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Is it more environmentally friendly to replace an existing building with a new one or to renovate the existing property? This paper addresses how to frame and evaluate this question. Although several previous studies exist, their methods lack a harmonised set of practice. A new framework is introduced that adopts the concept of consequential replacement framework (CRF) for life cycle assessment (LCA) which had previously been applied to vehicles. The application of the CRF to buildings is demonstrated with case studies on school buildings in Finland. Three alternative cases are examined: the refurbishment of a 1950s school; extending it with an annex; and demolition and replacement with a new concrete or timber building. As the European environmental impact regulation of buildings pertains to CO2 emissions, the paper also focuses on CO2. The case studies demonstrate that refurbishment in Finland is a more climate-friendly alternative to demolition and new build. The studied new buildings' better energy efficiency is set off for decades by the carbon spike caused by the embodied CO2 in their materials. The CRF is shown to be a methodologically sound, easily approachable framework for evaluating immediate environmental consequences of decision-makers' retention or replacement choices, suitable to different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the difference between the ways that nature functions and the way that the built environment is currently produced and operates, and if and how they can be realigned. While regenerative approaches can apply to a range of human enterprises, the paper focuses on their application to the production of the urban built environment. It examines if and how they may move into mainstream building practice and how long this may take given the inherent inertias in the building industry. Key issues include the recasting and interrogating of the accumulated knowledge held by design professionals within a broader living systems frame, and rethinking what constitutes a successful outcome of building design. Such efforts are set against the diminishing time available before a series of climate tipping points are crossed and further short- to mid-term constraints posed by a host of other powerful countervailing forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the second output of a project that examines the embodied greenhouse gas emissions ('embodied carbon') from the use of concrete in buildings. In the current absence of either regulation or widespread industry practice in quantified carbon assessment, it seems likely that messaging will play a powerful role in influencing designers' perceptions and decisions. Using the UK as a case study, this paper considers the current messages about the carbon implications of concrete in buildings from professional institutions and the cement and concrete trade body. Three mechanisms through which it is claimed carbon emissions are significantly reduced are identified: thermal mass, durability, and carbonation. By assessing each of these in turn against the available scientific literature, it is shown that they are likely to have a far more limited effect on the total impacts than suggested. More accuracy is needed from trade organisations if real carbon reductions are to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has become part of heritage management, expert-driven intrinsic values still dominate the conservation policy and practice. This paper explores the use of building biographies as a way to assess, illustrate and record the social value of shopping arcades. A case study of the North Street Arcade in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is used to explore how building biographies can contribute bottom-up evidence to top-down value-based approaches of architectural conservation. The North Street Arcade is a listed shopping arcade that has been lying vacant and derelict for the last 30 years awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Archival documents, historic photographs, news reports and documentaries, interviews and anthropology were combined to compile the arcade's biography. Allowing the combination of positivist and interpretive approaches, as well as merging community and expert voices, building biographies can produce localised and inclusive heritage narratives that accentuate the many dimensions of social value that different publics ascribe to built heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teleworking offers various socio-economic benefits to the workforce, especially during major disasters. However, the holistic net energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions impacts of telework remain poorly understood. This paper develops and tests a longitudinal mixed-methods approach to estimate energy and emissions in three domains: home office, transportation, and information and communications technology (ICT). A pilot study of 11 participants from Ottawa, Canada, is used to evaluate the method, while generating a rich dataset and new insights. The results show transportation, home heating and cooling account for > 94% of telework-related energy, while home office equipment, lighting and ICT account for the remaining 6% (and < 2% of GHG emissions). Not including employer offices, teleworking will likely yield a net reduction in energy and GHG emissions compared with conventional working arrangements, but this result is dependent on personal choices, routines, purchasing decisions and household structure. The paper concludes with a discussion and future recommendations for the developed method based on the lessons learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to domestic buildings, the drivers influencing the stock dynamics (construction subtracted by demolition) of non-domestic buildings (NDB) have not yet been researched on a use-class basis. For the first time, due to elaborated data sets on construction and demolition of NDB in Germany, an in-depth analysis of causal relationships is provided at a subnational level. This paper investigates the cause-effect relationships between influencing variables and stock dynamics of the three quantitatively most relevant use classes of the German NDB stock: office buildings, industrial buildings and warehouses. Influencing variables on the development of the stock were first identified by means of expert interviews. Regions with high construction dynamics were identified. Within these highly dynamic regions, construction activity