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Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in the Face of Climate Change: Advanced Strategies and Technologies

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 October 2026 | Viewed by 1154

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Daniel Sánchez-García

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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Industrial Design, School of Engineering, University of Cádiz, Av Universidad de Cádiz 10, 11519 Puerto Real, Spain
Interests: thermal comfort; climate change; building energy efficiency
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Alberto Cerezo-Narváez

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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Industrial Design, School of Engineering, University of Cádiz, Av Universidad de Cádiz 10, 11519 Puerto Real, Spain
Interests: project management; construction management; architectural engineering; project engineering; building energy efficiency; energy rehabilitation; industrialized construction; sustainable design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Roberta Jacoby Cureau

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Interests: urban microclimate; urban overheating; urban heat island; environmental monitoring; wearable sensing; environmental quality; human comfort; multi-domain comfort
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. María del Carmen Guerrero Delgado

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Energy Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Seville, Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, 41092 Seville, Spain
Interests: thermal comfort; climate control of open spaces; building energy efficiency
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is intensifying extreme weather events, posing a challenge to our ability to ensure indoor thermal comfort while simultaneously reducing building energy consumption. This Special Issue seeks to address this critical nexus by featuring cutting-edge research on innovative strategies and technologies. We invite contributions on passive design, advanced heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, smart materials, renewable energy integration, and IoT/AI-based control systems. The goal is to showcase novel solutions that enhance occupant well-being, minimize the carbon footprint of the building sector, and foster resilient built environments prepared for future climate realities.

Dr. Daniel Sánchez-García
Dr. Alberto Cerezo Narváez
Dr. Roberta Jacoby Cureau
Dr. MªCarmen Guerrero Delgado
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • thermal comfort
  • climate change
  • energy efficiency
  • passive design
  • advanced HVAC systems
  • smart materials

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 6770 KB  
Article
Estimating Thermal Comfort and IAQ in Climate Chamber Experiments
by Giannis Papadopoulos, Dimitrios Kapenis, Loukas Karagiannakis, Nikolaos Taousanidis and Giorgos Panaras
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(6), 2629; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16062629 - 10 Mar 2026
Viewed by 364
Abstract
Climate chambers enable repeatable indoor boundary conditions and are increasingly used to study multi-domain IEQ. However, thermal comfort and IAQ are still often evaluated separately, limiting evidence on their coupled behavior and potential trade-offs under different ventilation and air-cleaning strategies. The present study [...] Read more.
Climate chambers enable repeatable indoor boundary conditions and are increasingly used to study multi-domain IEQ. However, thermal comfort and IAQ are still often evaluated separately, limiting evidence on their coupled behavior and potential trade-offs under different ventilation and air-cleaning strategies. The present study was carried out in the climate chamber located in the laboratory facilities of the University of Western Macedonia to quantify thermal comfort and IAQ simultaneously across different experimental scenarios that vary ventilation mode, heating operation, and occupancy. The results show a correlation between subjective and objective measurements, with the comfort temperature varying around 22.2 °C, as estimated by the Griffiths model, while ventilation mainly affects the stability of the thermal environment. CO2 levels scaled with occupancy and ventilation rate, while PM removal was strongly strategy-dependent: after a controlled smoke event, mechanical ventilation plus air purification achieved the fastest decay and recovery toward near-background concentrations. Overall, this work represents a first step toward coupled IEQ research by jointly quantifying thermal comfort and IAQ in a climate chamber, enabling systematic comparison of ventilation strategies in terms of both perceived comfort and pollutant exposure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in the Face of Climate Change: Advanced Strategies and Technologies)
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15 pages, 1406 KB  
Article
Acoustic Attenuation Performance of Casing Stiffness Relative to Insulation Thickness in Compact Air Handling Units
by Titus Otniel Joldos and Florin Ioan Bode
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(4), 1803; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16041803 - 11 Feb 2026
Viewed by 392
Abstract
The current global context, characterized by climate change and increased indoor occupancy, has necessitated prolonged daily operating hours for ventilation systems. Coupled with rising living standards, these factors have elevated occupants’ expectations for Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), driving a demand for quieter equipment [...] Read more.
The current global context, characterized by climate change and increased indoor occupancy, has necessitated prolonged daily operating hours for ventilation systems. Coupled with rising living standards, these factors have elevated occupants’ expectations for Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), driving a demand for quieter equipment which is a significant challenge for HVAC engineering. This study evaluates the acoustic attenuation performance of various casing constructions to quantify the impact of sheet metal stiffness compared to insulation thickness. Experimental measurements of the Radiated Sound Power Level (LwA) were conducted on a heat recovery unit across octave bands from 63 Hz to 16,000 Hz, ensuring a measurement uncertainty within ±0.5 dB as per ISO 3741 precision requirements. The methodology involved testing multiple enclosed configurations against a reference open-top unit, varying mineral wool insulation thickness from 40 mm to 100 mm (with optional 25 mm linings) and inner sheet metal thickness between 0.8 mm and 2.0 mm. The results indicate that enclosing the unit significantly reduced radiated sound power levels compared to the exposed reference. While the standard configuration with 50 mm insulation yielded 49.8 dBA, modifying the casing structure generated superior attenuation. Notably, a configuration utilizing a 2.0 mm inner sheet resulted in a radiated sound power level of 46.9 dBA, a result found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05) when compared to the baseline. This performance is statistically comparable to the 46.7 dBA recorded for the maximum insulation assembly, confirming the validity of structural stiffening as an equivalent alternative to bulk insulation. Consequently, the increased panel stiffness achieved approximately 94% of the attenuation efficiency provided by the thickest insulation option. The data demonstrates that increasing panel stiffness effectively reduces transmission, offering performance levels comparable to significantly thicker insulation layers. The study concludes that optimizing casing stiffness represents a superior strategy for noise control in high-density residential applications, as it decouples acoustic performance from the unit’s external dimensions, offering a high-attenuation solution that preserves a compact spatial footprint. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in the Face of Climate Change: Advanced Strategies and Technologies)
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