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In an attempt to enhance knowledge on the energy poverty phenomenon in mountainous areas, a primary social survey was conducted in a typical mountainous town of Greece, Metsovo in the Region of Epirus. The survey recorded quantitative data of energy expenses and incomes of households and it also captured qualitative indicators related to energy poverty. The findings showed that nine out of ten households in Metsovo are exposed to energy poverty, based on the objective 10% index. The subjective indicators revealed other interesting aspects of the problem. Over one-third of the local population live in houses that are inadequately heated and/or present damp problems. Almost two-thirds of the local population have been forced to restrict other basic needs, in order to respond to high energy costs. Studying the relationships between variables of the survey also revealed some notable issues. Households inadequately heated present statistical significant correlation with the heating system used. The inadequately heated houses are also correlated with houses that presented damp-mould problems, as well as households that report arrears in energy bills. Moreover, reduction in hours of heating system operation is correlated with health problems. Current energy policy in Greece does not include specific strategies for mountainous areas, apart from some differentiations in heating oil subsidies. The great extent of energy poverty in mountainous Greece, highlighted by the present representative (with respect to mountainous Greece) study, may have irreversible social impacts. Hence, a need for specific and effective action is necessary, whose main axes should be an extensive upgrade of buildings’ energy efficiency in mountainous settlements and special fuel tariffs for mountainous areas.

Energy poverty is a widespread problem across Europe with serious socioeconomic, environmental, political and health implications. The primary contributing factors are related to low-income...

Beyond the definition and measurement of energy poverty, which have mainly attracted research interest over the last decades, attention has recently begun to turn to a broader notion of energy vulnerability. So far, this has mostly been approached on a theoretical base, suggesting the incorporation of broader socio-economic aspects into the energy poverty framework. However, the quantitative measurement of energy vulnerability is still an unexplored field of research. In this paper, the “Vulnerability Index” is developed, which, based on stochastic analysis, quantifies the vulnerability of a population to the energy poverty ratio, compared to a reference population. Moreover, Sensitivity Analysis quantifies the particular contribution of various parameters to the problem, by determining their weighting factors. As case study, the vulnerability of Greek mountainous regions with respect to the country level was studied. The results showed that households living in mountainous regions are more vulnerable versus those of the whole country, at 89.7%. It was also found that energy policy should focus on raising incomes of mountainous population and, afterwards, on energy saving measures and reduction of heating cost in mountains. The methodology suggested can address social inequalities of vulnerable population groups, in terms of energy poverty.

The European Union, in an effort to boost the use of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in power generation, applies supportive tools consisting in financial motivation either as grants or as subsidies. According to welfare economics, a subsidy should reflect the external benefits; otherwise a distortion of competition takes place. The most widespread method to calculate externalities is the avoided cost approach, despite the fact that it encounters equally all the RES units leading to technological neutrality. In the present article, the avoided cost approach with the objective social justification of RES subsidies/feed in tariffs (FITs) in the case of Greece, for the year 2014, is applied. The results show a high gap between the current FITs and the suggested ones amounting to approximately 40%. This uncomfortable outcome indicates that, at least in the case of Greece, either the level of the current guaranteed tariffs is not socially justified, or the CO2 value derived from the European carbon market does not reflect the real social cost, or that the avoided cost method, alone, is not adequate to explain the level of subsidies. In light of the foregoing, the need for the development of a concrete and integrated methodology for calculating all RES externalities emerges.

The experience of operating an energy-related Living Lab (LL) in mountainous Greece is presented in this paper in an attempt to explore the dynamics of such initiatives to address energy vulnerability. The LL is situated in Metsovo, which is a typical mountainous town of Greece with increased vulnerability issues identified in previous studies. Since Greek mountainous societies have proved to be particularly exposed to energy poverty, the LL aimed to function as an exemplary case on how to tackle energy poverty issues in mountainous regions, mainly through reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency. The methodological context was based on a holistic LL approach consisting of various activities, such as conduction of energy cafés, questionnaire surveys, home visits from Energy Advisors, installation of monitoring equipment, ICT tools and processing, etc. In particular, the LL consisted of three independent rounds, each of which involved 50 households, with 30 of them being equipped with monitoring tools. Energy advisors repeatedly visited households to collect information (on heating expenses, behavioral aspects, etc.) and offer household-specific advice on potential energy savings measures. Overall, the LL operation proved to have benefited most participants (76%), especially households with monitoring equipment, as 85.5% of the last ones already applied energy-efficiency measures and 80% made further plans for future investments. Through the particular LL example, apart from the benefits delivered to the local society, useful information can be provided to policy-makers toward addressing more effectively energy vulnerability in mountainous societies.

Rehabilitation of quarry sites near urban areas is a basic need and, also, a direction that has been followed for the last years in Greece, mainly from public authorities. A case study is presented in this paper, concerning the evaluation of alternative rehabilitation plans of a quarry site, on Salamina island, near Athens. The exploitation of the quarry, covering a total area of 20 Ha, was designed on the basis of cost minimisation. This has led to severe environmental impacts on the surrounding area, because of the lack of restoration planning, before or during exploitation. Four alternatives for the rehabilitation of the site were examined: Complete Natural Restoration with Establishment of Restored Landscape, Partial Natural Restoration Combined with Recreation Uses, Partial Natural Restoration Combined with the Construction of a Marine Facility and Partial Natural Restoration Combined with the Construction of a Ship Winter Storage Facility. The main criteria for the evaluation of the above alternatives were applicability, minimisation of environmental impacts and optimisation of public benefit.

