Net-Zero/Positive Energy Buildings and Districts

Dear Colleagues,

Buildings use approximately 40% of all energy produced globally. Energy in buildings and districts is one of the main potential fields for the mitigation of emissions. This can be done by enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings, by using advanced buildings’ designs, envelopes, and HVAC system components. In addition, and in order to reach carbon neutrality, it is necessary to integrate suitable onsite renewable energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies, which can offset imported energy from grids. Accordingly, various raising concepts for net-zero/positive energy buildings and districts (NZPEBD) have emerged in the recent years to shape cities into carbon neutral communities in the near future.

For this Special Issue, authors are kindly invited to submit high-quality papers on one or more of the following topics related to net-zero/positive energy buildings and districts (NZPEBD):

• Definitions of NZPEBD, including the spatial boundary of balance, temporal framework, target energy, and exchanged credits (site-energy, primary energy, CO₂ emissions, etc.);
• New buildings and the renovation of old buildings, including heritage and historical buildings and districts’ new energy concepts, to NZPEBD levels;
• KPIs development for NZPEBD;
• Energy flexibility in NZPEBD;
• Simulation and optimization methods;
• Economic feasibility of NZPEBD;
• Social aspects of NZPEBD;
• Energy transition pathways towards NZPEBD;
• Practical challenges and barriers for NZPEBD emergence and development;
• Experience from construction, operation, and monitoring of NZPEBD demos.

Papers addressing other related topics will also be considered.

Dr. Ala Hasan
Dr. Francesco Reda
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.