Publishings

To limit additional global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, countries have adopted policies and codes that have a future impact on the emissions and energy efficiency of buildings.  Building emissions need to be reduced along their life cycle through a combination of reducing energy demand, decarbonizing the power s ...

The role of the EU in the UN climate process has traditionally been to drive the talks and build the needed high ambition coalition.  But, according to green groups, diplomats, observers and allies, the EU appeared at COP26 ineffective, constrained and inept at times.  Where the EU was present and represented in negoti ...

Construction and real estate have been central to the debates on sustainable development. Where the dominant definition of sustainability in the built environment focuses on the environmental dimension, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer new opportunities for the building sector to expand its focus.  Gre ...

Building designers are attempting to integrate the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into projects.  This has limited the development of novel approaches as well as new building design methodologies that specifically aim at attaining the agenda’s targets.  To help building design teams achieve th ...

Environmental certification schemes such as BREEAM and LEED focus largely on operational emissions rather than CO₂ from the construction supply chain.  However, embodied carbon emissions comprise around half of all emissions from buildings.  The certification systems focus chiefly on operational carbon.  Where 3% of th ...