Net Zero Transition in Buildings
Emerging Concepts and Technologies
- 1st Edition - January 1, 2026
- Imprint: Woodhead Publishing
- Editors: Xiaojun Luo, Francisco Sierra
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 3 4 1 6 4 - 9
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 3 4 1 6 5 - 6
Energy efficiency is an integral part of making buildings greener, which has become a key issue for both developing and developed countries. Scholars, researchers, and pr… Read more
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Energy efficiency is an integral part of making buildings greener, which has become a key issue for both developing and developed countries. Scholars, researchers, and practitioners from a number of interconnected disciplines have all shown increasing interest in the topic, and studies into buildings’ energy performance and cutting-edge measures to achieve government-steered commitments to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades have proliferated.
Net Zero Transition in Buildings: Emerging Concepts and Technologies is a timely, up-to-date reference resource on design, operation, and management of technology-enhanced equipment and advanced strategies that put guidance and attention toward sustainably responsible energy use within and around buildings at their core. The volume’s contents have been subdivided into sections, additionally proffering a deliberately structured flow throughout all chapters which is aimed at quickly getting readers at all levels up to speed or providing them with answers to key questions. Part I discusses physical solutions, namely different types of devices that harness renewable energy resources, store energy, or combine cooling, heating, and power systems; part II covers digital tools (e.g., AI, blockchain, big data, IoT, and digital twins) that can aid with carbon emissions’ accounting, predicting and optimizing energy consumption patterns, and more; and part III investigates the very latest technical concepts and approaches for energy self-producing built environment assets and a variety of integrated best practices for the construction sector as a whole. Furthermore, as the net zero transition in this context is a concept that has multidimensional pillars, economic, social, and ecological aspects are made available in part IV, which concludes this sought-after knowledge compilation by making it more comprehensive, well-rounded, and useful for audiences in academia and industry alike.
- Offers thorough guidelines to use new technologies in designing net zero buildings or retrofitting older buildings to meet zero-carbon emissions standards
- Reviews the state of the art as well as emerging solutions to encourage their adoption at scale, thus realizing the construction sector’s competitive edge to achieve challenging climate change-offsetting goals
- Features real-world case studies and implementation insights (motivations, limitations, challenges) in each chapter, providing valuable, actionable recommendations for different types of buildings
- Presents future research pathways into other cost-effective and economically productive decarbonization efforts for buildings
Academics, researchers, and postgraduate students in civil and structural engineering; construction engineering; sustainable built environments’ design, operations, and management; energy and environmental engineering; urban planning, growth development, and regeneration
Introduction to net zero transition within the built environment
Part I. Physical Solutions
1. Energy efficiency measures
2. Renewable energy resources
3. Energy storages
4. Combined cooling, heating, and power systems
5. Vehicle to building
Part II. Digital Technologies
6. Artificial Intelligence
7. Blockchain technology
8. Big data analytics
9. Internet of things
10. Digital twin
Part III. Emerging Concepts and Approaches
11. Active energy buildings
12. Positive energy blocks and communities
13. Whole lifecycle assessment
14. Integrated demand and supply-side management
Part IV. Other Important Considerations
15. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (EDI) in the net-zero transition of buildings
16. Policy landscape
17. Risk assessment
18. Conclusions
Part I. Physical Solutions
1. Energy efficiency measures
2. Renewable energy resources
3. Energy storages
4. Combined cooling, heating, and power systems
5. Vehicle to building
Part II. Digital Technologies
6. Artificial Intelligence
7. Blockchain technology
8. Big data analytics
9. Internet of things
10. Digital twin
Part III. Emerging Concepts and Approaches
11. Active energy buildings
12. Positive energy blocks and communities
13. Whole lifecycle assessment
14. Integrated demand and supply-side management
Part IV. Other Important Considerations
15. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (EDI) in the net-zero transition of buildings
16. Policy landscape
17. Risk assessment
18. Conclusions
- Edition: 1
- Published: January 1, 2026
- Imprint: Woodhead Publishing
- Language: English
XL
Xiaojun Luo
Dr. Luo joined UWE Bristol in 2018 as a Research Fellow and became a Senior Lecturer in Financial Technology in 2021. She holds a Bachelor Degree from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology and a PhD degree from the City University of Hong Kong. She has accrued experience in multidisciplinary teaching and research covering sustainable energy management, renewable energy, life cycle assessment, net-zero buildings, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and big data analytics. Dr. Luo is an editorial board member of Buildings (MDPI) and served as a guest editor in special issues in Discover Sustainability, Buildings, and Forecasting. Finally, she also serves as an active reviewer for several Elsevier’s journals, such as Energy and Buildings, Applied Energy, Energy and AI, Sustainable Cities and Society, etc.
Affiliations and expertise
Senior Lecturer, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol, UKFS
Francisco Sierra
Dr. Sierra a Senior Fellow of the Higher Academy (SFHEA) with nearly two decades of experience in the construction industry as a consultant for embodied and operational carbon calculations as well as academia and research in the field of energy performance modeling and sustainability. He currently teaches Zero Carbon Architecture at the University of the West of England (UWE) and leads the MSc Façade Engineering program. He holds a PhD in development of structural solutions to achieve zero thermal bridges, as well as an MSc in modeling and assessment of embodied and operational energy (Cardiff University). Dr. Sierra is an active reviewer for Energy and Buildings (Elsevier) and Sustainability (MDPI), with his expertise being focused on sustainability for construction, including embodied and operational carbon, construction digitization, thermal bridging, well-being, responsible retrofitting strategies, building monitoring, Passivhaus, BIM, and 3D printing.
Affiliations and expertise
Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK