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Decarbonizing Urban Infrastructure for Climate-Resilient Cities

  • 1st Edition - March 1, 2027
  • Latest edition
  • Author: Azzam Abu-Rayash
  • Language: English

Decarbonizing Urban Infrastructure for Climate-Resilient Cities delivers actionable strategies to meet the urgent decarbonization challenge head-on. Cities are the engines of glo… Read more

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Description

Decarbonizing Urban Infrastructure for Climate-Resilient Cities delivers actionable strategies to meet the urgent decarbonization challenge head-on. Cities are the engines of global prosperity and the epicenters of the climate crisis. Accounting for over 70% of the world’s CO₂ emissions, urban centers face an urgent mandate: decarbonize infrastructure rapidly while building resilience to escalating climate disruptions. Drawing from cutting-edge municipal projects, this book bridges the gap between ambition and execution, offering a blueprint for slashing emissions by 40–60% through integrated energy systems, policy innovation, and smart technologies. From combined heat and power (CHP) networks and waste heat recovery to renewable energy integration and digitalized infrastructure management, the book translates technical concepts into scalable solutions. Real-world case studies such as district heating projects reducing emissions by 30% and cost-saving energy retrofits highlight what works, while chapters on governance, financing, and metrics equip leaders to turn plans into progress. For urban policymakers, engineers, and planners, this is more than a guide; it’s a roadmap to transform cities into zero-carbon hubs of resilience, equity, and innovation. By combining technical rigor with governance strategies and financial models, this book empowers cities to move from pledges to progress. It is a vital resource for professionals tasked with delivering on climate resilience and a call to action for cities to lead the zero-carbon transition.

Key features

  • Combines policy, technology, and finance into cohesive strategies, addressing siloed approaches that hinder progress to enable cross-sector collaboration and holistic planning, critical for cities targeting 40–60% emissions cuts
  • Features 10+ global real-world case studies, such as municipal CHP projects reducing emissions by 30% and energy retrofits saving USD/kWh, to provide replicable blueprints and evidence-based KPIs to benchmark success, helping stakeholders avoid trial-and-error pitfalls
  • Covers emerging tech such as hydrogen storage and AI-driven grids, as well as adaptive governance models, to address evolving climate risks, equipping cities to phase in innovations while maintaining existing infrastructure

Readership

City planners, sustainability officers, and policymakers; Civil, environmental, and energy engineers; Researchers in urban sustainability, climate resilience, and energy systems

Table of contents

Section 1: Foundational Concepts

1. Cities as Climate Catalysts: Global Trends and Urban Emissions

2. Policy Frameworks for Low-Carbon Urban Development

3. Integrated Energy Systems: From Theory to Practice

Section 2: Methods and Tools

4. Energy Audits and Decarbonization Maps

5. Material Selection for Decarbonization: Life-Cycle and Climate-Resilient Strategies

6. Digital and Physical Emerging Technologies for Urban Decarbonization

Section 3: Applications and Case Studies

7. Retrofitting Cities: Building Efficiency and Renewable Energy

8. Waste Heat Recovery and Circular Economy Innovations

9. Resilient Microgrids in Climate-Vulnerable Regions

10. Equitable Decarbonization: Bridging the Energy Divide

11. Retrofitting Cities: Building Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Section 4: Future Directions

12. Integrating Technology, Policy, and Finance: A Systems Framework

13. Financing the Zero-Carbon Transition Conclusion

14. Roadmap to Zero-Carbon Cities: Key Lessons and Call to Action

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: March 1, 2027
  • Language: English

About the author

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Azzam Abu-Rayash

Azzam Abu-Rayash is an Assistant Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (Qatar), Governor and Research Associate at Ontario Tech University (Canada), and the CEO of Polaris Energy Sustainability Solutions. Dr. Abu-Rayash has over a decade of industrial and research experience in the energy industry and sustainability field and has published numerous books and peer-reviewed articles on the topics of energy sustainability and smart cities. He has also presented research at national and international conferences. He authored the energy plan for the City of Oshawa, which was recognized by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) by receiving the Institutional Energy Management Award for 2020. Currently, he leads a research project on district energy that involves multiple municipalities, the Regional Municipality of Durham as well as OPG. He is licensed as a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) by the Association of Energy Engineers.

Affiliations and expertise
Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar