The Sociology of Energy, Buildings and the Environment

The Sociology of Energy, Buildings and the Environment
Author: Simon Guy
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2014-02-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1317798341

Bringing the social sciences to the heart of environmental debate, this book demonstrates the relevance of sociological analysis for environmentally critical issues like energy consumption. Focusing on energy efficiency and the built environment, the authors take a critical look at the production and use of technical knowledge and energy-related expertise. Challenging the conventional assumptions of scientists and energy policy-makers, the book outlines a new role for social research and a new paradigm for environmental policy.

Emerging Research in Sustainable Energy and Buildings for a Low-Carbon Future

Emerging Research in Sustainable Energy and Buildings for a Low-Carbon Future
Author: Robert J. Howlett
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2021-02-06
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9811587752

This book contains an introduction and 20 studies, each describing a recent research investigation in the area of sustainable and resilient buildings, built environment infrastructure and renewable energy. Contributions are from many different countries of the world and on a range of topics, representing a sample of research within the ‘sustainable energy and buildings’ field. The book begins with chapters on the sustainable design of buildings, followed by descriptions of issues relating to the renovation, restoration and reconstruction of existing buildings, or in one case a railway wagon. The next part of the book covers factors that form barriers or impediments to low or zero carbon buildings, followed by studies of issues relating to policy and certification. There then follow four chapters on various topics related to sustainable buildings – undergraduate courses, insurance issues, biophilia relating to buildings and thermal conductivity measurement. There are several chapters relating to renewable energy, followed by two chapters with a sustainable transport theme, one relating to electric vehicles, and the other about a sustainable road infrastructure. The final chapter is on the manufacture of sustainable building components for the UK housing sector. The book is of use to engineers, scientists, researchers, practitioners, academics and all those who are interested to develop and use sustainability science and technology for the betterment of our planet and humankind, and to mitigate climate change reality.

Sociology of Interdisciplinarity

Sociology of Interdisciplinarity
Author: Antti Silvast
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 139
Release: 2021-12-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030884554

This Open Access book builds upon Science and Technology Studies (STS) and provides a detailed examination of how large-scale energy research projects have been conceived, and with what consequences for those involved in interdisciplinary research, which has been advocated as the zenith of research practice for many years, quite often in direct response to questions that cannot be answered (or even preliminarily investigated) by disciplines working separately. It produces fresh insights into the lived experiences and actual contents of interdisciplinarity, rather than simply commentating on how it is being explicitly advocated. We present empirical studies on large-scale energy research projects from the United Kingdom, Norway, and Finland. The book presents a new framework, the Sociology of Interdisciplinarity, which unpacks interdisciplinary research in practice. This book will be of interest to all those interested in well-functioning interdisciplinary research systems and the dynamics of doing interdisciplinarity, including real ground-level experiences and institutional interdependencies.

Global Energy Assessment

Global Energy Assessment
Author: Thomas B. Johansson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 1885
Release: 2012-08-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 052118293X

Independent, scientifically based, integrated, policy-relevant analysis of current and emerging energy issues for specialists and policymakers in academia, industry, government.

Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency
Author: Fereidoon Sioshansi
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 678
Release: 2013-02-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0123978874

Energy Efficiency: Towards the End of Demand Growth is a detailed guide to new energy efficiency technologies and policy frameworks affecting the profitability of efficiency projects. The contributions drawn together by F.P. Sioshansi feature insights from recognized thought leaders, detailed examinations of evolving technologies, and practical case studies yielding best practices for project planners, implementers and financiers. This volume challenges the "more is better" paradigm in energy production, examining efficiency technologies and measurement across the supply chain. - Comparative financial analysis of efficiency vs. increased generation - Case studies from four continents highlight the examples of successful technologies and projects - Explains how existing and developing regulatory frameworks impact cost and implementation

Energy Transition in the Baltic Sea Region

Energy Transition in the Baltic Sea Region
Author: Farid Karimi
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2022-02-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000545431

