Floor Space Research Articles

Improved Copper Circularity as a Result of Increased Material Efficiency in the U.S. Housing Stock.

Material efficiency (ME) can support rapid climate change mitigation and circular economy. Here, we comprehensively assess the circularity of ME strategies for copper use in the U.S. housing services (including residential buildings and major household appliances) by integrating use-phase material and energy demand. Although the ME strategies of more intensive floor space use and extended lifetime of appliances and buildings reduce the primary copper demand, employing these strategies increases the commonly neglected use-phase share of total copper requirements during the century from 23–28 to 22–42%. Use-phase copper requirements for home improvements have remained larger than the demand gap (copper demand minus scrap availability) for much of the century, limiting copper circularity in the U.S. housing services. Further, use-phase energy consumption can negate the benefits of ME strategies. For instance, the lifetime extension of lower-efficiency refrigerators increases the copper use and net environmental impact by increased electricity use despite reductions from less production. This suggests a need for more attention to the use phase when assessing circularity, especially for products that are material and energy intensive during use. To avoid burden shifting, policymakers should consider the entire life cycle of products supporting services when pursuing circular economy goals.

A Comparison of Hospital Area Measurement in Germany, Canada, Australia, and the United States: Part 1.

Objectives:This article compares national standards for area measurements of healthcare facilities in four countries and examines the risks and differences that can arise when comparing building areas of healthcare facilities internationally.Background:In the planning and management of healthcare facilities, the utilization and comparison of building floor areas plays a major role. Differences in terminology, classification, and methodology help to reduce planning and cost risks when applied on a local and national level. The proper allocation of building floor space is vital in the design of room programs, determination of floor space, construction costs, and operating costs.Methods:Each of the four hospital area measurement standards is compared to discern similarities and differences.Results:Most countries use a three-tier system of hospital area measurement: building gross area, department gross area, and department net area. Few differences were found between country standards for department area, though the German standards do not fully address this tier. Variation is found in whether a country includes certain functions in the hospital area—such as research space, shell space, or central energy plants—which can have a significant impact on the overall hospital area.Conclusions:This article informs further development of individual country standards and highlights principles to consider for international hospital area comparison.

VARIATION OF NATURAL VENTILATION WITH FLOOR LEVEL AND ORIENTATION OF CLASSROOMS

In recent times, the multi-story school building has emerged as a new trend in Nigeria due to land cost in the urban area and population increase due to urban migration resulting from insecurity in rural areas. Among other factors, the floor level and space orientation are believed to affect its natural ventilation. Electricity per capita consumption in Nigeria is very low, suggesting passive ventilation in the building. The ventilation in the classroom is usually through wind-driven systems (windows). The study sought to establish the variation of natural ventilation among classrooms on different floor levels and orientations. In the ex-post facto design, instruments were employed to observe wind speeds and directions in and around selected classrooms in a school building block with two wings on three-floor levels, a perimeter fence, and a built-up residential area. The classrooms on the ground floor were half-opened casement windows, while those on the upper floors had sliding windows. Data generated were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis. In the longer wing classrooms, the mean wind speed and standard deviation obtained were 0.17m/s and 0.123 on the ground floor; 0.15m/s and 0.104 on the first floor; and 0.18m/s 0.126 on the second floor. Corresponding results in the shorter wing classrooms were 0.12m/s and 0,077 on the ground floor; 0.11m/s and 0.095 on the first floor; and 0.17m/s and 0.126 on the second floor. Ventilation coefficients were 0.13, 0.11, and 0.13 respectively on the ground, first, and second floors in the longer wing classrooms, while those in the shorter wing classrooms were 0.13, 0.12, and 0.19 respectively. The findings revealed some direct variation in natural ventilation with the floor level in the studied classrooms, which was more manifested as the floor level increased upwards. In conclusion, the floor level and orientation affect wind-driven ventilation. There is also a need for further field studies on more suitable cases (higher floor levels) to ascertain the level of significance of this variation and the optimisation window area based on floor levels for orientation for wind-driven natural ventilation.

