<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
    <channel>
        <title>Buildings and Cities Feed</title>
        <link>https://reference-global.com/journal/UPJBC</link>
        <description>Reference Global RSS Feed for Buildings and Cities</description>
        <lastBuildDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:41:31 GMT</lastBuildDate>
        <docs>https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html</docs>
        <generator>https://github.com/jpmonette/feed</generator>
        <image>
            <title>Buildings and Cities Feed</title>
            <url>https://sciendo-parsed.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/ubiquity/68406cd7da18af458e7683cc/cover-image.png</url>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/journal/UPJBC</link>
        </image>
        <copyright>All rights reserved 2026, Ubiquity Press</copyright>
        <atom:link href="https://reference-global.com/2/rss/journal/UPJBC" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Indoor temperature and office work performance in a temperate climate]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.876</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.876</guid>
            <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[The relationship between indoor temperature and office work performance (OWP) remains contested. Previous laboratory studies, including a controlled experiment in Singapore, report limited or no effects within typical office ranges, but replication across climatic contexts is needed to assess generalizability. The present study was conducted in the temperate climate of the San Francisco Bay Area, closely replicating the Singapore protocol with a 30% larger sample: 75 participants completed four 165-min sessions at 21, 23, 25, and 27°C in a controlled environmental chamber. OWP was assessed using the Cognitive Ability Test (CAT) and a battery of eight neuropsychological tests targeting five cognitive domains, alongside continuous physiological monitoring. Although participants preferred temperatures between 23 and 25°C, no statistically significant effect of temperature on cognitive ability or neuropsychological performance was found across the full sample; physiological measures and thermal perception varied with temperature as expected, but without accompanying changes in OWP. Among the highest-performing quartile of CAT participants, a statistically significant, large-magnitude temperature-related effect was observed, though this pattern was not replicated in the neuropsychological battery. The findings closely align with the Singapore study and are consistent with the Maximal Adaptability Model, supporting wider heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) setpoint ranges.
PRACTICE RELEVANCE
Building managers, HVAC engineers, and sustainability practitioners face increasing pressure to reduce energy consumption from heating and cooling while maintaining occupant work performance. This study provides experimental evidence that OWP was not significantly impaired across a 21–27°C range in a temperate climate (San Francisco Bay Area). These findings suggest that modest upward adjustments to HVAC cooling setpoints within this range are unlikely to reduce cognitive output in typical office populations, supporting strategies that expand acceptable indoor temperature bands as a means of reducing energy usage. Decision-makers should note that thermal comfort and satisfaction remain important even when performance is stable, and that these results are most applicable to temperate-climate offices with predominantly young, healthy workers performing structured task work. Longer duration exposure and more diverse occupant profiles warrant further investigation.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Moving homes and energy poverty: residents’ concerns, capabilities and responses]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.868</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.868</guid>
            <pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[In the study of energy poverty and vulnerability, limited attention has been paid to the social differentiation and unequal capacities to act. This study examined housing mobility as part of energy action space, asking how the possibility, or impossibility, of moving home shapes energy vulnerability. In-depth interviews (n = 29) conducted during 2024 and 2025 with Finnish residents of detached houses investigated how moving home is discussed after the rapid rise in energy prices in 2022. Some households experience a lock-in beyond their control and inability to move, resulting in aggravated concern for the energy costs and living conditions in their house. Whilst moving home might be a form of effective energy action, it is difficult due to financial constraints, health, housing market conditions or emotional attachment. Moving home also requires capacities of anticipation and timely action. Housing immobility forms a layer of vulnerability that coexists with other forms of vulnerability. The findings challenge the assumption that owner-occupants of detached houses do not experience energy poverty due to their asset ownership.
