Sustainable Design and Building Performance

Sustainability has become one of the defining concerns of contemporary architectural work, and it lies at the core of this journal’s focus. When we talk about a sustainable built environment, we are really talking about the design choices that give buildings their character and determine how they behave over time. How a project sits in its climate, how light and air move through it, how people experience comfort, and even how a façade breathes or shields are all influenced by architectural thinking. These questions cannot be reduced to technical calculations alone, nor can they be left to fields that look at efficiency or environmental impact in isolation. Architecture brings the pieces together and turns them into a coherent spatial and cultural proposition.

This section provides an advanced forum for research at the intersection of architectural design, building science, and environmental technology. We invite contributions that explore how design strategies and technological interventions can enhance the performance of the built environment from the individual building to the urban scale.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

Building Performance Simulation and Optimization: Energy efficiency, daylighting, acoustics, and indoor environmental quality (IEQ).
Urban Microclimate and Outdoor Environments: Urban heat island (UHI) mitigation, outdoor thermal comfort, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for urban ventilation, and climate-responsive urban design.
Sustainable Design Methodologies: Passive design strategies, net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs), life cycle assessment (LCA), and regenerative design.
Technology and Fabrication: Integration of smart building systems, adaptive facades, and digital fabrication for performance.