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• A new adjacent accumulation non-homogeneous discrete grey model is proposed. • The proposed model was superior to the other four comparative models. • The consumption of renewable energy throughout Europe and the world was predicted. In this paper, a new adjacent non-homogeneous grey model was proposed to predict renewable energy consumption in Europe. Based on the principle of adjacent accumulation, the proposed model emphasizes the weight relationship between the latest value and the historical data. Meanwhile, the heuristic algorithm is used to optimize the parameters of the proposed model. The model's performance was tested by the examples from four central European countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. In addition, the consumption of renewable energy in Europe and the world was predicted respectively, which showed that Europe's proportion of the world's renewable energy consumption will gradually decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behaviour, practices and culture constitute a powerful human factor in the energy system; in particular the interactions between technologies, practices and norms lock individuals in to certain patterns of (often inefficient) energy use. Consequently, behaviour change has gained traction amongst policymakers as a key area of intervention given the impact energy-related behaviours have on climate change. Given the increasing emphasis within policy perspectives in the European Union, it is surprising that a gap in understanding of the success factors of behaviour change initiatives remains. This paper addresses this gap by identifying and characterising behaviour change initiatives across five European countries (the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, and Spain). The paper provides insights into the success factors and commonly encountered barriers to behaviour change initiatives. Initiatives are classified into 6 broad categories (community-based interventions; information and awareness based interventions; eco-districts; show-case events; energy switching; and smart-technology focused interventions). The results suggest that there are significant knowledge gaps between what is known to work to engage individuals in behavioural change and what is currently being applied in practice. An over-reliance on education and awareness-raising projects is evident, illustrating that such projects do not sufficiently aim for sustained behavioural changes. A dearth of projects incorporating fiscal measures, regulations or legislation to drive behaviour change reflects reluctance on behalf of decision-makers to engage widely with diverse approaches to foster lifestyle change. This paper contributes understandings of the different models and delivery tools employed to change energy-related behaviours; insights into the critical success factors that underpin best practice and the barriers to action; and a ‘what works in practice’ overview of the meaningful approaches to change behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of great transition of the European construction sector to energy efficient and nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB), a market observation containing qualitative and quantitative indications should help to fill out some of the current gaps concerning the EU 2020 carbon targets. Next to the economic challenges, there are equally important factors that hinder renovating the existing residential building stock and adding newly constructed high performance buildings. Under these circumstances this paper summarises the findings of a cross-comparative study of the societal and technical barriers of nZEB implementation in 7 Southern European countries. The study analyses the present situation and provides an overview on future prospects for nZEB in Southern Europe. The result presents an overview of challenges and provides recommendations based on available empirical evidence to further lower those barriers in the European construction sector. The paper finds that the most Southern European countries are poorly prepared for nZEB implementation and especially to the challenge/opportunity of retrofitting existing buildings. Creating a common approach to further develop nZEB targets, concepts and definitions in synergy with the climatic, societal and technical state of progress in Southern Europe is essential. The paper provides recommendations for actions to shift the identified gaps into opportunities for future development of climate adaptive high performance buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the nexus between greenhouse gas, financial development, energy consumption, trade and urbanization in 34 upper middle income countries from Asia, Europe, Africa and America (South and North) by using panel data from 2001 to 2014. Vector error correction model explored different results for different regions such as the causality of greenhouse gas for Europe and America; financial development for Asia; trade openness for Asia, Europe and America; and urbanization for Africa and America. The causality of greenhouse gas emission was bi-directional with urbanization in America and trade in Europe. The bi-directional causality of trade was observed with financial development in Asia and urbanization in Africa. The generalized method of moment and fully modified ordinary least square explored a direct association of per capita greenhouse gas emission with financial development in Europe; energy consumption in all panels, and renewable energy in Africa and America. But, the relationship of per capita emission was reciprocal with financial development in Asia, Africa and America; renewable energy in Europe; trade in Europe, Africa and America; and urbanization in Asia, Europe and America. The relationship of variables changes from region to region and country to country. A country-based reciprocal effect on per capita greenhouse gas was observed for financial