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Ôßôëïò : A specific thematological area to underline the importance of Bioclimatic Architecture, Ecological Construction and RES for the Sustainable Cities of tomorrow in the memory of professor of Aristoteleion University of Thessaloniki Niovi Chryssomalidou

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A specific thematological area was created to underline the importance of Bioclimatic Architecture, Ecological Construction and RES for the Sustainable Cities of tomorrow in the memory of professor of Aristoteleion University of Thessaloniki Niovi Chryssomalidou. This "area" is reserved to all concient citizens on ecological matters, and especially to students of Architecture and Engineering to better understand the challenges of Climate Change and the role of Bioclimatic - Solar Architecture to make energy and environmental efficient buildings, open urban spaces and cities... The current environmental challenges related to International, European and national efforts in order to combat climate change are mainly supported by strategic policies and measures to achieve Sustainable Development: that means viable economic development, social cohesion and environmental protection. As clean energy is in the heart of sustainability efforts have been undertaken to accelerate renewable energy sources penetration in the energy production system as well as energy efficiency improvement of industry, transports and buildings sectors. Constructing and operating buildings requires enormous amounts of energy, water, and materials and creates large amounts of waste. Where and how they are built affects the ecosystems around us in countless ways. To that end more and more efforts are focused in the built sector, which is responsible for more than 40% of EU energy consumption and more than 45% CO2 production, contributing to the greenhouse effect and the climate change. As the environmental impact of buildings becomes more apparent, a growing field called sustainable design is leading the way to reduce that impact at the source. Sustainable design is the practice of creating healthier and more resource efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance, and demolition. Many innovative clean environmental technologies are available in our time and other are under development aiming substantially at improving buildings environmental performance, reducing the conventional energy demand and reducing energy intensity. The Sustainable or Eco-Buildings concept is the meeting point of short-term development and demonstration in order to support legislative and regulatory measures for energy efficiency and enhanced the use of renewable energy within the building sector, which goes beyond the Directive 2002/91/EC on the Energy Performance of Buildings. The implementation of Building’s Energy Performance Directive all over Europe will contribute in energy saving-fossil fuel and electricity, limiting CO2 emissions, restricting the environmental pollution, improving health conditions in the building interiors, improving the microclimatic conditions in the immediate outdoor surrounding space of buildings and promoting sustainability. Buildings energy efficiency certification schemes should be developed by Member States to evaluate and rate buildings energy performance related to the total energy and environmental performance of buildings and should support a wider implementation of the Directive through a better understanding of building’s environmental-energy performance benefits. Energy related activities, including buildings construction activities, will effectively contribute in manufacturing energy efficient and environment friendly products whilst simultaneously employment and new jobs are expected. The elaboration of any certification scheme will entailed a whole strategy and an efficient methodology, exerted by Community Member-States, included regulatory measures and new building’s regulations for improving the way of building’s design, contributing to people’s energy saving consciousness. However architects and engineers, builders and building owners, government officials and decision-makers need resources for ideas at any point in the building process to lessen the environmental impact of new construction or facility redesign. Sustainable building strategies are most effective when they are integrated from the very beginning of a project. It is now universally accepted that the natural environment, the world’s resources and the environmental stability are under threat from our demands upon them. Unless significant reduction in the depletion of natural resources and the pollution of existing resources is effectively introduced, the environment enjoyed today will not be available for future generations. The world’s leaders approached the problem on a global basis at Rio, Johannesburg and Kyoto conferences and set an agenda of objectives for change over future years to reduce the adverse effects of our lifestyle on the environment – to create a sustainable environment. The broad objectives for sustainable development are: Social progress, which meets the needs of everyone; Effective protection of the environment; prudent use of natural resources and high stable levels of economic growth and employment; The experience of towns in the EU has shown that it was mainly under the impact of a similar situation – the oil crisis during 1970s – that local energy management policies were put in place. These included energy audits, monitoring of consumption, setting up local energy management teams, action plans, investments programmes, etc. The know-how acquired during that phase of energy management of the municipal stock has been often served as a basis for the development of sustainable local energy policies encompassing all fields of urban activities. This is effectively the objective that we are still pursuing today. As existing buildings form the large majority of the building stock the inclusion of sustainability issues in every building retrofitting intervention should have a considerable influence on human eco-systems. However this is a limited process, because of small budgets, building’s property complications, building’s national regulations, and service and uses particularities and, last but not least, lack of energy conservation experience from the part of decision-makers. The municipalities, local authorities and the state in the European Union countries are the owners of the majority of public buildings, such as schools, sports, cultural and administrative buildings. The management of public lighting and the collection of treatment sewage are in the most cases the responsibility of municipalities, as also the management of the municipal stock of buildings. Local authorities face up to new obligations as they have to pay the energy bills. This void in our knowledge and basic experience is often a complete obstacle to the practical implementation of sustainable local energy policies, integrated within a local Agenda 21, despite declarations of goodwill and sometimes praiseworthy political intentions. So certain countries which make it obligatory to carry out audits or energy management strategies often run up against the difficulty of a lack of experience and skills within organization. In fact, they have not got into culture of controlling energy demand. On the same front, ESCOs or other organizations promoting third party financing often find it difficult to break into public sector market for want of sufficiently experience opposite numbers in local administrations. The energy management process is nevertheless under way in certain EU municipalities but it is at an even more embryonic stage. It must be stimulated. Although the Building’s Energy Performance Directive designed to improve the energy performance of buildings, and especially of public buildings and those of municipalities, who should be setting an example for all other building’s categories, is even more of a priority to spend less, consume more efficiently, provide more comfortable conditions and reduce emissions. Knowledge of what constitutes the municipality stock, including its energy characteristics, is very often lacking. For this reason, the carrying out of energy audits, in priority in those buildings and equipment with the highest consumption, is an essential preliminary phase to any action. Without an audit, no programme of action is possible, no judicious investment can be planned and no partnership with the private sector is possible since it is unwilling to take on any uncalculated risks. It is essential to put priorities in a hierarchy both from savings that can be made and also in relation to the ease with which these savings can be obtained. This will optimize the resources available and avoid dispersing financial, human and technical resources. Audits as much as monitoring of consumption make this exercise possible. An action plan is not solely an investment plan, but also a mass of soft and hard projects which, brought together, enable one to obtain results. A valid audit allows municipalities to confront the major concerns that they should have as far as buildings are concerned to ensure that there is a proper and economic management from the environmental point of view, and to make investments in order to improve this. A big challenge in our time is to demonstrate that sustainable design can be operationally and economically viable. Those who have incorporated sustainable design principles and practices into new and existing buildings are seeking improvements - in working conditions and worker productivity, energy efficiency, impacts to the environment and/or costs - and we know we can make even greater progress. Incorporating sustainability principles into buildings is providing people with a better understanding of the vast potential for integrating environmental solutions into other important decision-making efforts.

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