POLICY RELEVANCE
Energy policy instruments that focus narrowly on prices or on energy efficiency risk overlooking how energy vulnerability is produced through housing trajectories and immobility. Particularly in contexts where home ownership is widespread, policies need to consider the barriers of moving homes and relocating. Public authorities need to consider how housing development, renovation support and mobility options shape the energy action space. Policy should support not only energy retrofits but also feasible housing alternatives and options that allow households to move before their vulnerability becomes entrenched. In more general terms, recognising that people may move home because of high energy costs and poor energy efficiency can help to support market developments towards energy retrofits, not only in the stock of owner-occupied detached houses but also in the rental market, in which property owners need to retrofit to keep their assets attractive.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Reference study for biogenic carbon storage in the residential building stock]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.849</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.849</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[The built environment is both a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and an important area for climate mitigation through material choices, design and long-term use. Wood products can reduce emissions by substituting more carbon-intensive construction materials while also storing biogenic carbon in buildings. However, these benefits depend on how long buildings remain in use and how much carbon they retain over time. This study examines residential buildings in Helsinki, Finland, to estimate observed stock survival, quantify cumulative biogenic carbon storage in the residential building stock, and compare the results with estimates based on replacement cycles and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) default 35-year half-life for harvested wood products (HWP). Results indicate high residential stock survival, with 92% of floor area still in use from the earliest study periods (1921–39). Timber buildings account for 40% of total biogenic carbon storage, despite representing only 10% of the gross floor area (GFA). The existing stock stores an estimated 266–285 kt C compared with 123 kt C predicted by the IPCC’s default half-life estimation. The results show that the IPCC’s default decay assumption produces substantially lower estimates when applied to long-lived residential building components.
POLICY RELEVANCE
This study provides empirical evidence on the survival of residential buildings and the associated long-term storage of biogenic carbon in wood materials. Helsinki’s existing residential stock stores approximately 266–285 kt C, indicating that long-lived buildings form a relevant urban carbon stock. The results also show that residential building survival is shaped not only by materials but also by stable housing demand as well as by institutional factors such as planning regulations, zoning, renovation programmes and heritage protection. For policymakers, better empirical data on building survival and component replacement can improve assumptions used in whole-life carbon assessment and evaluations of wood use in construction. The comparison with the IPCC’s default 35-year half-life further shows the importance of distinguishing broad HWP accounting assumptions from the behaviour of long-lived wood products in residential buildings.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Building space heating and cooling in NDCs 4.0]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.873</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.873</guid>
            <pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Calls and initiatives for incorporating the building stock into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement indicate the large potential to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the update of NDC 4.0 for 2030, the opportunity exists to include national building stocks as an action area in NDC 4.0. Worldwide, the GHG emissions caused by national building stocks are dominated by energy consumption for the operation of buildings, especially for heating and cooling. In the Global North, the expenditure of energy and GHG emissions for heating must be further drastically reduced. Worldwide, and especially in the Global South, it is a matter of limiting the increase in mechanical cooling (i.e. air-conditioning) demand by finding a compromise with the safeguarding of thermal comfort. The first step is to account for the GHG emissions associated with space heating and cooling, including emissions from the electricity and district heating used in buildings. This briefing note argues that including space heating and cooling in NDC 4.0 is feasible and desirable and it proposes a staged approach for policymakers.
ACTION POINTS

The built environment can provide a large contribution to achieving individual national targets for reducing energy consumption and limiting GHG emissions. There is potential for all countries to include the built environment in their NDCs and national mitigation strategies.
A first step is the examination of energy consumption and GHG emissions of residential and non-residential buildings, caused by space heating and cooling during their operation.
To identify opportunities for reducing GHG emissions, countries should assess SCOPE 1 emissions from fuels used in buildings and SCOPE 2 emissions associated with the electricity and district heating or cooling they consume. This end-use assessment can complement national emissions inventories.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Building component reuse as sociomaterial interaction: lessons from precast concrete]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.840</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.840</guid>
            <pubDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Building component reuse (BCR) has become a promising strategy for the construction sector to move towards sustainability transformation. Although earlier studies on the construction sector have characterised material flows as dynamic human–material interactions, the ways materials become valuable and exceed human control remain underexamined in the context of BCR. This study examines BCR through sociomateriality and explores the different manifestations of sociomaterial interactions in BCR. The study presents a qualitative single-case study on precast concrete element reuse in Finland, utilising 19 semi-structured interviews, 58 months of ethnographic observations, and secondary data gathered between 2021 and 2026. Eight sociomaterial interaction types—‘Compliance’, ‘Human orientation’, ‘Interpretative framing’, ‘Leverage’, ‘Proof of concept’, ‘Advocate for material’, ‘Exaptation’ and ‘Uncertain business environment’—are identified in which reused building components can manifest in two different ways: as an intermediary or as a carrier. To be successful, BCR needs to be addressed as a broad phenomenon rather than as a mere techno-economic management issue if meaningful sustainability transformation of the construction sector is to be promoted. The findings serve as recognised intervention points for facilitating the mainstreaming of BCR and the sustainability transformation of the construction sector in general.
