Buildings are key in supporting human activities and wellbeing while being responsible for major energy and material demands and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The sustainable buildings theme addresses the challenge of integrating robust demand-side modelling within IAM for more comprehensive scenario assessment considering both demand- and supply-side transformations.

The global change scenarios developed using integrated assessment modelling (IAM) have for long time focused on energy supply-side transformations, mostly overlooking demand-side strategies that are critical for both mitigation and support of human wellbeing. Research efforts within ECE have focused on methodological development around detailed building sector modelling and its linkage with IAM modelling, resulting in the bottom-up building sector MESSAGEix-Buildings model. The sustainable buildings  theme supports research work around demand-side modelling for the building sector at multiple scales while fostering collaborations across IIASA’s research groups and within international research networks.

Research questions

This theme covers the multi-faced aspects of transformations in the buildings sectors addressing the complex linkages of mitigation and adaptation strategies with human wellbeing and sustainable development:

  • How can energy transformations in the buildings sector, including socio-behavioral, infrastructural, and technological interventions, realize their full GHG mitigation potential?
  • What is the scope for material transformations and circular economy strategies for reducing resources use in buildings, considering interactions with the land use and industry sectors?
  • How can behavioral and lifestyles change in buildings contribute to GHG mitigation while improving human wellbeing?
  • How do buildings and infrastructure developments, in integration with other sectors such as transportation and energy supply, determine the option space for mitigation and adaptation?
  • What are the energy and material consequences of supporting decent living standards for all, especially decent housing, shelter, and indoor thermal comfort, and how can this be realized?

Methods

The approaches build on the open-source MESSAGEix-Buildings modelling framework established in ECE and linkages with energy and material supply-side models, lifestyle and behavioral changes models, and empirical analyses. This theme seeks to strengthen and expand model functionalities and linkages with other models – external or within IIASA - to support systemic investigation of buildings sector transformations with open-source data and tools, facilitating cross-domain collaborations.

Research Projects

EDITS © IIASA

EDITS: The Energy Demand changes Induced by Technological and Social innovations (EDITS) network brings together experts of various disciplines to regularly discuss about and engage in the multi-faceted energy demand research. The EDITS community works together based on common interest in interlinked topics, on transferring methodological knowledge, and on exploring modeling innovations across demand-side models. 

CircEUlar © CircEUlar

CircEUlar will develop new modelling approaches for analysing circularity from a systems perspective accounting for (i) dematerialisation and the transition to a service-based economy to limit material stock growth, (ii) lifetime extension of material stocks through repair, maintenance, reuse, and (iii) waste treatment and material recycling. CircEUlar will also focus on digitalisation as a potential enabler of dematerialisation and supply chain circularity. 

PRISMA © PRISMA

PRISMA aims to improve existing large-scale IAMs and sectorial models in four key areas, namely the representation of distributional justice and efficiency, innovation and finance, climate impacts and land-use implications, and lifestyle change and circularity. The project will improve the temporal and spatial resolution of the analysis, and the representation of disruptive and structural change in the economy, with a focus on Europe, and look at the yearly and in particular near term detailed modeling of rapid decarbonization pathways.

SPARCCLE logo © SPARCCLE

SPARCCLE will establish new methodological frameworks to link knowledge across disciplines from research communities working on climate impacts and risk in Europe. Bottom-up assessments of multidimensional climate vulnerabilities, risks, damages and adaptation will be combined with top-down integrated assessment frameworks (IAFs) and leading multi-sectoral macro-economic models.

Navigate © Navigate

NAVIGATE aims to develop the Next generation of AdVanced InteGrated Assessment modelling to support climaTE policy making. By tackling existing weaknesses and lack of capabilities of the current generation of IAMs, NAVIGATE will provide new insight into how long-term climate goals can translate into short-term policy action, and how countries and sectors can work in concert to implement the Paris Agreement. 

Shape © Shape

SHAPE aims to contribute an in-depth analysis of sustainable development pathways (SDPs) that achieve the SDGs in 2030 and maintain sustainable development to reach the Paris climate goals until 2100. In the SHAPE project, IIASA leads the work on climate change and inequality, working on improving the global representation of shelter and thermal comfort and perform a global analysis energy needs required for reaching Decent Living Standards. 

ALPS: This project aims at providing alternative plausible future scenarios and through quantification of multiple aspects of society on the assumptions that the real-world society is intrinsically consist of a wide range of values. This approach allows to inform decision makers of more appropriate strategies toward sustainable development and climate stabilization from longer and wider perspectives. Another focus is to gain a clearer understanding of CO2 emissions structure on a national, sectoral and technological basis in order to deal with short and mid-term climate challenges. The scenarios on combinations of macro and micro views would generate further insights into climate change mitigation and sustainable development.

Analysis of Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals of EU Buildings and Construction: This study, led by Ramboll, together with BPIE, KU Leuven, TU Graz, Aalborg University, Politecnico di Milano, and IIASA, and funded by the European Commission, will enable a clearer understanding of the effects and feasibility of applying life-cycle emissions reduction and carbon removal strategies at the EU and national level. 

Recent publications