Insights

Understanding Urban Climate Interactions

RESEARCH PATHWAY: personal reflections on a career in research

Geographer and climatologist Gerald Mills (University College Dublin) reflects on a long research career investigating urban climate. He considers how the field has evolved from measuring and modelling to understanding the influence of the local context (local buildings and urban context) and its impact on indoor temperatures in adjoining buildings and outdoor conditions. A key aspect is linking urban climate knowledge to building design and urban planning.

The Great Reconfiguration: A Socio-Technical Analysis of Low-Carbon Transitions in UK Electricity, Heat, and Mobility Systems

By Frank W. Geels and Bruno Turnheim. Cambridge University Press, 2022, ISBN: 9781009198240

William Throndsen applauds this book which advocates for socio-technical approaches to reconfigure low-carbon transitions of the electricity, heat and mobility energy sectors. The substantial overview and extensive examples provided make the book a relevant policy makers.

Governments' Role in Providing Thermal Adequacy

How can governments advance adaptive solutions for keeping cool during hot weather?

Brian Dean and Elizabeth Wangeci Chege (Sustainable Energy for All) respond to the Buildings & Cities special issue Alternatives to Air Conditioning and explain why thermal comfort is not only a construction industry problem to solve but needs to be placed in the policy agenda on global warming. Thermal adequacy is still not understood as an essential need for human survival and that governments have an essential role.

Creating a Human-centric City with Digital Tools

RESEARCH PATHWAY: personal reflections on a career in research

Carlo Ratti (Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT) reflects on the work of the Senseable City Lab. Its pioneering research in understanding how people actually use cities and how urban environments could respond dynamically can enhance capacity and the lived experiences.

Developing an Intersectional Approach to Emerging Energy Technologies in Homes

What would an energy transition research agenda embracing intersectionality, equality and equity look like?

Tom Hargreaves and Nickhil Sharma (University of East Anglia) comment on contributions of the Buildings & Cities special issue Energy, Emerging Technology and Gender in Homes on the role of gender in technology development and the energy transition. This must be broadened further to social justice issues. A failure to do so risks fuelling resistance and pushback to new and emerging energy technologies. Three key avenues for future research and practices for a just energy transition and emerging technologies are set out.

Practical Approaches to Cooling: A UK Perspective

Reducing the need for air conditioning is necessary and feasible. Passive measures for cooling are advantageous.

Julie Godefroy (CIBSE and Julie Godefroy Sustainability) and Anastasia Mylona (CIBSE) respond to the Buildings & Cities special issue 'Alternatives to Air Conditioning: Policies, Design, Technologies, Behaviours'. Proactive options already exist to adapt buildings to hotter summers and extreme events. A balanced approach to risk, complexity and detail is called for.

A Transdisciplinary Journey toward Thermal Comfort

RESEARCH PATHWAY: personal reflections on a career in research

Andreas Wagner (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) explains his career in building performance as a journey from building technology and building science to a much broader, transdisciplinary approach involving understanding inhabitants' perceptions, practices, agency and interactions with the built environment.

Collapse and Catastrophe: The Need to Protect Inhabitants

Radical changes are needed in how the construction industry operates and is regulated in order to create safe, healthy homes.

In light of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, David Oswald and Trivess Moore (RMIT University) reflect on the rights that inhabitants have for buildings to be safe, healthy, comfortable and robust. However, serial and various failings in the construction supply side and its oversight by governments mean greater accountability is needed.

Blind Spots in Energy Policy

Why emerging (smart) technologies are hindering energy outcomes

As a policy practitioner who leads a national organisation representing households and small businesses in shaping the future of Australia’s energy system, Lynne Gallagher (Energy Consumers Australia) responds to the Buildings & Cities special issue, Energy, Emerging Technologies and Gender in Homes.  Insights from lived experience reveal blind spots in the design, provision and use of smart tech that adversely affect energy outcomes.

Constructing a Consumer-Focused Industry: Cracks, Cladding and Crisis in the Residential Construction Sector

By D. Oswald and T. Moore. Routledge, 2022, ISBN 9781032007311

Kay Saville-Smith (CRESA, Aotearoa NZ) reviews this book which chronicles deep, disturbing problems in the creation of dwellings. Dangerous defects have resulted in a lack of security, safety, health, well-being, and social value for households and the wider community.

