Lately, there’s been much talk of climate change and climate policy. Even though it’s been in the news and in our conversations since at least 1988, two events have arguably sparked more discussions than ever in the past months: the recent IPCC report (officially called the Sixth Assessment by the…

The pandemic of COVID-19 has changed the European economy. For several months some of the industries were frozen, many had to shift their business model and offer new services, and digitalization became a fact — not a future plan. As a response to the economic crisis, the European Commission decided…

Dr. Harry Zvi Tabor was a British-Israeli physicist who is known for pioneering work in the field of solar energy in Israel. His work isn’t only relevant in the academic world, but had a big impact on the energy use of israeli cities. He developed a solar water heater that…

The New European Bauhaus conference (22–23 April 2021) was inaugurated by a speech by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. She outlined an ambitious plan of challenges and changes that await us in the forthcoming years. Her speech probably surprised most of the participants — they…

We’ve mentioned in previous articles how Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of buildings is an engineering problem that is becoming more and more relevant. As action for climate change mitigation becomes more urgent, engineers are looking for more sources of energy savings, that is, opportunities for energy efficiency. Heating, Ventilation and…

Looking back at 2020, one thing will naturally come up in most people’s mind. The pandemic’s reach is global and very much ongoing, with only a handful of countries now flirting with a“back to normal”. Beyond the ubiquitous health crisis, we are all familiar with the economic implications that it…

When, in 1964, Bernard Rudofsky finally opened the exhibition Architecture without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, he caused quite a stir. The catalogue started a new chapter in modern architecture based on photos and commentary of vernacular construction (that…

The whole-life cycle of a building can be analyzed from the point of view of energy used for each phase of the operation (Life Cycle Energy Analysis — LCEA). An investment process begins when an investor chooses a plot or decides to build a facility, and ends with a handover…

If an engineer wants to model a building to solve problems in the energy realm, there is not a single, unique way to go about it. There are many methods to choose from to predict a building’s energetic performance. The most important aspect of this practice is typically thermal characterisation…