In many European countries, energy poverty is measured on the basis of real energy bills, as theoretical energy costs are hard to calculate. The UK is an exception&mdash, the data inputs for the Low Income-High Cost (LIHC) indicator are based on reasonable energy costs, these data are collected through specially designed surveys, often an intensive and costly procedure. Approaches which calculate energy needs are valid when energy bill data are unreliable or where households restrict consumption. In this analysis, energy poverty levels are evaluated for Greece, the municipality of &Eacute, vora (Portugal), and the Basque Country (Spain): energy bills are modeled based on building energy performance data and other energy uses, and adjusted according to socio-demographic variables. To this end, equivalization weights are calculated using socio-economic data from the aforementioned southern European countries/regions. Data are analyzed to compare measurements with actual versus modeled bills using the Ten-Percent Rule (TPR) and Hidden Energy Poverty (HEP) against twice the median (2M) indicator, enhancing the identification of households with low energy consumption. In conclusion, theoretical energy needs can be combined with socio-demographic data instead of actual energy bills to measure energy poverty in a simplified way, avoiding the problem of targeting households that under consume.

Mountainous areas have been long recognized as particularly important for the planet and sustainable mountain development is a global priority. In order to improve the socioeconomic development perspectives of mountain societies, efficient and well-targeted energy strategies should be formed. An important step towards this direction is adequate understanding of local conditions and specific features that affect energy sector. This procedure allows the inclusion of “locality” in energy planning and so, decentralized energy production is facilitated. The present study attempts to determine the particular energy identity of mountainous areas. Greece, which is the second most mountainous country in the EU, has been selected as a case study. Essential features of the mountainous space have been selected, namely altitude, inclination, remoteness, lack of productive activities, old buildings/ vernacular architecture, in order to explore their interrelation with the energy sector. Based on literature review and research findings the interaction between mountainous character and energy is outlined. Therefore, a framework of the characteristics of mountain energy identity is composed, which can provide support to the formation of specialized energy policy for mountainous areas. Some of the main findings of the present study include the significantly increased energy loads of mountainous areas, the abundance of renewable energy potential in high–altitude areas, the vulnerability of mountain societies to energy poverty and the difficulties in sitting energy projects in the restricted usable space of mountains. Since the literature regarding mountains and energy is rather poor the present paper aspires to be a step towards highlighting the importance of energy issues for mountain areas and societies. By determining the features of mountain energy identity energy planning in high–altitude areas and so, helping make energy planning more effective, such research works can be parts of sustainable development strategies for mountainous areas.

Accessibility suggests a major issue in rural areas. Remoteness or inaccessibility is known to amplify rural deprivation and suspend sustainable regional development. Many rural areas in Greece suffer from remoteness mainly because of a varying and continuously alternating terrain. A diverse space is shaped by more than 70% mountain areas, hundreds of inhabited islands in an insular area almost the size of the mainland and intense variation in population distribution between the large urban agglomerations and the periphery. In this paper, a geographical remoteness index for Greece is presented that can capture the required scale of analysis and the distinct characteristics of Greek space. The index is localized and evaluated using empirical and theoretical methods and several demographic and network geostatistics. Finally, we examine the relationship of the index and critical socioeconomic variables in order to associate accessibility with spatial inequalities. Spatial regression models are used that uncover the impact of remoteness in certain key development aspects, namely economy, human capital and infrastructures. Potentially, accessibility may be used as an evaluation tool to redirect policies for spatial equity.

So far, the lack of a common, effective way of measuring energy poverty has been detected as a major weakness in handling the energy poverty problem. One of the main causes has been the complexity of modeling the “required energy consumption” of households, as demanded by the official 10% indicator, and its replacement in calculations by the “actual energy consumption”, which, as is well known, underestimates the real needs of households. This weakness is addressed in this paper, through the development of the “Stochastic Model of Energy Poverty” (SMEP). The development of the model includes, firstly, the modeling of energy consumption at household level and, subsequently, the transition from household level to country level through stochastic analysis (Monte-Carlo simulation). Through Sensitivity Analysis, the impact of various parameters on energy poverty is quantified for the first time, by determining their weighting factors. Applied to the case of Greece, it is found that energy poverty reaches 70.4%, with income being the decisive factor affecting energy poverty at 63%, while other variables (Htot, etc.) follow at significantly lower percentages. The findings can be used in order to assess in advance the effectiveness of energy poverty measures, making the model a valuable policy tool.

