Climatic change in the built environment in temperate climates -- The role of buildings in the energy systems -- Challenges and priorities for a sustainable built environment in Southern Europe - The impact of energy efficiency measures and renewable energies on employment -- Indicators for buildings performance assessment -- Life Cycle vs Carbon Footprint Analysis for construction materials -- Economic experiments used for the evaluation of buildings users behavior -- Technologies and socio-economic strategies to nZEB in the building stock of the Mediterranean area -- Households: Trends and perspectives -- Office buildings – Commercial buildings: Trends and perspectives -- Hotel industry: Current situation and its steps beyond sustainability -- Schools: Trends and perspectives -- New Challenges at covering buildings thermal loads -- Micro-CHP -- Thermal Energy Storage -- Solar Thermal -- Solar Energy (PV) for Building Supply -- Thermal Insulation -- Cool materials -- Shading & Daylight Systems -- Electric lighting -- Tools and strategies for microclimatic analysis of the built environment -- On microclimatic improvement and its influence on architectural design -- Modelling and bioclimatic interventions in outdoor places.

Examines the characteristics, challenges and energy potential of buildings in temperate climates Provides sorely needed benchmarks for relative energy performance levels of buildings, as judged against current regulations, best case scenarios and emerging trends Explains design techniques and technologies to achieve required energy efficiency, comfort and occupant health performance levels, with theory supported by real examples Addresses such key topics as how the building performance may vary with climate change, increasing resiliency to heat waves and transitioning toward Net Zero Buildings Emphasizes the differences between new construction and retrofitting Energy Performance of Buildings addresses the imperative need to recognize the impacts of built environments on the world. It analyzes the trends and technologies of green and energy efficient building, identifying strategies for implementing energy savings and enabling the use of renewable resources in residential, commercial, healthcare and educational building sectors. The authors focus on best practices in temperate climates, providing in-depth coverage of urban heat islands, climate change and fuel poverty mitigation through architectural optimization, leveraging renewable energy sources and utilization of cutting-edge cooling materials. Pragmatic emphasis is placed on improving the energy performance of existing building stock to meet objectives of climate and energy conservation strategies. Engineers, architects, designers, students, policy makers and efficiency professionals will all gain valuable insights and ideas from this practical guide to greening the built environment.