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During the course of 2018, 70.8 million people globally were forcibly displaced due to natural disasters and conflicts&mdash, a staggering increase of 2.9 million people compared to the previous year&rsquo, s figure. Displaced people cluster in refugee camps which have very often the scale of a medium-sized city. Post-disaster and post-conflict (PDPC) sheltering therefore represents a vitally important element for both the short- and long-term wellbeing of the displaced. However, the constrained environment which dominates PDPC sheltering often results in a lack of consideration of sustainability dimensions. Neglecting sustainability has severe practical consequences on both people and the environment, and in the long run it also incurs higher costs. It is therefore imperative to quickly transfer to PDPC sheltering where sustainability considerations are a key element of the design and decision-making processes. To facilitate such transition, this article reviews both &lsquo, existing solutions&rsquo, and &lsquo, novel designs&rsquo, for PDPC sheltering against the three pillars of sustainability. Both clusters are systematically categorized, and pros and cons of solutions and designs are identified. This provides an overview of the attempts made so far in different contexts, and it highlights what worked and what did not. This article represents a stepping-stone for future work in this area, to both facilitate and accelerate the transition to sustainable sheltering.

Introduction: The international research project IEA EBC Annex 72 investigates the life cycle related environmental impacts caused by buildings. The project aims inter alia to harmonise LCA approaches on buildings. Methods: To identify major commonalities and discrepancies among national LCA approaches, reference buildings were defined to present and compare the national approaches. A residential high-rise building located in Tianjin, China, was selected as one of the reference buildings. The main construction elements are reinforced concrete shear walls, beams and floor slabs. The building has an energy reference area of 4566 m2 and an operational heating energy demand of 250 MJ/m2a. An expert team provided information on the quantities of building materials and elements required for the construction, established a BIM model and quantified the operational energy demand. Results: The greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts of the building were quantified using 17 country-specific national assessment methods and LCA databases. Comparisons of the results are shown on the level of building elements as well as the complete life cycle of the building. Conclusions: The results of these assessments show that the main differences lie in the LCA background data used, the scope of the assessment and the reference study period applied. Despite the variability in the greenhouse gas emissions determined with the 17 national methods, the individual results are relevant in the respective national context of the method, data, tool and benchmark used. It is important that environmental benchmarks correspond to the particular LCA approach and database of a country in which the benchmark is applied. Furthermore, the results imply to include building technologies as their contribution to the overall environmental impacts is not negligible. Grant support: The authors thank the IEA for its organizational support and the funding organizations in the participating countries for their financial support., IEA -International Energy Agency(undefined)

The IEA EBC Annex 72 focuses on the assessment of the primary energy demand, greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts of buildings during production, construction, use (including repair and replacement) and end of life (dismantling), i.e. during the entire life cycle of buildings. In one of its activities, reference buildings (size, materialisation, operational energy demand, etc.) were defined on which the existing national assessment methods are applied using national (if available) databases and (national/regional) approaches. The ?be2226? office building in Lustenau, Austria was selected as one of the reference buildings. TU Graz established a BIM model and quantified the amount of building elements as well as construction materials required and the operational energy demand. The building assessment was carried out using the same material and energy demand but applying the LCA approach used in the different countries represented by the participating Annex experts. The results of these assessments are compared in view of identifying major discrepancies. Preliminary findings show that the greenhouse gas emissions per kg of building material differ up to a factor of two and more. Major differences in the building assessments are observed in the transports to the construction site (imports) and the construction activities as well as in the greenhouse gas emissions of the operational energy demand (electricity). The experts document their practical difficulties and how they overcame them. The results of this activity are used to better target harmonisation efforts., IEA -International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement(Slovenia)