was correlated with influencing variables. A principal component analysis was used to examine the explanatory power of underlying, use-class-specific components of the variable set. The results show the particular importance of employment-related variables. They combine demographic, economic and wealth-related influences and allow for a distinction to be made in relation to functional non-domestic-use classes. For the first time, this confirms that different use classes of NDB are characterised by different influencing variables, and that these variables recur to uncorrelated overarching drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development of a detailed plan to get the social housing stock of the Borough of Islington in London, UK, to net zero carbon emissions. This stock is very diverse in form, age and construction, and includes houses, flats and maisonettes. A total of 4500 buildings containing some 33,300 dwellings were modelled using the 3DStock method. Six packages of measures combining fabric improvements, heat pumps and photovoltaic installations were evaluated for each dwelling individually, in terms of costs, the impacts on gas and electricity use, and predicted cuts in carbon emissions. The rollout of measures between 2020 and 2030 was modelled with a specially developed scenario tool, allowing the user to set different criteria and priorities. Fabric measures on their own were shown to achieve only a 13% cut in gas use on average. Heat pumps are the key to displacing gas use. With all measures combined and taking account of the predicted decarbonisation of the electricity supply, it is only possible to achieve an overall 70% cut in emissions by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current adaptation theory tends to consider individual buildings or the city level, which cannot address decisions related to masterplan developments on large brownfield sites. This paper investigates the drivers for building demolition or retention and adaptation decisions at the masterplan scale. Expert interviews and three case studies are used to explore how and why decisions to demolish, or to retain and adapt, are made at this scale. The research compared three different geopolitical contexts: Cambridge in the UK; Eindhoven in the Netherlands; and Sydney in Australia. Additional factors and complexities that should be considered at the masterplan scale are identified. The theoretical underpinnings of urban development processes are used to explain these complexities in relation to four existing models and demonstrate that no one model is adequate to describe the interactions. With increasing awareness of climate change impacts, it is critical that demolition decisions on masterplan developments are reviewed in the light of retaining carbon as well as heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has become part of heritage management, expert-driven intrinsic values still dominate the conservation policy and practice. This paper explores the use of building biographies as a way to assess, illustrate and record the social value of shopping arcades. A case study of the North Street Arcade in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is used to explore how building biographies can contribute bottom-up evidence to top-down value-based approaches of architectural conservation. The North Street Arcade is a listed shopping arcade that has been lying vacant and derelict for the last 30 years awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Archival documents, historic photographs, news reports and documentaries, interviews and anthropology were combined to compile the arcade’s biography. Allowing the combination of positivist and interpretive approaches, as well as merging community and expert voices, building biographies can produce localised and inclusive heritage narratives that accentuate the many dimensions of social value that different publics ascribe to built heritage. Policy relevance Although social value has become part of heritage management, expert-driven values still dominate the conservation policy and practice. The inclusion of social value in the statutory criteria for listing could afford heritage protection to places that are highly valued by local communities, thereby encompassing places that do not fulfil the architectural and historic criteria. This article explores the use of building biographies as a way to assess, illustrate and record the social value of shopping arcades. The building biography is an approach that combines qualitative methods deriving from anthropology and sociology with historical and architectural analysis, and can be used to highlight the link between people and places, as well as their ever-changing cultural context. This paper illustrates how building biographies can contribute bottom-up evidence to top-down value-based approaches of architectural conservation and highlight the social value of shopping arcades.

This paper explores the difference between the ways that nature functions and the way that the built environment is currently produced and operates, and if and how they can be realigned. While regenerative approaches can apply to a range of human enterprises, the paper focuses on their application to the production of the urban built environment. It examines if and how they may move into mainstream building practice and how long this may take given the inherent inertias in the building industry. Key issues include the recasting and interrogating of the accumulated knowledge held by design professionals within a broader living systems frame, and rethinking what constitutes a successful outcome of building design. Such efforts are set against the diminishing time available before a series of climate tipping points are crossed and further short- to mid-term constraints posed by a host of other powerful countervailing forces. Practice relevance A critique of emerging regenerative practices is provided with an overview of both the challenges facing design professionals moving them into mainstream building practices, and the opportunities it provides them. Rather than viewing their work as solely reducing environmental impact, regenerative practices offer architects and planners a positive casting and expansion of their responsibilities. They enable design professionals to both contribute in the bringing about of systems-level change and to provide inhabitants with greater opportunities and pathways to both navigate an uncertain future and re-establish, reconnect and co-evolve with natural systems.