PRACTICE RELEVANCE
Insights are provided for practitioners and policymakers to promote BCR. The study identifies eight sociomaterial interaction types that serve as recognised intervention points to facilitate the mainstreaming of BCR. This depends on both organisational interactions amongst multiple actors and technical requirements involving institutional conditions, demands and expectations. Accordingly, eight practical recommendations are suggested for practitioners and regulators that can be harnessed to mainstream of BCR. Public actors in regulation, procurement practices and circular construction policies can adapt technical requirements, institutional conditions, demand structures and shared expectations that shape construction activities.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Validating national reuse indicators from regional demolition data: a Swedish example]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.827</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.827</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Construction accounts for a substantial share of global emissions and waste, highlighting the need to shift from linear to circular resource flows and to prioritise deconstruction and reuse over demolition and disposal. Enabling this transition requires reliable methods for identifying and quantifying products embedded in existing buildings. This Swedish study examines whether key performance indicators (KPIs) derived from demolition‑permit documentation can be generalised across regions to support product‑level stock estimation for circular construction. Using a bottom‑up method, regional similarities and differences were assessed using data on product quantities from preschool and multifamily‑building demolitions (n = 38) in Umeå and Stockholm. Six product categories were compiled from demolition permits and compared statistically with Greater Gothenburg values. The results show that while several products exhibit modest regional variation, others—gypsum boards and clay roof tiles in preschools, and wooden windows in multifamily buildings—display statistically significant differences, indicating that national KPIs would misrepresent regional building stocks. Where no significant differences were found, regional datasets were aggregated to propose national KPIs. Improved demolition‑permit documentation would enhance KPI robustness, underscoring the need for standardised, higher quality data. Expanding datasets and validating the results against demolition outcomes will be essential to strengthen KPI applicability.
PRACTICE RELEVANCE
When can national KPIs serve as a reliable forecast of reusable building products from demolition? When must regional differences be considered? For products with limited regional variation, such as roofing felt and timber frameworks, national KPIs can inform circular-construction planning. In contrast, gypsum boards, clay roof tiles and certain window types show substantial regional differences, likely driven by construction traditions and documentation practices, making region-specific KPIs necessary. Until greater stability from further data collection is demonstrated, regional KPIs should remain the basis for quantifying products, with national indicators applied only where consistency is evident. To improve data quality, policymakers should promote harmonised pre‑demolition audits, standardised reporting and digital documentation. Practitioners can use KPIs in early‑stage planning, while municipalities could integrate them into permit processes and make the data publicly accessible to strengthen regional reuse capacity.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Climate change risk and decision-making]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.941</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.941</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Highlights
Climate change has created a wide range of uncertainties and risks that will strongly impact the built as well as the natural environment. There is a need to address these risks appropriately, effectively and to an applicable timetable at all levels of governance; and especially within those occupations and professions that invest in, develop, design, manage and regulate the built environment. This requires the development of new skills and understanding in the sector, including learning from other disciplines that are currently working on risk analysis, preparation and prioritisation, and who have already developed language, abilities and techniques to describe, categorise and quantify risk in order to make well-informed decisions and take necessary action. Climate change risk is a system problem that exhibits many features of interconnectedness and interdependency, requiring multidimensional analysis ranging across the spectrum from high-probability–low-impact risks to low-probability–high-impact ones. This editorial, referencing the learning described in the papers and commentaries in this special issue, calls on those within all areas of the sector to urgently map a way forward to establish responsibilities and responses for understanding, advising on and addressing climate risk to and resulting from the built environment as it varies across the planet. This will require changes to education, qualification, professional practice, and the information and tools available to practitioners. The relative lack of research and guidance on the subject within the field means this is a pressing task for the sector and a significant challenge to all involved.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Technologies of reconstruction]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.937</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.937</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Highlights
Post-disaster and post-conflict reconstruction have generated a substantial body of scholarly and professional knowledge, yet this knowledge remains dispersed across disciplines, institutions, professional practices and individual reconstruction episodes. Reconstruction policy operates within a large but fragmented knowledge environment. To examine the organisation of the field, this special issue considers the complexity of such an environment, characterised not only by the number of problems it encompasses but also by the relationships between separate processes and diverse actors operating across different spatial and temporal scales. The special issue confirms both the value and the limitations of disciplinary specialisation: increasingly sophisticated knowledge of particular reconstruction problems has not necessarily produced an integrated understanding of reconstruction as a whole. Rather than seeking unification through a universal model, a dialectical composition of different forms of knowledge is proposed within a common conceptual structure. Recovering an older meaning of technology as the systematic organisation of knowledge concerning practical action, it considers the possibility of a ‘technology of reconstruction’. It concludes by exploring how an open ontology of reconstruction, supported by computational methods and artificial intelligence, might enable accumulated empirical experience to become systematically comparable while preserving disciplinary difference and contextual specificity. The development of an internationally governed, open ontology of reconstruction is proposed: a shared framework for describing reconstruction processes, actors, resources, decisions, relationships and outcomes while preserving contextual differences. Existing recovery institutions could provide the organisational basis for developing and testing such a framework. The immediate policy priority is the knowledge infrastructure required to make accumulated reconstruction experience collectively usable.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Urban form metrics for building occupancy modelling: applications and impacts]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.749</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.749</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Within urban morphology research, understanding urban spaces and their functions is crucial in several application fields including, but not limited to, city and transport planning, risk management, and urban climate. An important task is building occupancy modelling, which can be studied by using a broad selection of urban form metrics as proxy parameters. This paper describes and analyses the collection of urban form metrics used in the context of building occupancy modelling found in relevant scientific publications. Based on the scientific literature, a catalogue of 313 metrics is created, which are then categorised according to multiple characteristics and ranked by their importance. The main findings suggest that frequently used metrics in the domain do not necessarily show the most impact on modelling. Three-quarters of the metrics in the literature are mentioned only a single time, suggesting a limited data availability or highly specialised research questions.