development, renewable energy, trade openness and urbanization for different countries. This paper provides an insight to policy makers to re-structure the financial system, energy usage pattern, trade and urbanization in accordance with the cleaning of environment at country and regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The new solution for the façade integrated photovoltaic system, En-ActivETICS was proposed and described in detail, including technical recommendations. • The calibrated numerical model was used to determine hygrothermal performance and identify the most crucial issues of En-ActivETICS. • The positive effect of PCM and diffusion channels was revealed based on a numerical study using calibrated thermoelectrical and hygrothermal models. • The En-ActivETICS was investigated considering local climatic and economic conditions among 38 European countries. • The roadmap 2030 for the En-ActivETICS advancement was developed and presented. The main goal of the European building market transformation regards the reduction of CO 2 emissions and energy demand in the built environment towards net zero carbon buildings. This drives research and building practice to search for economically justified solutions that contribute to achieving these objectives. The work presented in this paper is concerned with the technological and economic context. The original solution of photovoltaic integration with the external thermal insulation composite system named the En-ActivETICS was developed, tested and analysed. The energy potential of the En-ActivETICS across Europe, considering south oriented façade is from 88.3 to 195.8 kWh/(m2⋅a), with the efficiency of solar energy conversion of around 13–14%. The problem of system overheating was solved by applying PCM mortar beside the PV panel, which allowed to keep the PV temperature below 70 °C. The risk of moisture load (from driven rain or water vapour condensation) was avoided by diffusion channels pressed in the mortar. Furthermore, the economic analysis of system implementation in Europe is also promising. Considering the availability of solar energy and electricity prices around Europe the payback time of the En-ActivETICS varies between 12 and 44 years for analysed countries. According to the presented roadmap for the En-ActivETICS advancement a payback period of <10 years is possible with a maximum cost of the system <275 EUR/m2 and electricity price >0.25 EUR/kWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Long term field evaluation of forecast control of heating. • Easy integration with existing installations in buildings. • Widely applicable measure for energy savings around 10%. • Payback time below one heating season. The priority for reaching carbon neutral buildings by 2050 is to first increase energy efficiency in existing buildings by use of easily and widely applicable measures that are verified based on long-term field research. One such solution is a forecast control of heating systems, which can be quickly and easily integrated to existing weather based controls. However, there are still no long-term field evaluation and detailed analyses of the main features of such a system, which would provide a clear picture about the system's energetical and economical features and thus increase their wide application in existing buildings. This paper provides the data from a long term field evaluation of an innovative forecast control of heating systems (forHEAT), which can be easily installed (in less than 2 h) and integrated with existing installations in millions of existing buildings in Europe and throughout the world. The energy consumption for heating was evaluated in seven residential buildings and three public office buildings before and after the installation and use of the forecast control. The resulting energy savings averaged 13.4% in the residential and 10.7% in the public buildings located in continental European climate, with very cold winters. The payback time averaged a 0.6 heating season and in most case studies does not exceed a single heating season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Lack of a clear path in the fight against energy poverty across the European union. • Energy poverty related to the residential sector allows new solutions to be developed. • Current energy poverty indicators provide an incomplete analysis of vulnerability. Abstract The term energy poverty (EP), mostly used to capture problems related to an inadequate access to energy suppliers in developing countries, and that of fuel poverty (FP), commonly employed when households suffer from insufficient monetary resources to pay for their basic energy needs, are used interchangeably by many researchers. Energy poverty and/or fuel poverty are considered to be an indication of domestic energy deprivation or energy vulnerability and remain a global problem that has been accentuated in Europe due to the economic crisis. This work has made a comprehensive review of the current concepts and indicators of FP, and of current initiatives to tackle this issue, across Europe, thereby raising the discussion of how energy vulnerability factors fit FP situations: available infrastructure, energy efficiency, social and economic poverty, and wellbeing and health. In this context, the first weak spot of the FP indicators and initiatives analyzed is that most factors that influence the everyday activities of a household are not considered (comfort, health, and wellbeing), resulting in an incomplete analysis if these are used in an isolated way. This paper provides a multiple-indicator approach to understand an FP situation beyond its traditional definition, thereby establishing a starting point for the reflection of vulnerability in policy decisions and methodological implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of July 2017, the emissions type-approval of light-duty vehicles in Europe is based on the Worldwide Harmonized Light-duty vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), introduced