The Landfill Mining (LFM) concept refers to the process of excavating, and sorting solid waste from operating or closed landfills in order to recycle or produce energy from recovered materials, conserve landfill space, and rehabilitate/redevelop contaminated land. Although LFM offers a wide range of environmental and social benefits, LFM projects need to be, at the same time, economically feasible. The latter is heavily influenced from the composition of the waste excavated from the landfill, the quality of recovered materials and the recycling market conditions. This paper aims specifically at exploring the role of e-waste in the profitability of LFM projects and filling this gap in the literature. For the purposes of the analysis, a “typical” Greek landfill site is examined forming different alternatives with respect to the objectives of e-waste recovery and processing and, consequently, the cost and benefits of the LFM operations, based on the findings of the first pilot project of LFM carried out in Greece, at Polygyros landfill. The results of the study show that the presence of e-waste improves the profitability indices. However, it seems that the adoption of more complex recycling and recovery processes leads to no gain in the financial results.These findings are supported by the uncertainty analysis conducted, which reveals that the price and concentration of plastics are the most significant factors, followed by the non-ferrous metal price and concentration. The conclusions of the study should be seen with caution, however. As the international experience shows, the financial success of LFM projects is site-specific and is not assured in all cases. Therefore, it should be clear that further research efforts in the field are warranted to definitely answer the question. Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/mijst.2017.32.122144 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

The paper studied the energy poverty in the mountainous areas of Greece through parallel primary surveys, in comparison with the country-level conditions. The surveys are based on objective financial and expenditure data as well as on subjective views about housing conditions. The objective approach showed that mountainous areas of Greece are burdened with much higher energy expenditure while also having lower annual incomes. Under these circumstances, the energy poverty rate skyrocketed to 73.5%. The subjective indicators reveal significant aspects of the problem, such as the intense problem of damp walls and mold growth at home or the restriction of other basic needs in order to cover heating needs. However, despite the proven high vulnerability of Greek mountainous areas, current energy policy actually ignores the special features of mountainous areas, implementing horizontal policies. Therefore, a specialized energy plan targeted to alleviating energy poverty in mountainous areas in Greece is an urgent imperative.

The region of Mani, in Peloponnese, Greece, is a popular tourism destination known for its history and the beauty of its austere, stone-made built environment. In order to examine tourists’ preferences and attitudes towards the local architectural heritage a Contingent Valuation survey was conducted. Practically all respondents believe that the local architecture should be preserved and they vote for a development plan aiming at protecting and promoting local architecture. Furthermore, almost half of the visitors would be willing to voluntary contribute, on average, a lump sum amount of about €75 to maintain the traditional character of Mani. The findings of the survey outline that the traditional architecture is valuable not only in aesthetic, scientific, symbolic, historic or cultural but also in economic terms. The latter could be used in cost-benefit analysis of historic sites by policy and decision makers, and development practitioners wishing to protect the traditional built environment.

Urbanization is an established trend worldwide. It generates negative consequences in urban areas threatening their sustainability and future. In this context, cities are utilizing their underground space at an accelerating rate. However, usually underground alternatives are only considered as a last resort. At the same time, the underground space is considered to have zero value and is not included in city planning. In order to resolve this situation the estimation of the underground space is necessitated. The present paper attempts to contribute to this issue by proposing an integrated methodology that estimates not only the market price but also the environmental benefits in monetary terms. The proposed methodology combines elements from the real-estate appraisal methodology and environmental economics in order to provide an estimate of the value of the underground space. The methodology was implemented to estimate the value of the underground space in the case of underground storage facilities in Athens, Greece. The results indicate that underground space has significant value and one third of its value is attributed to the monetized environmental benefits of the underground space. In general, the methodology is versatile and can be adapted to meet various needs and land-uses. Furthermore, it can be an effective tool in the hands of city planners, city authorities and other stakeholders leading to integrated city planning without neglecting the underground space and improved long-term management of the underground space.

Accessibility is not a static feature because it is affected by a large number of factors, such as changes in transport infrastructure, the spatial distribution of human activities, and their interdependence. In this study, we examine the role of location quotient-based travel costs as the travel impedance function in accessibility measurement to better capture accessibility changes over time. The travel impedance function is one of the most widely studied aspects of accessibility. In most studies, travel impedance is determined by a negative exponential function in the travel cost assessment of the accessibility measure as a means to incorporate the distance decay effect. Here, we apply an accessibility index that uses location quotient-based travel costs and an accessibility measure with simple travel costs in order to test the proposed theory. The results of the two methods vary considerably. The location quotient method is discussed in detail, including its potential advantages for measuring accessibility changes. We argue that the location quotient-based travel cost is an appropriate method for determining the travel impedance function in accessibility measurements, especially for analyzing accessibility changes.

Soil contamination by mine wastes is an enormous challenge for both mining companies and competent authorities. Mine wastes are usually considered a major source of impacts on human health and the environment. Thus, the prevailing strategy is to reduce or completely remove the contaminants of concern through appropriate in situ or ex situ remediation techniques. Nonetheless, today’s mine waste may become tomorrow’s ore. In order to keep this option open, however, several things need to change in the concept and practice of mine waste management. This paper presents a case study from Greece, where mine waste (mainly metallurgical slags) have been disposed of, posing excess risks to human health and the environment. Complete restoration of the site would not only be cost-prohibitive but would also eliminate any possibility of future exploitation of contained resources. Considering both the protection of human health and the environment and the storage of waste for future use, a risk assessment and management approach was adopted that allowed the selection of cost-effective measures in order to: eliminate health hazards, re-use the site for recreational purposes, and secure the opportunity for resource recovery in the future.

