Decarbonization or Demise – Sustainable Solutions for Resilient Communities

The study evaluated the impact of innovative technologies on the delivery and affordability of low-income housing in South Africa. Various technologies, including UAVs, building information modelling (BIM), geographic information systems (GIS), 3D printing, VR, AR, AI, smart sensors, and modular/prefabrication, were explored. A mixed-method approach was used, collecting qualitative data through expert interviews and quantitative data from 100 surveys. Thematic analysis and descriptive/inferential statistics were employed for data analysis. Results showed that these technologies can accelerate housing delivery and improve cost-efficiency. Specific technologies such as 3D printing, modular/prefabrication, BIM, GIS, VR, OOP, and PPM were identified as beneficial for housing planning, design, and construction. Challenges such as high costs and limited social acceptance were also identified. The study emphasized government support through financial incentives and investment in research and development. Promoting the use of these technologies in both affordable and high-end housing projects was deemed important. Overall, the study highlights the significance of innovative technologies in addressing the affordable housing crisis in South Africa and calls for government intervention to overcome challenges and ensure affordable housing for all.

Global construction is forecast to grow by over 70% by 2025. To put the UK at the forefront of global construction, the industry and government created a joint strategy, ‘Construction 2025’, outlining targets based on cost, delivery, a reduction in imports and a reduction in emissions. It is the emissions target on which this chapter focuses. Latham, Egan, Wolstenholme and Farmer all criticised the industry’s lack of collaboration, with little improvement being made from these reports. If ‘Construction 2025’ emission targets are to be met, radical changes must be made. Timber, as a construction material, has progressed significantly over the last 15 years, particularly with the development of cross-laminated timber (CLT). Consequently, significant growth in its popularity in the multi-storey residential market has resulted. This study aims to establish if adopting CLT as the main structural element could be the multi-storey residential development sector’s solution to contribute to the reduction in emissions as set out in Construction 2025. A quantitative research methodology was adopted to gather data from industry professionals, exploring their views in relation to CLT’s sustainability credentials. The findings illustrate that a reduction in emissions was the highest priority among construction professionals. It also found that the adoption of CLT in the multi-storey residential sector can contribute to the sustainability targets set out in Construction 2025 as well as across the whole life cycle of the building.

Purpose: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method of quantifying the environmental performance of materials and products. It is also applied to whole buildings with the aim of reducing their carbon footprint. The purpose of this paper is to undertake the LCA of a building with varying roof designs, all with building-integrated photovoltaic panels (BIPVs), to determine their impact on embodied emissions. The reason for this is to tailor upfront building design to create low-carbon and eventually zero-carbon buildings as we strive for net zero carbon.Design/Methodology/Approach: The study has two main parts: (a) to calculate the solar energy generated by BIPVs on each roof design and (b) to carry out LCA cradle-to-practical completion (A1–A5) stages of the building options based on a 100-year lifespan.Findings: The two-storey buildings produce significantly less carbon than single-storey buildings of the same gross internal area. All roof designs assessed mitigate enough carbon from BIPV-generated energy to offset the embodied carbon within a year based on current UK electricity grid values. Upfront embodied carbon emitted during construction will generate a larger share of the whole life carbon (WLC) of the building as the electricity grid decarbonises, justifying the requirement to design for net zero carbon.Originality/Value: The findings of this study further develop the construction industry’s knowledge of LCA and progress the transition to net zero carbon. They can also support policy development to meet the government’s 2050 net zero target.

The UK construction industry (CI) has made significant progress in recovering non-hazardous construction and demolition waste (CDW). Nevertheless, construction is still responsible for 60% (130 MT/year) of all waste produced. There have been claims in the literature that Industry 4.0 technologies have the potential to support the transition to a circular economy (CE); however, these claims have yet to be tested in the construction context. A systematic literature review including 31 hits was conducted to explore the potential of Industry 4.0 technologies, referred to as Construction 4.0, for supporting the transition to CE in construction and to identify barriers to their adoption. Findings revealed that the adoption of Construction 4.0 is still associated with technical and managerial barriers and requires the involvement of all stakeholders. The most prominent technical barriers were the lack of standards, fragmented data-sharing platforms and individual technologies’ lack of holistic capability for solving CE problems. The costs of purchase, implementation, training, maintenance and operation were prominent among the managerial barriers. Overall, Construction 4.0 solutions were limited to separate situations and did not support circularity throughout the whole construction process. Hence, a framework was developed mapping technologies to different stages in the construction process where they can support circularity. Future research will seek to develop a model to systematically employ Construction 4.0 technologies throughout the construction process to enhance its circularity.

