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Development of Indoor Environment Comfort in Buildings
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Development of Indoor Environment Comfort in 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: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1749

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Francesco Ruggiero

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Construction and Design, Politecnico di Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: energy systems; renewable sources; IEQ; building physics; applied thermal engineering; energy saving
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Roberto Stasi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Construction and Design, Polytechnic University of Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: thermal comfort; IAQ; natural ventilation; ventilative cooling; bioclimatic architecture; CFD; low-energy buildings; building energy simulation; building energy-saving; energy-efficient building design; indoor environmental quality; passive cooling; building energy retrofit
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growing environmental concerns regarding the health of our planet and the urgent need for an energy transition towards carbon neutrality by 2050 require a comprehensive reassessment of the factors that define comfort within indoor environments. This Special Issue is dedicated to the presentation and dissemination of the latest research findings related to the evolution of indoor environmental comfort, with a particular focus on the analysis of the numerous factors that influence the well-being of building occupants.

The central themes of this research will be an exhaustive historical and scientific examination of the evolving requirements for indoor comfort. By identifying and assessing the impact of various parameters, including thermal, acoustic, visual and air quality, on the perception of comfort and human well-being, this issue aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the dynamic interplay between the built environment and its users.

Furthermore, this Special Issue emphasises the vital necessity of adopting a multidisciplinary approach in the design and operation of buildings. The present objective is to investigate innovative strategies that reconcile the aim of enhancing occupant well-being with that of achieving energy efficiency. The volume will delineate prospective avenues for the advancement of indoor comfort, particularly in the context of integrating smart technologies, utilising innovative high-performance thermophysical building materials, deploying advanced terminal devices for optimal energy distribution and incorporating renewable energy sources.

Dr. Francesco Ruggiero
Dr. Roberto Stasi
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-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

  • indoor environmental comfort
  • energy efficiency
  • building design
  • smart technologies
  • occupant well-being
  • indoor environmental comfort
  • energy efficiency

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

30 pages, 9301 KB  
Article
Evaluating the Effects of Climate Change on the Thermal Performance of Residential Buildings in Hot and Arid Regions
by Khaoula Amraoui, Sara Ouanes, Safa Daich, Imadeddine Reghiss, Silvia Di Turi, Roberto Stasi and Francesco Ruggiero
Buildings 2025, 15(23), 4378; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15234378 - 2 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1109
Abstract
The main challenge for the scientific community is to mitigate climate change impacts while reducing energy consumption, without compromising comfort and quality of life. Buildings in hot climates require specific design strategies to limit the effects of extreme weather and heat waves. Standardized [...] Read more.
The main challenge for the scientific community is to mitigate climate change impacts while reducing energy consumption, without compromising comfort and quality of life. Buildings in hot climates require specific design strategies to limit the effects of extreme weather and heat waves. Standardized modern buildings, often unsuitable for hot and arid climates, lead to high energy consumption, mainly due to cooling systems, causing both discomfort and energy inefficiency. Previous studies have shown that solutions inspired by local vernacular architecture are often more effective than conventional construction techniques. This paper investigates the thermal response and discomfort intensity in two building models exposed to various climate scenarios: a typical modern residential building and a bioclimatic vernacular-inspired building. The analysis is conducted through dynamic thermal simulations under current as well as future medium- and long-term climate change scenarios. The study evaluates the buildings’ ability to adapt to future environmental changes, an aspect that has not yet been studied in depth. Results show that contemporary buildings experience significantly higher levels of thermal discomfort than vernacular buildings under both present (TMY) and future (SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5, 2080) climate conditions. Results show that under the present climate, the vernacular building exhibits about 22% fewer discomfort hours than the contemporary one and roughly half the overheating integrated degree-hours. Under future scenarios, overheating increases by 25.8% to 67.7% in the contemporary building and 36.1% to 89.6% in the vernacular building, yet the vernacular building consistently maintains substantially lower discomfort levels. Overall, vernacular inspired envelopes remain more resilient to warming in all scenarios, but additional adaptation measures are required to ensure acceptable summer comfort by late century. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Indoor Environment Comfort in Buildings)
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