Climate change is one of the major problems of the planet. The atmosphere is overloaded with carbon dioxide caused by fossil fuels that are burned for energy. Almost 40 percent of the total energy worldwide is used by the building sector, which comes from non-renewable sources and contributes up to 30% of annual greenhouse gas emissions globally. The building sector in Iran accounts for 33.8% of Iran’s total energy usage. Within the building sector, the energy consumption of Iranian educational buildings is 2.5 times higher than educational buildings in developed countries. One of the most effective ways of reducing global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is retrofitting existing buildings. This study aims to investigate whether a particular energy-optimized design under the present climate conditions would respond effectively to future climate change. This can help designers make a better decision on an optimal model, which can remain optimal over the years based on climate change. For methodological purposes, multistage optimization was used to retrofit an existing educational building. Specifically, the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was chosen to minimize the cooling and heating load, as well as consider investment costs for present and future weather files, using the jEPlus tool. Furthermore, the TOPSIS method was used to identify the best set of retrofit measures. For this purpose, a four-story educational building in Tehran was modeled on Design Builder software v7.0.0.116 as a case study to provide a better understanding for researchers of how to effectively retrofit a building to achieve a nearly zero energy building considering climate change. The results show that the optimized solution for the present weather file does not remain the optimized solution in 2080. Moreover, it is shown that to have an optimized building in regard to future weather files, the model should be designed for the future weather conditions. This study shows that if the building becomes optimized using the present weather file the total energy consumption will be reduced by 65.14% and 86.18% if using the future weather file. These two figures are obtained by implementing active and passive measures and show the priority of using the future weather file for designers. Using PV panels also, this building is capable of becoming a nearly net zero building, which would produce about 90% of its own energy demands.

This article examines the government incentives towards foreign direct investments (further – FDI) of Central and Eastern Europe countries by evaluating the external influencing factors of foreign investment. It is argued that the major incentive affecting FDI inflows involves more fiscal than financial incentives. Tax deduction is considered to be the most significant influencing factor on attracting FDI. Hence, the empirical analysis is based on exogenous variables. The empirical model was used to determine causal relationship between macroeconomic variables and FDI intensity in Central and Eastern European countries. The article introduces some policy recommendation for the increase of FDI intensity in Central and Eastern Europe. Santrauka Straipsnyje nagrinėjama, kaip užsienio investicijų priemonės taikomos Centrinės ir Rytų Europos šalyse. Vertinami išoriniai užsienio investicijas lemiantys veiksniai, teigiama, kad TUI įplaukas skatina daugiau mokesčių nei finansinės paskatos. Tačiau laikomasi nuomonės, kad mokesčių lengvatos – vie-na pagrindinių priežasčių, lemiančių TUI įplaukas. Empirinis modelis pagrįstas mažiausiųjų kvadratų metodu, kuriuo nustatomas priežastinis sąryšis tarp makroekonominių rodiklių ir TUI intensyvumo. Straipsnyje pateikiamos kai kurios politinės įžvalgos, kurių taikymas padidintų tiesioginių užsienio investicijų intensyvumą Centrinėje ir Rytų Europoje.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues is a peer-reviewed journal which publishes original research papers and case studies

Urbanization and expansion of cities requires new tools to improve the quality of life of city inhabitants for all areas from mobility to leisure activities. Thus, technological development and digitalisation have been introduced into infrastructures such as rails, roads, airports, bridges, tunnels and communications. Policy of smart cities concept focuses on economy, people, mobility, governance, environment, and living. Even more, implemented framework of smart cities stimulates sustainable economic development. Smart economy is a trigger for innovations and entrepreneurship. Installed measures of smart mobility reduce traffic jams and optimise transportation systems.This research attempts to assess and compare largest different cities of Lithuania and Sweden in the context of smart cities’ concept. Due to the shortage and mismatching statistical information, the paper is limited with only four following indicators: smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, and smart governance. The analysis of indicators shows that Lithuanian major cities in all groups of criterion are below average while values of indicators in the case of Swedish major cities are much higher than average.

The purpose of this study is to examine the intensity of technology and knowledge transfer to the selected Baltic countries through foreign direct investment. The intensity of technology and knowledge transfer across the Baltic countries varies widely, with Estonia showing the leading position in the Baltic region. The amount of foreign direct investment in three countries is linked with the level of technology and knowledge transfer. It is indicated that during the Financial Crisis in 2008, the extent of foreign direct ownership changed in all three countries and later recovered. In the aftermath of this disruption, countries recovered their stock Foreign direct investment attraction rates and almost reached their 2004 level. Latvia has achieved a 50 per cent increase among Baltic countries, benefiting from it. Foreign direct investment and technology transfer increased through effective strategies and policies. In contrast, Estonia maintains a sustained stock foreign direct investment and has moderately lower margins than in other Baltic countries. Among countries, Estonia is the dominant stock FDI absorber in the Baltic region and have made significant contributions in the region.

Foreign direct investment is significantly important for the emerging market countries or countries in transition. Scientific literature provides plenty of evidence that FDI may have both negative and positive influence on economic growth. However, research proves that just specific type of FDI may bring benefit to the host country. Thus, a targeted FDI policy is essential for directing foreign capital into problematic business areas or regions. The goal of the article is to propose a complex targeted FDI policy, the employment of which would give benefits to the host country and achieve its strategic goals. Benefit-opportunities-costs-risks analysis and analytic network process method are used for the empirical research. Final results reveal that Lithuania, attracting FDI into research and development area, gains great benefits and exploits opportunities. At the same time, the highest costs might be generated while implementing a FDI policy in this area. A FDI policy towards service sectors would cause the least amount of risks. These results are significant for academics as the basis for further research, and decisions-makers as guidance for the development of the national FDI policy.