Of the 28 million residential properties within the UK, 19 million are poorly insulated and hence energy inefficient. It is a challenge to improve the energy efficiency of these buildings. Retrofitting measures reduce energy consumption in homes and improve occupant comfort, make homes healthier and reduce fuel bills. Local authorities across the UK are undertaking thousands of retrofits each year; however, the measurement of the impact of these retrofit activities is haphazard. The retrofit assessments taking place are fragmented, complex to implement, expensive, inconsistent in their approach, and therefore not a comparable, standardised assessment of the retrofit work done. The lessons learnt and best practices are not being shared, and there remains uncertainty around the benefits that are being delivered to communities. This research aims to understand how to improve retrofit assessments.To address this problem, the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) developed a toolkit called the Build Upon 2 Framework. It was meant to evaluate retrofit projects and standardise how to quantify social, environmental and economic benefits of projects. In addition to collecting technical data from energy models such as the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and economic data from contractors, the toolkit uses the occupant questionnaire as a central tool to understand the impact of the retrofit from the occupant’s perspective.However, the questionnaire is untested; this research aims to explore its effectiveness and make recommendations on its development and implementation. It analyses the results from a case study retrofit project in the North of England where it was deployed by a local council.This research may lead to the revision of the UKGBC toolkit, which may be adopted by other organisations wishing to undertake standardised evaluations of their retrofit projects and may also be used as a reference toolkit by organisations funding retrofit to ensure their projects include consistent retrofit evaluations.

Previous building renovation studies have evaluated the life cycle (LC) impact of replacement to new, more energy-efficient windows, comparing it to optional renovation measures and base scenarios. However, periodic maintenance to avoid replacing existing windows has attracted less attention in research and practice, especially in subarctic climates with high heating demands by buildings. The objective here is to assess the LC impact of various scenarios of maintenance and replacement of different window types on a 1980s multi-residential building in subarctic Sweden. The scenarios were compared based on estimated climate impact and costs during product and operational stages. A reference study period (RSP) of 60 years was chosen. Results show periodic maintenance of existing windows to be the preferable option regarding LC climate impact and costs. In the replacement scenarios, the reduced heating energy use affected the climate impact more than the costs. The scenarios showed varied sensitivity to changes in RSP, intervention rate and discount rate, increasing the uncertainty of the assessment. The results highlight maintenance is worth considering among property owners when deciding on renovation measures, but also in future research studies.

Lack of clarity in building regulations and associated bylaws results in poor quality building design. This is the case in Lahore, where the quality of public buildings, including sensitive buildings such as hospitals, hostels, and family homes, is compromised, particularly in relation to building environment, building comfort and building function, impacting both users and neighborhoods. This study produces an account of the implications of the planning approval process and practice for erecting public buildings by public and private developers in Lahore. It seeks first, to review and analyze regulatory provisions and prevailing practices of erecting public buildings in the city. Second, to carry out a nontechnical/social evaluation of the performance of public buildings by the end users and, third, to consolidate the technical views of officials regarding regulations/bylaws and their implementation. A mixed-method research approach is applied to capture and analyze data collected from the identified target groups. The study establishes that the building regulations/bylaws for public buildings are not sufficient and are generic in nature, therefore seeking enhancement in terms of categorical specification. There should be additional regulations/bylaws devised and introduced which consider types, purpose, and activity levels in public buildings. In terms of practice, there is a lack of appropriate building and development control in relation to the erection of public buildings. This results in low satisfaction of the end user/occupant and the public. Further research areas are indicated which can attract interest of a diverse range of researchers, practitioners, and planners related to the construction and wider built environments.

Many of the built environment’s sustainability and carbon reduction agendas are geared toward 2050. Yet, it is estimated that up to 80% of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have in fact, already been built. It is therefore argued that if any of the climate change goals are to be met, we need to radically reduce the carbon emissions from our existing building stock. Energy performance certificates (EPCs) are vital in the UK government’s strategy around climate change and energy use reduction within the built environment. Worryingly, an increasing amount of literature is now questioning the reliability of the data from EPCs and if it is fit for purpose. The research will focus on the group of buildings most impacted by the use of EPCs, the historic (pre-1919) housing stock. Alarmingly, some of the most effective measures of reducing carbon emissions and energy usage in historic houses have only a small impact on the EPC score a building receives. The paper aims to understand the key issues that cause a performance gap and how many historic dwellings perform much better than their EPC might suggest. The research draws upon existing literature before mobilising primary case studies and supportive datasets. Analysis and subsequent findings challenge the current rhetoric, whereby many small benign changes can have a considerable effect on reducing carbon and energy usage, and that many of the recommendations that owners of historic buildings receive on the EPC report are either, at best, far more financially costly and, at worst, extremely damaging to the historic fabric and the heritage of the dwelling. The existing EPC framework is fundamentally ineffective in accurately predicting energy and carbon usage in historic dwellings.