PRACTICE RELEVANCE
This overview of urban form metrics specifically focuses on building occupancy modelling applications (e.g. building classification or population estimation). It also enables informed decisions for selecting metrics based on data availability, spatial scale and research subjects by introducing a novel importance ranking of metrics based their impact in other studies. The newly created catalogue is provided in a ready-to-use format. This is accessible to researchers and practitioners and allows them to reflect critically on which metrics to choose and thereby effectively select the appropriate urban form metric(s) for their own needs.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Inside offsite: everyday dwelling in factory-built apartments]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.826</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.826</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[The majority of offsite construction research focuses on technologies, processes and/or economics. In contrast, this paper examines how factory-built housing is lived in and experienced in everyday dwellings. This informs how such construction methods shape home-making and everyday life, and how these lived experiences relate to residents’ understandings of construction. Drawing on qualitative interviews with residents (n = 6) and builders/manufacturers (n = 7) of such apartments in Melbourne (Victoria), Australia, this paper re-examines how material assemblages and urban-housing relations can help shed new light on factory-built housing. A focus on everyday experiences of comfort, maintenance, and spatial belonging reveals symbolic, affective and urban qualities of modern methods of construction (MMC) apartments. Although MMC apartments contribute to perceptions of improved material quality, these are primarily revealed through everyday practices rather than being consciously attributed as outcomes of industrialised production. MMC apartments are experienced by residents as ordinary, with the industrialised processes’ role muted in the living experience they enable, and in their presentation by manufacturers. The effects of the MMC apartments were mediated through design quality, urban location and everyday rhythms, while their acceptance develops without explicit recognition in everyday life.
POLICY RELEVANCE
Housing markets often position consumer demand and public acceptance as key to the uptake of MMC. This framing assumes that homebuyers actively evaluate, then support or resist, this mode of production. However, residents tend not to identify the construction method of their homes, and the construction method seldom influences residents’ choices in apartment markets, due to their tenure or restricted resources and access to housing generally. Instead, their experiences are shaped by design quality, comfort, location and everyday functionality. The limited uptake of MMC apartments cannot be fully attributed to lingering negative perceptions or insufficient public acceptance. Rather, demand is shaped by broader housing market dynamics, design outcomes and development practices. Policy approaches that seek to enhance consumer education or perception change should instead focus on design quality, urban integration and delivery to support industrialised housing as an increasingly expected and accepted form of apartment living.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Retrofit realism: affordable low-carbon policies for existing homes]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.871</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.871</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Residential buildings are major users of energy and emitters of CO2. They have long lifetimes and therefore decarbonisation of the heating and cooling of existing homes is critical for the goal of net zero emissions. The challenge of zero-carbon retrofitting also needs to address comfort in a warming world and affordability at scale. To address this problem will need improved building fabric and highly efficient, non-fossil, thermal systems. Technical solutions are known and available, but there are barriers to scaling up their deployment. Priorities for retrofit differ by climate zone and economic development status. In the Global South, rising temperatures are increasing cooling needs and the priority is to scale-up passive cooling approaches. In the Global North, heating demand is much greater and the key priority is a shift away from direct use of fossil fuels by electrifying heating, while accommodating growing cooling. Comprehensive policy interventions are required, including building and efficiency standards, regulations to phase out fossil fuel use, direct investment in thermal systems and fabric, incentives, financing, knowledge-sharing, and support for skills and training.