The quantification of the increase of energy needs with altitude is undertaken in this paper, in an attempt to highlight the greater vulnerability of mountainous areas to energy poverty. Three different cases have been studied, namely, Austria, Switzerland and north Italy, by applying the method of degree days. The results show that in mountainous areas of little but not insignificant latitudinal variation, such as a country level or a large region within a country which is the usual scale in terms of energy policy, heating and cooling degree days can be predicted based only on altitude, with over 90% accuracy. For this reason, mathematical models – as simple functions of altitude – are suggested, estimating heating and cooling energy demand in a simple and reliable way. As an example, a typical residence at 1200 m in Switzerland has 2 times higher thermal energy needs and a longer heating period by 5 months, compared to the altitude of 200 m. Therefore, mountainous societies are more exposed to energy poverty compared to lowlands and energy policy measures (e.g. subsidies, taxes of fuel prices) should be adapted to their special needs.

A comprehensive research in the field of energy poverty is undertaken in this paper, in an attempt to highlight the great vulnerability of Greek households on energy poverty, in the middle of a severe economic crisis. Till now, Greek energy policy has been considered insufficient to tackle energy poverty issues, as focusing mainly on short-term rather than permanent solutions. A primary survey has been conducted, recording objective data of energy expenses as well as subjective perceptions about housing conditions. The findings showed that, under the objective expenditure-based method, 58% of Greek households are energy poor. Among households under the poverty threshold, the energy poverty rate exceeds 90%. Existing and new subjective indicators shed light on other aspects of energy poverty, such as the level of thermal comfort at home, damp problems detected, restriction of other essential needs in order to manage energy payments, etc. Some interesting conclusions are also drawn by exploring the relationship between various indicators. It appears that households considered energy poor are not identical when examined by objective and subjective indicators. However, different indicators complement each other by capturing different aspects of the problem and provide a broader overview of the issue.

The systematic recording of underground structures, their location, use as well as other characteristics is something that is still missing from the global engineering community. The paper presents the development of the Underground Atlas Project which aims at gathering and indexing the major underground sites worldwide, becoming the focal point of information regarding subsurface structures. The main features of the project are found in the development of the electronic database to store and depict the spatial information of the site, as well as in the crowdsourcing concept that was selected for the data and information submission. To foster the submission process, a new taxonomy and categorization of underground space uses has been proposed, while a respective web service and mobile app was developed by the design team. The users can either browse through the records stored or, more importantly, can submit new content either by using their browser or by taking advantage of the geolocation capabilities of their mobile device. Finally, the Atlas will provide the opportunity for the meta-analysis of the data by using and benefiting from the accumulated knowledge and collective experience of the engineering community.

The necessity for modern cities to develop efficient infrastructure continues to bring forth the options for a systematic utilization of the subsurface space. Nevertheless, the economics of underground space utilization are a key parameter for the adoption of such kind of functions and infrastructure over traditional surface solutions. The paper attempts to enlighten the current trends of the modern underground industry and, furthermore, reviews the construction cost levels for various infrastructure types. Finally, since an important part of the economic benefits of underground structures are latent and are associated with social and environmental externalities, the paper analyzes the principles of environmental economics and presents case examples where such benefits are expressed in monetary terms.

Mountainous areas have particular characteristics, whose influence on energy planning is explored in this paper, through a suitably tailored methodology applied to the case of Greece. The core element of the methodology is a linear optimization model with a “total cost” objective function, which includes financial, as well as external costs and benefits. Altitude proves to have decisive influence on energy optimization results, because it affects energy demand. The improvement of local energy systems provides greater socioeconomic benefits in mountainous settlements, due to the high shares of renewables and energy efficiency interventions in the optimal solutions. Energy poverty can be alleviated by redesigning local energy systems and the structure of the energy market. However, spatial and aesthetic restrictions, presented often in mountainous settlements, may affect the operational costs of energy systems, which is a crucial parameter for confronting energy poverty. Furthermore, the study indicates that it could be better to electrify remote areas, far from electricity grids, by decentralized systems than by grid expansion. The results of this study and the assumptions made about the way in which energy market should function, could be utilized for reconsidering energy policy measures, aiming at supporting sensitive societies to improve their development perspectives.