Carbon reduction has become a global priority over the last 20 years. Different sectors are looking at ways to both reduce and, to a lesser extent, offset both their embodied and operational carbon. This paper outlines the process of selecting the best-fit software to carry out life Cycle assessment (LCA) of whole buildings.Selection criteria were identified from three categories of data: the software performance regarding LCA, the alignment with the software selection to a project implemented by a Welsh small- or medium-sized enterprise (SME), and the utility of the software to non-experts in the LCA field. A total of 17 applicable LCA software tools were identified through a systematic literature review and an investigation of the local market. Web-based carbon assessment tools (WBCATs) catering exclusively to LCA stages (i.e., use stage) or exclusive to limited components of buildings were eliminated from consideration. Five LCA software tools were targeted for further analysis using a qualitative Likert-scale rubric along with a financial comparison using quotes provided by the software development representatives. The results of the study illustrated a prominent level of consistency in the technical qualities of the software. The highest score variance was noted in categories relating to software applications concerning project-specific attributes, specifically concerning useability by LCA non-experts and the software design aligning with building analysis. Licensing prices were similar between products but served as a decisive factor in comparing the software options. One Click LCA was identified as most congruent with the required project needs and aligned best with the financial scope of the project. OneClick selection was supported by extant literature, which highlights both the useability for non-LCA experts, and the quality of the datasets incorporated into the One Click package. The results support the importance of the project design and intended use of the WBCAT in selecting the correct software tool. In this vein there is no one best WBCAT, but there will be a best-fit dependent on design needs. This conclusion is congruent with existing literature where the selection of a WBCAT for use in a study is determined through regional, resource, and LCA parameters.

Housing is one of the significant contributors to carbon emissions in the UK, estimated to account for approximately 15% of the country’s total carbon emissions. This research evaluates the lifecycle carbon emissions of various modern methods of construction (MMC), particularly category 2 premanufacturing structural panels, compared to conventional brick houses for affordable housing in the UK. The study employs the EDGE application modelling software to estimate the lifecycle carbon emissions of different construction methods and overall housing systems. The comparison of carbon emissions from the four systems reveals that modifying construction methods and materials from conventional to MMCs and local-natural materials can result in significant reductions of up to 75% during the construction phase and up to 15% during the operational phase, contributing to an overall decrease of up to 35% in the total lifecycle carbon emissions of the houses. Moreover, the research highlights that changes in construction methods have a more substantial impact on carbon emissions during the construction phase than during the operational phase. Material and construction method selection in affordable housing is identified as a critical factor significantly influencing the lifecycle carbon emissions. In conclusion, the findings emphasise the importance of adopting sustainable building materials and construction methods in affordable housing to reduce the lifecycle carbon emissions produced by the construction industry. Such measures not only contribute to lowering environmental impact but also enhance the overall sustainability of houses and households.

Air infiltration, the exchange of outdoor air with indoor air through leaks in the building envelope, is a crucial factor that influences the energy performance of buildings. This study presents a comprehensive assessment of air infiltration in social housing units in Egypt using blower door tests and estimates its impact on energy consumption using simulation modelling. A field study was conducted on four social housing units, consisting of two conventional and two green building models. Blower door tests were performed on each unit following ISO 9972. The assessments made in four residential structures show an average air permeability of 19.52 m3/h m2, the traditional units’ average air change rates at 50 Pa (ACH) were measured to be 9.22 h−1. The green model, in contrast, displayed average air change rates of 7.34 h−1 and 13.94 m3/h m2 for air permeability. By just improving the quality of the window frame, green building models are 20% more airtight than conventional ones in terms of ACH and 28% less in air permeability. Simulation modelling was conducted to understand the impact of air infiltration on energy consumption. The measured air infiltration rates were used in the simulation models, along with climate data, thermal properties of the building envelope, and HVAC system efficiency. The simulations demonstrate that in terms of cooling loads, heating loads, overall energy consumption, and energy use intensity (EUI), the total annual electricity use in the green models was reduced by 2.3% compared to the traditional models. These findings highlight the importance of reducing air infiltration to improve energy efficiency in social housing units. In conclusion, this study underscores the significance of addressing air infiltration in social housing. It recommends the adoption of green building practices to reduce air infiltration, leading to improved energy performance and greater sustainability in social housing units.

The current energy crisis requires us to re-evaluate our methods of energy usage. The UK government has committed to decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet a net zero target by 2050. With approximately 24.8 million households in England and Wales (ONS, Housing, England and Wales: census 2021), it is important that residents understand how energy is utilised efficiently. Misunderstanding energy usage will negatively impact achieving the UK government’s 2050 net zero goal.Regarding domestic energy usage, identifying areas of consumer uncertainty and evaluating them through experimentation will educate the consumer, promoting clarity and understanding. This will assist towards achieving the UK net zero target, whilst encouraging sustainability through informed, efficient consumer energy usage.It was found that increasing space heating duration from 9 h/day using an SAP intermittent heating pattern to a constant 24 h/day heating pattern only increased space heating energy use by 31%. This behaviour is attributed to heating the thermal mass of elements during heating periods rather than more efficient heating system operation.

