Background
The built and natural environment and health are inextricably linked. However, there is considerable debate surrounding the strength and quality of the evidence base underpinning principles of good practice for built and natural environment design in promoting health. This umbrella review aimed to assess relationships between the built and natural environment and health, concentrating on five topic areas: neighbourhood design, housing, food environment, natural and sustainable environment, and transport.

The building energy efficiency labeling (BEEL) scheme has been adopted in China since 2008. However, until now, its effect on the actual building energy efficiency has not been accurately established. The objective of this study was to investigate this effect through a case study in Shanghai, China. Additionally, by performing a thorough review, potential barriers for implementing the BEEL scheme in major areas of China were analyzed.

People spend most of their time inside buildings, and buildings are responsible for approximately one third of total direct and indirect energy-related worldwide carbon emissions. Likewise, buildings in the U.S. account for about 40% of total U.S. energy consumption. Future building development will be driven not only by emerging challenges such as vulnerability to a changing climate and resource scarcity, but also by disruptive innovations and societal changes.

Due to global climate change, carbon reduction has become a critical issue for the construction industry. Low carbon building has been adopted as a strategic objective, and its implementation demonstrates the enormous potential of reducing carbon emissions. Despite much research, some important research areas or gaps have not been identified, while simultaneously, few studies describe the knowledge roadmap for low carbon building research necessary to guide scholars and practitioners.

This paper provides an overview of the Malaysian Energy Efficiency regulatory framework as well as current financing and incentive mechanisms available to the building sector. The review has found that some of the existing financing schemes have been successful while others could leverage on other existing schemes to improve its effectiveness. The review will explore the strengths and gaps of the available schemes and will propose some ways to increase the uptake up rate of the schemes.

The built environment accounts for approximately forty percent of the total energy consumption in developed countries. Because buildings have a long life, the greatest opportunity for energy reduction in the built environment will come from energy conservation in the existing building stock. An overview of the policy challenges presented by the built environment, with an emphasis on existing facilities, is accompanied by a discussion of specific technologies that may have the potential to reduce energy use.

This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of what drives the adoption of green building (GB) practices among construction stakeholders. The review is based on literature that have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Through a systematic review of the literature, authors are able to identify generic drivers for stakeholders to pursue GB. A total of 64 drivers were identified from reviewing 42 selected empirical studies. The paper presents a classification framework for the GB drivers.

The reliability, security, and sustainability of energy generation and supply are of global importance and the building sector accounts for up to 32% of total energy consumption, which makes it a key player in the domain. Previous research has identified that the actual energy consumption in buildings could be as much as 2.5 times of the predicted or simulated.