Planning an initiative to encourage cycling in your city is certainly an admirable task, and in this era, one of great importance. However, there is more than meets the eye when starting on this...
A toxic mix of bad habits and infrastructure that prevents change is holding sustainability back. This is as true for retrofitting as anything. Community sociologist Doctor Jeni Cross has dedicated 20 years to researching...
Over the last 20 years or so the European Union has funded hundreds of projects aiming to reduce private vehicle usage and emissions. We took a look to see what some of the biggest...
Lately, it seems ‘climate justice’, ‘eco-gentrification’, and ‘green gentrification’ are the most used terms in the realm of sustainability. Whatever the phrase, gentrification is not an easy matter for discussion. Why that is the...
Retrofitting is big news. The internet is home to many academic papers and reports on the subject. Aside from providing a lot of empirical data, the impressive level of research shows us just how...
Access to adequate housing is a human right. And yet, we are still struggling to accommodate everyone in our cities. To understand why – and ultimately resolve this issue – we need to take...
There is a plethora of retrofitting policies out there, especially in Europe, that are guiding the move to a cleaner, greener energy scene. Here is a selection of rules and guidelines that are improving...
Research into retrofitting and the energy efficiency of buildings is a growing field. Here’s a sample of some of the most interesting papers around.
An Investment Allocation Approach for Building Energy Retrofits
This paper introduces a...
With climate change being so high on the agenda, it’s not surprising that there is a range of retrofitting projects testing out various measures, innovations, technologies, and tools for engagement to see how we...
It’s easy to forget we share our space in the city with other creatures. Either being small and almost invisible to the unobservant eye or being right there, planted in front of your front...
Housing is a complex and multifaceted topic. We want our homes to be eco-friendly, socially inclusive, well-maintained, and – at the end of the day – affordable. That sounds like quite a challenge to...
Sustainable buildings provide plenty of environmental, economic, and social benefits. So why are we hesitant to build more of them? A common explanation (and misconception!) is that they are simply too expensive. To bust...
Since writing his thesis on “Recyclable Building in Residential Construction” over 20 years ago, Thomas Romm has only delved deeper into how we can reduce the environmental impact of construction and planning practices. Cue:...
Deep in the depths of the construction world, among the steel, cement and concrete, there are materials hidden, just waiting to be utilised. We’ve put together this guide exhibiting some of the main natural...
Let’s talk hypothetically – what if we had the ability to grow our own houses? Out of plants? No greenhouse gas emissions, no grey concrete, no building-material waste, no heat island effects. Wouldn’t it...
As the desire for eating healthy, fresh, organic and home-grown produce grows, naturally so does the desire for gardening. But where to garden when you live in a densely populated city? Urban gardens offer...
Green is the new black; or rather, ‘greenzoning’ is the new ‘grayzoning’. These EU projects are the ones painting the cities green, striving to protect the (urban) biodiversity, or focusing on social inclusion by...
How to incorporate greenery into urban spaces? Where to put green spaces in a densely populated area? Putting them on a roof is a way to go! The benefits of green roofs are being...