A significant objective of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is to provide a critical framework for COVID-19 recovery. This process is achieved through 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 9, which focuses on building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation. Innovation, particularly in the SME industry sector, is significant in developing sustainable engineering and technological developments and practices, thus fostering positive behavioural change in industry and the community. To improve the understanding of this process during the COVID-19 pandemic, research was undertaken to investigate the association between innovation practices in SMEs to better appreciate how innovation could be effectively used to enhance SMEs’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. A literature review assessed the impact that the COVID-19 crisis has had on SMEs’ performance, the role of innovation and the factors affecting its effectiveness. Subsequently, a survey was undertaken to collect and analyse data from 43 randomly selected SME engineering organisations in Australia with respect to their innovative processes during COVID-19. The research found that product, process, marketing, or management innovations have been introduced in SMEs where the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. These findings have led to the primary conclusion that enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic introduced more innovative solutions than those not disturbed by the crisis. Furthermore, consumer behaviour and digital technology skills were confirmed to positively influence the effectiveness of innovation during the COVID-19 crisis. In conclusion, this research has demonstrated the importance of ongoing innovation in engineering organisations in times of crisis, both as an agent of change and to develop areas like positive consumer behaviour and the digital economy. Its results can, therefore, be used as a guideline on how innovation can effectively be used to enhance SME performance and thus positively impact the achievement of sustainable development.

Local authorities in the United Kingdom face significant challenges in meeting local and national Net Zero commitments. They must work within defined legal, constitutional and democratic decision-making structures but without a unifying Central Government regulatory or policy mandate or a clear and consistent governance model to achieve area-wide decarbonisation. Much of the research and evidence presented in the literature draws upon the experiences of larger urban local authorities in the single (unitary) or upper tier of the two-tier (County Council-District Council) structure, where most investment will be needed to tackle Net Zero. Building on previous research, this paper proposes the use of a modified Delphi to work towards a consensus of solutions tailored to the organisation and its local area. The approach was developed and trialled on a sample of local authorities as a way of establishing a diagnostic tool to derive a suite of solutions to improve their decision-making and local governance arrangements to deliver Net Zero programmes of work in their areas.

The global shipping industry, responsible for about 3% of artificial carbon dioxide emissions, faces a pressing need for decarbonisation due to its significant contribution to climate change and adverse impacts on human health and the environment. To address this challenge, a stringent reduction target of 80% by 2050 has been set for the marine sector. This study aims to comprehensively examine the decarbonisation process within the UK research ship fleet, analyse its broader environmental implications, and investigate risk mitigation strategies and challenges encountered. Two main objectives guide the research: (1) Understand the decarbonising process and its environmental effects, and (2) Identify key factors influencing or impeding decarbonisation process strategies to combat global emissions. Employing a mixed-method approach, the study retrospective reviews the fleet’s decarbonisation efforts. It assesses energy efficiency in three research vessels, potentially applicable to the broader UK marine research fleet. The research findings offer valuable insights into the decarbonisation of the UK maritime research fleet, highlighting crucial drivers and barriers. Additionally, the study provides short-term and long-term strategies for the industry to reduce emissions, shedding light on the underexplored relationship between oceanography decarbonisation and energy efficiency in the global research fleet. These findings hold relevance for various applications within the maritime and transportation sectors.

The emergence of complex urban mobility environments, where unknown interactions between different types of vulnerable road users (VRUs) and between VRUs and motorised vehicles, poses the need for a clear understanding of user behaviours, fair and optimised use of public spaces, as well as age-friendly urban safety action plans and assessments, capitalising on the benefits that technological innovations and the plethora of available data can offer in advanced accident analysis, towards achieving EU’s ‘Vision Zero’ goal of zero fatalities on European roads by 2050. The SOTERIA project aims to accelerate the attainment of this goal for VRUs through a holistic framework of innovative models, tools and services that enable data-driven road safety intelligence, facilitate safe travelling of VRUs and foster the safe integration of micro-mobility services in complex urban environments. At the operational level, the SOTERIA project uncovers unexplored behavioural characteristics of VRUs and engages Living Lab communities (based in Germany, Greece, Spain and the United Kingdom) in social innovation activities for the co-creation of urban safety solutions and infrastructure designs. Simulation models and explainable Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven analytics are developed for supporting policy decisions and informing interconnected services that support VRUs in safe and clean travelling. On-vehicle sensors and connectivity are fostered enabling minimisation of risky situations and behaviours. The approach will be validated in four thematic demonstrations within the SOTERIA network of cities, addressing different types of motorised VRUs (e.g. motorcycle, e-motorcycle, moped, e-moped, e-bicycle, e-scooter, hover-board (Segway), mobility scooter riders) and non-motorised VRUs (e.g. bicycle, scooter, skateboard and horse/pony riders, wheelchair users, babies/toddlers in prams, joggers, pedestrians). This article maps out the routes and inter-linkages of the activities and investigative axes that the project will take on its journey from 2022 to 2026, plus the expected impacts that will benchmark the project’s successes.

