Human Comfort and Building Energy Efficiency
A Special Issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309) belonging to the section "Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 977
Editors
Interests: thermal comfort; building energy efficiency; HVAC control systems; indoor environmental quality; occupant behavior; vulnerable populations; health-based building design; solar energy systems
Interests: human thermal comfort and health; built environment sensing and control; low-carbon and energy-efficient buildings
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: thermal comfort; neurophysiology; health; intelligent sensor; building energy saving
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
As buildings account for nearly 40% of global energy consumption, the imperative to enhance energy efficiency has never been more urgent; at the same time, with people spending over 90% of their time indoors, ensuring optimal human comfort and health within the built environment has become a paramount concern. The challenge lies in achieving a harmonious balance between these two critical objectives—minimizing energy use while maximizing occupant well-being.
Human comfort, encompassing its thermal, visual, acoustic, and air quality dimensions, is fundamentally shaped by the dynamic interplay between building systems, occupant behaviors, and environmental controls. Emerging technologies—including intelligent HVAC systems, adaptive building envelopes, occupancy-based controls, and data-driven optimization strategies—offer unprecedented opportunities to reconcile energy performance with human-centric design. Furthermore, understanding the physiological and behavioral responses of diverse populations is essential for creating resilient and inclusive indoor environments.
This Special Issue seeks to advance knowledge at the intersection of human comfort and building energy efficiency, fostering innovative solutions that prioritize both sustainability and occupant health. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Thermal comfort and adaptive thermal behaviors;
- Intelligent HVAC control and occupancy-based strategies;
- Multi-domain environmental quality (thermal, visual, acoustic, and air quality);
- Health-based building design for vulnerable populations;
- Physiological monitoring and human-building interaction;
- Data-driven building performance optimization;
- Solar energy systems and renewable energy integration;
- Low-carbon retrofit and energy-efficient technologies;
- Coupled effects of indoor environmental factors on well-being.
Dr. Yu Dong
Dr. Yuxin Yang
Dr. Mingli Lu
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
- indoor environmental quality (IEQ)
- human health and well-being
- multi-domain comfort
- thermal adaptation
- intelligent HVAC control
- occupant behavior
- climate resilience
- sustainable building design
- renewable energy
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.
