Potential Use of Green Hydrogen in the Built Environment

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: 15 October 2025 | Viewed by 474

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Construction Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Building M-24, Ottawa, ON K1A0R6, Canada
Interests: buildings and building engineering; climate and climate modelling; simulation and numerical modelling; materials and materials technology; durability of materials and components; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Prof Ch Sjöström Consultancy AB, Falkvägen 11A, Gävle, Sweden
Interests: sustainability of built environment; performance over time of technical systems; energy and energy production systems; materials technology; durability of materials and components

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Green hydrogen increasingly plays an important role as an efficient energy carrier for the heating and cooling of buildings, but its role extends significantly into transforming how the very materials that constitute our buildings and infrastructure are produced, making the potential uptake of green hydrogen technology quite attractive.

  • Decarbonizing Material Production: Industries such as the steel and cement manufacturing are notoriously energy-intensive and significant emitters of greenhouse gases. Green hydrogen offers a pathway to revolutionizing the production of such materials through alternative processes. For example, using hydrogen as a reducing agent in steel manufacturing can eliminate the need for fossil fuels at this stage, leading to near-zero-emission steel. Similarly, researchers are exploring the use of hydrogen in cement production to reduce its substantial carbon footprint. This dual impact—cleaner operational energy and material production—makes green hydrogen a powerful tool for overall sector decarbonization.
  • Enhancing Energy System Flexibility: The use of green hydrogen to store excess energy from renewable sources is crucial for electrical grid stability and maximizing the utilization of wind, solar, and hydro power. This stored hydrogen can then be used not only to heat and cool buildings but also to power industrial processes for material production, thereby creating a more integrated and resilient energy system. Therefore, where excess wind power is used during off-peak hours to produce green hydrogen, for example, the hydrogen can then power a local steel mill or heat nearby homes during peak demand or periods of low wind.
  • Potential for Enhancing the Circular Economy: As the green hydrogen economy develops, it can also contribute to a more circular approach within the construction sector. For instance, by enabling the production of more sustainable and potentially recyclable construction materials, hydrogen can indirectly support efforts to reduce waste and promote material reuse.

In essence, green hydrogen is not simply another source of energy for the operation of buildings; rather, it is a potential catalyst for a fundamental transformation in the entire building and construction ecosystem. By addressing both the operational energy needs and embodied carbon in construction materials, green hydrogen offers a more holistic and effective route toward achieving carbon neutrality in this critical sector.

For this Special Issue, contributions are welcome that focus on different hydrogen-based solutions which may provide the necessary energy for heating and cooling homes, decarbonizing the production of construction materials, enhancing energy system flexibility, and enhancing the circular economy.

Contributions in the following topics will be considered for inclusion in this Special Issue:

  • Using green hydrogen to decarbonize the production of construction materials, such as steel and cement;
  • Enhancing the flexibility of the electrical energy system through the use of green hydrogen to store excess electricity;
  • Demonstrating the potential for green hydrogen to enhance the circular economy;
  • Hydrogen-based energy storage systems;
  • Hydrogen in a renewable-based energy system;
  • Achieving cost-effective energy system configurations using hydrogen;
  • Modeling of energy systems with a high share of renewables including hydrogen;
  • Hydrogen technologies that allow for the achievement of net-zero buildings;
  • Integrating hydrogen with photovoltaic and battery storage systems for energy self-sufficiency in residential buildings;
  • Electrolytic hydrogen production used for energy storage in homes;
  • Hydrogen storage systems that may be safely used for home energy storage;
  • Methods for the co-generation of energy for heating or cooling that include hydrogen;
  • Efficiency and durability of hydrogen-based energy storage systems.

Dr. Michael A. Lacasse
Dr. Christer Sjöström
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

  • green hydrogen
  • energy storage systems
  • heating and cooling homes
  • modelling energy systems
  • efficiency durability
  • hydrogen storage systems
  • integration

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