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European Atlas for a Low Carbon Urban Built Environment

Final Report of the COST C23 Action

Over the past few years, it has been acknowledged that carbon dioxide emissions resulting from human activity are one of the major causes of climate change. This report investigates, through a network of countries across Europe, how carbon reductions can be achieved through appropriate design and management of the urban built environment. This involved investigating the built environment at building and urban scale, focusing on minimising energy use and associated carbon dioxide emissions.

full report: European Atlas for a Low Carbon Urban Built Environment

Participants investigated how 19 mainly European countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, China, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, UK) have reduced carbon dioxide levels in built up environments. They also looked at how national and regional planning initiatives are being developed to reduce the use of energy in urban areas.

The European Carbon Atlas describes a collection of success stories from across our regions to testify the development and implementation of low carbon strategies. It reveals how the use of public transport and low energy building design is on the up. More importantly, this research shows that reducing carbon emissions is possible and affordable and that many examples already exist today.

The reduction of carbon dioxide levels in the built environment was studied not only based on the requirements of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), but also in taking standards further and looking at how national and regional planning initiatives are being developed to reduce the energy use of urban areas. A collection of case studies is compiled to illustrate the development and implementation of low carbon strategies at urban and building scales.

Standard identifier: 978-1-899895-43-4

Source: Report of COST Action C23, edited by Phil Jones, Paulo Pinho, Jo Patterson, Chris Tweed ; Published by The Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, CARDIFF CF10 3NB, UK, 2009.

Categories

  • Climate change mitigation
  • Energy consumption
  • Households
  • Mitigation
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