The building sector is responsible for 39% of process-related greenhouse gas emissions globally, making net- or nearly-zero energy buildings pivotal for reaching climate neutrality. This article re...

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-environ-012420-045843

Advances Toward a Net-Zero Global Building Sector

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Assessment of the renewable energy generation towards net-zero energy buildings: A review

Zero emission neighbourhoods and positive energy districts – A state-of-the-art review

Effectiveness of passive design strategies in responding to future climate change for residential buildings in hot and humid Hong Kong

With nearly 70% of the world population expected to live in cities by 2050, assessing the sustainability of urban systems, both existing and future ones, is becoming increasingly relevant. Making cities more sustainable is a global priority, which is highlighted by ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ being listed as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) adopted by United Nations Member States in 2015. This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) explores the implementation and assessment of policies and technologies that contribute to the transition to a sustainable, energy efficient and regenerative society. We organized the issue according to four main research themes: 1) Renewable Energy Systems (i.e., different types of systems, qualitative assessments and public acceptance); 2) Sustainable Built Environment (which includes construction, operation and refurbishment); 3) Multi-Scale Models (considering urban sustainability transition from building to districts, or cities and regions to multi-country comparisons and their scaling across different countries); and 4) Governance and Policy (climate change mitigation and adaptation plans/policies that are reported across countries, urban services and infrastructures). This paper serves two purposes. The first is to provide an analysis about patterns, correlations and synergies found across the different topics that have been addressed over the last 20 years in the literature about cities’ sustainability paths. A bibliometric analysis and a contingency matrix show the degree of correlation between scientific journals and main topics addressed by published articles. Secondly, the paper acts as an Editorial to the VSI, introducing the wealth of research articles and topics included in it. Both the bibliometric analysis and the papers published in this VSI demonstrate the interconnectedness of energy consumption, pollutant emissions and the competition for finite resources. The aim is to present advances and challenges of this exciting and ever-evolving research field to inform and guide future studies of urban sustainability.

Advances and challenges in assessing urban sustainability : an advanced bibliometric review

Sustainable development in the building sector requires the integration of energy efficiency and renewable energy utilization in buildings. In recent years, the concept of net zero energy buildings (NZEBs) has become a potential plausible solution to improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption in buildings. To achieve an NZEB goal, building systems and design strategies must be integrated and optimized based on local climatic conditions. This paper provides a comprehensive review of NZEBs and their current development in hot and humid regions. Through investigating 34 NZEB cases around the world, this study summarized NZEB key design strategies, technology choices and energy performance. The study found that passive design and technologies such as daylighting and natural ventilation are often adopted for NZEBs in hot and humid climates, together with other energy efficient and renewable energy technologies. Most NZEB cases demonstrated site annual energy consumption intensity less than 100 kW-hours (kWh) per square meter of floor space, and some buildings even achieved “net-positive energy” (that is, they generate more energy locally than they consume). However, the analysis also shows that not all NZEBs are energy efficient buildings, and buildings with ample renewable energy adoption can still achieve NZEB status even with high energy use intensity. This paper provides in-depth case-study-driven analysis to evaluate NZEB energy performance and summarize best practices for high performance NZEBs. This review provides critical technical information as well as policy recommendations for net zero energy building development in hot and humid climates.

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A review of net zero energy buildings in hot and humid climates: Experience learned from 34 case study buildings

A vertical city with multifunctional land use turns out to be the most viable solution for an urban condition characterized by increasing density due to population expansion, topographical limitation of buildable land, economic development and the pursuit for collective sustainable living, such as in Hong Kong. This paper presents initial research results from a study on the chronological and typological evolution of tall buildings in the city, from the climate-responsive verandah typology to the mixed-use hyper-commercial podium and residential tower typologies that predominate today, to the ultimate formation of a vertical city. Case studies and surveys have focused on the development of this building typology throughout the decades since the 1920s, substantiating a discussion on the subjective and objective factors contributing to a genesis of the vertical city phenomenon in Hong Kong. The discussion will engage, under the notion of the vertical city, on how residents and visitors adapt to the growing density of the city, and how they accustom themselves to the changing urban morphology over time. Advantages such as high efficiency, spaces savings, time convenience, etc.; and disadvantages such as deficiency in livability, incompatibility of uses, environmental health deficiencies, etc.; serve as a reference for other cities in need of high-density planning due to population and economic growth.

Genesis of a Vertical City in Hong Kong

The paper presents a critique on the challenges arising from a prevailing Asian Compact City syndrome featuring a shared mission to build bigger, larger and taller, and discusses plausible remedies. The massiveness and increased building heights in close proximity suffocate the natural ventilation and create urban heat islands, which leads to increased energy demands during the summertime in the Asia mega cities. CITIC Plaza in Shanghai, Westgate and the Education Resource Centre in Singapore are selected as case studies for discussing the potential and possibility of natural ventilation strategy in the urban complex of the inner-city area to archive “green”. Compared to the traditional layout with airconditioned atrium, the public space of these selected buildings is naturally ventilated, making the most of the prevailingly seasonal wind. The results of both simulations and field measurements indicate that it is possible and feasible to apply natural ventilation within high-density urban areas. Pedestrianfriendly wind environment can be archived inside the complex by prevailing wind-driven design planning strategy for mega building, which is cost-effective and eco-friendly. The practical experiences of the passive design paradigm for large, big and tall buildings in the inner city could serve as references for other Asian mega cities.

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Let in the wind: a passive design paradigm for large buildings in the inner city of shanghai and singapore

Asian cities have shared the mission to build larger and taller buildings in urban areas since recent decades. This kind of high-density and compact development has suffocated the natural wind in the built environment. Air-conditioning systems are widely used, which leads to high energy consumption and the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. The study aims to figure out whether could be possible remedies for the Asian Compact City syndrome by exploring an environmentally-friendly paradigm and verifying whether it is possible to apply passive design strategies of the wind-driven natural ventilation, in tow compact cities with high density, Shanghai and Singapore. Two commercial buildings, one in Shanghai and the other in Singapore, are selected as cased for this research. Though Shanghai is in the sub-tropical climate zone while Singapore is in the tropical climate zone, the climates in these two cities are both hot and humid in the summer and subject to monsoon influence. Comparison of these two mega-cities will be made for further discussion of climatic-responsive design strategies.

Wind-driven Natural Ventilation Strategies of Green Buildings in Asian Megacities : Case studies in Singapore and Shanghai

With the four-generation “future house” as an example, the research first introduces the development of the modern green construction technology, analyzes the green construction systems, technical characteristics, product advantages and future developments under the modern industrialized construction mode, expounds the importance of modern green construction technology in housing industrialization in China, and points out the future trend of housing industrialization.

Qianning Zhang

Papers

A review of net zero energy buildings in hot and humid climates: Experience learned from 34 case study buildings

Genesis of a Vertical City in Hong Kong

Let in the wind: a passive design paradigm for large buildings in the inner city of shanghai and singapore

Wind-driven Natural Ventilation Strategies of Green Buildings in Asian Megacities : Case studies in Singapore and Shanghai

Energy Conservation-Oriented Residential Prefabs for Sustainability in Nanjing