A Study on Design and Control of the Multi-Station Multi-Container Transportation System

In considering the problem of saving spaces during the transportation of items from one station to another, for example, in warehouses, factories, hospitals, etc., an automatic transportation system (ATS) that could take advantage of the above ceiling spaces for the transportation of products is considered. Such a system guarantees that the activities occurring in the floor area will be maintained as usual. To achieve this requirement, the ceiling spaces of a building are used to construct an automatic multi-station multi-container (MSMC) transportation system. This system can transport items from one place to another in the whole system. This system is designed to utilize the spaces above the ceiling, and it has the advantage of saving floor space for transportation operations. This will increase the operational capability of the industries and also improve the productivity of the industry in which this system is implemented. The entire transportation system includes (1) the essential conveying system (which is a functional conveyor module with a specified number of containers); (2) the control block that can monitor and operate the system; and (3) the sensor block for detecting and identifying the containers. The content of this article focuses on the introduction of the mechanical system (1); the control system (2); and the operating principle of the whole system (3).

Waste Management and Circular Economy in the French Building and Construction Sector

The impact that European and French legislation have on the circular economy implementation between market-driven incentives and state regulation emerges as the main challenge addressed in this chapter. Circular economy principles and the normative aspects of legislation constitute the best available frameworks to foresee how circular economy implementation will evolve in the building and construction sector in France. The Eiffage case study can be explained by the evolution of the normative arena composed by the current codes, environmental laws, roadmaps, and directives that frame the dynamic behavior of individual actors submitted to market pressures. A literature review of the current scientific and gray literature on circular economy in the building and construction sector was carried out in order to identify the required conditions to improve circularity in a normative way in France. Seven circular economy principles have been identified in the state of the art of Building and construction sector in France with emphasis on four of them: (1) Building lighter structures, (2) Waste reduction in the production process, (3) Intensive use of floor space, and (4) Extension of product life or recycling. Finally, we claim that the advantage of the normative approach implementation and analysis is to set the social agreement of compulsory foundation over which the market-driven initiatives and innovation could make the difference for the outstanding stakeholders of the economic sector.

Ultrasonic Vocalization Analysis as a Novel Metric to Assess Cage Enrichment in Rats.

Laboratory rodent housing conditions vary significantly across laboratories and facilities. Variation in housing can be associated with animal stress leading to study variability and the subsequent inability to replicate experimental findings. Optimization and standardization of animal housing are necessary to promote animal welfare and data consistency, thereby reducing the number of animals necessary to detect treatment effects. While interest in environmental enrichment is increasing, many studies do not examine the behavior of animals in the home cage, neglecting important aspects of enrichment. To determine how increased vertical home cage area affects animal welfare, double-decker cages (enriched), which allow rats to upright stand, were compared with standard single-level cages, which impede the ability to upright stand. Home cage welfare was assessed by analyzing ultrasonic vocalizations, fecal corticosterone, upright standing, and fighting. Ultrasonic vocalization was further explored by analyses of call type as defined by a 14 call-type schematic. Rats housed in enriched cages spent more time fighting, produced fewer 50 kHz calls, and had higher levels of fecal corticosterone. Rats in standard cages attempted to upright stand more often but remained upright for a shorter amount of time due to the height limitation imposed by standard cages. In addition, standard cages restrict some naturalistic behaviors such as upright standing and reduce fighting, which may be attributable to their single-tier organization and floor space. Enriched cages permit rats to engage in normal ethological behavior but also increase fighting. This study demonstrates that housing conditions have a meaningful impact on multiple measures of animal affect. When considering study design, researchers should be aware of how housing conditions affect animal subjects.

