Cities substantially contribute to European air pollution as they are the source of about 36% of the total CO 2 emissions. Modern cities therefore raise sustainability concerns.

Imagine a city could halve its energy consumption, costs and greenhouse gas emissions. This would get closer to levels that would ensure sustainability of resources.

Those who live in low-energy buildings are not experts. But energy professionals have been aware of the importance of meeting their needs, right from conception stage.

Low-cost sensors and wireless communication technologies have enabled moves towards smart homes and smart cars. Using similar technologies, scientists involved in an EU-funded project called ALL-SMART-PIGS are now developing technologies that turn pigs’ farms into smart farms .

Internet Surveillance is often associated with names like Facebook, Google or the NSA, but now also pig farmers have started to use new tools to monitor every aspect of a pig’s life.

Poor air quality costs Europe more than €700 million per year, in health expenditures and loss of economic performance, according to official EU sources.

Tackling energy loss from buildings is one of the key objectives to reach greater sustainability, when it comes to energy consumption.

Buildings are responsible for 40% of Europe’s total primary energy consumption. Residential buildings represent about 80% of the total building stock.

The heating and cooling of buildings take a large share in the energy consumption in Europe . The average energy consumption in the non-residential sector, such as public and industrial buildings, is estimated to be at least 40% greater than in the residential sector.

Nowadays, people do not expect to die as a result of a common infection like bacterial pneumonia. However, many do. Indeed, some bacteria have become resistant to all available antibiotics, due to overuse .

Each year, the European Union produces three billion tonnes of waste. This equates to six tonnes of solid waste for every EU citizen, according to Eurostat. A major challenge is findings ways to reduce and reuse a large amount of such waste .

Renewable energy sources play an important role in securing future energy supply and mitigating climate change.

The construction of a building does not only start with its design by architects and engineers.

The overall building stock represents about 40% of the EU’s energy consumption. It also produces about 36% of its total CO2 emissions. Besides, new buildings only account for 1% to 1.

Ulrich Filippi Oberegger is a senior researcher in the energy management in buildings group of the Institute for Renewable Energy of EURAC Research . He tells youris.

The building sector has traditionally been fragmented. Many different actors are involved at different stages, from the design to the performance monitoring stage.

“Antibiotic resistance threatens a return to the pre-antibiotic era”. The World Health Organisation uses this strong expression when referring to a phenomenon that is rapidly spreading: the increasing resistance of microorganisms to antimicrobial medicines, such as antibiotics .

EnginSoft , is an Italian consultancy specialised in computer-aided-engineering. It has experience of contributing to the development of low energy buildings, under the EU-funded DIRECTION research project.

Achieving nearly zero energy consuming cities: this is the goal of three large scale district renovation projects. They are currently being tested in Valladolid, Spain, Genoa, Italy and Kartal - Istanbul, Turkey.

News of increased desertification has made headlines. Yet this process is not well understood.