KEY FINDINGS

Technical solutions for zero-carbon retrofit are known and commercially available.
Both fabric improvements and changes to heating and cooling systems will contribute to decarbonisation.
Electrification of heating and scaling passive cooling, both with high system efficiencies, are the key decarbonisation measures.
Specific measures will depend on building type and climate.
Universal access to electricity is essential and will be helped by the rapidly declining costs of distributed solar/battery systems.
Building electrification should be taken forward in parallel with electricity decarbonisation.
Heat decarbonisation will require electrification using heat pumps.
Growth of energy use for cooling can be limited by scaling passive cooling approaches and high-efficiency technology standards.
Retrofit provides potential multiple benefits for climate mitigation, energy security, affordability, productivity, comfort and health.
Barriers include the required scale of investment, supply chain transitions and public support.
Building retrofit needs long-term policy stability.
International climate policy should support knowledge transfers to and from the Global South, with capacity-building, technology and finance to developing countries.
National policy packages should include standards, investment in social housing, finance mechanisms, skills development, incentive programmes, and education and advice.
]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[MMC for housing: sectoral perception on governance challenges]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.791</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.791</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[How do different actors across the housebuilding sector perceive the influence of England’s housing and planning policy on the use of modern methods of construction (MMC)? A stratified survey, administered through an established polling organisation, obtained valid responses (n = 501) from the UK-wide sector workforce, rating 25 policy areas for perceived importance and effect, from which a composite impact measure was derived. Five areas emerged as most influential: skilled labour; quality; supply chain stability; energy use; and health, safety and welfare. Disaggregated analysis revealed employer type, rather than occupation, geography, age or experience, as the characteristic most strongly associated with divergence in policy perception, self-assessed knowledge and innovation orientation. Interpreted through a network governance lens, this divergence tracks an actor’s role in the policy network, distinguishing the makers, takers and absorbers of policy, and suggesting a potential disconnect between the makers of policy and the wider sector. Representative evidence of perceived policy importance, effect and impact identified five policy areas that may provide a stronger basis for targeted interventions to promote MMC adoption, and support improvements in England’s housebuilding productivity.
POLICY RELEVANCE
Policymakers regularly cite MMC as a favoured route to improving the productivity and quality of housebuilding, yet the housebuilding sector in England has been slow to adopt MMC, despite repeated policy direction. Previous research has concentrated on technical and operational barriers to MMC adoption, leaving untested how the sector itself perceives policy influence and whether that perception is shared between those who make policy, those who take and interpret it, and those who absorb its consequences. Five policy areas are identified as key to targeted interventions to promote MMC use: skilled labour; quality; stable supply chain; energy use; and health, safety and welfare. The divergence by employer type shows where policy framed by its makers may not be perceived as influential by those who deliver it.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Reorganising specification practice for component reuse: an exploratory study]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.838</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.838</guid>
            <pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Despite increasing policy attention to circular economy strategies, building component reuse remains limited in mainstream construction practice. Existing research has demonstrated the environmental potential of reuse and identified the importance of material information, assessment and inter-organisational collaboration. However, these dimensions are examined separately, while less attention has been given to material specification as a focal practice that connects them to reclaimed components. A qualitative case study of a large UK commercial refurbishment investigates material specification based on semi-structured interviews (n = 8) with project participants and project documents. Drawing on Schatzki’s practice theory, the analytical framework traces the reorganisation of practical understandings, general understandings, rules and teleoaffective structures, as well as the recomposition of specification doings and sayings. The findings show that specifications were developed differently across three different material vignettes (structural steel, Portland stone, marble) as material conditions emerged and requirements changed. The paper positions material specification as an evolving practice rather than a one-off decision. Information, collaboration and formal requirements alone did not enable reuse; their effectiveness depended on how they were connected and reorganised around particular materials. This explains the varying results within the same project and provides a framework for analysing material specification practices.