Architectural heritage comprises one of the most important elements of mountain settlements in Greece. It holds high cultural value, represents the tangible continuation of the past and forms the unique character and identity of each mountain region. Yet, controversy regarding funding for its preservation often arises. In this paper, we used two Contingent Valuation surveys to estimate the social benefit deriving from protecting the traditional architecture in the mountainous village of Sirako and, through it, to examine perceptions and attitudes of local residents and visitors. Research findings revealed a strong social will in favor of the good’s protection followed by high percentages of positive willingness to pay (WTP). However, WTP is significantly higher among residents. Cultural heritage value, of the good, appears to prevail, along with the environmental one. However, both residents and visitors pointed out that local heritage, if well-preserved, will boost tourism development. Residents appeared to better recognize the true level of architectural decay, expressed higher apprehension for its protection and were willing to pay higher amount of money. Tourists, on the other side, expressed high satisfaction for their visit, appreciated the beauty and serenity emerging from local built and natural environment and spent several days visiting the surrounding area. The longer they stayed and got familiar with the village, the more willing they were to contribute to local heritage’s protection. Percentages reflecting indifference for protecting architecture were extremely low. Yet, they were higher among tourists. Traditional architecture is considered as public good; an opinion resulting in an important percentage of visitors stating that national government should provide the necessary funding. In addition, the architecture appears to hold a high level of topicality. Those descending from Sirako or emotionally connected to it, of both social groups, turned out to be more concerned about the good and with a stronger sense of responsibility for it. Use-value of the good holds high economic value, as well, while higher percentages of zero WTP appeared among non-users. Research findings revealed social attitudes and perceptions on what constitutes architectural heritage, in its cultural and economic frame. If taken under consideration, they may form useful drivers for local, heritage-based, sustainable development.

To socially justify the need for better municipal solid waste management services, especially in the light of the limited availability of public funds, it is important to quantify the monetary value of the potential social and environmental benefits offered by them. This article aims at estimating society’s willingness to pay improved municipal solid waste management and establishing suitable reference values using the ‘benefit transfer’ method. To this direction, relevant studies from the global scientific and grey literature in the field of municipal solid waste management valuation are analysed and two different transfer approaches are implemented. According to the analysis, the mean annual willingness to pay per household is 88.4 USD2014(5%-trimmed mean: 78.7 USD2014; 95% confidence interval lower bound: 64.8 USD2014and upper bound: 112.0 USD2014). The analysis yields estimates with a high standard deviation and notably broad confidence intervals, owing to design issues of the primary studies, the different socioeconomic profiles of the populations surveyed and the existing level of municipal solid waste management services. Thus, a meta-regression model is estimated to explore the sources of heterogeneity and facilitate more accurate transfer values. Nevertheless, the limited number of observations and some methodological issues in the design and conduct of the original surveys set certain challenges and increase the level of uncertainty of the transfer values.

The 21st century will probably be the century of urban areas and especially megacities. Megacities are continuously growing in size and numbers, they are major economic and political hubs and every event or decision that affects these areas has significant repercussions for the rest of the planet. These large agglomerations have soaring problems that challenge their sustainability goals and their future in general. The development of the urban underground space can offer efficient, long-term and environmental friendly solutions to these problems and keep megacities in the sustainability path. The present paper describes the sustainability problems of modern cities and attempts to outline the new challenges in future underground utilization. The paper also focuses on the people who work in the underground space and analyzes the social and psychological results. Finally, since, contrary to common belief, the most visited places in the world are underground, several issues regarding design, aesthetics and human friendly underground spaces are discussed along with the pioneer role of ACUUS in underground development.

The inadequate coverage of energy needs in the residential sector, known as energy poverty, is a primary socio-economic problem, worldwide. Especially in Greece, under the pressure of the recent economic crisis, households face serious difficulties in meeting sufficiently their energy needs. We will show that one long-term way to minimize energy consumption, and therefore, tackle energy poverty, is the turn to underground constructions. Although underground built space can offer important benefits in terms of energy demand and consumption, underground residences have been largely regarded as unusual, far from the common residence type. However, in Greece and especially in Greek islands, underground residences have been often used in order to deal with extreme heat, during summer. Moreover, since 2012, underground constructions have been introduced as a special residence type by the Greek building regulation, thus facilitating the expansion of such practice. In this paper, the benefits of an underground residence in terms of energy poverty are being examined. More specifically, energy consumption required to achieve desired energy standards is calculated both for an earth-sheltered and an aboveground residence of similar characteristics in Greece. In this way, an indicative energy poverty ratio is calculated for the two residence types. The different climatic conditions throughout the country have been taken into consideration, by examining different Climatic zones. The findings show lower energy poverty ratios in the case of the underground residence at all climatic zones. In other words, a household living in an underground dwelling can more easily meet its energy needs compared to another one living in an aboveground dwelling. Hence, the analysis shows that modern architecture design should more systematically turn to underground constructions, incorporating the advantages of bioclimatic performance and energy savings.

It has been almost two years since the launch of the Underground Atlas Project (UAP) and since a crowdsourcing database is, by its nature, a fairly dynamic one, the experience gained and feedback that was received provide guidance towards the next steps. The paper analyzes the positive impact of the UAP, addresses issues that appeared during the testing period of the UAP and outlines the improvements and additions implemented based on the responses. Decisions regarding the implemented actions were based on web traffic statistics analysis, literature review and empirical data. The outcome of the analysis led to a major redesign of the UAP that now offers more functionality and interactivity both to the academics and the public. The new features can be divided into four major categories, freeing restrictions from the public contribution, enhancing the interface visually and interactively, improve App functionality and data dissemination. The new features have been implemented using the latest technologies regarding web and mobile applications.

Energy poverty has been studied through different indices over time, focusing largely, among others, on the high energy cost of households. This paper sheds light on a rather neglected but crucial aspect of energy poverty, largely invisible in many of the existing indices: the aspect of compression of energy needs, i.e. the situation in which a household spends a small amount of money on energy, due to its inability to afford energy cost. With the development of a new index, the “Degree of Coverage of Energy Needs” (DCEN), which is expressed as the ratio of “Actual/Required energy cost” of a household, three important behavioral patterns are quantified: “compression of energy needs”, “satisfaction of energy needs” and “energy wastage”. The index was applied to two case studies: the country of Greece and the mountainous areas of Greece, a vulnerable population group with special characteristics. The outcomes were interesting: 45–51.5% of the two samples compress their energy needs, while 34.5–38% of them waste energy. Only a small proportion (14–17%) manages to adequately meet energy needs. The DCEN index introduces a different view of energy poverty, highlighting vital aspects of the problem that should be definitely taken into account by policy makers.

The raw material extraction has increased rapidly since the last century. At the same time, each year billion tonnes of waste containing useful materials (e.g., glass, plastics, and metals) are disposed of in uncontrolled and controlled landfills. One option to tackle this problem is to follow the landfill mining (LFM) approach, which could be the chance not only to transform landfills into the new “mines,” but also to enhance the image of mining sector in the society. Provided, however, that the economic factors associated with LFM are numerous and complex, this paper aims at estimating the economic feasibility of LFM projects by means of a modern management approach, namely the Real Option Valuation (ROV). For the purpose of the analysis, a hypothetical “typical” landfill site is examined and different alternatives are formed. The proposed project is examined via conventional DCF and ROV, taking into account multiple sources of uncertainties. The results indicate that the DCF approach results may be questionable. On the other hand, ROV analysis reveals through the passage of time events and appropriate actions to be taken and assists in identifying and capturing a higher economic value for the investment.

Cultural Heritage all over the world is at high risk. Natural and human activities endanger the current state of monuments and sites, whereas many of them have already been destroyed especially during the last years. Preventive actions are of utmost importance for the protection of human memory and the prevention of irreplaceable. These actions may be carried out either in situ or virtually. Very often in situ preventive, or protective or restoration actions are difficult or even impossible, as e.g. in cases of earthquakes, fires or war activity. Digital preservation of cultural heritage is a challenging task within photogrammetry and computer vision communities, as efforts are taken to collect digital data, especially of the monuments that are at high risk. Visit to the field and data acquisition is not always feasible. To overcome the missing data problem, crowdsourced imagery is used to create a visual representation of lost cultural heritage objects. Such digital representations may be 2D or 3D and definitely help preserve the memory and history of the lost heritage. Sometimes they also assist studies for their reconstruction. An initiative to collect imagery data from the public and create a visual 3D representation of a recently destroyed stone bridge almost 150 years old is being discussed in this study. To this end, a crowdsourcing platform has been designed and the first images collected have been processed with the use of SfM algorithms.

Specific strategies for the energy sector should be a central part of a sustainable mountain policy. However, there is a lack of research on the energy issues of mountainous areas and specialized energy policy measures cannot be effectively supported. The determination of the energy demand in mountainous areas, which is an essential step in the direction of developing mountain energy policy, is analyzed in this paper. Greece has been selected as a case study. The results show that altitude is the decisive factor affecting degree-days and energy needs, within the geographical range of Greece. It is proved that the thermal, as well as the total energy demand are significantly increased in mountain settlements. The annual energy expenditure of a typical residence lying at an altitude of 1000 m proved to be 85% higher than the corresponding cost at sea level. This makes mountainous populations vulnerable to energy poverty. It is also proved that the subsidy policy for heating oil, in Greece, cannot alleviate energy poverty. The results of the present study can be utilized in the direction of re-designing the present policy and this is a completely necessary step for creating a sustainable policy for mountainous areas, in general.

The development of underground infrastructures for the efficient management and collection of urban waste streams offers great advantages and solutions in tackling problems relating to these activities. Nevertheless, in order for such alternatives to gain acceptance and be further utilized, besides their advantages in effectiveness and in environmental friendliness, they must prove their efficiency in terms of financial performance. The paper analyses modern techniques available as the underground automated vacuum waste collection system (AVAC) and presents the financial and environmental assessment of a proposed system in replacement of an existing conventional waste collection scheme in Athens. The comparative financial assessment is undertaken using the equivalent annual cost methodology (EAC) where the capital expenditures and annual operational and maintenance costs for both alternatives are calculated. The findings show that these two systems have roughly the same cost performance using the equivalent annual cost analysis. Yet, they have noticeably differentiations in the operational and capital costs with the AVAC system having almost 40% lower operational cost requirements. Finally the environmental comparison of the alternatives focusing on the city’ air quality is further highlighting the superiority of the AVAC scheme. Thus, the selection of such a fixed underground infrastructure over a conventional one can be pursued as it offers equivalent financial performance and yet enhanced operational and environmental characteristics.