to replace the old and outdated New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) test procedure. Since some elements of the European Legislation are still based on the NEDC (2020 CO 2 emission targets, vehicle labelling, national vehicle taxation policies, etc.) in order to allow sufficient lead time to vehicle manufacturers and national authorities to adapt to the new procedure, a simulation-based approach was chosen to calculate CO 2 emissions and fuel consumption according to the NEDC regime in the period 2017–2020. To achieve this objective without significantly increasing the cost and duration of the certification procedure, existing regulation foresees that vehicles are tested over the WLTP for CO 2 emissions, the test results are used as input in a simulation model that then calculates the corresponding CO 2 according to the NEDC test protocol. A dedicated vehicle simulation model (CO 2 MPAS) was developed for the purpose and is currently used for the type-approval of new vehicles in Europe. The development specifications of CO 2 MPAS were challenging, as it had to be highly accurate, exhibit fast operation, and function with a limited number of input data. This paper presents the development principles and process followed, details of the physical models employed in CO 2 MPAS, and provides information regarding its accuracy, validity and in use operation. CO 2 MPAS achieves low errors in the prediction of the NEDC cycle that in the controlled sample used for its development are of the order of 1% with a standard deviation of 3%, while the respective in-use numbers are of the order of 1.5% and 5%. In parallel, random sampling and testing of a 10% of the type-approved vehicles also occurs in order to guarantee the quality of the CO 2 MPAS results and the validity of the process. It is concluded that CO 2 MPAS can be used to accurately estimate emissions of conventional vehicles within a ±4% accuracy range, even when limited input data are available. In addition, the in-use data analyzed suggest that the use of the tool enables the certification of about 2/3 of the new vehicle models without the need of additional experimental tests. This is an important achievement as it reduces the costs and time necessary to certify light-duty vehicle CO 2 emissions during the transitional period. Finally, it can be concluded that the use of CO 2 MPAS does not affect the declared CO 2 emissions of vehicles over NEDC conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When new energy efficient products are struggling with their commercialisation and diffusion into widespread applications you would typically expect policy-makers and green lead-users to guide the way. This paper examines the case of the hot water circulator pump industry in Europe, where parts of the industry envisioned and worked for a voluntary energy label, bringing technological innovation, new business and energy savings of approx. 85% for each new circulator pump. The case study explores the complexities of innovation processes where technology, market, actors and policy co-evolve over time to transform an existing socio-technical regime. The paper highlights the importance of policies to reduce barriers towards innovation and energy efficiency and shows that it is not always policy-makers that establish the crucial policies that change the innovation dynamics for the benefit of the environment and the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from current linear economy toward a circular economy (CE) needs the adoption and diffusion of circular economy innovation (CEI). However, the rate and direction of CEI influenced by policy instruments are still not well understood. This paper explores the roles of demand-pull and technology-push policy instruments in shaping CEI in Europe. The different impacts on the adoption across different sectors and the specific effects on each circularity innovation pattern are also examined. The findings indicate that both command-and-control regulation and technology-push instruments are significant in stimulating Small Medium Enterprises' (SMEs') adoption of CEI. While the environmental tax hinders SMEs' implementation of CEI in the whole economic activity sectors, it is a significant driver of CEI for SMEs in the manufacturing sector. The technology-push instrument strongly encourages SMEs to invest in re-planning and re-designing activities to minimize the usage or maximize the re-usage of water, energy, and materials. Environmental tax highly determines SMEs' adoption of CEI related to improving energy efficiency. In contrast, the command-and-control regulation significantly increases SMEs' likelihood to undertake innovation activity in minimizing waste by recycling or reusing the waste. Our study elucidates the potential interactions between policy instruments and CEI, paving the way toward the desirable CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particular solar energy, can be connected to Europe to provide the Northern neighbouring countries with electricity. To achieve this long term objective, it is necessary to understand the local domestic consumption of electricity in the MENA region as the main consumer of energy. The understanding of current and future trends could help to provide a complete picture of the energy situation in MENA region and the feasibility of exporting energy to Europe. For this reason, this paper investigates the domestic energy use and occupants’ energy behaviour in Libya. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of domestic energy consumption and householders’ awareness, attitudes and behaviour on the overall energy consumption in Libya and how this could affect the peak demand, capacity, future trends and government energy budget. The paper also investigates the sustainability aspect of consumer products and the awareness and attitude of consumers towards consumption and demand. A comprehensive survey has been conducted to evaluate several aspects of domestic energy demand and characteristics in Libya. The findings have indicated that there is a significant increase in energy demands in the household sector in Libya and it is significant to have a clear strategy to reduce carbon emission and energy use by improving occupants’ behaviour as well as utilising other sustainable measures. Minor adjustment in householders’ energy consumption behaviour and the technology used to generate energy could provide significant financial savings and contribute significantly to the reduction in carbon emission and energy consumption. This will allow significant benefit to the local economy and the energy sector in Libya but at the same time could provide sustainable energy resources for Europe on the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarises the results of a study to identify and quantify the potential impact of measures and policies to reduce the energy consumption of air conditioning in European countries over a 10-year period. The market penetration of air conditioning in Europe has increased steadily over several decades. On a “business as usual” basis, its energy consumption would increase by over 50% by 2020. Measures to restrict this increase are therefore important, but the savings potential straddles several overlapping areas which are subject to different constraints including those imposed by the replacement rates of systems and products, and the refurbishment rates of existing buildings. This work reported in this paper is based on the use of information from a variety of sources in a highly disaggregated model to assess the “realisable” savings over a 10-year period, taking into account relevant constraints. The paper summarises results at a European level, focussing on those cases that generate the greatest realisable savings. Savings are possible in three areas: improved equipment and system efficiency, reduced cooling loads, and more effective operation. The cases that offer the largest savings provide the basis for recommendations for policy measures, often using existing policy instruments. In addition, areas where further work is needed are identified. More detailed results and information about the study and additional recommendations can be found at http://www.bre.co.uk/searchresults.jsp?category=5&q=energy+management [1] . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Modelling energy savings of renovations in the Dutch non-profit housing stock. • Assessment of 1.6 million dwellings, 21 building features and 3 empirical models. • Empirical models outperform the theoretical building energy model. • Shortcomings exist when predicting effects of specific energy-saving interventions. In Europe, the energy performance of dwellings is measured using theoretical building energy models based on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which estimates the energy consumption of dwellings. However, literature shows large performance gaps between the theoretically predicted energy consumption and the actual energy consumption of dwellings. The goal of this paper is to investigate the extent to which empirical models provide more accurate estimations of actual energy consumption when compared to a theoretical building energy model, in order to estimate average actual energy savings of renovations. We used the Dutch non-profit housing stock to demonstrate the results. We examined three empirical models to predict the actual energy consumption of dwellings: a linear regression model, a non-linear regression model, and a machine learning model (GBM). This paper shows that these three models alleviate the performance gap by giving a good prediction of actual energy consumption on sectoral cross-sections. However, these models still have shortcomings when predicting the effects of specific renovation interventions, for example newly introduced heat pumps. The non-linear and machine learning model (GBM) outperform the theoretical model in terms of estimating energy savings through renovation interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Energy Efficiency Directive requests the application of high quality and cost effective energy audits across Europe. The potential of up to 20% of energy savings shall be realized to follow the strategy of smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth. A number of barriers must be tackled to implement the Directive, especially among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). A large number of cost effective energy efficiency measures remains unimplemented because of financial reasons, a lack of information, and limited in-house skills. Information measures, audits, capacity buildings are suggested as potentially effective measures to support implementation of energy efficiency measures. Within the work described in this paper, an auditing approach was developed, focusing on modelling the energy consumption of an SME. The model of the energy consumption is built using simple MS Excel tools, dividing the process into unit operations and attributing annual consumption to these units, from measurements or by calculation. Consumption is linked to drivers of consumption and corresponding losses, thus developing an understanding of the origin of energy consumption, priorities, and the potential for reduction. The approach simultaneously addresses the needs for the identification of measures, capacity building, information and awareness raising. The auditing approach was tested with 280 companies in Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. A wide range of energy efficiency measures was identified and implemented, partly consisting of no-cost options, but partly also innovative technical solutions. Over EUR 10 million investments with a simple payback time of less than three years were triggered. 