PRACTICE RELEVANCE
Component reuse depends on connecting material information, responsibilities and requirements throughout specification and delivery. Project teams should recognise that producing reliable information involves costs for surveys, inventories, testing, certification, tracking and coordination, and they should allocate time and budget for these activities early. The evidence needed at specification should also reflect the material and its intended function. Safety-critical structural components may require early verification of provenance, dimensions, condition and performance, whereas facade and interior components may need provisional specifications supported by staged inspection and agreed criteria for acceptable variation. Responsibility should remain continuous across assessment, dismantling, storage, transport and installation, especially where conditions may change during handling. Specifications should be revised if new evidence affects feasibility, and changes to the intended reuse outcome should be documented. These measures help prevent information gaps, unallocated costs and organisational handovers from reducing reuse potential.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Kitchen retrofits to support food practices and wellbeing]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.804</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.804</guid>
            <pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Kitchen design is a critical, yet underexamined, factor in supporting residents’ wellbeing in increasingly densified city landscapes. This study explores how a group of private apartment dwellers in Melbourne (Australia) retrofitted their kitchens to support home food practices. A survey of residents (n = 62) and in-depth photo-elicited interviews (n = 20, including families with children) investigated lived experience within the constraints of current regulatory frameworks. Residents described strong preferences for home cooking shaped by health, cultural tradition, economic considerations, enjoyment and social connection. These motivations drove staged and cost-sensitive retrofits. Thematic findings identify four core dimensions: a) resident preferences and compromises; b) decision-making and timing; c) enhanced functionality and safety through improved storage, work surfaces, lighting, ventilation and layout; and d) the transformation of kitchens into socially and aesthetically engaging communal spaces. Conceptually, the study advances debates around buildings and wellbeing by framing retrofits as corrective affordances that bridge gaps between intended design and the everyday social practice of cooking and eating. It calls for stronger evidence-based apartment design guidance integrating functional, social and wellbeing dimensions.
POLICY RELEVANCE
This study provides evidence to inform standards for apartment design, housing policy and public health strategy by demonstrating how kitchen design directly shapes everyday food practices and wellbeing. The findings indicate that current apartment design standards provide limited kitchen-specific guidance, leaving residents to privately resolve design shortfalls. These include inadequate storage, limited bench space, insufficient lighting and ventilation and poorly located appliances, all of which can undermine home cooking and safety, particularly for families with children. Resident-led retrofits function as corrective responses to ‘affordance gaps’ between intended design and social practice. Embedding evidence-based kitchen design principles into regulatory frameworks could reduce costly post-occupancy modifications and support healthier food practices at scale.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[From strategy to delivery: a comparative analysis of MMC roadmaps]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.790</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.790</guid>
            <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Modern methods of construction (MMC) are promoted as a means of delivering infrastructure more quickly, affordably and sustainably. However, uptake remains uneven, constrained by a fragmented industry, misaligned incentives and limited institutional coordination. In response, governments have turned to roadmaps to diagnose barriers and coordinate action to support MMC transitions. While governments frequently position roadmaps as policy instruments capable of leading change, their role in translating strategy into action remains poorly understood. Using an assessment framework drawing on policy implementation literature, a comparative analysis is conducted involving four government-commissioned MMC roadmaps in the US, MY and the UK. The study examines how roadmaps characterise the challenges facing MMC uptake, how they translate these into operationalised solutions and whether proposed actions are subsequently realised. Substantial gaps are revealed in the translation of identified problems into specific solutions and realised outcomes. Roadmaps were most effective when the changes required to support MMC adoption were clearly defined, aligned with existing initiatives and developed by organisations with the authority and capacity to implement them. MMC roadmaps are most likely to influence implementation when conceived as organisation-specific coordination and delivery tools rather than broad, sector-wide strategies.
POLICY RELEVANCE
Evidence-based guidance is provided for policymakers and practitioners who seek to use roadmaps to advance the adoption of MMC. MMC roadmaps are most effective when they: focus on identifying barriers to MMC uptake rather than framing MMC as a solution to broader issues; translate strategic intent into specific actions; align proposals with existing initiatives; and assign responsibility to organisations with the authority and capacity to deliver proposed actions. More broadly, the study highlights the importance of embedding roadmaps within existing governance structures rather than treating them as standalone policy instruments. MMC roadmaps are therefore most likely to influence implementation when conceived as organisation-specific tools for coordinating and directing action, rather than as broad, sector-wide strategies.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Thermal comfort, ventilation and mosquito-borne disease risk in Zanzibar hospitals]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.657</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.657</guid>
            <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This pilot study investigated how thermal discomfort and indoor CO2 accumulation in four newly constructed district hospitals on Unguja island, Zanzibar, may elevate the risk of mosquito-borne disease (MBD) transmission, as heat-stressed occupants opening windows and doors inadvertently create entry points for mosquitoes attracted to the accumulation of indoor CO2. Over a 48-day period, air temperature, humidity, CO2 levels and door-opening frequency were measured across ward, clinical and waiting spaces. Thermal comfort was assessed using the Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied index and interviews. Most spaces failed to meet ASHRAE 55 thermal comfort recommendations, with ward areas performing worst. In wards, CO2 levels frequently exceeded 700 ppm. Increased door-opening was recorded in three wards during peak activity periods of Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes. Workshops with hospital users and specialists confirmed ventilation and heat as the primary drivers for windows and doors being left open. Air-conditioned spaces often had higher CO2 levels due to air recirculation. Simulations of simple window shading adaptations demonstrated a reduction in solar radiation. These findings have implications for the design and retrofitting of health care infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa to meet projected population growth.