The construction industry is facing numerous demands. For example, a contractor will have to ensure they achieve their cost targets and time and quality contractual obligations whilst also meeting any social value and environmental expectations. Social value is an increasingly important concept within the UK construction industry. Its importance has been reinforced by legislation, its growing weighting in public sector procurement, and the enhanced expectations of private sector stakeholders. Construction contractors therefore need to evidence their social value credentials in order to increase procurement success and meet stakeholder expectations. Addressing climate concerns is also a topic of increasing focus. Achieving extremely low-carbon buildings has been proposed as one solution to this. The problem exists that there are numerous competing contemporary demands placed upon contractors. Such demands are often arguably viewed as disparate and competing and so potentially serve to restrict evolution and innovation across all areas. Practices that address both ultra-low carbon buildings and social value simultaneously could potentially serve to reduce the competing demands placed upon contractors and lead to a more focused and productive contractor output and greater benefits for the intended recipients. The links between social value and ultra-low carbon developments have not been well explored in the literature. This lack of research potentially hinders ultra-low carbon developments from achieving social value (SV), or at least the recognition of the SV impact such developments have. The aim of this research is to critically analyse both concepts to identify areas of cross-over and consider if ultra-low carbon design can satisfy multiple stakeholder demands. The findings indicate a focus on achieving ultra-low carbon projects would lead to increased levels of social value achieved.

With the results of climate change becoming more apparent, sustainability is becoming increasingly popular in all sectors and construction is no different. Whilst larger contractors are leading the way, the same cannot be said for small to medium-sized contractors. The aim of this paper is to uncover the barriers facing small and medium-sized Irish contractors to adopting sustainability within their practices. The lack of research in this area is the motivation behind this study, as there is currently no information available on this topic regarding the Irish sector. This paper commences by identifying themes and underlying barriers identified within the literature. Subsequently, these themes and associated factors are explored in a series of 20 semi-structured individual interviews with small to medium-sized contractors. Five themes and associated factors are identified. First, cost, including cost of materials, cost of training, and cost of practice. Second, lack of understanding along with lack of education, lack of training, and lack of information are also noted. Third, the lack of government legislation is also highlighted, specifically grants, training, and regulation. Fourth, environmental, including materials, training, and practices. Fifth and finally, lack of demand, with a lack of client demand and lack of industry demand being factors. The benefit of this research is that both industry and legislative bodies need to first identify and acknowledge the barriers that result in small and medium-sized contractors not adopting a more sustainable approach, prior to then enacting targeted assistance to address these barriers, as identified within this study.

Suitable for buildings up to 18 m in height the ADEPT system is a fully integrated prefabricated construction solution comprising a breathable thermal envelope, cladding, internal walls, internal finishes and provision for integrated Mecanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) services. The system can be delivered in panelised or volumetric elements, or both, according to client requirements. Standardised, repeated elements combine with optimal material efficiency to make a system that is affordable, scalable, quick to build and suitable for awkward access or infill sites. Demountable panels and components allow partial or complete disassembly, re-use and a circular economy of parts, as well as non-destructive alterations during the lifetime of the building.The ADEPT system targets both operational net carbon neutral and negative embodied carbon, making efficient use of biogenic materials and circular design principles. Integral to the system is a novel patented hemp bio-composite which delivers improved indoor air quality through hygrothermal buffering. Whole-life carbon assessment is integral to all stages of the design, fabrication and assembly of the system as well as future maintenance and alterations.This paper describes the hemp bio-composite and presents a case-study of the ADEPT system, together with a life cycle assessment.

In the UK, microplastics are considered an emergent contaminant but not pollutants and, at this moment, are not monitored as part of water quality tests. As a result, microplastic abundance within many UK rivers is unknown. This also means that the many factors influencing microplastic abundances within individual rivers, such as seasonality and rainfall, are currently understudied. This study focused on the seasonal impacts, including the effect of rainfall, on microplastic abundance within the surface water of the River Thames. Ten sites in eight areas were sampled along the tidal section of the river, starting at Teddington and ending in Southend-on-Sea. Three litres of surface water were collected monthly at high tide from land-based infrastructure from May 2019 to May 2021. A total of 6657 pieces were identified and recorded throughout this study. However, there was no significant variation between seasons and microplastic abundance, with the mean microplastic abundance along the River Thames ranging from 10.29 ± 4.34 L−1 (spring) to 14.83 ± 7.49 L−1 (autumn). However, there was a substantial difference between MP abundance observed between consecutive seasons in 2019–2021. Fibres were the most abundant throughout, making up 77.1–85.96% of samples in all four seasons. A total of 1041 pieces of suspected microplastic were analysed via Fourier-transform infrared radiation (IR) spectroscopy, of which 176 pieces were not identified. Out of the 41 different polymers identified, the most common were polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (24.5%), polystyrene (PS) (9.8%) and polychloroprene (PCP) (7.69%). Polychloroprene was less observed in the spring months compared to other seasons. This study demonstrates a yearly variation in seasonal microplastic abundance with less MP observed in 2020, suggesting other factors, such as COVID-19, have a more substantial impact on microplastic abundance than environmental factors.