Is it more environmentally friendly to replace an existing building with a new one or to renovate the existing property? This paper addresses how to frame and evaluate this question. Although several previous studies exist, their methods lack a harmonised set of practice. A new framework is introduced that adopts the concept of consequential replacement framework (CRF) for life cycle assessment (LCA) which had previously been applied to vehicles. The application of the CRF to buildings is demonstrated with case studies on school buildings in Finland. Three alternative cases are examined: the refurbishment of a 1950s school; extending it with an annex; and demolition and replacement with a new concrete or timber building. As the European environmental impact regulation of buildings pertains to CO2 emissions, the paper also focuses on CO2. The case studies demonstrate that refurbishment in Finland is a more climate-friendly alternative to demolition and new build. The studied new buildings’ better energy efficiency is set off for decades by the carbon spike caused by the embodied CO2 in their materials. The CRF is shown to be a methodologically sound, easily approachable framework for evaluating immediate environmental consequences of decision-makers’ retention or replacement choices, suitable to different contexts. Policy relevance As the global CO2 budget is running out, the need to combat the escalation of the climate emergency is imminent. Decades-long payback times for embodied CO2 investments in new replacement buildings, as in the paper’s case studies, are not helpful in this effort. The introduced framework helps to uncover the climate change mitigation potential in building preservation, which is presently poorly understood and considered in policymaking. The new framework provides a useful decision support tool and evidence for both policymakers and planners. Current policy initiatives in Europe focus on CO2 regulation for new build and renovation. However, replacement situations are not yet regulated. In contexts where renovation clearly proves to be more climate friendly (as validated by this method), policymakers should recognise the greenhouse gas-mitigation potential in building retention and create policies to encourage renovation over new build.

Teleworking offers various socio-economic benefits to the workforce, especially during major disasters. However, the holistic net energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions impacts of telework remain poorly understood. This paper develops and tests a longitudinal mixed-methods approach to estimate energy and emissions in three domains: home office, transportation, and information and communications technology (ICT). A pilot study of 11 participants from Ottawa, Canada, is used to evaluate the method, while generating a rich dataset and new insights. The results show transportation, home heating and cooling account for > 94% of telework-related energy, while home office equipment, lighting and ICT account for the remaining 6% (and < 2% of GHG emissions). Not including employer offices, teleworking will likely yield a net reduction in energy and GHG emissions compared with conventional working arrangements, but this result is dependent on personal choices, routines, purchasing decisions and household structure. The paper concludes with a discussion and future recommendations for the developed method based on the lessons learned. Practice relevance A new mixed-methods approach was developed and piloted to study the holistic energy impacts of teleworking. This demonstrates measurement tools, data analysis measures and scenario modelling. It provides lessons learned and acknowledges limitations. It is a major step forward in setting the stage for larger scale studies. The specific results showed that compared with conventional working arrangements, nine of the 11 participants are likely to consume less energy and produce fewer GHG emissions when teleworking based on a scenario-based analytical approach. However, if workers use sustainable transportation, teleworking may not yield any energy savings as increases in the home domain are expected. Future studies should include the employer offices.

This paper is the second output of a project that examines the embodied greenhouse gas emissions (‘embodied carbon’) from the use of concrete in buildings. In the current absence of either regulation or widespread industry practice in quantified carbon assessment, it seems likely that messaging will play a powerful role in influencing designers’ perceptions and decisions. Using the UK as a case study, this paper considers the current messages about the carbon implications of concrete in buildings from professional institutions and the cement and concrete trade body. Three mechanisms through which it is claimed carbon emissions are significantly reduced are identified: thermal mass, durability, and carbonation. By assessing each of these in turn against the available scientific literature, it is shown that they are likely to have a far more limited effect on the total impacts than suggested. More accuracy is needed from trade organisations if real carbon reductions are to be achieved. 'Practice relevance' In the current absence of whole life carbon assessment for buildings, messaging about the carbon impacts of different materials is likely to have a strong impact. The paper recommends that the cement and concrete industry should be more accurate with the messages it is sharing. In particular the claims that thermal mass, durability and carbonation are effective mechanisms, which suggest concrete is a low carbon option, should be reconsidered. Meanwhile designers should use the excellent advice being produced by the professional institutions and undertake whole-life carbon calculations to ensure the lowest carbon design. These should include a best estimate of future trends towards warming climates and decarbonisation of electricity, but should also recognise the importance of the immediate effects of the emissions from construction materials. There is also a key role for policymakers in legislating to make the measurement of embodied impacts of buildings mandatory.