PRACTICE RELEVANCE
Hospital building design in tropical climates may inadvertently increase the risk of MBD transmission when poor thermal comfort drives occupants to open windows and doors, thus facilitating mosquito ingress. This study identifies aspects of hospital building design, including solar exposure, cross-ventilation, landscaping and fan placement that contribute to poor thermal conditions and elevated CO2 levels. Simulations indicate that passive design measures such as façade shading can meaningfully reduce solar heat gain. This has informed subsequent co-created design adaptations across the same hospitals. Air-conditioned spaces elevated CO2 levels as a result of recirculation of air to reduce energy consumption, which may heighten rather than reduce MBD transmission risk. For policymakers and funders, early integration of passive cooling and ventilation standards into health care infrastructure requirements could offer a cost-effective pathway to improving patient comfort, reducing disease transmission and lowering long-term operational costs. This is particularly relevant across sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of additional hospital beds are planned.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Reusing precast concrete elements in construction: assessing the economic conditions]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.842</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.842</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[The reuse of building components such as precast concrete elements (PCEs) is a promising strategy for reducing construction emissions, but its economic feasibility remains a barrier to wider adoption. Although technical and value creation aspects have been studied, microeconomic conditions remain underexplored. This study identifies several economic factors and boundary conditions that influence firms and supply chains to reuse building components. An economic framework based on the supply chain is developed to compare demolition, reuse and virgin material pathways. The analysis draws on academic, industry and project documents (n = 54) interpreted through economic theories. The economic viability of reuse is context-dependent. It depends upon a sequence of interdependent economic decisions by several actors, as well as the alignment of system-level conditions and economic mechanisms across those decision points. Reuse is driven by trade-offs between avoided disposal and material costs and higher deconstruction, logistics, storage and coordination costs. Wider adoption requires sufficient supply of and demand for reusable elements, and cost management. Future research should focus on cost structures, regulation, technological change and supply-chain dynamics to support investment and policy decisions.
PRACTICE RELEVANCE
The reuse of PCEs can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from construction, but economic feasibility remains a key barrier to wider adoption. This study identifies economic boundary conditions under which reuse becomes feasible in practice. Results indicate that reuse involves trade-offs between a) avoided disposal and material costs and b) higher deconstruction, logistics, storage and coordination costs. Long-term profitability depends on market formation, capacity investments and learning effects. Evidence suggests feasibility already exists in specific cases. The findings can inform managers, investors and policymakers in assessing feasibility, risk and supply-chain alignment with a view to creating appropriate conditions and opportunities in policy and practice.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Institutional readiness for industrialised social housing in Vietnam]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.809</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.809</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Despite policy endorsement and pressure to accelerate delivery, why are industrialised building systems (IBS) concentrated at lower levels of prefabrication in Vietnam’s social housing sector? Drawing on semi-structured interviews (n = 21) with government and regulatory actors, developers, consultants, contractors and IBS suppliers, the study uses a Gioia-informed qualitative analysis and institutional theory as an organising lens. The findings show tier-differentiated readiness. Precast components are largely accommodated within existing standards and approval routines, whereas panelised and volumetric modular systems face uncertainty around technical codification, cost appraisal, factory-based quality assurance, design freeze, supply-chain coordination and market trust. The study therefore reframes IBS adoption from a catalogue of discrete barriers to a problem of institutional alignment across regulative, organisational-technological and cultural-cognitive dimensions. It develops a Vietnam-grounded institutional readiness model (IRM-VN) explaining why lower-tier industrialisation can be absorbed by existing governance systems while higher-tier modularisation requires deeper adjustment. The paper concludes that scaling IBS depends less on technical feasibility alone than on coordinated reform of approval, inspection, procurement, capability development and legitimacy-building mechanisms.
POLICY RELEVANCE
This study offers four practical insights for policymakers, housing authorities and industry practitioners:

Higher-tier IBS should not be promoted through targets alone: approval and inspection procedures must explicitly recognise factory-based production and modular evidence.
Cost appraisal and procurement systems should account for front-loaded design, manufacturing and logistics commitments rather than relying only on conventional site-based norms.