The impacts of floods on communities can be devastating, leading to loss of property, displacement, and even the loss of lives. Despite efforts to address flood risks, the academic community’s understanding is still low. This paper synthesises the factors influencing flood vulnerability and the resilience strategies of three small-scale mining (SSM) communities in Ghana. The study employed interviews, document reviews and content analysis. The flood vulnerability factors include physical, social, economic, and environmental aspects. The effective coping strategies identified include participatory, community engagement, community-based disaster risk management, policy-level, and individual-level strategies. It can be concluded that illegal small-scale mining communities in Ghana are vulnerable to floods without any proactive measures to minimise the detrimental impact on the lives of the residents. Effective flood management programmes should be implemented in small-scale mining communities to increase their preparedness for the impact of floods. The study’s limitations include limited sample size, biased responses from respondents, and challenges in controlling the quality of the qualitative data. The paper provides insights into possible interventions to mitigate the impact of floods in small-scale mining communities.

With the increasing threat of climate change to urban areas, it is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) in building resilience. This paper evaluates the potential of WSUD strategies in urban form for climate change adaptation. Using a case study approach, this study analyzes current practices and policies in WSUD implementation and highlights the best practices for WSUD integration into the urban form for climate change adaptation. The four projects examined are the WaterEcoNet project in Qihe County in China, BedZED in London, Singapore NEWater, and the Melbourne Water Recycling Project. The analysis identifies the importance of using alternative sources of water to meet the increasing demands of growing urban populations. It also emphasizes the need for innovative water treatment technologies to ensure the safety and quality of recycled water, and it illustrates successful partnerships between government, private sector, and community stakeholders to implement sustainable water management solutions. These shared themes related to water management and water reuse show the barriers to WSUD implementation and emphasize the need for a multifaceted approach that involves coordination between stakeholders, innovative design solutions, and supportive policy frameworks. This study also indicates some water problems in Turkey, such as floods and droughts, which have a direct impact on the drinking water. A SWOT analysis is done for Bursa City, which is one of the most water-stressed cities in the Marmara Region of Turkey, with limited water resources and high demand due to a growing population and expanding industrial sector. The city has struggled to provide adequate water supplies to its residents, particularly during periods of drought. The analysis results indicate that WSUD is an essential way to ensure urban resilience to water-related risks in Bursa.

This work demonstrates a four-way coupling between computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) through an open-source CFD–DEM code, focusing on bed-load sediment transport at a particulate scale. The study combines numerical and experimental investigations to provide a comprehensive analysis. Large eddy simulation (LES) turbulent modeling is employed to capture turbulent scales, while interparticle sediment collision is highlighted through four-way coupling.The research showcases the mutual interaction between the fluid and sediment particles, emphasizing the impact of turbulence and near-bed flow velocity on particle motion. The presence of sediment particles in turbulent flows affects the fluid motion and associated turbulent activities. Furthermore, the study reveals the influence of sediment on the turbulent structures in the flow, attributed to momentum exchange between the particle and fluid phases. Fluctuation variations at the location of interacting particles demonstrate this effect.

This UK-based empirical study explores the role of social media in community engagement (CE) for a significant NHS hospital project, using a novel analytical perspective that is a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The project’s land-use decisions taken unilaterally by the project sponsor sparked differing opinions and opposing views within the community about what constitutes sustainable development, as defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) amid the Climate Crisis.The study delves into the ‘moral imperative’ of the Climate Crisis (as an existential crisis that is particularly pronounced as a cause of ‘eco-anxiety’ within Generation Z) and critiques the underlying stakeholder theory that currently dominates CE activities as typically employed by public sector sponsors in the UK. It highlights the strategic and sophisticated tactical use of social media in escalating disputes by climate change activists, prominent amongst others, that caused significant and unanticipated delays and costly disruption to the progress of the project.By analysing publicly available social media practices, it aims to promote a deeper understanding of the actuality of the social interactions that take place during CE activities at the front end of such projects that we argue could be used to pre-empt similar future CE challenges by avoiding or at least mitigating the risk of prolonged and corrosive stakeholder and wider intercommunity conflicts and costly delays being incurred.The study suggests that this fresh analytical perspective can enhance the delivery of crucial UK (and beyond) infrastructure projects (e.g. schools, flood defences, land-based wind farms, hospitals, water reservoirs, and transport systems, amongst others) that involve contentious land-use decisions about what sustainable development constitutes.

