Solutions for Climate Change Challenges in the Built Environment
Solutions for Climate Change Challenges in the Built Environment

Author: Colin A. Booth

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-03-12

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 140519507X

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The multi-disciplinary perspective provided here offers a strategic view on built environment issues and improve understanding of how built environment activities potentially induce global warming and climate change. It also highlights solutions to these challenges. Solutions to Climate change Challenges in the Built Environment helps develop an appreciation of the diverse themes of the climate change debate across the built environment continuum. A wide perspective is provided through contributions from physical, environmental, social, economic and political scientists. This strategic view on built environment issues will be useful to researchers as well as policy experts and construction practitioners wanting a holistic view. This book clarifies complex issues around climate change and follows five main themes: climate change experiences; urban landscape development; urban management issues; measurement of impact; and the future. Chapters are written by eminent specialists from both academic and professional backgrounds. The main context for chapters is the developed world but the discussion is widened to incorporate regional issues. The book will be valuable to researchers and students in all the built environment disciplines, as well as to practitioners involved with the design, construction and maintenance of buildings, and government organisations developing and implementing climate change policy.

Two Degrees: The Built Environment and Our Changing Climate
Two Degrees: The Built Environment and Our Changing Climate

Author: Alisdair McGregor

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-05-02

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1136182519

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The Earth’s temperature has been rising. To limit catastrophic outcomes, the international scientific community has set a challenging goal of no more than two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) average temperature rise. Economists agree we will save trillions of dollars by acting early. But how do we act successfully? And what’s the backup plan if we fall short? Setting politics aside, Two Degrees reviews the current science and explains how we can set practical steps to reduce the extent of warming and to adapt to the inevitable changes, all while improving the bottom line, beautifying our communities, and increasing human health. The book is a practical guide intended for a broad audience of those who occupy and shape our built environment. The authors provide a clear framework for communities, policy makers, planners, designers, developers, builders, and operators to help manage the impacts and capture the opportunities of our changing climate. Two Degrees is divided into three sections—Fundamentals, Mitigation, and Adaptation—covering a diverse array of topics ranging from climate-positive communities and low-carbon buildings to the psychology of choice and the cost of a low-carbon economy. After a foreword by Amory Lovins, more than 10 contributing authors share knowledge based on direct experience in all aspects of built environment practice. This book clarifies the misconceptions, provides new and unique insights, and shows how a better approach to the built environment can increase resilience and positively shape our future.

The New Carbon Architecture
The New Carbon Architecture

Author: Bruce King

Publisher: New Society Publishers

Published: 2017-12-05

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 1550926616

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Soak up carbon into beautiful, healthy buildings that heal the climate "Green buildings" that slash energy use and carbon emissions are all the rage, but they aren't enough. The hidden culprit is embodied carbon — the carbon emitted when materials are mined, manufactured, and transported — comprising some 10% of global emissions. With the built environment doubling by 2030, buildings are a carbon juggernaut threatening to overwhelm the climate. It doesn't have to be this way. Like never before in history, buildings can become part of the climate solution. With biomimicry and innovation, we can pull huge amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere and lock it up as walls, roofs, foundations, and insulation. We can literally make buildings out of the sky with a massive positive impact. The New Carbon Architecture is a paradigm-shifting tour of the innovations in architecture and construction that are making this happen. Office towers built from advanced wood products; affordable, low-carbon concrete alternatives; plastic cleaned from the oceans and turned into building blocks. We can even grow insulation from mycelium. A tour de force by the leaders in the field, The New Carbon Architecture will fire the imagination of architects, engineers, builders, policy makers, and everyone else captivated by the possibility of architecture to heal the climate and produce safer, healthier, and more beautiful buildings.

Advancing the Science of Climate Change
Advancing the Science of Climate Change

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2011-01-10

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 0309145880

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Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for-and in many cases is already affecting-a broad range of human and natural systems. The compelling case for these conclusions is provided in Advancing the Science of Climate Change, part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America's Climate Choices. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never closed, the book shows that hypotheses about climate change are supported by multiple lines of evidence and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations. As decision makers respond to these risks, the nation's scientific enterprise can contribute through research that improves understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change and also is useful to decision makers at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The book identifies decisions being made in 12 sectors, ranging from agriculture to transportation, to identify decisions being made in response to climate change. Advancing the Science of Climate Change calls for a single federal entity or program to coordinate a national, multidisciplinary research effort aimed at improving both understanding and responses to climate change. Seven cross-cutting research themes are identified to support this scientific enterprise. In addition, leaders of federal climate research should redouble efforts to deploy a comprehensive climate observing system, improve climate models and other analytical tools, invest in human capital, and improve linkages between research and decisions by forming partnerships with action-oriented programs.