Although indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and human health have been on the agenda of the green building industry, a new emphasis is being placed on building features that explicitly promote the experience of occupants. However, evidence of the performance of green-certified buildings from the occupant perspective remains inconsistent, with numerous questions on how to effectively design, assess and promote ‘healthy buildings’. Focusing on the key IEQ categories of indoor air quality, thermal comfort, lighting and acoustics, this paper synthesises emerging knowledge related to IEQ and health; identifies research and practical challenges that may impede the performance of green-rated buildings; sets the foundations for researchers and green rating system developers to capture immediate and long-term opportunities; and proposes a new framework for green-certified buildings. The envisioned future of green buildings will need to be based on a thorough knowledge of the building and its users, their inter- and intra-individual variability, their spatiotemporal localisation, their activities, their history of exposures, together with a capacity of anticipation of the likelihood of future events and preparedness for them. A balanced, integrated, consideration of these factors can provide the basis for more effective green building certification systems. 'Practice relevance' The Covid-19 pandemic has focused attention on the importance of IEQ and highlighted the limitations of prevailing practice for promoting human experience, health and wellbeing. Most critically, the good intentions of project planning are often not reflected in real-world conditions, and establishedbest practiceshave not kept pace with advances in research. This paper provides a critical synthesis of the literature on the effectiveness of green building ratings systems for human experience. It identifies limitations and practical opportunities for improvement in the design and application of rating tools. These observations present specific, actionable, opportunities to improve the design and operation of green building rating systems. Rating system developers and practitioners can use this information to better align design intentions with outcomes. Explicit consideration is needed for differences in individual preferences, spatial and temporal variabilities of IEQ factors, occupant exposure history, and other factors impacting IEQ.

In contrast to domestic buildings, the drivers influencing the stock dynamics (construction subtracted by demolition) of non-domestic buildings (NDB) have not yet been researched on a use-class basis. For the first time, due to elaborated data sets on construction and demolition of NDB in Germany, an in-depth analysis of causal relationships is provided at a subnational level. This paper investigates the cause–effect relationships between influencing variables and stock dynamics of the three quantitatively most relevant use classes of the German NDB stock: office buildings, industrial buildings and warehouses. Influencing variables on the development of the stock were first identified by means of expert interviews. Regions with high construction dynamics were identified. Within these highly dynamic regions, construction activity was correlated with influencing variables. A principal component analysis was used to examine the explanatory power of underlying, use-class-specific components of the variable set. The results show the particular importance of employment-related variables. They combine demographic, economic and wealth-related influences and allow for a distinction to be made in relation to functional non-domestic-use classes. For the first time, this confirms that different use classes of NDB are characterised by different influencing variables, and that these variables recur to uncorrelated overarching drivers. Practice relevance This study identifies the drivers of NDB stock dynamics. These drivers can be used to estimate future changes of the NDB stock on different scales. The linkages to specific use-class drivers allow new understandings of stock dynamics for office, industrial and warehouse buildings at a regional level. This has potential application to circular economy approaches as the results of this research can be applied at city levels. This study can provide a clearer understanding of future construction material volumes and their respective recycling capacities. The same is applicable for research on stock-driven land demand. This study can contribute to the broader discussion on the future development of the non-residential building stock and the resulting environmental impacts due to land use, energy and material consumption or CO2 emissions.