Modeling thermal and wind processes in the near-wall layer of building envelopes subjected to insolation

Introduction. Insolation patterns play a decisive role in creating a comfortable microclimatic environment in building spaces. This is a relevant problem of thermal safety assurance for modern construction projects and better sanitary and hygienic conditions of indoor environments. The radiant energy of the sun is a priority in the architectural and structural design and the design of thermal shells of buildings.
 Materials and methods. Theoretical, full-scale microclimatic and thermophysical field studies on structural envelopes of buildings were conducted to identify the contribution of insolation to thermal and wind patterns in the near-wall layer of building envelopes. These methods were verified using the analysis of research techniques, developed by domestic and foreign authors specializing in thermal physics of energy-efficient buildings. The authors developed a set of methods allowing to conduct new experimental studies of physical processes in the thermal air shell of the near-wall layer of envelope structures of real buildings.
 Results. As a result of the field studies of thermal and wind processes underway near the structural envelope of buildings subjected to prolonged insolation, the authors learned that the microclimate turns uncongenial in the near-wall air layer of buildings and in building spaces. This microclimate has unique thermal conditions. The extent of impact, made by the external walls of buildings on the generation and regulation of thermal and wind patterns of the near-wall microclimate was identified. A model of convective flows of the near-wall microclimatic layer of multi-storied residential buildings was developed. These convective flows demonstrate high capacity and vertical mobility and cause the air mass to travel through the space of a building floor that has columns due to the thermal contrast between the opposite walls of buildings.
 Conclusions. The authors have identified the contribution of solar energy to thermal and wind conditions in the air layer of thermal protective shells of buildings subjected to insolation. The mechanism, underlying the thermophysical processes arising in the course of interaction between insolation and the active surface of the thermal protective shell, is identified. The authors have formulated the preconditions for adjusting the design air temperature when assessing the thermal stability of building envelopes, taking into account the insolation conditions of facade systems of buildings. The preconditions for the relationship between outdoor and indoor air environments, as well as methods of natural aeration of premises have been demonstrated.

The financialisation of floor space, Mumbai 1880–2015

This paper traces the financialisation of policy instruments regulating floor space, namely, building height restrictions in Mumbai from 1880 to 2015. It describes and explains the shift from prescriptive regulation to hybrid market-based incentive. Drawing on original archival research and interviews with 80 policy experts, findings show that height restrictions shifted from ad hoc rules, to prescribed heights, to floor space index, and finally to market-based air rights. Paradoxically, the local state has used financialised floor space as an incentive to achieve social goals such as slum redevelopment, while the policy remains controversial and beset by conflict. The state has played a key role in financialising floor space, in the process creating a hybrid instrument with multiple constituencies. The conclusion explores how a history of building regulations can advance comparative urbanism.

A comparison of compressed carbon dioxide energy storage and compressed air energy storage in aquifers using numerical methods

Developing large-scale energy storage technologies has been considered as an indispensable approach to mitigating the impacts of grid integration of huge solar and wind energy. Compressed carbon dioxide energy storage in aquifers (CCESA) was recently presented and is capturing more attention following the development of compressed air energy storage in aquifers (CAESA). To quantitatively study the similarities and differences of CCESA and CAESA by numerical methods, the same geological, structural and operational conditions are designed to ensure unbiased analysis and reliable results. The results show that CCESA absorbs heat from the surroundings, while CAESA continuously loses heat. The reservoir pressure of CCESA is 1.91 MPa lower than that of CAESA, and as a result, CCESA has a lower cracking risk. The CO2 and air respectively transport to 167 m and 487 m away in aquifers within 200 days, indicating that CCESA requires only 11.8% of the floor space of CAESA. The gas production mass fraction of CCESA is 38.81% higher than that of CAESA. The daily energy efficiency of CCESA increases, while that of CAESA decreases. The average energy efficiency of CCESA is 20.15% higher than that of CAESA. It can be concluded that CCESA can be the better choice when the CO2 source nearby is sufficient.

