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Recently Advances in the Thermal Performance of Buildings
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Recently Advances in the Thermal Performance of Buildings

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2024) | Viewed by 7037

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Haiying Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, China
Interests: built environment; thermal environment and human thermal comfort

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The thermal performance of buildings involves a wide field relating to building envelops, thermal insulation, lighting, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, energy use, maintenance, energy saving, etc. Research works in this field contribute to improvements in the thermal performance of buildings, and they bring about new concepts in the design, construction, management, and control of facilities in buildings. Moreover, the research also provides guidance for updating and developing building techniques.

The main aim of this Special Issue is to explore the recent advances and developments in the thermal performance of buildings. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Building envelop;
  • Lighting;
  • Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning;
  • Energy use and energy saving;
  • Maintenance;
  • Building manage and control;
  • Indoor air quality.

Prof. Dr. Haiying Wang
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. 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

  • building envelop
  • lighting
  • heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning
  • energy use and energy saving
  • maintenance
  • building manage and control
  • indoor air quality

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  • 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.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5937 KiB  
Article
Cognitive Performance in Hot-Humid Environments of Non-Air-Conditioned Buildings: A Subjective Evaluation
by Hui Zhu, Yichao Wang, Da Yuan, Kun Gao, Quanna Liao, Masanari Ukai, Fan Zhang and Songtao Hu
Buildings 2025, 15(1), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15010043 - 26 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1137
Abstract
Heat waves are deteriorating the indoor thermal environment of non-air-conditioned buildings, bringing more intensive heat-humid exposures, which poses a great threat to human cognitive performance that is closely related to human safety and health. Previous studies mainly focused on the thermos-physiological aspect, trying [...] Read more.
Heat waves are deteriorating the indoor thermal environment of non-air-conditioned buildings, bringing more intensive heat-humid exposures, which poses a great threat to human cognitive performance that is closely related to human safety and health. Previous studies mainly focused on the thermos-physiological aspect, trying to establish predicting models of cognitive performance, but the subjective aspect also needs investigating. In order to explore the relationship between cognitive performance and subjective responses of subjects to hot-humid exposure, a 150-min experiment was conducted in four hot-humid experiments, during which five kinds of cognitive tasks were administered to simulate the sustained mental workload. ‘National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index’ (NASA-TLX) and ‘Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule scale’ (PANAS) were selected to acquire the perceived mental workload and mood before and after these tasks. Thereafter, changes in the perceived workload and mood with air temperature and exposure time were analyzed. The results of cognitive tasks (response time and accuracy) were recorded online automatically, with which the cognitive performance index (CPI) was calculated. The results showed that five items of NASA-TLX, namely mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, effort, and frustration, were negatively related to air temperature (p < 0.05), and they were also observed to have quasi-inverted-U relationships with exposure time. Another item, the performance, was found to have a quasi-U relationship with exposure time. Furthermore, a quasi-inverted-U relationship was observed between the positive mood and exposure time, while a quasi-U relationship between the negative mood and exposure time was detected. Finally, a performance-mood relation was established based on the correlation analysis among the CPI, mood, and mental workload, which produced a linear relation with the R2 of 0.71. This study provided references for the self-evaluation of cognitive performances in buildings without air-conditioners, which is important in the circumstance where heat waves appear more. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recently Advances in the Thermal Performance of Buildings)
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21 pages, 8165 KiB  
Article
Field Investigation on the Thermal Environment and Comfort of People Exercising in a Fitness Center
by Haiying Wang, Yongwang Hao, Huxiang Lin, Rongfu Hou and Kefei Gong
Buildings 2024, 14(10), 3296; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14103296 - 18 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1162
Abstract
A favorable thermal environment in fitness centers is important to attract more members and is beneficial to the health of exercising people. The purpose of this study was to research the actual thermal environment of a typical fitness center in different seasons and [...] Read more.
A favorable thermal environment in fitness centers is important to attract more members and is beneficial to the health of exercising people. The purpose of this study was to research the actual thermal environment of a typical fitness center in different seasons and the thermal requirement of exercising people. A field investigation covering winter, spring, and summer was conducted. The environmental parameters were measured. Subjective questionnaires involving individual information, clothing insulation, thermal sensation, etc., were collected. Participants’ heart rates were tested to estimate their metabolic rate (MR). A total of 740 valid questionnaires were collected. The results showed that a scissors gap existed between the predictive mean vote (PMV) and the thermal sensation vote (TSV) for the exercising people. For the higher MR group, there was a separation between the TSV and thermal preference vote, e.g., most participants would not prefer to cooler or warmer thermal environment when they felt hot or cold. The CO2 concentration changed greatly among seasons and the distribution in the fitness center was not uniform. With mechanical ventilation, the CO2 concentration in summer was the lowest. In other seasons it became much higher due to limited natural ventilation. However, subjective response to indoor air quality showed no significant difference among seasons. The participants felt more satisfied to the overall thermal environment in the transition season. The results can be referenced in the thermal environment management in fitness centers during seasonal changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recently Advances in the Thermal Performance of Buildings)
