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• Overheating regulations and calculation methods in 26 European countries were compared. • Most of the existing calculation methods are outdated and do not fit climate-proof buildings. • France requires a mixed-mode operation of naturally ventilated households. • The UK developed a heatwave-based calculation approach. • Comfort-based, multi-zonal, and time-integrated calculation approaches are needed. With the ongoing significance of overheating calculations in the residential building sector, building codes such as the European Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) are essential for harmonizing the indicators and performance thresholds. This paper investigates Europe's overheating calculation methods, indicators, and thresholds and evaluates their ability to address climate change and heat events. e study aims to identify the suitability of existing overheating calculation methods and propose recommendations for the EPBD. The study results provide a cross-sectional overview of twenty-six European countries. The most influential overheating calculation criteria are listed the best approaches are ranked. The paper provides a thorough comparative assessment and recommendations to align current calculations with climate-sensitive metrics. The results suggest a framework and key performance indicators that are comfort-based, multi-zonal, and time-integrated to calculate overheating and modify the EU's next building energy efficiency regulations. The results can help policymakers and building professionals to develop the next overheating calculation framework and approach for the future development of climate-proof and resilient residential buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, a growing body of research has examined the role of cities in addressing climate change and the institutional and political challenges which they encounter. For the most part, in these accounts, the infrastructure networks, their material fabric, everyday practices and political economies, have remained unexamined. In this paper, it is argued that this is a critical omission and an approach is developed for understanding how urban responses to climate change both configure and are configured by infrastructure networks. Central to any such analysis is the conception of how and why (urban) infrastructure networks undergo change. Focusing on urban energy networks and on the case of London, the paper argues for an analysis of the ‘urban infrastructure regimes’ and ‘experiments’ through which climate change is governed. It is found that climate change experiments serve as a means through which dominant actors articulate and test new ‘low-carbon’ logics for urban infrastructure development. It is argued that experiments work by establishing new circuits, configuring actors in new sets of relations and through these means realising the potential for addressing climate change in the city. At the same time, experiments become sites of conflict, a means through which new forms of urban circulation can be confined and marginalised, leaving dominant energy regimes (relatively) intact. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to valuate existing building stock with respect to its contribution to a changing and uncertain future, especially in relation to energy performance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors review literature related to existing buildings, climate change and future environmental needs; present energy performance data from ten case studies; and identify inadequacies and scope for improvements with reference to typical housing stock. Findings – Current policies and programmes are inadequate to the scope and scale of the task; a step-change in thought and practice is needed. Practical implications – A massive programme is warranted if the substantial stock of existing buildings is to be adapted to meet identified environmental standards to "save the planet"; a radical re-conceptualisation of building adaptation is required. Originality/value – The paper prompts a review of the role of the surveyor in achieving sustainability through adaptation of existing buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thermal energy loss in the process industry is a significant issue due to the high temperatures and multiple heat intensive processes involved. High-grade thermal energy is typically recovered within processes. However, lower grade heat is often rejected to the environment. The benefits of capturing and utilising low grade thermal energy are highly dependent on the qualities and properties of the heat in the waste streams. The temperature of the low grade heat stream is the most important parameter, as the effective use of the residual heat or the efficiency of energy recovery from the low grade heat sources will mainly depend on the temperature difference between the source and a suitable sink, e.g. another process or space heating/cooling. In general, the temperatures of these waste heat sources are too low to produce electricity and direct heat use will depend on whether potential user can be found. This paper presents past and current drivers for heat recovery studies. High and low grade heat sources are defined according to the viability of recovery within the processes. Firstly, high grade heat capture within the processes is reviewed. Then, the focus is on the potential for low grade heat capture outside of the original plant. The paper addresses the potential for low grade heat recovery with regard to new incentives and technological advances. Finally, different aspects which influence the decision making for low grade heat recovery in the process industry are discussed. It is concluded that organisational, financial and economic barriers might be overcome and benefits from a holistic vision could be gained with stronger governmental policy and regulation