Rethinking growth coalition in urban village redevelopment: An empirical study of three villages in Zhuhai, China

Although growth coalition theory is widely used to explain urban renewal in Western literature, it needs to be adjusted and adapted to suit China's complex and diverse urban village development processes, considering the different local political structures. By analyzing three village cases in Zhuhai, we found that growth coalition theory overemphasized the increasing alliance between political and business elites at the expense of other actors such as villagers and rural collectives. The Shanchang case indicated the close coalition between the developer and the villagers to appeal jointly for additional rights from the local government. The local government made concessions about acknowledging illegal property rights and increasing allowable floor space to facilitate the smooth implementation of demolition. By contrast, the Lixi and Fuxi case showed that the local government formed a coalition with the rural collective in the demolition and compensation stage and formed an alliance with the developer in the construction stage. The case indicated that the government pursued the long-term goal of improving urban livability and enhancing industrial development apart from advocating property-led growth. This paper disclosed the diversity and complexity of the growth coalition, which could enrich the existing framework.

Using Physics-Based Digital Twins and Extended Reality for the Safety and Ergonomics Evaluation of Cobotic Workstations

Cobotic workstations in industrial plants involve a new kind of collaborative robots that can interact with operators. These cobots enable more flexibility and they can reduce the cycle time and the floor space of the workstation. However, cobots also introduce new safety concerns with regard to operators, and they may have an impact on the workstation ergonomics. For those reasons, introducing cobots in a workstation always require additional studies on safety and ergonomics before being applied and certified. Certification rules are often complex to understand. We present the SEEROB framework for the Safety and Ergonomics Evaluation of ROBotic workstations. The SEEROB framework simulates a physics-based digital twin of the cobotic workstation and computes a large panel of criteria used for safety and ergonomics. These criteria may be processed for the certification of the workstation. The SEEROB framework also uses extended reality technologies to display the digital twin and its associated data: users can use virtual reality headsets for the design of non-existing workstations, and mixed reality devices to better understand safety and ergonomics constraints on existing workstations. The SEEROB framework was tested on various laboratory and industrial use cases, involving different kinds of robots.

Early-life mice housed in standard stocking density reduce the spontaneous physical activity and increase visceral fat deposition before reaching adulthood.

Laboratory rodents spend the entire day housed in standard cages that provide a restricted area for movements and might, therefore, limit physical activity. However, it has not been tested in immature rodents of ages ranging from weaning to adulthood (adolescence period) whether the restricted area per animal does actually reduce physical activity and impact the body composition. We analyzed the spontaneous physical activity and feeding behavior during the adolescence of mice kept in two different housing conditions (standard stocking density (SSD) versus low stocking density (LSD)). We aimed to compare the body composition between SSD and LSD groups before they reached adulthood. Differential housing began at four weeks of age and was maintained for four weeks until euthanasia at eight weeks of age. The SSD group had a floor space of 88 cm2 available per animal, while LSD mice were housed with a floor space of 320 cm2 per animal, increasing the individual radius for movement more than three-fold compared with standard requirements. Mice kept in SSD exhibit lower spontaneous physical activity than mice kept in LSD. Early-life exposure to reduced physical activity in mice housed in SSD resulted in greater visceral fat accumulation before adulthood. An environment enabling/stimulating physical activity should be established for rodents as early as possible. This study will be helpful in showing that mice kept in SSD are early exposed to a reduced physical activity already in the adolescence period. Our findings could raise reflections about the translatability of rodents kept in SSD to healthy active humans.

