Getting the right institutions in place to run Africa's cities efficiently
Over the next 16 years, all of the world’s 10 fastest growing cities are going to be in Africa. If this growth is a process of people voting with their feet, as last year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics Paul Romer once put it, these cities are winning. By Astrid R.N. Haas, International Growth Centre Yet urbanisation in many developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, is not delivering the benefits of people and firms clustering together. Historically, cities have been the
[Press release] D2Grids official project launch : rolling out 5th generation district heating & cooling
D2GRIDS is an acronym for ‘demand driven grids’. This new Interreg North-West Europe (NWE) project, coordinated by Mijnwater Ltd., aims to upscale 5th generation District Heating and Cooling (5G DHC) grids across Europe. Construction21 is the communication partner of this promising project. What is 5G DHC ? First developed in Heerlen by Mijnwater Ltd., and in contrary to conventional district heating, this thermal smart grid is based on low temperatures. By a cloud of decentralized heat pumps,
Webinar on ExcEED project Database: from data to information to knowledge
This webinar will take place June 4th from 12:00 to 13:15. Please register through this link. The H2020 ExcEED project takes the pulse of the actual energy consumed by last generation of buildings. The project answers the need for transparency and comparability of energy performance calculations. The scope of ExcEED is to create a European database for measured and qualitative data on beyond the state-of-the-art buildings and districts. Building Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been selected
Making buildings responsive to the users’ needs with the Smart Readiness Indicator and the ExcEED database: new briefing published by the H2020 project
The H2020 project ExcEED (European Energy Efficient building district Database) is funded by the European Commission and aims at collecting data coming from new, modern and energy efficient buildings (such as energy performance, CO2 emissions, etc.). The project answers the need for transparency and comparability of energy performance calculations. The scope of ExcEED is to create a European database for measured and qualitative data on beyond the state-of-the-art buildings and districts. Building
4th EPATEE European Peer-Learning Workshop - Brussels
The 4th EPATEE European Peer-Learning Workshop will take place in Brussels on the 13th of June 2019 and will cover the topic: "The Evaluation of Energy Efficiency Policies in Europe". The objective is to provide a platform for stakeholders to exchange knowledge and discuss existing practices of the evaluation of Energy Efficiency Policies. The EPATEE workshops serve at achieving one of EPATEE's main targets: to enable user-oriented experience sharing and capacity building. EPATEE, The evaluation
ReUseHeat quantified EU28 urban waste heat potential
The ReUseHeat report "Accessible Urban Waste Heat" shows a significant heat recovery potential from unconventional excess heat sources. Approximately 1.2 EJ (or 340 TWh) per year are possible to recover from data centres, metro stations, service sector buildings, and waste water treatment plants. This corresponds to more than 10 percent of the EU's total energy demand for heat and hot water, which is approximately 10.7 EJ (or 2,980 TWh). Urban Persson, Assistant Professor in Energy Technology at
Meeting Simone Lowthe-Thomas, a renewable energy and sustainable development vision
Simone Lowthe-Thomas is Chief Executive Officer of Severn Wye Energy Agency (UK) and FEDARENE Vice-President for Energy Efficiency (Buildings & Behavior). With over 25 years’ experience working in the fields of Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development, Simone has supported people, communities, organizations and the public sector to find sustainable solutions for energy use and community regeneration work. She is a founding member of Community Energy Wales and sits on Welsh Government Advisory
Indoor air pollution: the invisible enemy
Researchers are developing low-cost technologies to tackle indoor air pollution that is a growing menace. A new generation of electrostatic filters can capture even the smallest particles of household pollutants, using a little amount of energy Indoor exposure to air pollutants has become a major problem in general, but especially in new low energy consumption houses that are very well insulated. This is because they trap contaminants that are released, for example, when you burn fuel to cook your
Cutting cities' emissions does have economic benefits – and these ultimately outweigh the costs
The politics of climate change in Australia has always been about the costs of change. It’s often debated in terms of we can’t afford or can afford to pay for the changes needed to our power, transport and building systems. However, the benefits can also be calculated and in general can be shown to outweigh the costs in the long term. We can also very easily see the short-term economic benefits in our cities. These benefits can be factored in to our calculations by carefully enabling the new economy
How to turn a housing development into a place where people feel they belong
Australia is one of the most urbanised nations in the world, and our ongoing population growth continues to produce new suburbs on city fringes across the continent. These new suburbs, and the processes that form them, are often contentious. And that’s not just because of vexed issues of sprawl, transport and infrastructure provision. One of the most common criticisms of new and outer suburbs is that they are bland, soulless, cookie-cutter developments that lack culture and a sense of place. Read
International Conference on Energy, Environment and Economics (ICEEE2019)
ICEEE2019 will bring together experts and academics from around the world. The emphasis at this conference is on refining the objectives for delivery of clean energy technologies, their environmental impact and economic viability in the current and future scenario. Following the success of previous International Conference on Energy, Environment and Economics, 4th conference will be held in Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh, Lothians EH14 4AS, UK, 20-22 August 2019. ICEEE2019 focuses
Smart 3D modelling for buildings
Building information modelling (BIM) hasdisrupted the construction industry. The digital technology represents and processes all the characteristics of a building in its whole life-cycle, allowing architects, engineers and construction professionals to design and manage it in a more efficient way It is one of the most famous museums in the world, with more than one million visitors every year. If you happen to visit Bilbao, Spain, you can’tmiss the Guggenheim. This architectural masterpiece, designed
Global climate finance is still not reaching those who need it most
In the world of climate finance, the December 2015 Paris Agreement was a high point. One of the key outcomes of the summit was a pledge to mobilise US$100 billion per year by 2020 in “new and additional” funds to help developing countries avoid, or at least adapt to, the worst effects of climate change. By signing the agreement, developed countries accepted the principle that they bear historical responsibility for global warming, and thus must take the lead in doing something about it. By Sennan
How micromobility makes cities more disaster resilient
Through this case study in Christchurch, NZ, you'll know why Micromobility both benefits from and makes cities more disaster resilient.
Let's mimic termite nests to keep human buildings cool
When it comes to building sustainable buildings, humans have a lot to learn from termites. A recent study that colleagues and I published in Science Advances explains how some African termites maintain cool and stable temperatures in their nests throughout the year. The answer lies in the wall of the nests, composed of tiny but highly-connected pores. By : Bagus Putra Muljadi, University of Nottingham Today’s architects and builders are continuously seeking new and improved ways to cool buildings
