Sustainability Certifications, Labels and Tools in the Built Environment: How to Evaluate, Certificate and Reduce the Energy and Environmental Impacts of Buildings

This book is aimed at covering all aspects of the evaluation, certification, and reduction of the energy and carbon footprint of the built environment from the scale of the city and its neighbourhoods, to the building level and finally to the level of single building materials and components. Many protocols, tools, and labels have been proposed in recent years, both at international and local levels, and the aim of the book is to classify, describe, and discuss all the different approaches and options.

The chapters offer a comprehensive, up-to-date, and critical review of all the different certification methods that have been proposed at different levels in the building sector. The first chapter introduces the topic and its importance, providing data on the impact of the building sector and the construction industry. The following chapters are dedicated respectively to tools and protocols for cities and neighbourhood sustainability assessment, tools and protocols for buildings sustainability assessment and certification, and for building materials and components. Finally, this book includes an overview of the legislation and standards in the field and case studies to exemplify the application of the different tools and labels.

This is a key reference for decision-makers, researchers, scholars, students, and professionals approaching research and work in the field of energy and environmental impact of the building sector be they engineers, architects, planners, owners, developers, or facility managers.

Francesco Asdrubali has been Full Professor of Building Physics and Building Energy Systems and Vice-Rector at the Università per Stranieri in Perugia (Italy) since 2023, after eight years as Full Professor at Roma Tre University (2015-23). Previously, he served as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at the University of Perugia. After graduating from Civil Engineering in 1990, he obtained a PhD in Thermophysical Properties of Materials in 1995. He served as Director of CIRIAF, an Inter-University Research Center in the field of environment and pollution, based at the University of Perugia, from 2004 till 2013, and as President of the Acoustical Society of Italy from 2021 till 2024. His teaching activities include the courses of Building Physics, Applied Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, Energy systems and Environment, and Environmental and Room Acoustics at the Universities of Perugia and Roma Tre. The areas of scientific research cover a wide range of topics, such as energy and buildings, thermophysical properties of materials, Life Cycle Assessment in the building sector, renewable and alternative energies, acoustical properties of materials, environmental noise, and soundscape. Francesco Asdrubali is the author of more than 400 scientific papers, most of them with international diffusion in international journals and conference proceedings. He is the author of various book chapters and co-editor of the book Handbook of Energy Efficiency in Buildings - A Life Cycle Approach with U. Desideri (Elsevier, 2018). He is a member of the Editorial Board of various international journals and editor-in-chief of two Journals in the field of acoustics: Building Acoustics and Noise Mapping. His international activities include the coordination of various national and EU-funded Projects (LIFE, Intelligent Energy Europe, VII FP; Horizon 2020) and participation in a COST Action on acoustic innovative materials. He is a member of the Scientific and Organizing Committees and Session Organizer of several international conferences, such as ICSV16 (2009), ICAE International Congress on Applied Energy (2011), ECOS (2012), EAA Euroregio (2013), ICSV22 (2015), Euronoise (2015), ICSV23 (2016), ICSV24 (2017), Internoise (2017), Building Simulation (2019), ICSV26 (2019), Forum Acusticum (2023).

Dr. Umberto Berardi is Canada Research Chair in Building Science and Director of the BeTOP laboratory. He has been Full professor at Politecnico di Bari, Italy since 2020. He worked from 2012 to 2014 at the Worcester Politechnic Institute in Masschussetts, and then at the Toronto Metropolitan University, Ontario, Canada, from 2014 to 2024. His main research interests are related to the study of innovative solutions and new materials for improving performance within the built environment. Dr. Berardi is the current President of the Canadian Acoustical Association and of the International Association of Building Physics. Dr. Berardi has an extensive publication record, including 200 peer-reviewed journals, 250 international conference papers, and ten books. Dr. Berardi contributes to several academic and scientific communities. He is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Building Engineering, and serves on many Editorial boards, including Energy and Buildings, Sustainable Cities and Society, Building and Environment, and Journal of Building Performance Simulation. His awards include (among others): Frontiers in 2024, the 2023 European Thermophysical Properties ECTP‑NETZSCH AWARD; the 10th Canada’s Clean16 Award and Clean50, 2021; the Young Researcher Award by the AIGE in 2019; among others. Dr. Berardi has a body of funded research comprising over $2.5 million in government and private‑sector‑sponsored research. He has been awarded a CFI‑JELF; NSERC Discovery Grant; Early Research Award from the MRI – Ontario; Building Excellence Research and Education Grants from the BC Housing – Homeowner Protection Office; OCE‑VIP projects; Ryerson Research Fund for Tools and for Undergraduate Research Experience, and several NSERC Engages