Emerging Trends in Smart Building Digitalization and Energy Optimization

Dear Colleagues,

The rapid advancement of digital technologies is reshaping the building sector, creating transformative opportunities to enhance energy efficiency, optimize operations, and promote sustainability. This Special Issue aims to bring together leading researchers, industry professionals, and practitioners to explore and showcase cutting-edge innovations and applications in the digitalization of smart buildings and energy systems.

We welcome original contributions and case studies that address critical challenges, emerging technologies, and future directions in this dynamic field. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• AI and Machine Learning in Smart Buildings: harnessing artificial intelligence and machine learning for intelligent energy management, occupant-centric systems, and predictive maintenance.
• Digital Twins and Virtual Models: applications of digital twin technologies for real-time building monitoring, performance simulation, and fault detection.
• IoT and Sensor Integration: utilizing IoT devices for data collection, communication, and enhanced building automation.
• Optimization Techniques: advanced control systems and algorithms to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprints in buildings.
• Energy Retrofitting: data-driven approaches to retrofit existing buildings for better energy performance.
• Human-Building Interaction: innovative methods to enhance user comfort and engagement through adaptive and smart building systems.
• Case Studies and Real-World Applications: practical examples demonstrating the successful deployment of digitalization strategies and energy optimization in various building types.

This Special Issue seeks to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and provide a platform to disseminate pioneering research and practical applications that push the boundaries of smart building technology and energy optimization. Contributions from academia, industry, and governmental bodies are highly encouraged to ensure a diverse and comprehensive perspective.

Dr. Muhyiddine Jradi
Guest Editor

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.

• smart buildings
• building digitalization
• energy optimization
• digital twins
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Machine Learning (ML)
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• building energy management systems (BEMSs)
• predictive maintenance
• energy efficiency
• building automation
• data-driven building systems
• energy retrofitting
• sustainable building design
• real-time monitoring
• fault detection and diagnosis
• human-building interaction
• occupant-centric systems
• advanced control systems
• building performance simulation