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Renewal and Retrofit in Buildings: Toward a Sustainable and Low-Carbon...
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Renewal and Retrofit in Buildings: Toward a Sustainable and Low-Carbon Future

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 July 2025 | Viewed by 1433

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Weiguang Cai

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Guest Editor
School of Management Science and Real Estate, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Interests: building energy big data; building energy system modelling and simulation; building environment and health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Kairui You

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Management, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
Interests: building energy and carbon emission; built environment and health
Dr. Ruopeng Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: neighbourhood renewal; built environment management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xinyue Fu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Management Science and Real Estate, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Interests: energy retrofit; neighbourhood renewal

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Buildings are the key places of human activities. Building-related carbon emissions account for 39% of global emissions. However, many existing buildings are subject to challenges, such as ageing structure, poor building functions, and outdated energy designs. Timely and innovative building renewal and retrofitting are regarded as key solutions. Building renewal and retrofitting can enhance building service functions and thermal comfort, improving residents’ welfare (SDG 11), reducing inequalities (SDG 10), and lowering energy expenditure (SDG 7). Meanwhile, building renewal and retrofitting can slow building turnover rates and reduce demands on raw building materials (SDG 12).

This Special Issue aims to bring together the current state-of-the-art technologies and new developments in building renewal and retrofitting and to explore interdisciplinary solutions from engineering and social sciences. We encourage all researchers working in related areas to submit research papers detailing their work. Papers reporting the outcomes of research at all stages, including literature reviews, data analyses, and completed research projects, are welcome. The topics for consideration in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Start-of-the-art reviews and case studies of building renewal and retrofit;
  • Renewal and retrofit strategies for existing buildings
  • Sustainable assessment method on building renewal and retrofit;
  • Improvement on energy efficiency and service performance of buildings;
  • Advanced techniques of structural retrofitting and strengthening;
  • Advanced techniques on building insulation performance;
  • Existing building material management and circular economy.

Prof. Dr. Weiguang Cai
Dr. Kairui You
Dr. Ruopeng Huang
Dr. Xinyue Fu
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. 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 repair
  • building energy retrofit
  • circular economy
  • low-carbon building structure
  • neighborhood renewal
  • sustainable building environment

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  • 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 (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2669 KiB  
Article
Research on the Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Influencing Mechanisms of Sustainable Plateau Urban Building Carbon Emissions: A Case Study of Qinghai Province
by Haifa Jia, Bo Su, Jianxun Zhang, Pengyu Liang, Wanrong Li, Shuai Wu and Shan Wang
Buildings 2025, 15(8), 1307; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15081307 - 16 Apr 2025
Viewed by 283
Abstract
Buildings account for 39% of global carbon emissions, making the construction sector a pivotal contributor to climate change. In ecologically fragile plateau regions, the tension between urban development and environmental sustainability poses a significant challenge. This study examines the spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing [...] Read more.
Buildings account for 39% of global carbon emissions, making the construction sector a pivotal contributor to climate change. In ecologically fragile plateau regions, the tension between urban development and environmental sustainability poses a significant challenge. This study examines the spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing mechanisms of building carbon emissions (BCEs) in plateau cities using an empirical analysis of 13-year panel data (2010–2022) from two municipalities and six prefectures in Qinghai Province, China. By employing the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model, we comprehensively assess drivers across four dimensions: socioeconomic structure, demographic and urban environmental factors, urban expansion patterns, and climatic topographic attributes. Key findings include: (1) The XGBoost model exhibits robust predictive performance (R2 > 0.9, MSE < 0.1, RMSE < 0.3), validating its effectiveness for plateau urban systems. (2) Socioeconomic structure and urban expansion characteristics significantly positively influence building carbon emissions, with GDP, per capita GDP, and built-up areas being particularly influential. (3) The interaction between climate and terrain increases carbon emissions in urban buildings. (4) While socioeconomic structure is a common factor affecting BCEs across different types of plateau urban buildings, other factors, such as urban population density, the housing construction area, and the urban shape index, exhibit variability. These insights inform policy recommendations for cross-regional carbon flow balancing and adaptive low-carbon planning strategies tailored to plateau ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewal and Retrofit in Buildings: Toward a Sustainable and Low-Carbon Future)
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24 pages, 6944 KiB  
Article
Peak Assessment and Driving Factor Analysis of Residential Building Carbon Emissions in China’s Urban Agglomerations
by Haiyan Huang, Fanhao Liao, Zhihui Liu, Shuangping Cao, Congguang Zhang and Ping Yao
Buildings 2025, 15(3), 333; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15030333 - 22 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 742
Abstract
Urban agglomerations, as hubs of population, economic activity, and energy consumption, significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The interconnected infrastructure, energy networks, and shared economic systems of these regions create complex emission dynamics that cannot be effectively managed through isolated city-level strategies. However, [...] Read more.
Urban agglomerations, as hubs of population, economic activity, and energy consumption, significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The interconnected infrastructure, energy networks, and shared economic systems of these regions create complex emission dynamics that cannot be effectively managed through isolated city-level strategies. However, these regions also present unique opportunities for innovation, policy implementation, and resource optimization, making them crucial focal points in efforts to reduce carbon emissions. This study examines China’s three major urban agglomerations: the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. Utilizing data from 2005 to 2020 and a comprehensive evaluation model (BCPCAM), the research offers more profound insights into the socio-economic factors and collaborative mechanisms influencing emission trends, facilitating the development of targeted strategies for sustainable development and carbon neutrality. The findings indicate that (1) economic development and carbon control can progress synergistically to some extent, as economically advanced cities like Beijing and Shanghai have achieved their carbon peaks earlier; (2) natural resource endowment significantly affects urban carbon emissions, with resource-rich cities such as Tangshan and Handan, where fossil fuels dominate the energy mix, facing considerable challenges in reducing emissions; and (3) notable differences exist in the growth patterns of carbon emissions between urban and rural buildings, underscoring the need for tailored carbon reduction policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewal and Retrofit in Buildings: Toward a Sustainable and Low-Carbon Future)
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