Guest editorial

Citation

Barbir, J. and Rath, K. (2016), "Guest editorial", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 27 No. 6, pp. 622-622. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-06-2016-0043

Introduction

Energy efficiency and the development of innovative approaches towards renewable energy systems focusing on the building sector are high on top of Europe’s scientific, economic and political agenda. In particular, energy efficiency means that energy losses seen in old and very old buildings, which make up the overwhelming majority of objects today, can be reduced, hence decreasing the waste of energy and the damage to the climate via unnecessary CO₂ emissions. The concept of energy efficiency has been gaining substantial importance and visibility in recent times. The constraint, seen in the supplies of fossil fuels makes energy efficiency strategies all the more important. Indeed, conservation of energy is the main prerequisite for energy efficiency, whose concept has been refined and formally adopted by the world community.

One of the major challenges to sustainable development in e.g. Germany, Poland and other countries of the European Union is how to promote energy efficiency, so as to allow those countries to meet their climate commitments and simultaneously maximize their economic potential of building. One of the means through which this challenge can be met is by fostering energy efficiency in buildings on the one hand, but also by the development of innovative approaches to facade technology on the other, both helping to reach the goal of “zero emission” buildings.

The Journal’s special issue provides “Innovative Approaches to Energy Efficiency” in the building sector based on research examples from authors from Estonia, Latvia, Germany and Poland. The papers in this volume cover a broad range of topics such as planning principles, environmental and economic aspects in zero-emission façade systems and buildings, methodological approaches of energy retrofitting, energy efficiency and behavioural patterns, regional building typologies as well as research results on suitable building and insulation materials for energy efficient buildings, the integration photovoltaic elements in façade systems and aspects on windows’ layout selection for shading devices.

The current special issue has been generated in frame of the three years “German and Polish Energy Efficiency Project (GPEE)”, which aim was to foster the promotion of sustainable approaches towards energy efficiency in buildings as tools towards climate protection in German and Polish cities by developing facade technology for zero-emission buildings. Further information about the GPEE project, its research results and corresponding publications are available at: http://gpee.net/