This book analyses the potential for active stakeholder engagement in the energy transition in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) in order to foster clean energy deployment. Public acceptability and bottom-up activities can be critical for enduring outcomes to an energy transition. As a result, it is vital to understand how to unlock the potential for public, community and prosumer participation to facilitate renewable energy deployment and a clean energy transition – and, consequently, to examine the factors influencing social acceptability. Focussing on the diverse BSR, this book draws on expert contributions to consider a range of different topics, including the challenges of social acceptance and its policy implications; strategies to address challenges of acceptability among stakeholders; and community engagement in clean energy production. Overall, the authors examine the practical implications of current policy measures and provide recommendations on how lessons learnt from this ‘energy lab region’ may be applied to other regions. Reflecting an interdisciplinary approach in the social sciences, this book is an essential resource for scholars, students and policymakers researching and working in the areas of renewable energy, energy policy and citizen engagement, and interested in understanding the potential for bottom-up, grassroots activities and social acceptability to expedite the energy transition and reanimate democracies. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Renewable Energy and the Public

Renewable Energy and the Public
Author: Patrick Devine-Wright
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2014-10-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136530266

Throughout the world, the threat of climate change is pressing governments to accelerate the deployment of technologies to generate low carbon electricity or heat. But this is frequently leading to controversy, as energy and planning policies are revised to support new energy sources or technologies (e.g. offshore wind, tidal, bioenergy or hydrogen energy) and communities face the prospect of unfamiliar, often large-scale energy technologies being sited near to their homes. Policy makers in many countries face tensions between 'streamlining' planning procedures, engaging with diverse publics to address what is commonly conceived as 'NIMBY' (not in my back yard) opposition, and the need to maintain democratic, participatory values in planning systems. This volume provides a timely, international review of research on public engagement, in contexts of diverse, innovative energy technologies. Public engagement is conceived broadly - as the interaction between how developers and other key actors engage with publics about energy technologies (including assumptions held about the methods used, such as the provision of financial benefits or the holding of deliberative events), and how individuals and groups engage with energy policies and projects (including indirectly through the media and directly through emotional and behavioural responses). The book's contributors are leading experts in the UK, Europe, North and South America and Australia drawn from a variety of relevant social science disciplinary perspectives. The book makes a significant contribution to our existing knowledge, as well as providing interested professionals, policymakers and members of the public with a timely overview of the critical issues involved in public engagement with low carbon energy technologies.

Architecture & Sustainable Development (vol.1)

Architecture & Sustainable Development (vol.1)
Author: Magali Bodart
Publisher: Presses univ. de Louvain
Total Pages: 917
Release: 2011-07
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 2874632767

This book of Proceedings presents the latest thinking and research in the rapidly evolving world of architecture and sustainable development through 255 selected papers by authors coming from over 60 countries.

Beyond Behaviour Change

Beyond Behaviour Change
Author: Fiona Spotswood
Publisher: Policy Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2016-02-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1447317556

A desire to change behavior--getting people to eat better, approach child discipline differently, or even just take the bus--is at the root of a lot of social and social welfare programs. But the question of how we can bring about effective, lasting changes in behavior is a complicated one, drawing together a range of academic disciplines and fields of social research. This book explores the political and historical landscape of behavior change, covering political ideology, trends in academic theory, and new innovations in practice and research. In addition, it examines priorities that have become central to thinking in the field, such as ways of evaluating success and measuring return on investment.

Eco-architecture

Eco-architecture
Author: C. A. Brebbia
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2006
Genre: Science
ISBN: 184564171X

Unlike the mechanistic buildings it replaces, Eco-Architecture is in harmony with nature, including its immediate environs. Eco-Architecture makes every effort to minimise the use of energy at each stage of the building's life cycle, including that embodied in the extraction and transportation of materials, their fabrication, their assembly into the building and ultimately the ease and value of their recycling when the building's life is over. Featuring papers from the First International Conference on Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature, the text brings together papers of an inter-disciplinary nature, and will be of interest to engineers, planners, physicists, psychologists, sociologists, economists, and other specialists, in addition to architects. Featured topics include: Historical and Philosophical aspects; Ecological and Cultural Sensitivity; Human Comfort and Sick Building Syndrome; Energy Crisis and Building Technologies; Carbon Neutral Design; Alternative Sources of Energy (wind, solar, wave, geothermal etc); Design with Nature; Design with Climate; Siting and Orientation; Re-use of Brownfield Sites; Material Selection; Minimal Transportation Approaches and use of Indigenous Materials; Life Cycle Assessment of Materials; Design by Passive Systems; Conservation and Re-use of Water; Building Operation and Management; Applications in Different Building Types; Regulations and Contracts.