incentives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The change in climate has led to an interest in how this will affect the energy consumption in buildings. Most of the work in the literature relates to offices and homes. However, this paper investigates a supermarket in northern England by means of a multiple regression analysis based on gas and electricity data for 2012. The equations obtained in this analysis use the humidity ratio derived from the dry-bulb temperature and the relative humidity in conjunction with the actual dry-bulb temperature. These equations are used to estimate the consumption for the base year period (1961-1990) and for the predicted climate period 2030-2059. The findings indicate that electricity use will increase by 2.1% whereas gas consumption will drop by about 13% for the central future estimate. The research further suggests that the year 2012 is comparable in temperature to the future climate, but the relative humidity is lower. Further research should include adaptation/mitigation measures and an evaluation of their usefulness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper provides new evidence on the relationship between management practices and firm performance. We interviewed managers of 190 randomly selected manufacturing plants in the UK and matched their responses with official business microdata. We find that climate friendly management practices are associated with lower energy intensity and higher productivity. Firms that adopt more such practices also conduct more climate friendly R&D which will sustain future growth in energy efficiency. Our findings are akin to the “energy efficiency paradox” and highlight the linkages between particular management practices and firm-level energy efficiency. We also find a strong empirical link between climate friendly management practices and organizational structure. Firms are more likely to adopt such practices if climate change issues are managed by the environmental or energy manager, and if this manager is close to the CEO. Adoption is less likely when the CEO is in charge of climate change issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a life cycle assessment of domestic heat pumps in the UK in comparison with gas boilers. The study considers air (ASHP), ground (GSHP) and water (WSHP) source heat pumps. The results show that heat pumps have higher environmental impacts than gas boilers due to the use of electricity. On average, the impacts for the ASHP are 82% higher than from the boiler and 73% for the GSHP and WSHP. The exception to this are the global warming, fossil resource depletion and summer smog impacts which are lower for the pumps than the boilers. For example, up to 36% of CO2 eq. can be saved with the WSHP and 6% with the ASHP in comparison with the boiler. Among the heat pumps considered, ASHP have the highest impacts due to lower efficiencies and higher material requirements for the system. The GSHP and WSHP have comparable impacts, with the latter being marginally better. The life cycle impacts of heat pumps may improve if the UK electricity mix is sufficiently decarbonised; however, they will still remain higher than for the gas boiler. Overall, their potential to contribute to the UK climate change targets is limited. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As the debate on policy responses to climate change gathers pace, there has been an increasing focus on tools to model national scale energy use and emission characteristics of UK dwellings. This paper reviews some existing models and highlights limitations of their common underlying methodologies. We argue that a radically different, integrated, approach is required to tackle these challenges and ensure that the modelling remain robust and able to meet future demands. We suggest that Agent Based Modelling (ABM) is a suitable candidate modelling paradigm to achieve an integrated modelling framework. We also present DECarb-ABM (an ABM based implementation of an existing model, DECarb) with many of the desired properties of such an integrated framework. The new model is validated against both the existing model and historical data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Just under half of all energy consumption in the UK today takes place indoors, and over a quarter within our homes. The challenges associated with energy security, climate change and sustainable consumption will be overcome or lost in our existing buildings. A background analysis, and the scale of the engineering challenge for the next three to four decades, is described in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency is one of the most prominent global challenges of our era. Heritage buildings usually have a poor energy performance, not necessarily because of their intrinsic constructive features but due to their mostly dilapidated condition owed to age and previous damage, exacerbated by other factors such as the limited maintenance allowed by the restrictive legal framework and/or residents not being able to afford retrofit. On both national and international levels, energy efficiency measures are considered the key to answering the global challenge of climate change. This article aims to provide a critical discussion of the policy framework for energy retrofitting targeting built heritage in the UK and in Turkey. To this end, the development of guidance and legislation on cultural heritage, energy efficiency and climate change in both countries were thoroughly reviewed, and the retrofit incentives and constraints were determined in order to identify existing policy gaps and potential problems with implementation in the realm of energy retrofitting and climate resiliency of heritage buildings. As a result of a critical comparative analysis, the paper is concluded with suggestions on policy frames for the retrofitting of heritage buildings for improved energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]