Abstract: Over the past two decades, a profound shift has taken place in

global environmental strategies: the focus has moved from the pursuit

of "zero-energy" buildings to the broader and more urgent goal of "carbon-neutral" urban systems. This transition reflects far more than a change in terminology--it signals a growing awareness of the tangible local impacts of climate change and the urgent need for transformative solutions in urban planning and design.

Yet, from a technical perspective, zero-energy and carbon-neutral objectives differ significantly. Achieving carbon neutrality demands a systemic rethinking of how we design, construct, and manage our built environment--posing challenges that many stakeholders are not yet fully equipped to meet.

In this lecture, Professor Causone will explore this paradigm shift through the lens of applied research, sharing insights from projects at the intersection of energy modelling, environmental simulation, and urban design. These real-world case studies reveal both the potential and the complexity of transitioning to truly carbon-neutral cities.

Bio: Francesco Causone is an Associate Professor, lecturing Applied Building Physics and Zero-carbon Building Design at the School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering of the Politecnico di Milano. His research activity is conducted at the Department of Energy of the same University, where he leads the CRANES Lab (City Research for Architectural aNd Energy Systems).

He holds a master degree in Architecture (cum laude), a PhD in Technical Innovation for the Built Environment and he is a LEED AP. He was awarded the REHVA young scientist award 2012. Prof. Causone has gained world-class industry experience as a Sustainability Researcher at Foster + Partners in London, where he worked on the design and performance assessment of major headquarter buildings in Cupertino and London.

His expertise includes energy and indoor environmental quality assessment in the built environment, and buildings sustainable design. Since 2015 Francesco Causone focused his research interests on Urban Building Energy Modelling (UBEM) and Urban Green Infrastructures (UGI) modelling and assessment. In particular, he was the PI of a National funded project (https://www.urbem.polimi.it/en/) focused on the creation of an Italian database of reference buildings (or archetypes) for UBEM and BEM. He is moreover working with several Italian municipalities and within EU funded projects on the topic of Renewable Energy Communities (RECs), for whom UBEM and reference buildings are an essential basis. Finally, he is working with the Municipality of Milano, to create a CFD-based tool (in OpenFOAM) to model UGI such as parks, green boulevards, etc. to provide useful information to urban planners and decision makers on the thermal effects of urban vegetation to contrast urban heat island and to increase citizens' well-being.