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17 pages, 7529 KiB  
Article
Effects of the Acoustic-Visual Indoor Environment on Relieving Mental Stress Based on Facial Electromyography and Micro-Expression Recognition
by Guodan Liu, Pengcheng Hu, Huiyang Zhong, Yang Yang, Jie Sun, Yihang Ji, Jixin Zou, Hui Zhu and Songtao Hu
Buildings 2024, 14(10), 3122; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14103122 - 29 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1407
Abstract
People working and studying indoors for a long time can easily experience mental fatigue and stress. Virtual natural elements introduced into indoor environments can stimulate the human visual and auditory senses, thus relieving psychological stress. In this study, stress induction was achieved through [...] Read more.
People working and studying indoors for a long time can easily experience mental fatigue and stress. Virtual natural elements introduced into indoor environments can stimulate the human visual and auditory senses, thus relieving psychological stress. In this study, stress induction was achieved through noise playback, and the recovery effects on psychological stress of three set indoor environments, visual, auditory, and audio-visual, were investigated through changes in subjects’ facial expressions, electromyographic (EMG) signals, and subjective questionnaires. The experiment found that after stress induction through noise, the participants’ stress levels changed significantly. At this time, the subject scored low on the questionnaire, with electromyography readings higher than usual, and micro-expression recognition indicated negative emotions. After the restoration effects under the three working conditions of visual, auditory, and audio-visual combination, the average EMG values during the recovery period decreased from the baseline period (10 min after the subject acclimated to the environment), respectively. The results indicate that all three restoration conditions have the effect of relieving psychological stress, with the stress recovery effects of auditory and audio-visual conditions being superior to visual conditions. This study is of great significance for creating comfortable indoor environments and minimizing psychological pressure on indoor office workers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recently Advances in the Thermal Performance of Buildings)
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19 pages, 5374 KiB  
Article
Changing Rules in Subway Tunnel Thermal Environment and Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Heat
by Li Tong, Mingzhi Zhang, Songtao Hu and Yongming Ji
Buildings 2024, 14(8), 2524; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14082524 - 16 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1331
Abstract
The deteriorating thermal environment of tunnels and the increase in energy consumption of environmental control systems has become highlights in the subway field. In existing research related to analysis of subway tunnel thermal environments and thermal accumulation; there is no predictive law that [...] Read more.
The deteriorating thermal environment of tunnels and the increase in energy consumption of environmental control systems has become highlights in the subway field. In existing research related to analysis of subway tunnel thermal environments and thermal accumulation; there is no predictive law that accounts for thermal accumulation or the long-term change in subway tunnel thermal environments. In this study, a combination of simulations and experiments is used. First, the long-term evolution of tunnel thermal environments with and without thermal interference are predicted and analyzed. Then, the changes in the tunnel thermal environment after the use of capillary heat exchangers are explored. The research results indicate that the model of the system has high accuracy and reliability. When there is a capillary heat exchanger installed in the subway tunnel, the anti-seasonal heat storage characteristics of the system result in the tunnel temperature increasing significantly in summer and decreasing significantly in winter, with a small decrease in the average annual temperature. This study provides a theoretical reference for environment-based subway tunnel construction and the comprehensive utilization of tunnel waste heat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recently Advances in the Thermal Performance of Buildings)
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17 pages, 2305 KiB  
Article
A Case Study of Air Infiltration for Highly Airtight Buildings under the Typical Meteorological Conditions of China
by Yichen Du, Yongming Ji, Lin Duanmu and Songtao Hu
Buildings 2024, 14(6), 1585; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14061585 - 30 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1045
Abstract
Passive house standard buildings (PHSBs), characterized by exceptional airtightness, present a promising technology for attaining carbon neutrality by 2060. The level of building airtightness is closely associated with air infiltration, which significantly impacts building energy consumption. However, there has been insufficient analysis of [...] Read more.
Passive house standard buildings (PHSBs), characterized by exceptional airtightness, present a promising technology for attaining carbon neutrality by 2060. The level of building airtightness is closely associated with air infiltration, which significantly impacts building energy consumption. However, there has been insufficient analysis of air infiltration in highly airtight buildings across diverse climatic regions. The present study involves the numerical simulation of the air infiltration rate (AIR) in an airtight building under varying design conditions during winter and summer, followed by a comprehensive analysis of the corresponding energy demand associated with air infiltration. The simulation results indicate that the building’s AIR ranges from 125 to 423 m3/h, with an average of 189 m3/h under summer design conditions, and from 40 to 344 m3/h, with an average of 198 m3/h under winter design conditions. The statistical findings demonstrate distinct distribution patterns for AIR and energy demand across various climatic regions, exhibiting significant variations in values. The discussion emphasizes the substantial heating load associated with air infiltration, even at a building airtightness level of 0.5 h−1, highlighting the necessity of considering its impact in the design of highly airtight buildings. Furthermore, it is recommended to establish specific airtightness limits for buildings in different climatic regions of China. This study offers theoretical guidance for the airtightness design of highly airtight buildings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recently Advances in the Thermal Performance of Buildings)
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