Project Risk in the Context of Construction Schedules—Combined Monte Carlo Simulation and Time at Risk (TaR) Approach: Insights from the Fort Bema Housing Estate Complex

In this article, we present our own construction process model consisting of 16 stages and eight phases, which is particularly applicable to large investment projects. In the context of each project phase, we examine how the appropriate way of scheduling construction processes affects the problem of the risk of prolonging individual phases and the whole project, as well as of not meeting deadlines (which is one of the main problems faced by management practitioners in the construction industry). There are many methods for assessing risk in this context, but they tend to be overly complex and rarely used by construction practitioners. On the other hand, the risks associated with potential schedule delays can be considered holistically. One tool that can serve this purpose is the combined Monte Carlo simulation and Time-at-Risk (TaR) approach, which originates from the world of finance. We show how the implementation of the process model (individual phases) and the whole project can be considered in the context of the covariance matrix between all its phases and how changes in the arrangement of these phases can affect the risk of time extension of the whole project. Our study is based on simulation data for a large development project (Fort Bema/Parkowo-Leśne housing estate complex) in Bemowo, a district of Warsaw, carried out between 1999 and 2012. The entire investment project involved the construction of almost 120,000 m2 of floor space.

An all-day cooling system that combines solar absorption chiller and radiative cooling

Although the solar-powered absorption chiller is recently a trending technology for space cooling of buildings, it requires a bulky thermal storage device and complex installations to achieve all-day cooling. In this paper, a new system that couples the solar-driven absorption chiller and radiative sky cooling is proposed to realize 24-h continuous cooling with less floor space and smaller thermal storage. This system involves a specialized module that utilizes the medium temperature flat panel solar collector on its top layer and a selective radiative cooling absorption layer on the bottom layer; The top layer faces the sky during the daytime to collect solar thermal energy to drive the absorption chiller, and it will be flipped to the bottom layer at nighttime to realize radiative cooling. The proposed system is analyzed by coupling the steady-state models of each subsystem and a cooling load model, which are later applied to evaluate the cooling performance under varying weather conditions within a day. The simulation results show that the system can stably meet the cooling demand of 70 m2 room while only needing half the floor area and a thermal storage tank that is 4 times smaller than the traditional PT-AC system.

Research Note: Age-related effects of feeder space availability on welfare of broilers reared to 56 days of age Part 2: Blood physiological variables

Consumption of poultry meat has increased dramatically due to the relative price-competitiveness as compared to other meat products. The rapid growth and increased production efficiency of modern genetic strains is perceived to negatively impact the welfare of the animal. Hematological analyses such as acid-base balance provide a thorough evaluation of the welfare in both animals and humans. This study investigated the effects of feeder space availability on welfare of broilers grown to heavy weights using blood physiological variables. The study was a randomized complete block design. In each of the 2 trials, a total of 1,440 one-d-old Ross × Ross 708 chicks (straight-run) were obtained from a commercial hatchery. Chicks were equally and randomly allocated to 32 pens based on feeder space treatment. Treatments were 4 different feeder space allocations: 2.3 (Single feeder), 2.30, 4.60, and 6.90 cm/bird. To maintain uniform bird:feeder floor space, 3 feeders were installed in each pen, except for the single feeder pen. Blood samples (3 mL) were collected from the brachial wing vein of 3 birds per pen on d 27 and 55, which were then analyzed immediately for whole blood physiological variables. The remaining blood samples were centrifuged to collect plasma that was used for corticosterone and thyroid hormones analysis. Results show there was no effect of feeder space on most of the selected physiological variables, but age had significant effects on most of the examined variables. However, all observed changes were within physiological ranges. Plasma corticosterone and blood glucose were not affected by feeder space and age, indicating absence of physiological stress. The results are in broad agreement with those reported in the literature and on homeostatic variation of broilers grown to heavy weights. In conclusion, expanding feeder allowance does not enhance the welfare of broilers grown to heavy weights.