Aggregated pilot programmes, repeatable housing typologies and predictable project pipelines are needed to reduce investment risk and build production capability.
Public confidence depends on visible performance evidence, enforceable warranties, maintenance transparency and post-occupancy evaluation.

The central implication is that Vietnam is not uniformly ready or unready for IBS. Precast systems are comparatively well accommodated, while panelised and volumetric modular systems require stronger alignment across regulation, organisational capability and legitimacy. Policy interventions should therefore be tier-specific, sequenced and supported by measurable governance indicators.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Prefabrication for housing retrofit: governance, innovation and resident experience]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.793</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.793</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Prefabricated insulation elements offer a proven solution for deep renovation, yet implementation across Europe remains limited to individual pilots. This action research evaluates Estonia’s first nationwide retrofit industrialisation programme (2021–24), involving 19 owner-occupied apartment buildings (&gt;800 dwellings). The study focused on governance and resident engagement over technical aspects. Findings indicate that the national intermediary (the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency) moved beyond grant administration to facilitate demand aggregation, supply chain qualification and price-risk management. Although an integrated renovation design and construction project delivery improved fabricator involvement, anticipated economies of scale were hindered by demand uncertainty, as apartment associations had the right to withdraw after procurement. Installation time for cladding panels was two to six weeks per building; however, the total project duration was about 14 to 44 weeks. Delays occurred in preparatory and post tasks rather than the fabrication and installation of insulation elements. While resident feedback was positive, high administrative burdens and a lack of full consensus highlight the challenges related to decision-making in non-professional building associations. The governance of the procurement process, rather than prefabrication technology alone, constitutes one primary constraint on scaling retrofit within owner-occupied housing stocks.
PRACTICE RELEVANCE
For policymakers and implementation agencies, successful industrialised retrofit depends on renovation governance and proper technical solutions. Authorities should integrate rule-setting with grant distribution to ensure administrative alignment and shift towards multi-year, demand-certain portfolios to mitigate uncertainty, disincentivising industry investment. For practitioners, collaborative involvement in early design phases is essential, with pre-design survey accuracy critical to preventing on-site problems. Agencies and practitioners should focus on standardisation of technical as well as process-related aspects, such as procurement practices and contracting methods, supporting integrated renovation design and construction delivery. Reducing organisational obstacles through standardisation and streamlined decision-making is necessary for transitioning from isolated pilots to broad industrialised retrofits.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Reframing heat pump transitions: a care perspective]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.5334/bc.816</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">/article/10.5334/bc.816</guid>
            <pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[The decarbonisation of domestic heating is central to climate policy, with the heat pump positioned as a key technology for phasing out natural gas in Europe and the UK. While framed as an efficient and sustainable solution, heat pump adoption is met with challenges extending beyond technical and economic barriers, and adoption rates have fallen short of what is required to meet climate targets. By synthesising existing energy scholarship through a care-ethical lens, this article explores how the challenges of heat pump adoption can be better understood. Although interest in care is growing within energy research, it remains fragmented and undertheorised, lacking a consolidated framework or shared research agenda. This article furthers understandings of care in energy scholarship by demonstrating how dominant narratives of rational choice, efficiency and innovation obscure the affective, relational and material dimensions of care in sustainable heating, while identifying significant absences in the literature regarding neighbourhood practices, tenants, more-than-human actors and the intersectionally differentiated conditions under which the energy transition unfolds. However, this synthesis goes beyond theoretical contributions: by foregrounding care as both an analytical and practical orientation, it articulates ways towards more socially attuned and equitable low-carbon futures.
POLICY RELEVANCE
Although heat pumps play a central role in decarbonising domestic heating in Europe and the UK, their uptake remains slower than anticipated and required to meet climate targets. A care-centred framework explains this gap by moving beyond policy framings of adoption in terms of individual responsibility or motivation, financial incentives or appeals to techno-financial, implicitly masculine homeowner identities. Embedding care within policy design can help ensure that heat pump transitions are not only technically effective but socially equitable and responsive to the lived realities of diverse households. A care-centred perspective reveals that heat pump adoption and usage are fundamentally shaped by household care responsibilities, housing inequalities, emotional and sensory experiences and neighbourhood dynamics. Policy should therefore address the affectual, relational, infrastructural and socio-material dimensions of heating transitions, supporting collective arrangements, fair distribution of maintenance and care labour, and attention to diverse household vulnerabilities, routines and sensory experiences.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
        </item>
    </channel>
</rss>