6500 toe per year of primary energy savings were realized, as well as greenhouse gas emission reductions of 13,500 tonnes per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cement industry is one of the most important industries worldwide and the world cement production is projected to grow by 0.8–1.2% per year, reaching between 3700 and 4400 megatonnes in 2050. This industry is facing important challenges in the context of restrained use of raw materials and need of optimization of energy consumption. The aim of this paper is to assess environmental impacts of using wastes as a partial replacement of fossil fuels in a representative cement plant in Southern Europe. Refuse derived fuel and scrap tires were employed as alternative fuels. The environmental profile of the cement manufacturing was presented through a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment approach based on primary data collected in the plant. The functional unit was 1 tonne of ordinary Portland cement and the impact assessment was based on indicators that comply with the ISO 14040. The impact categories studied were abiotic depletion, acidification, eutrophication, photochemical oxidant formation and global warming. The processes that most contributed to these impact categories were the atmospheric emissions in the kiln, the consumption of fossil fuels, and the consumption of electricity in the mills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme weather conditions in urban areas have a serious impact on the quality of life, energy consumption and health of urban citizens. In addition energy poverty has a serious impact on the quality of life of low income households. The aim of the present paper is review the actual housing status of low income population in Europe and discuss issues related to the impact of urban overheating and extreme weather phenomena on the specific energy consumption, indoor environmental conditions and health. Finally advanced low cost mitigation and adaptation technologies developed during the last years that offer a serious potential for energy and environmental improvements which can contribute to improve the quality of life of low income population are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The massive data centre energy consumption has motivated significant efforts to use energy efficiency strategies and the implementation of renewable energy sources that reduce their operational costs and environmental impact. Considering that the potential of many of these measures is often closely linked to the climate conditions, the location of data centres can have a major impact on their energy demand. Moreover, from a holistic approach, differences among regions become even more important when accounting for the electricity attributes from the grid. To assess these differences this work compares by the use of energy indicators the behaviour of a data centre located at different representative emplacements in Europe. To do so, a dynamic energy model which incorporates free cooling strategy and photovoltaic energy is developed. The paper concludes by suggesting that future data centre developments could consider site selection as a new strategy to limit the environmental impact attributable to this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new retrofitting strategy by using prefabricated elements window machine. • Minimization of the renovation costs and speeding up the retrofit action. • A potential in energy saving and improving the Indoor Environment Quality. • Further significance in retrofit and healthy home office working environments. The renovation of existing residential buildings across Europe has become a key factor for energy saving and the improvement of Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ). This paper presents an investigation of IEQ for a typical 1960s single-family house in Germany before and after a new retrofitting strategy (prefabricated element with integrated ventilation and new thermal envelope). In-situ measurements were applied to investigate the energy efficiency and IEQ improvement for the new retrofitting strategy in temperate winter regions of Europe. The simulation model replicates the measured data to be closer to reality and simulates a home office (COVID-19) scenario. The in-situ measurements showed that our retrofitting strategy increases the indoor air temperature during the heating period by up to 2.5 °C, decreases relative humidity by up to 3.8% and increases CO 2 by up to 24 ppm than before. As the simulation results shows, the retrofitted home office scenario allows a reduction in heating energy of up to 77%, an increase in CO 2 concentration of up to 41.8 ppm, 0.5% less relative humidity and 1.6 °C higher indoor air temperature than that without retrofitting. The new approach to retrofit residential buildings thus showed a potential in energy saving and improving the IEQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When COVID-19 pandemic spread in Europe, governments imposed unprecedented confinement measures with mostly unknown repercussions on contemporary societies. In some cases, a considerable drop in energy consumption was observed, anticipating a scenario of sizable low-cost energy generation, from renewable sources, expected only for years later. In this paper, the impact of governmental restrictions on electrical load, generation and transmission was investigated in 16 European countries. Using the indices provided by the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, precise restriction types were found to correlate with the load drop. Then the European grid was analysed to assess how the load drop was balanced by the change in generation and transmission patterns. The same restriction period from 2020 was compared to previous years, accounting for yearly variability with ad hoc statistical technique. As a result, generation was found to be heavily impacted in most countries with significant load drop. Overall, generation from nuclear, and fossil coal and gas sources was reduced, in favour of renewables and, in some countries, fossil gas. Moreover, intermittent renewables generation increased in most countries without indicating an