Effective waste management (WM) is one of the most significant environmental problems and a major challenge for any large city. While there are numerous studies describing individual aspects of WM systems in specific contexts, there is no general approach that would unite all the accumulated results into a single framework. The aim of this chapter is (1) to explore how to develop an IoT-based smart waste management (SWM) system that improves the waste management processes of a city and (2) to develop an SWM system improvement and evaluation decision support framework (DSF) that could provide recommendations about WM implementation in cities, based on the city’s objectives, the characteristics of the city, and the current WM status in the city. To develop the SWM DSF, we used data obtained from 173 primary studies of a literature review, surveys performed in three different cities, and ideas from waste management hackathons. The developed DSF includes five parts: (1) Framework guidelines, (2) Context setting, (3) Goal setting, (4) Challenges to be tackled, and (5) Recommendations (provides the recommendations for achieving the set goals and solving problems, taking into account the specific context of the city). The SWM DSF has been tested and evaluated in two stages of testing: (1) by researchers at a university and (2) by a panel of experts in the field of SWM and decision support systems, including professors from leading universities of Finland and representatives of companies specializing in SWM. The test results showed the plausibility and usability of the framework. The developed SWM DSF can be used by representatives of the city administration of any city, as well as representatives of companies specializing in WM.

The chapter proposes a conceptual framework for improving sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs) through cyber community-based facility management. The conceptual framework of the chapter is based on facilities management (FM), the diffusion of innovation, and human development theory. The principles adopted for the conceptual framework are community-based FM, technological innovations, and capabilities approach. The framework is based on the idea that FM can be improved by utilising technology and the community’s capabilities through HEIs characteristics to promote sustainability. The framework’s four essential elements are technology, community capabilities, HEIs characteristics, and sustainability. Technology is used to collect data, monitor and control energy consumption, and improve overall facilities performance. Community capabilities refer to the skills, knowledge, and resources available within a community to engage in sustainable practices and initiatives. Characteristics of HEIs include facility type, public or private designation, location, institution district boundaries, size, student enrolment, age, and infrastructure condition. Sustainability development is achieved through the implementation of green practices, reducing energy consumption, reducing waste, resource efficient and socially inclusive. The framework proposed is appropriate for use by HEIs because they consume a significant amount of energy, emit a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and develop and strengthen students, faculty, and staff capabilities. As a result, they play a critical role in promoting sustainability. The chapter concludes by emphasising the importance of further research on the conceptual framework’s implementation and effectiveness in promoting sustainability.

Effective knowledge-sharing is vital for project management and success. This research investigates knowledge-sharing occurrences on construction sites in retrospect of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing lessons learned and creating a systematic account of such implications. Supervisors within the construction industries are noted to have substantial tacit knowledge due to their experience level, which those being supervised (supervisees) generally lack. However, due to the sudden arrival of COVID-19, limitations were imposed on physical interactions, which had adversely impacted tacit knowledge sharing between supervisors and supervisees on construction sites. Although safety measures were instituted to curb the disease’s spread, some experienced supervisors were uncomfortable appearing on-site physically because of the increased infection risk. Challenges such as social distancing and masking were observed to hinder knowledge sharing and communication with supervisees even when supervisors physically appeared. This research, therefore, adopts a qualitative research design to investigate knowledge-sharing occurrences on construction sites in retrospect of the COVID-19 pandemic, using semi-structured interviews. The narratives were analysed with NVivo. Based on various knowledge-sharing scenarios, this study offers holistic and categorical insights into construction site issues during project execution. These insights are presented in a conceptual model to aid supervisors and supervisees in effective knowledge-sharing. The research outcome can be applied where virtual working is increasingly being implemented, and it helps inform future projects during similar crisis scenarios.

The use of digital twins in the UK construction industry is growing. They offer a wealth of well-explored benefits that essentially aim to make the construction industry more efficient and effective. Social value is a concept that is equally growing in prominence in both research and industry importance. Social value is predominantly concerned with ensuring the construction industry has maximum positive benefits for the communities in which it operates. However, a problem exists in that contractors have finite resources, and so to focus on multiple initiatives is not always practical or even possible. This is potentially serving to restrict the development of both concepts and limit the benefits either can achieve. This impacts both the contractors caught in the middle of competing demands and also the wider stakeholders who would potentially be the recipients of enhanced efficiency and increased value. By addressing this problem, this research seeks to reconcile the potentially competing concepts of digital twins and social value. The aim of this research is to identify areas where both concepts overlap so that contractors can have a single focus and achieve both digital twin and social value benefits. By conducting an in-depth and analytical review of the extant literature, this research serves to identify overlapping themes and potential areas of value co-creation. The findings of this research reveal that with further digital twin development, and an enhanced and holistic view of social value, efficiencies in delivery can be created. This would serve to ensure social value data can inform digital twin decisions, allowing contractors to focus on both concepts, requiring fewer resources yet achieving higher value creation for all stakeholders.

