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International audience ; Energy efficiency in buildings is one of the main goals of many governmental policies due to their high impact on the carbon dioxide emissions in Europe. One of these targets is to reduce the energy consumption in healthcare buildings, which are known to be among the most energy-demanding building types. Although design decisions made at early design phases have a significant impact on the energy performance of the realized buildings, only a small portion of possible early designs is analyzed, which does not ensure an optimal building design. We propose an automated early design support workflow, accompanied by a set of tools, for achieving nearly zero emission healthcare buildings. It is intended to be used by decision makers during the early design phase. It starts with the user-defined brief and the design rules, which are the input for the Early Design Configurator (EDC). The EDC generates multiple design alternatives following an evolutionary algorithm while trying to satisfy user requirements and geometric constraints. The generated alternatives are then validated by means of an Early Design Validator (EDV), and then, early energy and cost assessments are made using two early assessment tools. A user-friendly dashboard is used to guide the user and to illustrate the workflow results, whereas the chosen alternative at the end of the workflow is considered as the starting point for the next design phases. Our proposal has been implemented using Building Information Models (BIM) and validated by means of a case study on a healthcare building and several real demonstrations from different countries in the context of the European project STREAMER.

International audience ; Energy efficiency in buildings is one of the main goals of many governmental policies due to their high impact on the carbon dioxide emissions in Europe. One of these targets is to reduce the energy consumption in healthcare buildings, which are known to be among the most energy-demanding building types. Although design decisions made at early design phases have a significant impact on the energy performance of the realized buildings, only a small portion of possible early designs is analyzed, which does not ensure an optimal building design. We propose an automated early design support workflow, accompanied by a set of tools, for achieving nearly zero emission healthcare buildings. It is intended to be used by decision makers during the early design phase. It starts with the user-defined brief and the design rules, which are the input for the Early Design Configurator (EDC). The EDC generates multiple design alternatives following an evolutionary algorithm while trying to satisfy user requirements and geometric constraints. The generated alternatives are then validated by means of an Early Design Validator (EDV), and then, early energy and cost assessments are made using two early assessment tools. A user-friendly dashboard is used to guide the user and to illustrate the workflow results, whereas the chosen alternative at the end of the workflow is considered as the starting point for the next design phases. Our proposal has been implemented using Building Information Models (BIM) and validated by means of a case study on a healthcare building and several real demonstrations from different countries in the context of the European project STREAMER.

UK demand for energy-intensive materials is growing, driving increased emissions in the UK and abroad. UK FIRES is a research programme sponsored by the UK Government, aiming to support a renaissance of UK Industry, compatible with our legal commitment to zero emissions by 2050 by placing Resource Efficiency at the heart of the UK's Future Industrial Strategy. Industry is the most challenging sector for climate mitigation - it's energy efficient and there are no substitutes available at scale for the energy-intensive bulk materials - steel, cement, plastic, paper and aluminium. UK FIRES is therefore working towards an industrial renaissance in the UK, with high-value climate-safe UK businesses delivering goods and services compatible with the UK's legal commitment to zero emissions and with much less new material production. ; EPSRC (EP/S019111/1)

In 2011, the 'School of the Future' project was launched as a demonstration project in the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union. The related call for applications focused on the 'Demonstration of Energy Efficiency through Retrofitting of Buildings'. Project goals included design, implementation and evaluation of holistic renovation measures in buildings with a high replication potential for large regions of Europe. The aim was to reduce the use of heating energy for the thermal conditioning of spaces in selected buildings by at least 75% through appropriate retrofitting measures. Accompanying measures were to include long-term measurements and an initiative to improve user behaviour. As the associated working programme was developed in cooperation with the Energy-Efficient Buildings - European Initiative of the European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP), partners from industry were encouraged to participate in the project. The project proposal 'School of the Future' met these requirements, as the project focused on the renovation of four school buildings in four European countries with different climates. In addition to the public-sector building owners, five research institutions and four industry partners joined the project. In all of the four schools, the retrofits comprised measures to improve the building envelope, the building services systems and the use of renewable energy. The energy objectives defined by the project partners are as follows: · Reduction of the heating energy use by 75% (as defined in the call) · Reduction of the total energy use by factor 3 (i.e. by two thirds) The total energy use includes space heating, water heating (DHW), ventilation, lighting and the residual use of electricity in buildings. None of the four school buildings needed cooling. The scope of the project included a monitoring phase of at least twelve months during which the energy consumption of the retro fitted buildings was measured. Subsequently, the measurements were continued by the building owners. In addition to enhancing energy efficiency, the project also dealt with indoor comfort. Here, the target was to · Improve the indoor environment to enhance pupils' performance The analysis of the induced change in the indoor climate was based on short-time measurements and questionnaires. The four retrofitted schools are no zero energy schools, as this standard could not be realized without exceeding the envisaged energy- relevant investment costs of 100 €/m². Nevertheless, these schools use significantly less energy than specified in the national requirements for building renovation, thus leading the way towards even more energyefficient school buildings. The further work packages in the project (the retrofit guidelines, forinstance) demonstrate ways towards zero emission buildings or even buildings that generate surplus energy (energy surplus buildings). The project was based on three pillars: demonstration, research, and dissemination. The outcome of the individual areas of work is summarized in the following sections. All results derived from the project are available on the project's website www.school-of-the-future.eu. The successful cooperation of the thirteen project partners was terminated according to schedule in January 2016.