Nowadays, it is widely recognized that brownfi elds revitalization has the potential to promote sustainable growth especially in urban areas. Nevertheless, given that state and local authorities operate within an increasingly tight fi scal environment, brownfi elds become often of low priority, unless there exist signifi cant human health and ecosystem threats, and remain degraded and underutilized. In order to confront this situation, it is vital for the responsible authorities to justify the necessity of redevelopment projects in ‘hard’, that is monetary terms. Toward this direction, not only economic but also social and environmental benefi ts should be monetized by means of market and non-market valuation methods. The paper presents two case studies, the redevelopment of a former metallurgical complex to a Technological and Cultural Park and the potential reuse of the former Athens International Airport as a Metropolitan Park, as a means of highlighting the emerging value of brownfi elds regeneration. The results indicate that both projects, when examined from a social point of view, create an economic value and contribute signifi cantly toward sustainable development.

Land rehabilitation constitutes an integral part of surface mining design aiming at returning the mined-out area to its former suitability to accept new land uses. The effectiveness of alternative rehabilitation plans depends on many parameters, the majority of which can be quantified in physical terms. One of the most difficult issues to deal with, however, is still the impact on the landscape during the operation and the improvement achieved after rehabilitation of the mine site. Towards this direction, the paper presents, through an illustrative example, a new method for the quantitative evaluation of the impacts on the landscape. This method, named LETOPID, focuses on the measurement of two main parameters: (i) the alteration of topographic relief and (ii) the sensitivity of observation conditions, both making use of GIS tools. The arithmetic values produced for each of the above parameters facilitates the discrimination of seemingly similar alternative design and rehabilitation plans.

Human pressure on mountain resources poses certain threats to their natural and man-made environment. Although there are many parameters involved, one of the driving forces behind this situation is the emphasis given so far only to the market value of mountain goods and services, ignoring the true social and environmental costs of using mountain resources. Towards this direction, the use of non-market valuation techniques could prove to be beneficial. Bearing in mind the above remarks, the paper presents an application of the Contingent Valuation Method, which aims at estimating the monetary value of a mountain settlement's vernacular architecture, namely Metsovo. For this purpose, the survey focuses on Metsovo visitors' willingness to pay a single annual voluntary contribution to an institution that would be founded in order to undertake all necessary actions required to preserve the town's traditional character. The results are very promising and indicate that vernacular architecture holds a significant economic value that could justify the implementation of appropriate policies towards the protection of vernacular settlements in mountain areas. Journal of Mountain Science

Recent discoveries of an archaeological site near a complex of an aggregate quarry and a concrete plant on the island of Andros, Greece, have caused considerable controversy. More specifically, the continued operation of the aggregate quarry and concrete making plant was questioned, after the discovery of an important Neolithic settlement in the vicinity of the plants. The relocation of the quarry and the concrete plant is not an easy task, due to the touristic character of the island, as well as the great number of other antiquities found all over the island. On the other hand, the closure of the plant would have had significant implications on the island's economy. In the light of this situation, the symbiosis of these two different activities has been examined. According to the results of the study, the two activities can coexist under certain conditions, which are discussed in the article.

Contaminated land is a major problem. The remediation cost of brownfields in Europe and the USA exceeds 550 billion €; however, rehabilitation is on a slow pace. It is estimated that the money spent so far correspond to just 5% of the required one to eliminate the problem. The high cost of remediation, along with the inefficiency of the available funds, gives rise to a need for a method to effectively allocate remediation funds. Risk assessment is often used to prioritize the rehabilitation of contaminated sites. Cost–benefit analysis, by means of environmental economics, is another step in the right direction. Optimum Remediation Funds Allocation method (ORFA), the new method presented in this paper, goes beyond that. Instead of simply deciding which sites should be cleaned up or not, the optimum remediation level is determined in each case in terms of the 3-D geographical boundaries of the soil mass that should be remediated. The method is based on the idea of considering contaminated soil as a “negative ore,” with an economic value that can be estimated using environmental economic methods. This approach enables the use of a sophisticated pit optimization software widely applied in mining like Minemax Planner, which is based on the push–relabel algorithm. ORFA can guide remediation starting from the soil blocks which are the most profitable for the society until the point that remediation produces no more social profit. The validation of the method is presented in the remediation project of the Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park (LTCP) case, Greece, one of the most heavily contaminated sites worldwide. ORFA achieved 99.4% remediation with a cost reduction of 17%. This means that, if remediation plans are guided by ORFA, for every five sites, as contaminated as LTCP, almost one site can be cleaned up for free. If the sites under remediation are less polluted, then ORFA can achieve even better results, saving money to clean up more sites. ORFA succeeds in determining the socially optimum remediation level that produces the maximum net economic value. Alternatively, it gives the best remediation scheme under specific budget constraints. Ultimately, ORFA’s main contribution is that it can cause radical changes in the way we think and moreover realize rehabilitation of contaminated land.

Aggregates constitute the biggest branch of mining by production volume and the second in value, after the sector of fossil fuels. Their close connection with the construction industry places them among the most used materials worldwide, second only to water. Despite its significance, the sector suffers from the non-systematic register of production data, resulting in weakness to study the main features affecting the sector’s structure and future capacity. The paper focuses on the aggregates production in 26 European countries. Data from available sources are gathered and combined for a 10-year period (1997–2006), as an effort to provide a clear view of the major attributes of this vital industrial sector. Through a thorough analysis, the main drivers in aggregates production are revealed and existing correlations and trends are identified. New findings are also presented, for example the significance of GDP from construction and the strong connection of aggregates production per capita with the residential building sector.

