Energy-Pollution Nexus for Urban Buildings

2011

Buildings consume around 40% of the final energy in most countries but are also responsible for a large part of the energy use in the industrial and transport sectors. Today, most policies and market trends focus solely on the space heating and cooling demands often neglecting to consider indirect energy requirements such as the embodied energy of buildings or the transport energy of their users. This paper assesses different building scenarios located in two urban contexts by integrating the operational energy demand as well as the embodied energy of the dwellings and the transport energy consumption of the users. Results show that space heating represents at most 23% of the total life cycle energy demand over 50 years and 47% if the rest of operational energies, i.e. domestic hot water and appliances, is considered. Transport consumes 34-51 % of the total life cycle energy consumption while the embodied energy of buildings was found to be of the same order of magnitude as their operational energy. Current energy assessment of buildings therefore often only analyses a small fraction of the total life cycle energy use. We should widen its scope to account for so-called indirect energy consumption. This paper shows that a more holistic approach to the assessment of the energy demand associated with buildings is necessary if significant improvements in their energy efficiency are to be achieved.

The Lancet, 2007

Since the last decades of the 19th century, technological advances have brought substantial improvements in the efficiency with which energy can be exploited to service human needs. That trend has been accompanied by an equally notable increase in energy consumption, which strongly correlates with socioeconomic development. Nonetheless, feasible gains in the efficiency and technology of energy use in towns and cities and in homes have the potential to contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse-gas emissions, and to improve health, for example, through protection against temperature-related morbidity and mortality, and the alleviation of fuel poverty. A shift towards renewable energy production would also put increasing focus on cleaner energy carriers, especially electricity, but possibly also hydrogen, which would have benefits to urban air quality. In low-income countries, a vital priority remains the dissemination of affordable technology to alleviate the burdens of indoor air pollution and other health effects in individuals obliged to rely on biomass fuels for cooking and heating, as well as the improvement in access to electricity, which would have many benefits to health and wellbeing.

Environmental Research Letters, 2021

Buildings are responsible for a major share of global final energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. An analysis of the worldwide observed drivers of demand can highlight the policy actions most suited to drive the decarbonization of the building sector. To contribute to such an analysis, we carry out a mapping of the literature on determinants of energy demand and CO2 emissions from buildings. The work includes a list and classification of relevant studies in an on-line geographical map, a description of trends and gaps, and a narrative review. We identify 4080 articles in the Scopus and the Web of Science databases, of which 712 are relevant after screening at the title and abstract level, and 376 are included for data extraction. The literature base mostly addresses electricity and water use, in North America and Europe (57% of the literature) and Asia (27%). Econometric modeling approaches using panel data to calculate demand elasticities, dominate. These findings ...

2012

other information will not infringe privately owned rights and will assume no liability for any loss, injury, or damage resulting from, or occurring in connection with, the use of information contained, described, disclosed, or referred to in this report. acknowledge the program manager Alex Peck and the project advisor Edward Linky of the Environmental Protection Agency-Region II for providing Pollution Prevention grant and offering unyielding support for this project. We hope this project report delivers measurable results for Pollution Prevention and outlines clear strategy and matrix for targeted outreach to stakeholders.

Environmental Science & Policy, 1998

This paper provides an overview of recent ®ndings concerning trends and prospects for carbon dioxide emissions from the buildings sector. Reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the US Department of Energy note that buildings account for 25±30% of total energy-related carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. This means building energy use contributes 10±12% of the increasing net radiative forcing that is inducing global warming. On average, between 1980 and 1990, CO 2 emissions from buildings have grown by 1.7% per year with rates of growth four times greater in developing countries. The high growth in developing countries is mainly due to changes in structural factors (demographics, economic growth) and increases in the amount of energy services demanded by energy consumers. Experience in OECD countries has shown that technologies and policies exist to signi®cantly reduce energy demand in buildings. Some of the main policy instruments to reduce energy demand include energy eciency standards for buildings and appliances, voluntary agreements, ®nancial/economic incentives, and market transformation programs. When converted to carbon emissions, energy forecasts of the World Energy Council suggest that business-as-usual trends will result in building CO 2 emissions growing by 2.6% a year to the year 2020, with the vast majority of the growth taking place in non-OECD countries. Signi®cant opportunities to help raise building energy eciency at home and abroad exist, should countries begin to more fully commit to mitigating greenhouse gases. Commitments by countries to contain the growth of greenhouse gas emissions in an economically sound manner is likely to induce signi®cant increases in the investment in energy-ecient technologies. #

Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2020

The energy consumption of buildings is related to several factors, such as the construction and geometric characteristics, occupancy, climate and microclimate conditions, solar exposure, and urban morphology. However, the interaction between buildings and the surrounding urban context should also be taken into consideration in energy consumption models. The aim of this work has been to create a bottom-up model in order to evaluate the energy balance of residential buildings at an urban scale, starting from the hourly energy consumption data. This modeling approach considers the building characteristics together with urban variables to describe the energy balance of the built environment; it can therefore be used to manage heterogeneous types of data at different scales and it can offer accurate spatial-temporal information on the energy performance of buildings. Detailed heat balance methods can be used at a building scale to estimate heating loads, but this urban-scale simplified model can also be used as a decision tool to support urban design explorations and for policy purposes. This urban energy consumption model was verified for a case study of a district in Turin, Italy, with the support of a GIS tool, considering hourly energy consumption data of about 50 residential users for two or three consecutive heating seasons. The results show that a simplified model, based on low quality and quantity data, which are typical of an urban scale, can be a powerful tool for the evaluation and spatial representation of the energy needs of buildings at an urban scale. 1. Introduction The global CO2 emissions from energy and industry increased in 2017, following a three-year period of stabilization. The building sector accounted for about 28% of the total energy-related CO2 emissions, and buildings should therefore play a central role in the transition to clean energy [1]. The energy consumption of buildings in high-density urban contexts significantly influences urban sustainability, and built-up areas can represent a context where energy efficiency improvements can be introduced and greenhouse gases (GHG) can be mitigated [2,3]. Two necessary actions have been identified to achieve energy sustainability in an urban context: the improvement of energy efficiency and the exploitation of the available renewable energy sources [4]. The development of Urban-Scale Energy Modeling (USEM) at a district or city level is currently the goal of many research groups, as a result of the increased interest in evaluating the impact of energy efficiency and low-carbon measures on urban environments [5]. These models are useful to explore energy efficiency solutions at an urban or district scale and to quantitatively assess retrofitting strategies and energy supply options, which in turn can lead to more effective policies and an effective management of the energy demand [6]. Since the relationship between urban form and buildings affects the energy performances of such buildings, it is possible to obtain a lower energy demand through the use of USEMs by improving the morphology of the built environment [7]. The energy consumption of

Energy and Buildings, 2011

Energy use intensity (EUI) and climate have a well documented correlation, which is generally applied in building energy management. Green buildings have sought to greatly reduce energy consumption and a number of examples are documented in the literature. A sample of high performance buildings constructed in a variety of global locations is analyzed here, and provides evidence that measures to reduce energy consumption have reduced EUI to the point where its correlation with heating degree days is no longer apparent. This result suggests that end-user behaviour is the next major hurdle in lowering the energy consumption of greener buildings.

Energy and Buildings, 2012

The current energy distribution infrastructure in many urban areas either cannot support anticipated future energy use or would require significant rehabilitation even if current use were maintained. Understanding the dynamics of local energy use is an important precondition of understanding how to remedy this situation. This paper builds a model to estimate the building sector energy end-use intensity (kwh/m 2 floor area) for space heating, domestic hot water, electricity for space cooling and electricity for non-space cooling applications in New York City. The model assumes that such end use is primarily dependent on building function, whether residential, educational or office for example, and not on construction type or the age of the building. The modeled intensities are calibrated using ZIP code level electricity and fuel use data reported by the New York City Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. The end-use ratios were derived from the Residential and Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey's Public Use Microdata. The results provide the ability to estimate the end-use energy consumption of each tax lot in New York City. The resulting spatially explicit energy consumption can be a valuable tool for determining cost-effectiveness and policies for implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.

European Journal of Theology 29 (2020), 235–249

Although the title Introduction to the New Testament suggests otherwise, this comprehensive book is no ordinary introduction. It does deal with the authors of the first five books of the New Testament canon (Mt, Mk, Lk, Jn and Acts) and the dates of their writings, but the focus is on the place of these writings in the history of literature. Baum makes clear that the authors of the New Testament used the Old Testament scriptures as models and examples. This means that not the author, but the message takes central stage. The aim is to reproduce and transmit the message of Jesus in a reliable way, and by ancient standards this aim is achieved. In an astute way Baum integrates conventional historical-critical approaches to the origin of the Gospels, especially in the field of Synoptic studies, but he shows that without the implicit limitations of a certain world view, these approaches can also lead to completely different results. The present review article introduces this unusual Introduction, presents Baum’s most important results and at the end makes some suggestions as to which areas are still awaiting appropriate discussion.