Current adaptation theory tends to consider individual buildings or the city level, which cannot address decisions related to masterplan developments on large brownfield sites. This paper investigates the drivers for building demolition or retention and adaptation decisions at the masterplan scale. Expert interviews and three case studies are used to explore how and why decisions to demolish, or to retain and adapt, are made at this scale. The research compared three different geopolitical contexts: Cambridge in the UK; Eindhoven in the Netherlands; and Sydney in Australia. Additional factors and complexities that should be considered at the masterplan scale are identified. The theoretical underpinnings of urban development processes are used to explain these complexities in relation to four existing models and demonstrate that no one model is adequate to describe the interactions. With increasing awareness of climate change impacts, it is critical that demolition decisions on masterplan developments are reviewed in the light of retaining carbon as well as heritage. Practice relevance This research demonstrates the different and specific concerns applying to demolition and retention on masterplan scale sites compared with the individual building scale. Although the evidence shows that decisions are context specific, the criteria as identified and categorised within this research offer a useful tool for stakeholders when establishing their priorities and approaches to decisions to demolish or retain and adapt within a masterplan context. This should help to avoid contested decisions and can help community groups hoping to have an influence over the long-term decisions, as well as developers looking to retain good relationships with the local community. The identified criteria can support planners and local authorities responsible for approving masterplan developments to better understand the factors relevant to each decision, including the importance of retaining flexibility throughout to enable response to changing circumstances.

This paper describes the development of a detailed plan to get the social housing stock of the Borough of Islington in London, UK, to net zero carbon emissions. This stock is very diverse in form, age and construction, and includes houses, flats and maisonettes. A total of 4500 buildings containing some 33,300 dwellings were modelled using the 3DStock method. Six packages of measures combining fabric improvements, heat pumps and photovoltaic installations were evaluated for each dwelling individually, in terms of costs, the impacts on gas and electricity use, and predicted cuts in carbon emissions. The rollout of measures between 2020 and 2030 was modelled with a specially developed scenario tool, allowing the user to set different criteria and priorities. Fabric measures on their own were shown to achieve only a 13% cut in gas use on average. Heat pumps are the key to displacing gas use. With all measures combined and taking account of the predicted decarbonisation of the electricity supply, it is only possible to achieve an overall 70% cut in emissions by 2030. Policy relevance The development of a detailed practical plan of action is described: an applied case study with the close engagement of the local authority—not a theoretical desk exercise. Each dwelling in Islington’s housing stock was examined and measured separately. The modelling did not rely on ‘archetypes’ as in many such studies. Realistic retrofit options were analysed in each case, using current cost data from practitioners. The same approach could be applied directly to other London boroughs, and for local authorities outside the capital, although different costs and other local factors would apply. For readers outside the UK, the methodology and tools could serve as exemplars. The findings about the respective contributions of heat pumps, solar photovoltaics and fabric measures, and the effects of different priorities in the rollout of retrofits, have relevance for policymaking more generally at local and national levels.

'Fabric first' describes an approach to improving the thermal performance of residential buildings by prioritising the improvement of fabric. It has historically been widely advocated. However, the urgency of complete decarbonisation challenges this approach in existing buildings. Heat decarbonisation is necessary to deliver zero-carbon goals. In many cases, no additional fabric improvement is needed to decarbonise heating; a heat pump, or other zero-carbon heat supply, will be enough. Retrofitting fabric first may not be feasible across the whole housing stock on timescales necessary for rapid decarbonisation and could therefore slow housing decarbonisation. However, fabric improvement will continue to have an important role. Energy use in buildings with a 'heat pump only' retrofit will be higher than if insulation were also improved. Fabric should continue to be prioritised in new buildings and where low-cost insulation measures are available. Fabric improvement can have other benefits: lower running costs, improved comfort, reduced damp risk, better heat pump performance, reduced overheating risk and lower requirements for electricity capacity increases. The suitability of a heat-pump-only approach to building decarbonisation should therefore be decided building by building. For national building stocks, complete decarbonisation of heating systems is required, but stock average fabric improvement may be 30-50%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights  Buildings and cities are increasingly being reconfigured and re-imagined by flows of data. Smart homes and cities, digitally networked infrastructure services, shared mobility programmes and autonomous vehicles, surveillance and security systems, and urban control centres are a few of the many examples of how data are emerging as an influential driver of urban development processes. The aim of this special issue is to enhance our collective understanding of the practices, politics and power implications of data-driven buildings and cities. How are data generated, metabolised and gathered in the built environment? Who designs and governs these data flows, and to what end? Who and what are enrolled in the datafication of buildings and cities? What forms and types of data are collected, and what is ignored in data flows at and across different scales? What are the broader implications for social justice and equity? This editorial overviews the main issues of data politics for buildings and cities, summarises the four articles that comprise this special