Claiming Identity Through Redefined Teaching in Construction Programs
Claiming Identity Through Redefined Teaching in Construction Programs

Author: Mostafa, Sherif

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2019-07-31

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 1522584536

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Without a rich learning source that presents state-of-the-art pedagogy covering the key areas of contemporary practice, the industrial field may fall out of line with the current times. By reforming itself to embrace new norms such as social responsibility, deploying modern construction methods including modular building, and modernizing construction contracts, the recent literary material will only positively influence the workforce of the world. Claiming Identity Through Redefined Teaching in Construction Programs provides scholarly insights into the learning and teaching mechanisms developed at different institutions to address the ever-changing attributes in the field of construction management. Featuring topics that include artificial intelligence, industrial law, and operations management, the book is ideal for educators, industrial managers, academics, researchers, and students.

Governance for Urban Sustainability and Resilience
Governance for Urban Sustainability and Resilience

Author: Jeroen van der Heijden

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2014-10-31

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1782548130

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Cities, and the built environment more broadly, are key in the global response to climate change. This groundbreaking book seeks to understand what governance tools are best suited for achieving cities that are less harmful to the natural environment,

Research Anthology on Environmental and Societal Well-Being Considerations in Buildings and Architecture
Research Anthology on Environmental and Societal Well-Being Considerations in Buildings and Architecture

Author: Management Association, Information Resources

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2021-05-28

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13: 1799890333

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When it comes to architecture, there has been a focus on sustainable buildings and human well-being in the built environment. Buildings should not only be environmentally friendly and sustainable, but dually focused on human health, wellness, and experience. This includes considerations into the quality of buildings, ranging from ventilation to thermal comfort, along with environment considerations such as energy usage and material selection. Specific architectural choices and design for buildings can either contribute to or negatively impact both society and the environment, leading research in the field of architecture to be focused on environmental and societal well-being in accordance with the built environment. The Research Anthology on Environmental and Societal Well-Being Considerations in Buildings and Architecture focuses on how the built environment is being constructed to purposefully enhance societal well-being while also maintaining green standards for environmental sustainability. On one side, this book focuses on the specific building choices that can be made for the purpose of human well-being and the occupants who will utilize the building. On the other side, this book also focuses on environmental sustainability from the standpoint of green buildings and environmental concerns. Together, these topics allow this book to have a holistic view of modern architectural choices and design. This book is essential for architects, IT professionals, engineers, contractors, environmentalists, interior designers, civil planners, regional government officials, construction companies, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in architecture and how it can promote environmental and societal well-being.

Thwart Climate Change Now
Thwart Climate Change Now

Author: Jeffrey Stake

Publisher:

Published: 2021-11-04

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9781585762330

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Thwart Climate Change Now: Reducing Embodied Carbon Brick by Brick addresses an imperative--to slow the pace of climate change within the coming decade--before it's too late. While climate policy typically focuses on future decarbonization 10 to 20 years out, temperatures continue to rise. Greenhouse gases emitted upfront from the materials fabrication, construction, and renovation of our physical environment--embodied emissions--accelerate the rate of global warming now. Sadly, they increase atmospheric carbon before our buildings and infrastructure are even used. Often ignored or deemed too perplexing to resolve, the need to reduce embodied emissions immediately is the subject of this book. Written for a variety of readers--from policymakers and legislators to architects and developers--Thwart Climate Change Now addresses how to tackle the built environment's "embodied" carbon emissions, highlighting specific design and policy issues that overlook their own contribution to atmospheric carbon. The book brings together the science of climate change, sustainable design, and green policies in a language accessible to a diverse readership, followed by case study examples to support design, policy and legislative recommendations to slow emissions growth in the near term.

Environmental Sustainability in Building Design and Construction
Environmental Sustainability in Building Design and Construction

Author: Xiaoming Wang

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-01-01

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 3030762319

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This monograph offers analyses of construction activities using various key concepts and assessments of sustainable development, and provides students and researchers with methodologies and design aspects for the sustainable development of the built environment. Additionally, the book demonstrates various national and international policies for assisting architects, engineers and policy makers in understanding the relevant decision-making approaches to sustainable development in construction. The book begins by reviewing the background of sustainability and sustainable development. The focus then turns to the effects of climate change on the built environment, including impacts of energy and carbon emissions, as well as constraints on water and waste management. The remaining chapters discuss the necessary approaches to achieve sustainable waste management, energy efficient building design, and resilience and adaptation in the built environment In eight chapters, the book encourages readers to think independently, logically and objectively about the complex issues presented by the applications of sustainable development in construction, including resource efficiency, environmental impacts, human health, building economics and social development.