Achieving Carbon Neutrality in Urban Infrastructure Development

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 April 2024) | Viewed by 3221

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Built Environment, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Interests: public–private partnership; risk management; project delivery; procurement; relational contracting; social license to operate; social procurement
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Guest Editor
School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Interests: project management; construction economy and management; digital construction education; green productivity in construction industry
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Guest Editor
School of Engineering, London South Bank University, London SE1 0AA, UK
Interests: project management; engineering management; built environment; sustainability; renewable energy technologies; digital transformation
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Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Interests: building energy policy; building energy systems; sustainable and resilient buildings; electrification and decarbonisation of built environments; grid-interactive efficient buildings; building-to-grid integration
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As urbanisation accelerates globally, infrastructure has become a crucial cornerstone of modern urban development. However, this development often comes with considerable environmental costs, including significant energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. These challenges demand urgent attention, given their far-reaching impacts on climate change and environmental degradation.

To address these issues, there is a pressing need to transition from traditional modes of infrastructure development to a sustainable, green, and low-carbon approach. Various target research areas have emerged in this context, including the estimation of infrastructure carbon emissions, the examination of contributing factors, the impact of these emissions on regional development, and strategies for carbon reduction and efficiency improvement.

The shift towards a green and low-carbon infrastructure development model is complex and fraught with challenges and uncertainties. It necessitates a systemic overhaul, impacting industrial sectors, driving enterprise innovation, and requiring the transformation of energy systems. Comprehensive, in-depth research from a global perspective is essential to navigate the complexities effectively and to minimise both transformational costs and associated risks.

This Special Issue invites submissions of original research and review articles focusing on the areas of infrastructure carbon emission reduction, green and low-carbon transformation, and relevant management theories and methodologies. We are particularly interested in the following topics, although this list is not exhaustive:

  • The development and refinement of infrastructure carbon emission monitoring systems.
  • The synergistic effects and influencing mechanisms of infrastructure carbon emission reduction.
  • Evaluations of policy effectiveness concerning infrastructure carbon emission reduction and efficiency improvement.
  • Pathways for enhancing the quality of green, low-carbon development.
  • Strategies and policies for green and low-carbon transformation in infrastructure development.

We look forward to your valuable contributions to this critical discourse.

Dr. Yongjian Ke
Prof. Dr. Jingxiao Zhang
Prof. Dr. Simon P. Philbin
Dr. Yunyang Ye
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • infrastructure
  • green transformation
  • low-carbon development
  • sustainable development
  • carbon emission reduction
  • energy consumption
  • environmental impact
  • policy evaluation
  • efficiency enhancement
  • sustainability

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 4606 KiB  
Article
Retrofitting a Fifth Generation District Heating and Cooling Network for Heating and Cooling in a UK Hospital Campus
by Jonathan Lalor and Aaron Gillich
Buildings 2024, 14(8), 2442; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14082442 - 7 Aug 2024
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Abstract
There is an increasingly rich literature on the decarbonisation of heat and the evolution of heat networks. This paper investigates whether a novel fifth Generation District Heating and Cooling Network (5GDHC) could be retrofitted to an existing National Health Service (NHS) hospital campus [...] Read more.
There is an increasingly rich literature on the decarbonisation of heat and the evolution of heat networks. This paper investigates whether a novel fifth Generation District Heating and Cooling Network (5GDHC) could be retrofitted to an existing National Health Service (NHS) hospital campus for the purpose of heating and cooling. The building load was simulated and input into a custom-written script to carry out a series of parametric studies and optimise design options. The model was calibrated against site data available from hospital facilities management. The research found that it is feasible to use a 5GDHC consisting of a large single mass of water to utilise inter-seasonal thermal storage. A natural water resource such as an aquifer was not required. The model tested sizing options and found that larger thermal storage, heat pumps and chillers reduce operating costs and improve flexibility. The paper closes with a discussion of the practical factors in retrofitting 5GDHC networks to a densely occupied and highly constrained campus environment. The findings are novel in further describing the circumstances for which 5GDHC networks are suitable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Carbon Neutrality in Urban Infrastructure Development)
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16 pages, 1928 KiB  
Article
Comprehensive Evaluation of Decarbonization Technologies: A Case Study of Residential Buildings in Zhuzhou City, China
by Jianlong Liu, Qing Tang, Haiyan Chen, Wenjing Meng, Feng Xu and Zhisheng Li
Buildings 2024, 14(5), 1322; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14051322 - 7 May 2024
Viewed by 1178
Abstract
Efficient carbon emission reduction technologies in buildings are necessary for achieving the “Dual carbon” goal in China. In this study, a comprehensive evaluation model is proposed to assess the effect of carbon emission reduction based on the analytic hierarchy process–entropy weight–coefficient of variation [...] Read more.
Efficient carbon emission reduction technologies in buildings are necessary for achieving the “Dual carbon” goal in China. In this study, a comprehensive evaluation model is proposed to assess the effect of carbon emission reduction based on the analytic hierarchy process–entropy weight–coefficient of variation model which takes newly built residential buildings in Zhuzhou City as the research object. The results show that the preferred materials for the roof and exterior walls of the building’s envelope structure were flame-retardant extruded polystyrene boards, and porous shale bricks were preferred as the main materials for the exterior walls. In addition, the rooftop solar photovoltaic system and energy-saving air conditioning technology were suitable in terms of being renewable and were better utilized. In the end, carbon emissions were significantly reduced when using the building decarbonization technologies. This study provides a new reference for choosing materials and technologies for the design of residential buildings in Hunan Province and even other regions with hot summers and cold winters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Carbon Neutrality in Urban Infrastructure Development)
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