issue, and concludes with recommendations for policy, design and future research. While the contributors identify multiple negative aspects of datafication, they also suggest pathways to inform more progressive and emancipatory futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines cooling in the built environment, an area of rapidly rising energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, the status quo of cooling is assessed and proposals are made for how to advance towards sustainable cooling through five levers of change: social interactions, technology innovations, business models, governance and infrastructure design. Achieving sustainable cooling requires navigating the opportunities and barriers presented by the incumbent technology that currently dominates the way in which cooling is provided--the vapour-compression refrigerant technology (or airconditioners). Air-conditioners remain the go-to solution for growing cooling demand, with other alternatives often overlooked. This incumbent technology has contributed to five barriers hindering the transition to sustainable cooling: (1) building policies based exclusively on energy efficiency; (2) a focus on temperature rather than other thermal comfort variables; (3) building-centric design of cooling systems instead of occupantcentric design; (4) businesses guided by product-only sales; and (5) lack of innovation beyond the standard operational phase of the incumbent technology. Opportunities and priority actions are identified for policymakers, cooling professionals, technicians and citizens to promote a transition towards sustainable cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wellbeing in buildings is often approached by practitioners and researchers as the aggregate result of individual interactions between building occupants and building features. This sum-of-the-parts approach, however, ignores the ways in which broader social (i.e. sense of ownership and belonging) and symbolic (i.e. what it means to be 'well' in a specific culture at a particular place and time) components of wellbeing influence occupant experience of the built environment. A social practice perspective on wellbeing in buildings is proposed that accounts for these elements. Beginning with discussions of how wellbeing has been assessed and the foundations of social practice theory, it is suggested that occupant wellbeing is emergent not just from individual interactions with building features but also from broader social and symbolic elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires immediate and drastic reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A significant contributor to anthropogenic global GHG emissions is the production of building materials. Biobased materials offer the potential to reduce such emissions and could be deployed in the short term. Timber construction has received the main attention from policy and industry. However, the implementation of timber construction at the global scale is constrained by the availability of sustainably managed forest supplies. A viable alternative is fast-growing plants and the use of agricultural waste products. These can be deployed faster and are better aligned to local supplies of biomass and demands from the building sector. Fast-growing materials are generally able to achieve net-cooling impacts much faster due to their short rotation periods. The GHG emissions due to the production of biogenic building material can be compensated by regrowth of the new (replacement) plant and, overall, this will absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. A range of biogenic materials can be promoted and used as insulation materials and structural materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study quantifies the gap between net-zero energy and net-zero carbon through a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a net-zero energy building (NZEB) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The annual net-zero energy evaluations of a building do not account for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released before the building operation phases. Nor does it account for the GHG emissions during the end-of-life processes. As a consequence, an NZEB may not be a net-zero emission building over its lifespan. Comprehensive carbonbased evaluations are necessary to ensure an overall reduction in emissions is in line with the goals of the United Nations Paris Agreement. The LCA frameworks of ISO 14040 and EN 15978 form the basis of analysis and a method is presented based on data collection, consistency checks, uncertainty evaluation, impact assessment and interpretation of the results. It also acknowledges the lack of a nationalised inventory for LCA in India. The results show that despite an annual net-zero operation status of a building, the building has a negative impact with 866 tCO2e across a calculated lifespan of 60 years. The case study reveals the sensitivities of the analysis towards the system boundary, data quality requirements and acceptable limits of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights Retrofitting domestic buildings is essential for meeting targets to mitigate the catastrophic impacts of our changing climate. Current rates of retrofitting are far lower than necessary for achieving global net zero climate targets. To date in privately owned homes, policymakers have largely relied on piecemeal activity and often short-lived retrofitting programmes and financial incentives. Consequently, this special issue explores what capabilities and capacities are needed to deliver retrofit at scale. Looking across different scales—national, municipal, neighbourhood and individual sites—this special issue provides insights to shape policies, organisational structures and delivery strategies for different scales, building types and supply chain actors. These papers highlight the need for a clearer definition of what retrofit incorporates, alongside the collection of high-quality data and rigorous building metrics. In addition, diverse business models are needed to ensure that a variety of actors across the public and private sectors are well positioned to engage in coordinating building retrofit at scale. Finally, it is essential that any acceleration of retrofitting activity is coupled with consumer protection mechanisms and support for developing supply chains which incorporates both existing workers and encouragement for new entrants. It is only through this multifaceted approach that domestic building retrofit can be delivered at the speed and scale necessary.