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Applied Sciences
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Energy Transition in Sustainable Buildings
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Energy Transition in Sustainable Buildings

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2026 | Viewed by 1025

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andrea Guercio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, Energy Section, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: energy saving; renewable energy; sustainability buildings
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Vincenzo Franzitta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, Energy Section, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: wave energy; renewable energy resource; thermal insulation; green building; acoustic engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Domenico Curto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, Energy Section, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: wave energy; renewable energy resource; green building; HVAC system
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The construction industry requires significant energy upgrades. Retrofitting energy-heavy buildings, like commercial properties, can help lower operational expenses and minimize their environmental impact. Improving technological systems and building envelopes plays a key role in reaching these objectives.

An energy community facilitates the sharing of energy produced from renewable sources and creates neighborhoods that are able to sustain themselves from an energy point of view.

This Special Issue explores innovative strategies, technologies, and policies driving the shift toward energy-efficient and renewable energy-integrated buildings. Topics of interest include advancements in smart building design, the decarbonization of heating and cooling systems, the integration of solar and geothermal energy, and the role of digital tools like AI and IoT in optimizing energy use. Contributions also address socio-economic challenges, policy frameworks, and lifecycle assessments to ensure equitable and scalable solutions. By bridging research and practice, this collection aims to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices, fostering resilient, net-zero built environments for future generations.

Dr. Andrea Guercio
Prof. Dr. Vincenzo Franzitta
Dr. Domenico Curto
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • building retrofit
  • HVAC renovation
  • net-zero energy building
  • renewable energy
  • energy community
  • energy transition

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

29 pages, 3306 KB  
Article
A Predictive Approach for Energy Efficiency and Emission Reduction in University Campuses
by Alberto Rey-Hernández, Julio San José-Alonso, Ana Picallo-Perez, Francisco J. Rey-Martínez, A. O. Elgharib, Javier M. Rey-Hernández and Khaled M. Salem
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(17), 9419; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15179419 - 27 Aug 2025
Viewed by 721
Abstract
This study proposes a comprehensive artificial intelligence (AI)-based framework to predict, disaggregate, and optimize energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions across a multi-building university campus. Leveraging real-world data from 27 buildings at the University of Valladolid (Spain), six AI models—artificial neural networks [...] Read more.
This study proposes a comprehensive artificial intelligence (AI)-based framework to predict, disaggregate, and optimize energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions across a multi-building university campus. Leveraging real-world data from 27 buildings at the University of Valladolid (Spain), six AI models—artificial neural networks (ANN), radial basis function (RBF), autoencoders, random forest (RF), XGBoost, and decision trees—were trained on heat exchanger performance metrics and contextual building parameters. The models were validated using an extensive set of key performance indicators (MAPE, RMSE, R2, KGE, NSE) to ensure both predictive accuracy and generalizability. The ANN, RBF, and autoencoder models exhibited the highest correlation with actual data (R > 0.99) and lowest error rates, indicating strong suitability for operational deployment. A detailed analysis at building level revealed heterogeneity in energy demand patterns and model sensitivities, emphasizing the need for tailored forecasting approaches. Forecasts for a 5-year horizon further demonstrated that, without intervention, energy consumption and CO2 emissions are projected to increase significantly, underscoring the relevance of predictive control strategies. This research establishes a robust and scalable methodology for campus-wide energy planning and offers a data-driven pathway for CO2 mitigation aligned with European climate targets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition in Sustainable Buildings)
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