Parametric estimation of supplier's plant construction costs

Cost engineers of buying enterprises perform detailed product cost calculations of externally manufactured components. The aim of these calculations is to determine what a product should cost and to support purchasing functions in fact-based negotiations. While product cost engineers have deep knowledge in the calculation of direct cost, they need support in the calculation of supplier´s indirect cost categories. The calculation of industrial rent, which is expressed in annual cost per m² of occupied plant building floor space can be improved by providing accurate construction cost estimates. Construction costs are strongly impacting the calculation of supplier´s annual building depreciation, which is a crucial cost driver for the determination of the industrial rent. Academic literature is actually not providing an accurate and suitable cost model for product cost engineers, which is estimating construction cost per m² depending on different industrial building categories and alternative supplier plant locations. The paper aims to close this gap by applying linear regression analysis on a set of European construction cost data considering two industrial building categories: “warehouses/basic factory units” and “high-tech factories”. By regressing construction cost against construction labor rates within different supplier plant locations it was possible to form suitable and accurate parametric regression functions with R² values between 0.74 and 0.88. Next to high R² values acceptable mean average percentage errors between 7.45% and 11.77% could be realized by comparing estimated with observed construction cost. The estimation of industrial construction costs based on the paper´s results can be used to improve the calculation of industrial rent, which is one cost element, that has to be covered within product cost engineer´s Should Cost Calculations.

Examining pulmonary TB patient management and healthcare workers exposures in two public tertiary care hospitals, Bangladesh.

Implementation of tuberculosis (TB) infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines in public tertiary care general hospitals remain challenging due to limited evidence of pulmonary TB (PTB) patients' duration of hospital stay and management. To fill this evidence gap, this study examined adult PTB patient management, healthcare workers' (HCWs) exposures and IPC practices in two public tertiary care hospitals in Bangladesh.Between December 2017 and September 2019, a multidisciplinary team conducted structured observations, a hospital record review, and in-depth interviews with hospital staff from four adult medicine wards.Over 20 months, we identified 1,200 presumptive TB patients through the hospital record review, of whom 263 were confirmed PTB patients who stayed in the hospital, a median of 4.7 days without TB treatment and possibly contaminated the inpatients wards. Over 141 observation hours, we found a median of 3.35 occupants present per 10 m2 of floor space and recorded a total of 17,085 coughs and 316 sneezes: a median of 3.9 coughs or sneezes per 10 m2 per hour per ward. Only 8.4% of coughs and 21% of sneezes were covered by cloths, paper, tissues, or by hand. The HCWs reportedly could not isolate the TB patients due to limited resources and space and could not provide them with a mask. Further, patients and HCWs did not wear any respirators.The study identified that most TB patients stayed in the hospitals untreated for some duration of time. These PTB patients frequently coughed and sneezed without any facial protection that potentially contaminated the ward environment and put everyone, including the HCWs, at risk of TB infection. Interventions that target TB patients screening on admission, isolation of presumptive TB patients, respiratory hygiene, and HCWs' use of personal protective equipment need to be enhanced and evaluated for acceptability, practicality and scale-up.

A Decision-Making Tool for Urban Planners: A Framework to Model the Interdependency among Land Use, Accessibility, Density, and Surface Runoff in Urban Areas

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the four-dimensional relationship between land use, accessibility, density, and surface runoff in urban areas. In contemporary literature, a series of studies have been conducted that extensively discuss the natural components associated with the surface runoff in urban areas. However, the dynamic and complex dimensions of the urban form, such as land use, accessibility, and density, are yet to be fully understood. In this study, a 4D diagram was utilized to identify relationships between dimensions, in addition to decision tree analysis, to explore the structural flow between selected variables. Furthermore, a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed with the purpose of investigating the direct, indirect, and moderating effects on the targeted dependent variable, surface runoff. The results of the analysis reported a strong correlation between land use, accessibility, density, and surface runoff, with an R-squared value of 0.802, which indicates an acceptable model accuracy by the international standard. A positive relationship between the four dimensions was indicated by the higher accessibility; the higher density in terms of a higher floor space index (FSI), ground space index (GSI), and open space; the building height of the adjacent buildings; the higher diversity of the land use; and the higher surface runoff. Accordingly, the findings of the study offer policy implications in the fields of land use planning, zoning regulations and overall urban development planning towards achieving climate resilient cities.