Providing Adequate Thermal Comfort in a Hotter World

Reducing the need for air conditioning is necessary and feasible.

Edith Blennerhassett (Arup) responds to the Buildings & Cities special issue 'Alternatives to Air Conditioning: Policies, Design, Technologies, Behaviours’ . As humane societies, a key aim should be to see the end of deaths due to either heat or cold and to achieve this in a way that minimises the impact on people and planetary health. Actions are highlighted to minimise the need for mechanical cooling.

The Need for a ‘Critical Turn’ in Construction Management Research

The drivers for construction management research are too narrow and need to be broadened. A more critical voice would be beneficial.

Roine Leiringer (University of Hong Kong) and Andy Dainty (Manchester Metropolitan University) find the recent B&C special issue, Modern Methods of Construction: Beyond Productivity Improvement, has a worthy (and much needed) aim of providing a critical approach to policy and practice.

Housing Adaptability

SPECIAL ISSUE LAUNCH: Join us for a webinar exploring how housing can be made more adaptable

While retrofitting the existing housing stock for climate change mitigation has been well researched, less consideration has been given to the increasingly important issues of the adaptation and flexibility of our homes – especially given the decreasing size of dwellings and changing nature of work and education. What can policymakers, planners, clients, developers and designers do to make new and existing dwellings more adaptable?

To attend, please register in advance:
https://ED136-Housing_adaptability.eventbrite.co.uk

Policy Proposals for the Built and Natural Environment

A wide, coordinated set of policy proposals for built environment is launched for tackling global warming and biodiversity.

The UK built and natural environment think tank, the Edge, has drawn on the widespread expertise of its members to produce a concise set of interconnected policy recommendations aimed at enabling the design, construction and property industries to deliver on their obligations in the face of the twin climate change and biodiversity emergencies. The policy proposals are an urgent Call to Action to prevent on-going environmental and social harm.

CARBON: A Field Manual for Building Researchers

By Matti Kuittinen, Alan Organschi, Andrew Ruff. Wiley, 2022, ISBN 9781119720775

Francesco Pomponi applauds this significant book and recommends it as essential reading not only for researchers, but for policy makers, clients, construction professionals, educators and students.

Ventilation and Infection in Buildings

RESEARCH PATHWAY: personal reflections on a career in research

Engineer Cath Noakes (University of Leeds) reflects on motivations that led to a career researching building ventilation and airborne infection. She considers how the pandemic has exposed weaknesses in our built environment that will influence future research, policy and practice.

Dismantling Power and Bringing Reflexivity into the Eco-modern Home

Why accomodating gender & diversity is vital for the widespread adoption of smart energy technologies.

Can renewable and smart energy technologies in the home avoid negative consequences for gender, power, and nature-society relations within the domestic sphere? Olufolahan Osunmuyiwa, Helene Ahlborg, Martin Hultman, Kavya Michael and Anna Åberg comment on ‘Masculine roles and practices in homes with photovoltaic systems’ (Mechlenborg & Gram-Hanssen, 2022) – published in a recent Buildings & Cities special issue ‘Energy, Emerging Tech and Gender in Homes’.

The Launch of SURGe at COP27: Breakthrough or Déjà Vu?

By Jeroen van der Heijden (Victoria University of Wellington)

The overall outcomes of COP27 (held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt) have been reported by some as disappointing. However, leading city networks such as C40 and ICLEI claim that subnational governments and cities have made a significant breakthrough with the launch of the Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation initiative (SURGe). This commentary explores how much of a breakthrough this really is.

What is the Problem that Smart Home Technologies Solve?

Why co-creation is needed for SHT: to address diverse household needs & practices

Sylvia Breukers (Duneworks) comments on the Buildings & Cities special issue 'Energy, Emerging Technologies and Gender in Homes'. Who (and what) needs Smart Home Technology (SHT) and for what purposes? What are the ideas, expectations and promises behind SHT and how do these correspond to actual (gendered) experiences?

Gender and Ethics of Care in Energy Systems

How can the energy transition and smart technologies become more inclusive?

Sarah Darby (University of Oxford) responds to the Buildings & Cities special issue ‘Energy, Emerging Technologies and Gender in Homes’. If the adoption and use of smart home technologies and decarbonised energy systems are to be realised, then the principles of fairness, caring and caring ethics need to be embedded within regulatory, industry and domestic decisions and practices.