www.buildingsandcities.org/journal-content/special-issues/energy-sufficiency-si.html

Energy Sufficiency in Buildings and Cities

Energy Sufficiency in Buildings and Cities

How can conditions be created for decent living standards for all without exceeding planetary limits?

Energy and climate policies have tended to focus on the promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energies, but there is no evidence that these measures alone will be able to meet climate and sustainable development goals. This special issue explores what the concept of sufficiency means for the built environment - both as a floor (minimum) and a ceiling (maximum) to ensure a "good life". Sufficiency is explored in many interconnected issues such as land use and density, space usage (size and adaptability), sharing of goods, services and spaces, and space conditioning (heating, cooling and ventilation) for health.

Guest editors: Tina Fawcett, Sarah Darby & Marlyne Sahakian

The papers in this special issue contribute to shared understandings around sufficiency among diverse actors including professionals and members of civil society; how studies aim at assessing the potential of sufficiency measures; what efforts are being made to learn from and build on existing sufficiency measures, as well as initiatives that seek to experiment with sufficiency; and what conceptual advances are being put forward relevant to sufficiency research and action.

In addition to energy, some papers in this special issue focus on one of the most difficult discussions around sufficiency in housing: reducing housing space per person. It is feasible to frame sufficiency as a way to promote wellbeing and the good life i.e. live better while consuming less.

Other papers help to chart future directions for research and action by relating to theories of justice, focusing on elite consumption, or considering ways to engage in sufficiency with existing material and institutional arrangements.

There is likely to be increased demand for reliable basic modern energy services from hundreds of millions of people who do not yet have access to them. How can these be met in ways that avoid the huge environmental and social costs of the last two centuries? The question of justice is integral to these reflections, particularly justice in recognition - of vulnerabilities, of limited agency, and of unacknowledged over- and under-consumption

Table of contents

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

Living smaller: acceptance, effects and structural factors in the EU
M. Lehner, J. L. Richter, H. Kreinin, P. Mamut, E. Vadovics, J. Henman, O. Mont & D. Fuchs

Are people willing to share space? Household preferences in Finland
E. Ruokamo, E. Kylkilahti, M. Lettenmeier & A. Toppinen

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

Imagining sufficiency through collective changes as satisfiers
O. Moynat & M. Sahakian

Provide or prevent? Exploring sufficiency imaginaries within Danish systems of provision
L. K. Aagaard & T. H. Christensen

'Rightsize': a housing design game for spatial and energy sufficiency
P. Graham, P. Nourian, E. Warwick & M. Gath-Morad

US urban land-use reform: a strategy for energy sufficiency
Z. M. Subin, J. Lombardi, R. Muralidharan, J. Korn, J. Malik, T. Pullen, M. Wei & Tianzhen Hong

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

Operationalising building-related energy sufficiency measures in SMEs
I. Fouiteh, J. D. Cabrera Santelices, A. Susini & M. K. Patel

Implementing housing policies for a sufficient lifestyle
M. Bagheri, L. Roth, L. Siebke, C. Rohde & H.-J. Linke

Promoting neighbourhood sharing: infrastructures of convenience and community
A. Huber, H. Heinrichs & M. Jaeger-Erben

New insights into thermal comfort sufficiency in dwellings
G. van Moeseke, D. De Grave, A. Anciaux, J. Sobczak & G. Wallenborn

Energy sufficiency and recognition justice: a study of household consumption
Alice Guilbert

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

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

Latest Peer-Reviewed Journal Content

Journal Content

Beyond the building: governance challenges in social housing retrofit
H Charles

Heat stress in social housing districts: tree cover–built form interaction
C Lopez-Ordoñez, E Garcia-Nevado, H Coch & M Morganti

An observational analysis of shade-related pedestrian activity
M Levenson, D Pearlmutter & O Aleksandrowicz

Learning to sail a building: a people-first approach to retrofit
B Bordass, R Pender, K Steele & A Graham

Market transformations: gas conversion as a blueprint for net zero retrofit
A Gillich

Resistance against zero-emission neighbourhood infrastructuring: key lessons from Norway
T Berker & R Woods

Megatrends and weak signals shaping future real estate
S Toivonen

A strategic niche management framework to scale deep energy retrofits
T H King & M Jemtrud

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

See all

Latest Commentaries

Lessons from Disaster Recovery: Build Better Before

Mary C. Comerio (University of California, Berkeley) explains why disaster recovery must begin well before a disaster occurs. The goal is to reduce the potential for damage beforehand by making housing delivery (e.g. capabilities and the physical, technical and institutional infrastructures) both more resilient and more capable of building back after disasters.

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).

Join Our Community