News

Level(s): The EU Framework for Sustainable Buildings

The 'Level(s)' provides professionals with a framework guiding the sustainability performance assessment of buildings.

2021 Reviewers

2021 Reviewers

Buildings & Cities gratefully acknowledges and thanks our reviewers.

Embodied Carbon in Concrete: Problems of Mis-Messaging

Is trade body information accurate about the embodied carbon in concrete?

New Editorial Positions at B&C

New Editorial Positions at B&C

We are seeking 2 people to journal our editorial team

Creating a Built Environment within Planetary Boundaries

RESEARCHERS DECLARE! A series of specific recommendations for action were recently created by the research community for policymakers, industry and society.

How Does Architectural Form Influence Economic Diversity?

New research shows how building design influences the economic diversity of a neighbourhood

Retrofit at Scale - Videos

Retrofit at Scale - Videos

Watch short presentations & responses from "Making Mass Retrofit a Reality" outlining what capabilities & capacities are needed for implementation.

COP26 Expectations

COP26 Expectations

Read this vital series of essays providing multiple perspectives on expected and needed outcomes from COP26.

Making Mass Retrofit a Reality

A webinar from CREDS and Buildings & Cities

Urban Climate Resilience: Tackling Microclimates and Dwelling Overheating

Join us for the launch of Briefing Notes - a new kind of article for practitioners - to discuss adaptation at two related urban scales. 30 June 2021, 12:00 - 13:30 BST

Impacts of Energy Policy on Urban GHG Emissions

Which combination of policy measures are most appropriate for reducing urban emissions? New peer-reviewed research shows how economic, technology and urban building energy models can be combined and used to evaluate policy efficacy.

What Have We Learnt from 20 Years of Occupant Surveys?

This peer-reviewed paper consolidates lessons from 20 years of post-occupancy surveys

Is Urban Density a Key Factor in the Spread of Covid-19?

A new peer-reviewed paper examines the literature on the influence of urban density on the diffusion of Covid-19.

Mainstreaming Zero Carbon - Videos

Watch the presentations and respondents on "Zero Carbon: Can Built Environment Education Deliver?" outlining how built environment education and training needs to urgently change. 

Improving Energy Research Practices

A new peer-reviewed Methods article provides energy researchers with processes and guidance for improving the quality of their work.

VIRTUAL EVENTS: Can Built Environment Education Deliver?

Join us for the launch of the B&C special issue "Education & Training: Mainstreaming Zero Carbon"

Carbon Metrics - videos

Carbon Metrics - videos

Watch the Climate Metrics presentations discussing approaches to measuring and managing mitigation in the built environment. From the special issue launch event at the "Beyond 2020" conference.

Climate Justice - video

Climate Justice - video

Watch the Climate Justice presentations discussing what built environment professionals can do to address climate justice.

Climate Justice - online webinar

Climate Justice webinar on Thursday 24 September 2020 11.00 - 13.30 BST to discuss what further work needs to be done, both by industry and the research community.

Latest Peer-Reviewed Journal Content

Journal Content

Generative AI: reconfiguring supervision and doctoral research
P Boyd & D Harding

Exploring interactions between shading and view using visual difference prediction
S Wasilewski & M Andersen

How urban green infrastructure contributes to carbon neutrality [briefing note]
R Hautamäki, L Kulmala, M Ariluoma & L Järvi

Implementing and operating net zero buildings in South Africa
R Terblanche, C May & J Steward

Quantifying inter-dwelling air exchanges during fan pressurisation tests
D Glew, F Thomas, D Miles-Shenton & J Parker

Western Asian and Northern African residential building stocks: archetype analysis
S Akin, A Eghbali, C Nwagwu & E Hertwich

Lanes, clusters, sightlines: modelling patient flow in medical clinics
K Sailer, M Utley, R Pachilova, A T Z Fouad, X Li, H Jayaram & P J Foster

