Building Ventilation and Air Quality: Integrated Approaches for Human Health, Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Environment

Dear Colleagues,

The importance of building ventilation and indoor/outdoor air quality has grown dramatically with more frequent extreme weather, heightened post-pandemic health awareness, and the fact that people spend approximately 90% of their time indoors. Indoor pollutant levels often exceed outdoor concentration due to lower ventilation rates as well as emissions from building materials, occupant activities, and chemical reactions. Also, high rise and modern buildings contribute to the urban heat island (UHI) effect through heat-absorbing materials and impervious surfaces, which worsen local air quality by increasing ozone formation, pollutant concentrations, and higher energy demands for cooling.

Indoor and outdoor environments are tightly coupled through infiltration, natural pressure differences, and mechanical ventilation. Pollutants, heat, moisture, bioaerosols, and pathogens readily move across the building envelope. This reality calls for an integrated indoor–outdoor air quality approach to create healthier, comfortable, energy-efficient, and climate-resilient buildings that support Sustainable Development Goals.

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), low-cost sensors, and digital twins make it possible to monitor indoor and outdoor air quality in real time, predict future conditions, provide occupant-centered control, and apply demand-controlled ventilation for comfort — all while protecting health and reducing energy use in nearly zero-energy buildings. Hence, we welcome original research articles, review papers, and meta-analyses on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

• Indoor–outdoor pollutant exchange and coupled exposure dynamics;
• Performance of natural, mechanical, and hybrid ventilation systems under present and future climates;
• Low-cost sensor networks, real-time monitoring, and data fusion methods;
• Modeling airborne pathogen transmission and ventilation strategies for infection control;
• Filtration, removal, and infiltration of PM_2.5, PM₁, ultrafine particles, and other aerosols;
• Sources, fate, infiltration, and control of VOCs, O₃, CO₂, NOx, or emerging pollutants;
• AI/ML applications for predictive modeling, fault detection, and personalized ventilation;
• Energy-efficient ventilation and thermal comfort in nearly zero-energy and passive modern buildings;
• Effects of urban greenery, green walls, and building design on indoor and local air quality;
• Effects of building designs on UHI, air quality, thermal stress, or indoor environments;
• Outdoor air quality modeling, long-term monitoring, and its impact on indoor infiltration;
• Indoor air quality modeling (ML/AI, CFD) for source apportionment and control;
• Policy, standards, life-cycle assessment, and post-occupancy evaluation of ventilation performance;
• AI-driven smart buildings, demand-controlled ventilation, climate-resilient indoor environments, and low-carbon buildings.

We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions.

Dr. Muhammad Azher Hassan
Dr. Tariq Mehmood
Dr. Chenhua Wang
Guest Editors

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• indoor air quality
• outdoor air quality
• AI/ML applications
• smart buildings
• thermal comfort
• pollutants removal
• energy efficient ventilation