Despite the inherent benefits that digitalisation brings to businesses across sectors, the construction industry in most developing countries seems unprepared and reluctant to embrace the digital trend. The fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has been projected to improve construction performance and overcome challenges faced in the industry. However, the lack of effective strategies for the adoption of 4IR in Nigeria has hampered its full adoption. This study examines strategies for 4IR implementation in the Nigerian construction industry. Anchored on qualitative research, a total of eight cases were interviewed in Lagos, Nigeria. Data generated were analysed using conversational thematic analytical methods. The study established government support, digital collaboration, training, increase in research and development, and standardisation of the industry using BIM as the most effective tactics for the implementation of 4IR in the Nigerian construction industry. However, different construction companies have different approaches to adopting 4IR. The study has provided strategies to help construction firms implement appropriate measures to adopt 4IR in the construction industry, an area lacking research attention. The study recommends organising seminars, conferences, and continuous training of skilled workers as it is the right track towards the full adoption of 4IR in Nigeria’s construction industry.

Adapting energy-efficient approaches is essential in order to save resources, ensuring the highest throughput. In addition, combining security-enabled approaches has also been a concern to protect data, as it has now been at the most risk by the introduction of cloud-based approaches. Thus, it is important to create a bridge between these concerns and ensure more research on security techniques that are also energy efficient. For that purpose, in this chapter, one of the data security techniques, such as a hashing algorithm, has been chosen, specifically the SHA256 algorithm in order to analyze the power consumption of the implementations. SHA256 hashing algorithm has been implemented in the Visual Studio IDE in Python using four libraries named Hashlib, CryptoHash, cryptography, and PyNaCl, and the power consumption has been calculated using the Intel Power Gadget software. After analyzing the collected data and applying descriptive analysis, a t-test and an ANOVA test, a detailed discussion has been formed which states that the PyNaCl library consumes the least amount of power per second and also emits the least amount of CO2. Therefore, the chapter recommends using the PyNaCl library to implement the SHA256 algorithm in order to ensure least energy consumption, and also indicates that it is possible to find better approaches while implementing an algorithm when the concern is energy efficiency.

This research focuses on the impact of Python code optimisation techniques on energy usage and performance, with the goal of promoting sustainable software development. Given the growing worldwide emphasis on minimising energy consumption, it examines seven alternative programming techniques to identify the most energy-efficient practices. Through extensive experimentation, it was found that built-in functions, lazy evaluation, and caching are some of the leading solutions for optimising energy usage and performance in Python programming. The research revealed substantial variations in energy efficiency and performance by conducting experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of these techniques, providing essential insights for software developers. The study not only sets the foundation for future studies in energy-efficient Python programming, but it also paves the way for new methods, such as training an artificial intelligence (AI) model to predict the energy footprint of software programs before executing them.

According to current research into trends in information technology and its impact on the global economy, it has been realized that the upward rise and adoption of digital technologies continue to contribute to the use of cloud computing technologies, with more concern placed on the energy consumed by these cloud infrastructures. In this paper, as much as the global concern is the energy consumption of different worldwide systems, the focus is directed to the energy consumption of cloud computing infrastructures. Hence, we look into the energy consumption levels of several chosen virtualization technologies and their underlying operating systems in the context of cloud computing, with a close look into their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This work examines how cloud computing components affect energy usage in the global ICT ecosystem. The methodology used in the work was divided into two categories: The macro methodology that emphasized life-cycle analysis, and the micro methodology which used both experimental setup and inferential statistics to confirm details of the result. The findings of the study showed that the Microsoft Hyper-V consumed the least energy, and it is expected that this finding will improve cloud computing practitioners’ and policymakers’ understanding of virtualization tools’ energy consumption patterns alongside GHG emissions, helping them make sustainable environmental decisions.

While the study of energy consumption in the field of computer architecture remains widely studied, it has received less attention in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning models are widely utilised in various applications including data science, computer vision and natural language processing. Despite being a highly incentivised and sought-after field, most of its research is concentrated on the size of the models, amount of data and accuracies without concern for computational constraints such as power and energy consumption. This partially stems from a limited availability of energy evaluating tools in machine learning and lack of support from frameworks and cloud providers, largely due to security concerns. This research evaluates energy consumption and carbon emissions of several machine learning and deep learning models in various use cases. This study uses existing energy-measuring tools to provide insights into sustainable choices of models for lightweight applications.