Decarbonisation and efficiency goals set as a response to global warming issue require appropriate decision-making strategies to promote an effective and timely change in energy systems. Conceptualization of change is a relevant part of energy transitions research today, which aims at enabling radical shifts compatible with societal functions and market mechanisms. In this framework, construction sector can play a relevant role because of its energy and environmental impact. There is, however, the need to move from general instances to specific actions. Open data and open science, digitalization and building data interoperability, together with innovative business models could represent enabling factors to accelerate the process of change. For this reason, built environment research has to address the co-evolution of technologies and human behaviour and the analytical methods used for this purpose should be empirically grounded, transparent, scalable and consistent across different temporal/spatial scales of analysis. These features could potentially enable the emergence of “ecosystems” of applications that, in turn, could translate into projects, products and services for energy transitions in the built environment, proposing innovative business models that can stimulate market competitiveness. For these reasons, in this paper we organize our analysis according to three levels, from general concepts to specific issues. In the first level, we consider the role of building energy modelling at multiple scales. In the second level, we focus on harmonization of methods for energy performance analysis. Finally, in the third level, we consider emerging concepts such as energy flexibility and occupant-centric energy modelling, considering their relation to monitoring systems and automation. The goal of this research is to evaluate the current state of the art and identify key concepts that can encourage further research, addressing both human and technological factors that influence energy performance of buildings.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide emanating from activities associated with the construction of buildings in the UK contributes approximately 16% of the uk’s total emissions and will need to be reduced significantly to meet international agreements. Against this scenario, this paper presents a novel perspective for carbon accounting and trading that proposes the use of a platform for the uk construction industry as a possible solution. This suggestion assumes that taxation should be synchronised with phases of the entire life cycle of the building and that tax credits (or deficits) should remain an asset of the building itself. In this regard, a strategy is in place in the uk, but with gaps in how it will be implemented. To resolve these gaps, firstly, this paper explores and integrates three socio-technical components (i.e., carbon accounting, trading, and certification) that form an essential set of tools required for the management of taxes directed at property developers and construction companies. Then, it points out the need for a suite of computer-based systems to facilitate the recording of emissions information, the purchase of carbon offsets, and a way to access specialist financial services. As a result, a trading platform is conceptualised that makes use of blockchain technology as a foundation for future research.

The havoc caused by COVID-19 has further strengthen the case for greening cities and ensuring a quicker economic recovery much desired by various governments. To this end, the appetite for Distributed Renewable and Interactive Energy Systems (DRIES) as a preferred option to retrofit cities has grown amongst policy makers. However, DRIE sources are complex and disparate presenting challenges integrating into a unified system for urban retrofitting. Yet, integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) and DRIES provide possibilities of effective assessment. Research of BIM applications at a city level is still very sketchy talk less in the domain of DRIES. This study investigates the opportunities and barriers of the application of BIM for the performance assessment of DRIES in the context of the transforming our environments into lowcarbon cities. A systematic literature review and case study review were used to achieve the aim of this study.

The Positive Energy Block (PEBlock) is a new paradigm towards low-carbon cities. However, there is a paucity of literature about methods and tools to develop PEBlocks in practice. This study proposes a multi-criteria decision making optimisation framework for PEBlocks for cities. It explores PEBlock scenarios based on adaptable criteria and actions applied to a block composed of three school buildings, where only one acts as a positive node of the future energy network. Findings point out the flexibility of PEBlock scenarios; firstly, selecting a list of 21 potential positive energy scenarios among 300 possible combinations concerning the block analysed, secondly, individuating the optimal solution and finally, comparing it with others based on the weight assigned to the criteria. This study contributes to understanding the emerging properties concerning PEBlocks, discussing their features and stressing main peculiarities compared to other models (e.g., positive energy districts). It also emphasises the PEBlock as a feasible and reliable energy infrastructure to support new urban organisations (e.g., self-organised energy communities), drawing future developments and implications. Limitations associated with this study are also stressed in the conclusion.

Distributed, Renewable and Interactive energy Systems (DRIs) are revolutionizing the concept of infrastructure by introducing a set of new properties. The implications of the new system properties in the realm of Urban Design are often neglected. This paper proposes a procedure to reconcile DRIs and urban patterns. This procedure is tested on 23 school buildings in four urban regions of the Ostiense district in Rome. Findings suggest that the identification of existing buildings as active, neutral and passive nodes in DRIs can make a contribution to Urban Design decisions to exploit the renewable energy production capacity inherent in urban patterns.