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Improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings is of outmost importance for reducing their environmental footprint. Recent studies demonstrate that a highly insulated building envelope may burden the building’s performance during the cooling period, especially in regions with hot summers. In this study, the energy performance of a residential building in different Mediterranean regions (Jordan, Greece, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Spain) is investigated. Two thermal transmittance values are applied to the building shell, a scenario with a very low one and a scenario with a higher one, to examine under which conditions the cooling performance is improved. A dynamic insulation configuration is also implemented, and its operation is studied for the cooling period of each city. It is concluded that in Southern European and Northern African regions building envelopes with lower thermal resistances perform better, while in even Southern regions an increased thermal resistance may prevent the heat from entering the building more effectively. With the switching insulation system, a great reduction in the cooling demands was reported, which reached up to 50% in Spain, and it was shown that in the southern regions the configuration’s operation should be customized to the ambient conditions to optimize its performance.

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Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) effective management is of vital importance, especially regarding the climate-neutral economy target set for 2050. The common practice of landfilling them during the past decades and ignoring the environmental impacts is now obsolete, with countries around the world adopting national regulations for their proper treatment. The lack of data on the CDW volume produced every year both in the European region and at the Greek national level is evident, in contrast with Asian or American regions, and introduces a great uncertainty in the field. This study aims at estimating the CDW quantities produced by a typical multi-storey residential building in Greece, built in the mid-20th century, made of reinforced concrete and filling masonry walls. The subsidized renovation programs by the European Union, which have a great impact on the Greek domain, are also considered, so two renovation procedures are considered during the building’s lifespan, resulting in an extended lifetime of the building along with additional CDW quantities produced on each renovation procedure. Challenges regarding the disposal, recycling and reuse potential and alternatives of the distinct CDW types produced are presented, based on the international literature available data.