Building Lighting and Integrated Lighting Design Toward High Comfort and Low Carbon

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: 30 December 2025 | Viewed by 788

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Design & Media Technology, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, A.C. Meyers Vænge 15, DK-2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark
Interests: kinetic and responsive facade; daylighting performance; visual comfort; smart architectural technology; biomimetics; energy efficiency; smart lighting

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Guest Editor
College of Engineering and Architecture, University of Nizwa, Nizwa 616, Oman
Interests: visual–thermal comfort; daylighting in architecture ; carbon neutrality; design approaches to energy efficiency ; high-performance architecture

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Guest Editor
Department of Architectural Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Interests: lighting and daylighting; building envelopes; smart materials; healthcare design; bio-inspired design; individualized comfort; data sensing and processing for sustainable built environment; BIM parametric methods; outdoor lighting
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reducing the environmental impacts of buildings is crucial, as they account for 39% of total greenhouse gas emissions. The increasing demand for visual comfort has significantly amplified energy consumption and related emissions. Current studies focus on integrated lighting systems that combine daylighting strategies with conventional and smart lighting technologies to optimize energy efficiency.

Studies on conventional lighting systems highlight the effectiveness of replacing traditional lights with high-performance LEDs, resulting in significant energy savings and carbon emission reductions. Research across various countries demonstrates reductions in lighting energy consumption ranging from 23% to 85%, depending on the intervention. Few studies have assessed the environmental impacts of lighting systems on overall building energy use. A recent study found that the environmental impacts of materials used in lighting systems contributed between 1-12%, while the energy consumed during their operation accounted for 6-24%.

This Special Issue will cover a wide range of topics related to building lighting and integrated lighting design, aiming to communicate emerging issues, advanced technologies, new findings, and scientific theories. Cross-cutting and multidisciplinary research is encouraged, focusing on advanced building facade design, intelligent sensing and control, lighting retrofitting strategies, life cycle assessment and cost analysis, simulation tool development for sustainability, building information modeling (BIM) and IoT for integrated lighting design, and integrated systems (electric lighting, photovoltaics, and solar shading systems).

Dr. Seyed Morteza Hosseini
Prof. Dr. Mohammadjavad Mahdavinejad
Dr. Julian Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • integrated lighting systems
  • intelligent sensing and control
  • BIM and IoT for integrated lighting design
  • lighting retrofitting strategies
  • advanced building facade design
  • life cycle assessment and cost analysis
  • comfort and efficiency
  • hybrid lighting
  • daylighting of workspaces
  • health, safety, and environment

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

26 pages, 8296 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Classroom Lighting Quality in Tehran Through the Integration of a Dynamic Light Shelf and Solar Panels
by Shadan Masoud, Zahra Zamani, Seyed Morteza Hosseini, Mohammadjavad Mahdavinejad and Julian Wang
Buildings 2025, 15(13), 2215; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15132215 - 24 Jun 2025
Viewed by 498
Abstract
Numerous studies have demonstrated that appropriate use of daylight in educational spaces significantly enhances students’ health and academic performance. However, classrooms in Tehran still suffer from considerable daylighting challenges. In many cases, desks near windows are exposed to excessive brightness, while areas farther [...] Read more.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that appropriate use of daylight in educational spaces significantly enhances students’ health and academic performance. However, classrooms in Tehran still suffer from considerable daylighting challenges. In many cases, desks near windows are exposed to excessive brightness, while areas farther from the windows lack adequate illumination. This often leads to the use of curtains and artificial lighting, resulting in higher energy consumption and potential negative impacts on student learning. Light shelf systems have been proposed as effective daylighting solutions to improve light penetration and distribution. According to previous research, three key parameters—geometry, depth, and surface reflectance—play a critical role in the performance of light shelves. However, prior studies have typically focused on improving one or two of these parameters in isolation. There is a lack of research evaluating all three parameters simultaneously to determine season-specific configurations for optimal performance. Addressing this gap, the present study investigates the combined effects of light shelf geometry, depth, and reflectance across different seasons and proposes a system that dynamically adapts these parameters throughout the year. In winter, the system also integrates photovoltaic panels to reduce glare and generate electricity for its operation. Simulation results indicate that the proposed system leads to a 21% improvement in Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI), a 65% increase in thermal comfort, and a 10% annual reduction in energy consumption. These findings highlight the potential of the proposed system as a practical and energy-efficient daylighting strategy for educational buildings in sunny regions such as Tehran. Full article
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