Analysing cold-climate urban heat islands using personal weather station data
J Taylor, C H Simpson, J Vanhatalo, H Sohail, O Brousse, & C Heaviside

Are simple models for natural ventilation suitable for shelter design?
A Conzatti, D Fosas de Pando, B Chater & D Coley

Impact of roofing materials on school temperatures in tropical Africa
E F Amankwaa, B M Roberts, P Mensah & K V Gough

Acceptability of sufficiency consumption policies by Finnish households
E Nuorivaara & S Ahvenharju

Key factors for revitalising heritage buildings through adaptive reuse
É Savoie, J P Sapinski & A-M Laroche

Cooler streets for a cycleable city: assessing policy alignment
C Tang & J Bush

Understanding the embodied carbon credentials of modern methods of construction
R O'Hegarty, A McCarthy, J O'Hagan, T Thanapornpakornsin, S Raffoul & O Kinnane

The changing typology of urban apartment buildings in Aurinkolahti
S Meriläinen & A Tervo

Embodied climate impacts in urban development: a neighbourhood case study
S Sjökvist, N Francart, M Balouktsi & H Birgisdottir

Environmental effects of urban wind energy harvesting: a review
I Tsionas, M laguno-Munitxa & A Stephan

Office environment and employee differences by company health management certification
S Arata, M Sugiuchi, T Ikaga, Y Shiraishi, T Hayashi, S Ando & S Kawakubo

Spatiotemporal evaluation of embodied carbon in urban residential development
I Talvitie, A Amiri & S Junnila

Energy sufficiency in buildings and cities: current research, future directions [editorial]
M Sahakian, T Fawcett & S Darby

Sufficiency, consumption patterns and limits: a survey of French households
J Bouillet & C Grandclément

Health inequalities and indoor environments: research challenges and priorities [editorial]
M Ucci & A Mavrogianni

Operationalising energy sufficiency for low-carbon built environments in urbanising India
A B Lall & G Sethi

Promoting practices of sufficiency: reprogramming resource-intensive material arrangements
T H Christensen, L K Aagaard, A K Juvik, C Samson & K Gram-Hanssen

Structural barriers to sufficiency: the contribution of research on elites
M Koch, K Emilsson, J Lee & H Johansson

Disrupting the imaginaries of urban action to deliver just adaptation [editorial]
V Castán-Broto, M Olazabal & G Ziervogel

Nature for resilience reconfigured: global- to-local translation of frames in Africa
K Rochell, H Bulkeley & H Runhaar

How hegemonic discourses of sustainability influence urban climate action
V Castán Broto, L Westman & P Huang

Fabric first: is it still the right approach?
N Eyre, T Fawcett, M Topouzi, G Killip, T Oreszczyn, K Jenkinson & J Rosenow

Social value of the built environment [editorial]
F Samuel & K Watson

Understanding demolition [editorial]
S Huuhka

Data politics in the built environment [editorial]
A Karvonen & T Hargreaves


See all

Latest Commentaries

The current situation is implausible: there are pledges for 2030 but no roadmaps for their fulfilment over time. Image: Giovanna Cassavia (TU Graz).

To achieve net zero GHG emissions by mid-century (the Breakthrough Agenda) it is vital to establish explicit sector-specific roadmaps and targets. With an eye to the forthcoming COP30 in Brazil and based on work in the IEA EBC Annex 89, Thomas Lützkendorf, Greg Foliente and Alexander Passer argue why specific goals and measures for building, construction and real estate are needed in the forthcoming round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0).

A session from a participatory drawing workshop at the Rumi Library, led by Sadia Sharmin in 2019

While Living Labs are often framed as structured, institutionalised spaces for innovation, Sadia Sharmin (Habitat Forum Berlin) reinterprets the concept through the lens of grassroots urban practices. She argues that self-organised knowledge spaces can function as Living Labs by fostering situated learning, collective agency, and community resilience. The example of a Living Lab in Bangladesh provides a model pathway to civic participation and spatial justice.

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