A lot of times it seems to be forgotten that sustainability does not only deal with environmental protection but also with the adequacy of raw materials for the conservation and recycling of life on the planet. In the case of aggregates the second aspect of the term is of great importance given that they are the most used materials, second only to water. Nevertheless, the extraction of aggregates in the vicinity of urban areas becomes a difficult task to accomplish, due to environmental implications and conflicts with other land uses. Both parameters call for a sound and long-term management, the first step of which should be a good establishment of future demand. The article introduces the main forecasting techniques that can be used for this purpose. It is proved that the models developed for the case of the Attica basin, Greece, can be applied in every region of the country, if adjusted to their individual characteristics, setting the boundaries of aggregates needs for a long-term period.

Despite the emerging global attention towards promoting waste management policies that reduce environmental impacts and conserve natural resources, landfilling still remains the dominant waste management practice in many parts of the world. Owing to this situation, environmental burdens are bequeathed to and large amounts of potentially valuable materials are lost for future generations. As a means to undo these adverse effects a process known as landfill mining (LFM) could be implemented provided that economic feasibility is ensured. So far, only a few studies have focused on the economic feasibility of LFM from a private point of view and even less studies have attempted to economically justify the need for LMF projects from a social point of view. This paper, aiming to add to the limited literature in the field, presents the results of a survey conducted in a rural district in Greece, by means of the Contingent Valuation method (CVM) in order to estimate society's willingness to pay for LFM programs. According to the empirical survey, more than 95% of the respondents recognize the need for LFM programs. Nevertheless, only one-fourth of the respondents are willing to pay through increased taxes for LFM, owing mainly to economic depression and unemployment. Those who accept the increased tax are willing to pay about €50 per household per year, on average, which results in a mean willingness to pay (WTP) for the entire population under investigation of around €12 per household per year. The findings of this research work provide useful insights about the 'dollar-based' benefits of LFM in the context of social cost-benefit analysis of LFM projects. Yet, it is evident that further research is necessary.

Despite their rich energy renewable potential, mountainous areas suffer from energy poverty. A viable solution seems to be the radical turn towards renewable resources. Any tailor-cut energy planning for mountainous areas presupposes the adequate estimation of the energy demand of buildings, which in this case is hindered by the lack of long-term meteorological data, especially in remote, high altitude areas. In this paper four case studies, namely Switzerland, Austria, Greece and north Italy, are examined, applying the method of degree-days. The scarcity of meteorological stations at higher altitudes has been overcome by calculating the lapse rates decrease of surface temperature with altitude for each case, which were found to vary from the common "rule" of 6.5i¾?C/km. Based on these findings, the air temperatures of all remote, mountainous spots can be calculated, and, therefore, the estimation of the energy needs of buildings has been provided, with ai¾?high level of accuracy.

Owing to serious health and financial impacts, asbestos contaminated land must be treated in order to protect public health, welfare and the environment. The site characterisation and field investigations as well as other engineering data are typically required in order to assess the risks and to design the remedial actions. Nevertheless, data collection and analysis is a time consuming and usually expensive task. Furthermore, the role of stakeholders in recent years becomes critical in many cases and it should be taken into consideration when setting remedial action objectives. For the above reasons, considerable interest has been focused on the use of evaluation systems for the assessment of remediation alternatives, minimising data requirements, incorporating multiple criteria and competing objectives as well. The present study focuses on the development of a methodology for the preliminary selection of the most appropriate solution for remedying a former asbestos milling plant, based on the pr...

Surface mining operations constitute one of the most visible and significant landscape offenders because of their geomorphologic and aesthetic effects. In recent years, the disturbance of the landscape owing to surface mining activities seems to be one of the most significant issues to deal with, as it raises serious conflicts between the public and the extractive industry. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt an environmentally friendly design for an excavation of any possible degree. Thus far, existing visual-impact assessment methodologies provide little support towards this direction as a consequence of their, mainly, qualitative character. In this paper we describe a new, more quantitative, methodological approach which is based on the measurement of topographic relief alteration caused by mining and quarrying works, and which makes use of modern mining software and geographic information systems tools. The methodology provides the means to adjust the excavation design in a way that minimizes visual impacts caused by the landform reprofiling. It can be applied in every stage of the life of a mine project. Moreover, if modified, it can also be used for the estimation of topographic relief alteration in projects within the construction sector that involve significant earthmoving works.

Mining firms stimulate local and national economies but this comes at a certain cost. In the light of increasing public concern, external costs of environmental degradation and social disruption are no longer of pure academic interest. The assessment of mining projects on the grounds of sustainable development is critical in order to decide whether the exploitation of mineral resources is socially desirable. In practice, few steps have been taken towards this end. In this paper, a case study is illustrated that provides the means for evaluating the social worthiness of mining projects. The analysis, which is the first of its kind in Greece, deals with a major problem of the mining industry: the gold debate on the grounds of green economics. The assessment is based on the social cost-benefit approach. Well-established techniques (e.g. benefit transfer) and innovative approaches have been adopted to overcome various practical problems. Environmental Geology