This year’s EU Green Week is clear in its focus: “green jobs for a greener future.” It’s highlighting how environmental policies are helping to create new work opportunities and a demand for new types of competences.

Buildings account for 36% of CO 2 emissions in Europe, and energy consumption in this sector has increased in recent decades.

It is one of the oldest port cities in history. Located on a large bay along the Aegean Sea, Izmir has enjoyed being a gateway to the world, thanks to its favourable position, at the crossroads of western and eastern civilizations.

Turkey’s energy production for urban areas could be 100% based on renewables within 30 years if appropriate public policy is implemented.

Cooling and heating public buildings remains an expensive and a mostly unresolved issue in Europe. According to the not-for-profit think-tank Buildings Performance Institute Europe , Spain has about 11.

From thatched roofing in cold regions to reflective walls in hotter climates, for centuries buildings have been constructed with materials that maximize comfort within a given environment.

Making a city or district energy smart is, first and foremost, an exercise in good planning . However, such green planning tools are still in their infancy. The trouble is that every city is different, every district unique.

Cities have started to join forces to become more energy efficient . This trends stems from the findings of the first climate assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in 1990, which was quite alarming.

One of the  biggest challenges of retrofitting projects  is to make them attractive to residents. Now, one of them, the EU-funded project R2CITIES,  is analysing the initial first feedback received from residents  of the  Cuatro de Marzo  district.

There is nothing like the real world to reveal a project’s true worth. This is why a project called BRICKER will test its mettle out by retrofitting public buildings situated in three different countries in three different climatic zones .

Transforming districts into near-zero energy consumption urban areas could be a reality in the next few decades.

The quest towards low energy consumption in city districts requires many changes not only at building level, but also at district level.

Energy consumption in the non-residential sector, such as public and industrial buildings, is typically about 40% higher than in the residential sector.

CARTIF III is a new building that forms part of an applied research institute, called the CARTIF Technology Centre, based in Valladolid, Spain. This building is singular.

Three public non-residential buildings will be revamped during the next four years in three countries with different climates; namely in Turkey, Belgium and Spain.

The city has a climate that is good for agriculture : one fifth of Turkey's fruit and vegetable exports and more than 30% of its greenhouse areas come from just this one region.

In the city, the famous Cabanyal district which had been home to a local fishing community for a long time, has recently been transformed into a testing ground for numerous energy efficiency techniques.

The Turkish city of Antalya, on the country’s southwest coast, is perhaps best known internationally as a holiday destination. But as one of Turkey’s largest cities, Antalya is home to around 2.

Today´s liberalised markets are focused on short-term return on capital, but energy infrastructure planning should be driven by the objective of climate protection.

Door locks that open with fingerprints, networked security cameras, smart light bulbs, smart washing machines: technology is transforming our homes, turning the tech dreams of yesterday into the reality of today.