Tourism or Carbon Emission Reduction by Renovating our Building Stock?

Jaap Hogeling

Editor-in-Chief

“Tourism is responsible for nearly one tenth of worlds carbon emission.“
(The Independent 7 May 2018).

“The highest CO2 level in earth atmosphere reached in 800.000 years, exceeding the monthly average value of 410 ppm” (Manna Loa Observatory Hawai).

Two statements that should encourage existing building owners/users to act. Statements that renovation of existing buildings could require financial investments that many people cannot afford may be true but not for those responsible for the massive tourism. I don’t want to blame the hospitality industry. But investing more in our existing homes and travelling less will benefit the environment twice!

It is up to our building and HVAC industry, our designers, planners, consultants and innovating producers and installers to come forward with cost-effective and attractive renovation solutions. Solutions that are attractive and limiting the disturbance of the building user and are understandable for our customers. Offers that can convince them to travel a few years less to make the investment possible. And at the same time we should be able to convince these building owners and users that this improving of the Energy Performance will not only decrease their energy bill but also increase their general indoor environmental quality, benefiting their comfort and health at the same time.

There are of course more issues to consider promoting renovation projects. A snapshot of national renovation strategies and examples from selected EU Member States can be found at http://bpie.eu/publication/a-snapshot-of-national-renovation-strategies-examples-from-selected-eu-member-states/. This briefing provides a snapshot of measures supporting building renovation in selected Member States as of September 2017.

To document the efforts made by Member States, BPIE partnered with the Renovate Europe Campaign to examine the strategies provided by selected countries (Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain). The briefing reviews the steps taken to implement the 2014 version of the renovation strategies and what progress has been made with the 2017 update (for selected countries).

This REHVA Journal offers many articles focussing on IAQ and IEQ and energy performance. Smart use of ventilative cooling improves the IAQ and reduces the need for cooling. This is also the moment to mention the AIVC 2018 Conference “Smart Ventilation for Buildings” This 39th AIVC conference: “Smart ventilation for buildings” will be held on 18 and 19 September 2018 in Juan-les-Pins, France. It will also be the 7th TightVent conference and the 5th Venticool conference. If Smart ventilation, IAQ and health relationships; Ventilation and airtightness and Ventilative cooling is your field of interest, this is the place to go! See  www.aivc2018conference.org.

This issue includes also the first article in a series on the Hybrid GEOTABS project. This series offers very promising information and tools to apply this sustainable technology. This Model Predictive Control and Innovative System Integration of GEOTABS in Hybrid Low Grade Thermal Energy Systems offers great prospects for renovation projects. By improving the thermal performance of the building envelope, it is obvious to use these low temperature heating and high temperature cooling systems.