There is still much that can be done to boost trade between Australia and Indonesia, while also fighting climate change. Clean energy exchange would be a good place to start.

As part of a broader vision for emission-free city logistics, the city of Rotterdam plans to introduce a zero-emission zone in combination with urban consolidation centers (UCCs) on the outskirts of the city to generate a shift to zero-emission vehicles. For the design of this zero-emission zone, several research questions arise that require a systematic analysis of the impacts of the transition scenarios on freight demand patterns, the use and market shares of new (zero-emission) vehicles, and the impacts of truck flow and emissions. As a case study, we implemented heterogenous transition scenarios for each logistic segment into the Tactical Freight Simulator from the HARMONY project and analyzed the systemwide impacts. This model is multiagent, empirical, and shipment based and simulates long-term tactical choices (distribution channel choice, shipment size and vehicle type choice, sourcing) and short-term tactical choices (tour formation, delivery times). Results showed that the impact of UCCs is not trivial: we observed a small increase in vehicle kilometers traveled overall of +0.25%, which can be attributed to the rerouting of shipments through the UCCs. Calculations confirmed that emissions reduced dramatically, by 90%, inside the zero-emission zone. At the city scale this corresponds to a reduction of almost 10%, as most freightrelated traffic is generated by the port and involves long-haul heavy goods vehicle transport that does not enter the city center. At a regional level, impact reduction was very small. More measures are needed if more ambitious reductions in emissions are to be achieved. ; HARMONY has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement Nº815269. The content of this paper reflects only the author's view. Neither the European Commission nor the INEA is responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

Ecofitting Circular Economy -An alternative approach to market, consumption, and design towards zero emissions is a peer reviewed paper presented at the 2020 EVER Monaco Conference on Electric Vehicles and Renewable Energies, which reports on the initial findings of the research leaded by Artur Mausbach. Mausbach's research is concerned with the investigation on the aesthetics of sustainability to support the transitions of the automobile. In this project he proposes a new circular economy strategy to contribute towards zero-emissions in a sustainable manner by retrofitting the existing fleet of internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars. The research addresses the destiny of 15 million non-compliant ICE cars in the UK alone which are currently expected to be exported, recycled, or disposed of, following the requirements for Ultra Low Emission vehicles and targets for zero-emissions. In response, the project creates the concept of Ecofitting to promote behavioural change, and long-term ownership. Initial research looked at legislation and data from the department of transport to conclude that cars made after 1980 until the implementation of the current emission standards are worthy candidates for Ecofitting. The research also identified trends in automotive design represented by past leanings, the car culture around restoring and customization, the search for meaningful lifestyle, and the behaviour favouring disruptive attitudes, as a possible support to alternative approaches to automotive design. Research on the struggles of automotive industry and retrofitting companies indicates how to create an industry focused on local production and social cohesion. By encouraging the act of reusing, recycling, and updating products in usability, technology and aesthetics, the project promotes whole-life design and provides opportunities to engage a wide network of stakeholders as part of a circular economy. Ecofitting project was awarded by EPSRC CENTS to develop a feasibility study.

Global crises have heightened policy uncertainties and efforts to address global climate change. Limited evidence exists in the literature on geopolitical risk's direct and indirect roles in addressing global emissions. In this study, we examine whether geopolitical risk could impede or facilitate efforts to attain a net‐zero emissions target through energy transition using panel data for 42 countries from 1990 to 2020. Various econometric techniques were applied in this study to present robust findings and reliable conclusions. Estimates from the Driscoll‐Kraay, Lewbel two‐stage least squares and method of moment regression techniques consistently showed that countries' geopolitical risk directly increases emissions (total greenhouse gas, carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide). At the same time, energy transition, measured with renewable energy consumption, mitigates these emissions. In addition, evidence from the partial linear functional‐coefficient model technique indicates that renewable energy consumption consistently mitigates emissions when geopolitical is minimal (at a minimum and mean level). However, the role of renewable energy consumption in reducing emissions becomes weaker when geopolitical risk is heightened—thus, when geopolitical risk reaches its maximum level. We recommend that efforts to sustain renewable energy transition and maintain geopolitical stability are vital for achieving net‐zero emissions and climate change mitigation.