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Carbon-Neutral and Zero Energy Buildings with Renewable Energy Systems
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Carbon-Neutral and Zero Energy Buildings with Renewable Energy Systems

A Special Issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309) belonging to the section "Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 1218

Editors

Dr. Bae Sangmu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building Energy Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Goyang 10223, Republic of Korea
Interests: renewable energy systems; photovoltaics; solar thermal energy; ground-source heat pumps; zero energy buildings; sustainable buildings
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jiyoun Lim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building Energy Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Goyang 10223, Republic of Korea
Interests: energy efficiency; renewable energy systems; smart grid optimization; data-driven energy performance analysis; net-zero energy; decarbonization; sustainability; LCA
Dr. Hyun-Jung Choi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building Energy Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Goyang 10223, Republic of Korea
Interests: building energy; building simulation; zero energy building; green-remodeling; renewable energy systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The building sector plays a critical role in global decarbonization efforts, accounting for a substantial share of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The transition toward carbon-neutral and zero energy buildings requires not only high-performance envelopes and passive design strategies but also the effective integration of renewable energy systems and smart grid-connected building energy technologies. In this context, buildings are evolving from passive energy consumers to active energy prosumers within intelligent energy networks.

This Special Issue focuses on advanced approaches for achieving carbon-neutral and zero energy performance in buildings through integrated design, system optimization, renewable energy applications, and smart grid interaction. Emphasis is placed on building-level innovations, performance assessment methods, and practical implementation strategies that enhance energy efficiency, operational flexibility, and environmental sustainability.

Original research articles, review papers, and case studies are welcome. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • High-performance building design for zero energy and carbon-neutral targets;
  • Building energy modeling and simulation methods;
  • Integration of on-site renewable energy systems (e.g., photovoltaics, solar thermal systems, heat pumps);
  • Smart building energy management and building-to-grid interaction;
  • Demand response and flexible building operation strategies;
  • Life cycle assessment (LCA) and embodied carbon evaluation at the building scale;
  • Data-driven energy performance analysis and digital twin applications;
  • Advanced envelope technologies and passive design solutions.

We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions.

Dr. Bae Sangmu
Dr. Jiyoun Lim
Dr. Hyun-Jung Choi
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-anonymized 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

  • zero energy building
  • renewable energy systems
  • smart grid
  • life cycle assessment
  • data-driven
  • carbon-neutral
  • building energy

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4543 KB  
Article
Quantification of Plus Demand Response Availability by Building Use Type Under Renewable Energy Curtailment in South Korea
by Jiyoung Eum and Jiyoun Lim
Buildings 2026, 16(12), 2351; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16122351 - 12 Jun 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 465 | Correction
Abstract
Renewable energy curtailment has emerged as a growing challenge on the Korean mainland grid as photovoltaic (PV) and wind power capacity continues to expand toward national carbon neutrality targets. Plus demand response (Plus DR), in which electricity consumers increase consumption during curtailment periods, [...] Read more.
Renewable energy curtailment has emerged as a growing challenge on the Korean mainland grid as photovoltaic (PV) and wind power capacity continues to expand toward national carbon neutrality targets. Plus demand response (Plus DR), in which electricity consumers increase consumption during curtailment periods, has been introduced as a demand-side mitigation measure. Buildings represent a potential resource for Plus DR participation. However, existing studies have primarily focused on load-reduction DR, and Plus DR availability by building use type under curtailment conditions has not been systematically quantified. This study estimates Plus DR availability of building loads by use type—department store, hotel, general commercial, public facility, apartment, and school—based on representative building load profiles, PV generation data, and 2025 curtailment occurrence data from the Korean mainland grid. Curtailment events were concentrated in the 10:00–16:00 window with peak frequency at 12:00 (80 events). The combined Plus DR availability across the six use types averaged 290.3 kW during curtailment hours, peaking at 300.9 kW at 14:00. The estimated Plus DR availability operated primarily through the load-increase pathway (additional grid consumption) rather than the surplus absorption pathway (reduced PV export). Surplus generation was observed only in the school at 13:00 (0.77 kW). These results provide a quantitative basis for identifying suitable building types and curtailment-responsive time windows for building-based Plus DR program design on the Korean mainland, and may serve as a reference for mainland DR market development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon-Neutral and Zero Energy Buildings with Renewable Energy Systems)
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11 pages, 10207 KB  
Article
Distinct Contributions of Building-Integrated PV and BESS to Energy and Cost Reduction Using Measured Operational Data
by Jiyoung Eum and Gyeong-Seok Choi
Buildings 2026, 16(10), 2038; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16102038 - 21 May 2026
Viewed by 431
Abstract
Despite the widespread deployment of combined PV–BESS systems in community buildings, the distinct contributions of each technology to energy consumption reduction and electricity cost savings remain poorly quantified under real operational conditions. Three years of measured hourly operational data (2023–2025) from a twelve-building [...] Read more.
Despite the widespread deployment of combined PV–BESS systems in community buildings, the distinct contributions of each technology to energy consumption reduction and electricity cost savings remain poorly quantified under real operational conditions. Three years of measured hourly operational data (2023–2025) from a twelve-building mixed-use complex in Siheung-si, South Korea, were analyzed to disaggregate the contributions of a 105.84 kW PV array and a 216 kWh BESS operating under a time-of-use (TOU) electricity tariff. PV and BESS contributions were separated by computing hourly energy flows from measured generation, charging, and discharging data. PV self-consumption accounted for all energy savings, totaling 270,028 kWh over the study period, while the BESS recorded a net energy loss of −7833 kWh due to round-trip efficiency losses. In contrast, the BESS contributed to electricity cost reduction by shifting on-peak consumption to off-peak charging periods, accounting for 13–15% of total annual cost savings. Total electricity cost reduction over three years reached $31,020, with on-peak periods contributing 70.3% of savings. These results establish that PV and BESS serve fundamentally distinct functions: PV reduces both energy consumption and electricity costs through direct self-consumption, while BESS operates as a cost-shifting mechanism through TOU arbitrage without reducing net energy use. The quantitative results provide a practical basis for evaluating PV–BESS systems in community-scale buildings under real-world tariff conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon-Neutral and Zero Energy Buildings with Renewable Energy Systems)
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