exceptional amount of curtailments. Finally, the European grid helped balance those changes with an increase in both energy exports and imports, with some net exporting countries becoming net importers, notably Germany, and vice versa. Together, these findings show the far reaching implications of the COVID-19 crisis, and contribute to the understanding and planning of higher renewables share scenarios, which will become more prevalent in the battle against climate change. • During COVID-19 spread, energy load dropped significantly in most European countries. • Only some restrictions strongly correlate with load drop. • Generation mix and exchange changed in most countries. • The biggest decrease in generation was from nuclear, fossil coal and oil. • Intermittent renewable generation continued to increase also in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technologies have the potential to make the transport system more connected, intelligent, efficient, reliable and sustainable. That is, digital technologies could fundamentally transform how people and goods are moved, with significant impacts on transport demand and on the related energy consumption and environmental impacts. This article proposes a scenario analysis for the future of European passenger transport, by evaluating the potential effects of digitalization on mobility demand, energy consumption and CO 2 emissions under different assumptions. The analysis illustrates that the penetration of digital technologies can lead to opposite effects with regard to both energy consumption and emissions. Two opposite scenarios are compared, to evaluate the effects of a "responsible" digitalization, in the direction of a sustainable mobility, against a "selfish" digitalization, where the final users maximize their utility. The likelihood of these two possible pathways is related to multiple drivers, including users' behavior, economic conditions and transport and environmental policies. Results show the variability range of the potential effects on energy consumption and CO 2 emissions in Europe by 2030 and 2050, by considering digitalization trends including Mobility as a Service, Shared Mobility and Autonomous Vehicles. The variability of key parameters is evaluated in a dedicated sensitivity analysis, where the effects of electric vehicles, electricity generation mixes and vehicles' efficiency improvements are assessed. The article concludes that in order to fully exploit the advantages of digitalization, proper policies are needed to support an efficient and effective deployment of available technologies through an optimized and shared use of alternative transport options. • The paper evaluates the effects on energy consumption of digitalization in transport. • Different scenarios allow comparing alternative digitalization pathways. • Digitalization needs a tailored policy support to avoid higher energy consumption. • A sensitivity analysis supports the discussion on the various aspects involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) represents a suitable methodology to evaluate quantitatively the environmental impact related to a product or a process and it can be used as a guiding tool to make effective environmental sustainability choices. While the LCA-based methods are more and more diffused in the assessment and selection of materials for new constructions, they are still scarcely applied in the field of conservation and repair of historical buildings, although these buildings, especially in Europe, represent a high percentage of the building stock. In the present paper, the LCA method was applied to the field of the restoration, with particular reference to cleaning technologies and materials, in order to investigate if LCA can be applied in this field. The analysis of results pointed out the different environmental impact of the cleaning methods investigated (ascribed to different impact categories), but also the shortcomings and proxies arising from the lack of specific database. The impact of the waste treatment stage was also analysed, in order to highlight the main impact spots related with the end of life of materials and equipment. Results showed that, for some cleaning methods, the impacts related to manufacturing and disposal are very similar, which emphasizes the importance of performing LCA including the end of life scenarios. Finally, an evaluation of externalities was performed, to provide a monetary value of the environmental damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have investigated different aspects in the decarbonisation of the European housing stock. However, a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the literature on the diffusion of energy efficiency technologies is still missing. We conducted a bibliometric analysis to better understand the knowledge base in the field energy efficiency technology diffusion in the European residential building stock. After the scanning and screening process, we identified 954 scientific articles pertinent to this topic. Through a co-citation network analysis, we generated a visual knowledge structure of the field and by the further investigation of the bibliography we were able to synthesize the state-of-the-art and answer to our initial research questions. Results of the co-citation network show a scattered and fragmented field in many domains. The descriptive analysis highlights this fragmentation, especially on a cross-country level among EU country members. Findings from this study contribute to map the scientific knowledge base in relation to technology diffusion in European residential building projects, identify relevant topic areas, visualize the links between the topics, as well as to recognize research gaps and opportunities. The methodology utilized in this paper proved to be viable approach to map and characterize the knowledge base within a field and can, therefore, be replicated in upcoming studies with analogous ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]