including evolving boundaries of professional jurisdictions; changing industry strategies and structures, including the roles of ownership, supply firms, and market niches; new operational, organizational, and cultural arrangements, including the mainstreaming of environmental concerns; narratives and frames that influence the perception of green building; and future directions for the theory and practice of sustainable construction. The essays offer uniquely multidisciplinary insights into the transformative potential of green building and the obstacles that must be overcome to make it the norm. Contributors Lauren Barhydt, Clayton Bartczak, Lyn Bartram, Olivier Berthod, Nicole Woolsey Biggart, Lenora Bohren, Bertien Broekhans, William Browning, Zinta S. Byrne, Michael Conger, Jennifer E. Cross, David Deal, Beth M. Duckles, Brian Dunbar, Robert Eccles, Amy Edmondson, Bill Franzen, Ronald Fry, Rebecca L. Henn, Jock Herron, Stephen Hockley, Andrew J. Hoffman, Kathryn B. Janda, Nitin Joglekar, Gavin Killip, Alison G. Kwok, Larissa Larsen, Michelle A. Meyer, Christine Mondor, Monica Ponce de Leon, Nicholas B. Rajkovich, Stuart Reeve, Johnny Rodgers, Garima Sharma, Geoffrey Thün, Ellen van Bueren, Kathy Velikov, Rohit Verma, Robert Woodbury, Jeffrey G. York, Jie Zhang

Download or read book Green Building in Developing Countries written by Zhonghua Gou and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book reveals how green buildings are currently being adapted and applied in developing countries. It includes the major developing countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, Cambodia, Ghana, Nigeria and countries from the Middle East and gathers the insights of respected green building researchers from these areas to map out the developing world’s green building revolution. The book highlights these countries’ contribution to tackling climate change, emphasising the green building benefits and the research behind them. The contributing authors explore how the green building revolution has spread to developing countries and how national governments have initiated their own green building policies and agendas. They also explore how the market has echoed the green building policy, and how a business case for green buildings has been established. In turn, they show how an international set of green building standards, in the form of various techniques and tools, has been incorporated into local building and construction practices. In closing, they demonstrate how the developing world is emerging as a key player for addressing the energy and environmental problems currently facing the world. The book helps developers, designers and policy-makers in governments and green building stakeholders to make better decisions on the basis of global and local conditions. It is also of interest to engineers, designers, facility managers and researchers, as it provides a holistic picture of how the industry is responding to the worldwide call for greener and more sustainable buildings.

Download or read book Energy and Sustainability VIII written by Tadeu, A. and published by WIT Press. This book was released on 2019-09-10 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originating from the 8th edition of the Energy and Sustainability conference, the research included in this volume contribute to the increasing amount of interest in renewable energy resources and the search for maintainable energy policies. Energy production and distribution need to respond to the modern world’s dependency on conventional fuels.

Download or read book Thinking Like a Climate written by Hannah Knox and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2020-08-24 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Thinking Like a Climate Hannah Knox confronts the challenges that climate change poses to knowledge production and modern politics. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork among policy makers, politicians, activists, scholars, and the public in Manchester, England—birthplace of the Industrial Revolution—Knox explores the city's strategies for understanding and responding to deteriorating environmental conditions. Climate science, Knox argues, frames climate change as a very particular kind of social problem that confronts the limits of administrative and bureaucratic techniques of knowing people, places, and things. Exceeding these limits requires forging new modes of relating to climate in ways that reimagine the social in climatological terms. Knox contends that the day-to-day work of crafting and implementing climate policy and translating climate knowledge into the work of governance demonstrates that local responses to climate change can be scaled up to effect change on a global scale.

