Emerging Trends in Energy and Environmental Design Integrating New Services and Tools for Smart Cities and Smart Buildings

This volume brings together eight contributions that examine sustainable energy in urban settings from multiple disciplinary perspectives. The papers cover a range of topics, including patterns of energy use in households and the influence of behavioral factors; the development of user-centered tools for improving energy performance; and the use of GIS-based methods for estimating solar energy potential in cities. Other articles address the planning and implementation of renewable energy communities at the neighborhood level, and critically assess prevailing Smart City frameworks, proposing a broader integration of environmental design approaches. Further studies focus on strategies for building-level decarbonization, the implications of critical raw materials for energy infrastructure planning, and a comparative analysis of smart building technologies across European markets. Together, these studies highlight how energy transition processes intersect with technical, social, and institutional dimensions. Rather than offering a single recipe, they emphasize the importance of integrating knowledge across scales, from individual buildings to urban districts, and across domains, from energy systems to user practices. The Volume may offer useful insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working on sustainable urban development.