1 INTRODUCTION SPECIAL ISSUE
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT
In the European Union buildings are responsible for more than 40% of the total energy
consumption, 30% of the CO2 emissions, and the construction sector is estimated to generate
approximately 40% of all man-made waste. The housing sector is an important shareholder in the environmental burden. Sustainable building, renovation and management offers opportunities to achieve environmental benefits. The Kyoto Protocol increases the pressure to concrete the efforts to reduce the energy consumption and the carbon dioxide emissions of the housing sector. The nature of the environmental problems is global and therefore the developments should be done in co-operations and learning from each other.
In this special issue we present the development in research on the following subjects: 1. government policies on sustainable design, construction and management.
2. environmental load and assessment methods. 3. energy performance and renewable energy. 4. healthy living conditions.
Two articles are on the government policies on sustainable design, construction and management. Minna Sunikka describes policies and policy instruments currently used to encourage sustainable renovation in Europe. Nico Maiellaro analyses the contents and structures of ‘green oriented’ Regional Laws and Municipal Building Codes. Maiellaro focuses on supporting measures and gives suggestions for increasing the demand of sustainable building.
Three articles deal with the environmental load and assessment methods. Gerda Klunder and Haico van Nunen try to indentify and classify the aspects belonging to the ‘factor of time’ and to select solutions to handle these aspects in LCA’s. Mark Deakin and Steve Curwell report on the findings of the BEQUEST (EU Framework 4) to develop a framework for analysis and compile a directory of methods able to assess the sustainability of urban development. Eli Støa presents the results on three adaptability projects in Norway. The assumption is that adaptability contributes to space efficiency and improves the housing quality.
Three articles focus on energy performance and renewable energy. Milou Beerepoot describes the wish of the European Commission to harmonize energy regulations and at the same time
formulate goals for promoting the use of renewable energy sources. The article is on possible synergy of these two targets. Elisa Boelman and Hideo Asado present an article on the exergy concept. The exergy concept entails efforts to avoid degrading the quality of energy. The concept enables us to compare different types of energy (such as electricity, visible radiation and heat) on a common basis and show explicitly what is consumed as a result of energy resource degradation. Per Hultén focuses on energy savings by synergy on a local level. The main research question is what energy savings can be obtained when the existing built environment, plans for new
additional buildings and for instance an enlarged public transport system are looked at as parts of the same local system for sustainable use of energy?
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The special issue finishes with an article on healthy living conditions. Evert Hasselaar and Lidia Morawska focus on indoor air quality and construct a framework for discussion. The main research question is how the relation between healthy indoor air and sustainable building can be improved?
I hope you will enjoy the contents of this special issue. Maybe it gives you new thoughts and insights. I am sure we present a lot of material for discussion. My hope is that the articles will bring the field of research (and practise) on sustainable design, construction and management a bit further.
Geert Vijverberg
OTB Research Institute for Policy, Sciences and Technology of the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands
