Integrated Design Synergizing Sustainability, Well-Being, and Smart Technologies for Healthy and Climate-Adaptive Built Environments
A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Architectural Design, Urban Science, and Real Estate".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 865
Editors
Interests: green building design and evaluation; climate-adaptive urban design; healthy building design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: low-carbon architecture design; climate-adaptive urban design; outdoor and indoor thermal comfort
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The built environment plays a pivotal role in human health, well-being, and climate resilience. With intensifying climate change and aging populations, there is an urgent need for integrated design strategies that prioritize thermal comfort, low-carbon approaches, climate adaptability, and user-centred health outcomes, while leveraging smart technologies for optimization.
This Special Issue will explore multidisciplinary integrated design strategies that advance healthy, sustainable, and climate-adaptive built environments. By bridging architectural engineering, environmental design, human factors, and smart technologies, we will promote evidence-based solutions for greener, healthier, and more adaptive built environments.
Original research papers, case studies, and review articles are warmly invited. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Healthy and Healing Built Environments
- Healing space design and evidence-based design principles;
- Active and passive strategies to enhance indoor and outdoor thermal comfort;
- Spatial design for supporting neurodiversity and inclusive health outcomes.
- Climate-Adaptive and Low-Carbon Design
- Climate-responsive envelopes and microclimate regulation design;
- Green building assessment and low-carbon materials in health-oriented applications;
- Functional applications of sustainable materials in thermal adaptation and environmental regulation.
- Smart Technologies for Healthy and Adaptive Spaces
- IoT-integrated systems for real-time thermal comfort monitoring and adaptive control;
- Smart furniture and age-friendly products enhancing comfort and safety for older adults;
- Digital twins and data-driven approaches to optimize building performance and occupant health.
- User-Centered and Interdisciplinary Approaches
- Mixed-methods research on occupant thermal comfort and satisfaction;
- Age-friendly and inclusive design in aging societies;
- Integration of sustainable materials and smart systems in flexible workspaces and public spaces.
Submissions employing mixed-methods approaches, occupant-centred empirical studies, evidence-based design, and interdisciplinary perspectives that fuse technology with humanities are particularly encouraged.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Juan Ren
Dr. Xuan Ma
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings 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 2600 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
- healthy buildings
- thermal comfort
- climate-adaptive design
- low-carbon architecture
- green building
- urban built environment design
- evidence-based design
- smart technologies
- sustainable materials
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
