Green Buildings are defined as environmental-friendly buildings aimed at minimizing the impact on the natural environment through a sustainable and efficient use of resources over their life-cycle. This is, perhaps, a recently-introduced building concept that is increasingly gaining attention due to the policies and strategies intended to reduce the carbon footprint of conventional buildings, which nowadays represent a large portion of the global energy consumption and C02 emissions. This study provides a systematic literature review of the existing body of knowledge of research related to Green Buildings in the arctic region. Despite numerous studies and projects developed during the last decades, a study describing the current research for this specific region is still missing. Starting from the definition of Green Building and Arctic Region, an examination is made of research approaches developed to achieve the required green building standards, for which rating tools currently in use for their evaluation are also identified. The result is a critical analysis highlighting benefits and critical issues of Green Buildings located in the Arctic in comparison with conventional buildings, focusing on the environmental, economic and social dimensions. Finally, future research opportunities are presented and discussed.

The concept of Green Building refers to environmentally friendly constructions with the target of minimizing the impact on the natural environment through sustainable and efficient use of resources over their life cycle. Since modern buildings are large contributors to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, policies and international strategies intended to reduce the carbon footprint of conventional buildings are highlighting the role of this recently introduced building concept. This study provides a systematic literature review of existing research related to Green Buildings in the Arctic. Despite numerous studies and projects developed during the last decades, a study describing the current research status for this region is still missing. The review first examines the role that national and international policies developed by the arctic countries have on the development process of Green Buildings. Second, it provides an overview of the most commonly used and promoted Green Building rating systems used by the same countries in the region. The analysis highlights benefits and critical issues of Green Buildings located in the Arctic in comparison with conventional buildings, focusing on environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Finally, future research opportunities are presented and discussed.

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This paper evaluates the thermal performance of a triple-glazed glass window filled with a phase-change material (PCM) compared to the performance of a traditional triple-glazed window with air gaps. The chosen PCM was paraffin wax. A mathematical model to simulate heat transfer within the system was presented. A commercially available software, COMSOL Multiphysics, was used to numerically solve the governing equations. The analysis was carried out for the representative days of different seasons using three types of paraffin wax (5, 10, and 15) that have different melting-temperature ranges. Particularly, the study considers the unique climatic conditions of the Arctic region. Results showed that by integrating a PCM into the cavity of triple-glazing, thermal performance during summer season of the window was enhanced, while for spring and autumn thermal performance was affected by the type of paraffin selected. The thermal performance of glass windows during winter did not change with PCM integration.