Download or read book Energy Transition in the Baltic Sea Region written by Farid Karimi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-02-27 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses the potential for active stakeholder engagement in the energy transition in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) in order to foster clean energy deployment. Public acceptability and bottom-up activities can be critical for enduring outcomes to an energy transition. As a result, it is vital to understand how to unlock the potential for public, community and prosumer participation to facilitate renewable energy deployment and a clean energy transition – and, consequently, to examine the factors influencing social acceptability. Focussing on the diverse BSR, this book draws on expert contributions to consider a range of different topics, including the challenges of social acceptance and its policy implications; strategies to address challenges of acceptability among stakeholders; and community engagement in clean energy production. Overall, the authors examine the practical implications of current policy measures and provide recommendations on how lessons learnt from this ‘energy lab region’ may be applied to other regions. Reflecting an interdisciplinary approach in the social sciences, this book is an essential resource for scholars, students and policymakers researching and working in the areas of renewable energy, energy policy and citizen engagement, and interested in understanding the potential for bottom-up, grassroots activities and social acceptability to expedite the energy transition and reanimate democracies. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Download or read book Mainstreaming passive houses written by Johan Niskanen and published by Linköping University Electronic Press. This book was released on 2018-11-20 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The passive house concept has become increasingly popular in the building sector in the lost twenty years ond is deemed to ploy on important role in aligning the housing sector with climate and environmental policy objectives. However, for such buildings to ploy this port they need to be more widespread, more common and more accepted by mainstream actors and institutions. The deployment of passive houses involves changes and adaptations in different parts of society. It involves changes in institutional and organisational set-ups, and it involves market and regulatory changes. Previous research on passive houses has focused on demonstration projects or has taken for granted that a dissemination will lead to a full-scale transition of the building sector. This puts undue focus on emerging actors and technologies emerging in isolation. This thesis investigates the wider deployment of passive houses with a focus on mainstreaming. This means that focus is on different social arenas where the deployment of passive houses is negotiated between multiple actors. This thesis contributes to a comprehensive picture of how passive house deployment is shaped through a study of attempts to mainstream these buildings in Sweden. It shows how such attempts hove been partially successful in specific companies and regions, but it also show how a normalization of these buildings has been limited due to market, regulatory, and political developments Possivhuskonceptet hor blivit allt populärare under de senaste tjugo åren och bedöms spela en viktig roll för att anpassa bostadssektorn till klimat- och miljöpolitiska mål. För att sådana byggnader ska kunna göra skillnad måste de dock få en större utbredning och bli accepterade av etablerade aktörer och institutioner. Utbyggnaden av passivhus innebär förändringar och anpassningar i olika delar av samhället. Dessa innefattar institutionella och organisatoriska förändringar, samt marknadsförändringar och en anpassad lagstiftning. Tidigare forskning har framförallt studerat demonstrationsprojekt eller hor tagit för givet att en spridning av possivhus kommer att leda till en fullskalig omställning av byggsektorn. Detta lägger otillbörligt fokus pö nya aktörer och tekniker som utvecklats utan bredare social förankring. Denna avhandling studerar utbyggnaden av passivhus med fokus på "mainstreoming". Det innebär att fokus ligger på olika sociala arenor där spridningen av passivhus förhandlas mellan nya och etablerade aktörer. Avhandlingen bidrar till att presentera en övergripande bild av hur passivhusutbyggnod tar form genom en studie av försök att sprida dessa byggnader i Sverige. Avhandlingen visar hur sådana försök delvis har lyckats i specifika företag och regioner, men den visar också hur en normalisering av dessa byggnader har varit begränsad på grund av marknads-, lagstiftnings- och politiska aspekter.

Download or read book Smart Energy Control Systems for Sustainable Buildings written by John Littlewood and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-05-26 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is widespread interest in the way that smart energy control systems, such as assessment and monitoring techniques for low carbon, nearly-zero energy and net positive buildings can contribute to a Sustainable future, for current and future generations. There is a turning point on the horizon for the supply of energy from finite resources such as natural gas and oil become less reliable in economic terms and extraction become more challenging, and more unacceptable socially, such as adverse public reaction to ‘fracking’. Thus, in 2016 these challenges are having a major influence on the design, optimisation, performance measurements, operation and preservation of: buildings, neighbourhoods, cities, regions, countries and continents. The source and nature of energy, the security of supply and the equity of distribution, the environmental impact of its supply and utilization, are all crucial matters to be addressed by suppliers, consumers, governments, industry, academia, and financial institutions. This book entitled ‘Smart Energy Control Systems for Sustainable Buildings’ contains eleven chapters written by international experts based on enhanced conference papers presented at the Sustainability and Energy in Buildings International conference series. This book will be of interest to University staff and students; and also industry practioners.