Microbial Indoor Air Quality and Associated Factors in Jimma Town Prison Administration, Southwestern Ethiopia.

Indoor air quality determines the well-being of occupants. It has been linked to sick building syndrome and building-related diseases which lead to many socio-economic problems including reduced productivity and impaired learning. Indoor air quality problem is more serious for prisoners, due to their confinement and exposure condition. However, it has not been studied in our study setting. Thus, this study aimed to determine the indoor air microbial quality and associated factors in Jimma town prison administration, Southwestern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study design was employed in August 2021. Data on the general condition of the prison rooms and occupancy were collected by trained data collectors using an observational checklist. The microbial sample was collected using a sterilized Petri dish. A total of 19 triplicate air samples were collected using Mannitol salt agar and Sabouroad dextrose agar media for the growth of S. aureus and fungi respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 and presented using tables and a graph. The effect of predictor variables on the microbial load was also analyzed by using linear regression. The finding of this study revealed that the microbial load of indoor air at Jimma town prison administration ranged from 891 to 15 439 and 315 to 3067 CFU/m³ for S. aureus and fungi respectively. Both S. aureus and the fungal load of the indoor environment were positively affected by the temperature of the room. Whereas, the floor space per inmate affects the concentration of S. aureus alone. Almost all rooms of the prison administration had microbial load beyond the acceptable limit. Higher temperature, less floor space per inmate, bad floor cleanness conditions, inadequate ventilation, and dampness were contributing factors to the high load of S. aureus and fungus. Thus, additional rooms are required to reduce overcrowding and keep room temperature.

A Foreword from the Editor

Low-carbon and intelligent construction are two of the current research hot spots in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facilities Management (AEC/FM) field. Green building, smart city, AI, BIM, and sustainable development have become high-frequency words in the field[1]. The lack of the adoption of digital technologies (e.g., BIM, AI, digital twin) will lead to project delays, cost inefficiencies, poor quality, and tedious management[2]. Emerging innovations of those digital technologies are bringing a new evolutionary process of engineering applications towards more sustainable and intelligent development[3-4]. In October 2021, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) release the heavyweight report Global Status Report on the Building and Construction Industry 2021[1]. The report states that since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, CO2 emissions from the buildings and construction sector have peaked in recent years and subsequently fallen to 2007 levels in 2020. This current decline is due mostly to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, this decline appears to be temporary as emissions pick up again with increasing economic activity. Whereas transformative, long-term progress in sector decarbonizing remains limited[1]. To achieve the Paris Agreement, the global buildings and construction sector must almost completely decarbonize by 2050. Collectively, stakeholders in the sector must seize the opportunity that the COVID-19 economic recovery period offers to foster transformation for decarbonizing the sector. The sector must simultaneously meet a projected near-doubling of global demand for energy services in buildings and at least a doubling of floor space as developing economies continue to respond to the growing demand for building floor space, access to energy services and economic activities. Therefore, to meet the future needs and developments of this fast-growing field, a brand-new journal, Journal of Building Design and Environment (JBDE) has been launched. JBDE is a semi-annual, double-blind peer reviewed, open access journal, dedicated to publishing original research articles/reviews—amongst other submission categories—on the research and application of sustainability and intelligence in the field of construction engineering and design. The scope of JBDE covers (but is not limited to) the following: Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Building and Structural Design Construction Materials Built Environment Construction Engineering and Management Computer Aided-Design and Simulation Energy and Buildings Sustainable Development Urban Planningand Resilience Architectural Aesthetics and Townscape To further encourage research in this area, our publisher, Omniscient Pte. Ltd. has decided to waive article processing charge for the first two issues of the journal’s first volume. Therefore, we strongly welcome all who are interested in building design and environment research to join us authors, reviewers or editorial board members. It is the hope of the entire editorial team of JBDE that this journal will fulfil the needs of those specialising in building design and facilitate discourses and advances in the field.