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.

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.

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.

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: 282

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.

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.

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.

Global Warming and the Built Environment
Global Warming and the Built Environment

Author: D.K. Prasad

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2005-06-27

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1135814880

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The role of the built environment on global warming is seen to be of increasing relevance. In this book, contributors of international repute offer a wide perspectivet on the subject. This new paperback edition offers insights and techniques regarding design and management of buildings and urban settlement and discusses the issues of accountability and responsibility.

The Built Environment in a Changing Climate
The Built Environment in a Changing Climate

Author: Giulia Ulpiani

Publisher: Mdpi AG

Published: 2021-12-03

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 9783036523569

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The papers included in this Special Issue tackle multiple aspects of how cities, districts, and buildings could evolve along with climate change and how this would impact our way of conceiving and applying design criteria, policies, and urban plans. Despite the multidisciplinary nature of the collection, some transversal take-home messages emerge: - Today's energy-efficient paradigms may lose their virtuosity in the future unless accurate estimates of future scenarios are used to design modelling platforms and to inform legislative frameworks; - Acting at the local scale is key. Future climate change adaptation will be implemented at the local level. Overlooking regional and local specificities will contribute to inaccurate and inefficient action plans. As such, the smaller scale will become vital in predicting future urban metabolic rates and corresponding comfort-driven strategies; - Energy poverty, heat vulnerability, and social injustice are emerging as critical factors for planning and acting for future-proof cities on par of micro- and meso-climatological factors; - Given that the impacts of climate change will persist for many years, adaptation to this phenomenon should be prioritized by removing any prominent barrier and by enabling combinations of different mitigation technologies. These topics will receive a global reach in few decades, since also developing and underdeveloped countries are starting their fight against local climate change, with cities at the forefront.

Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment
Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2018-06-18

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 0309471699

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Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders.

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.