Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.4
3.1
Journals
Buildings
Special Issues
Built Environment and Building Energy for Decarbonization
share announcement

Built Environment and Building Energy for Decarbonization

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: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 2453

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Kyungmo Kang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Architectural Engineering, Daejin University, 1007 Hoguk-ro, Pocheon-si 11159, Republic of Korea
Interests: indoor air quality; building energy; indoor environment
Dr. Daeung Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architectural Engineering, Cheongju University, 298 Daesung-ro, Cheongju 28503, Republic of Korea
Interests: building energy efficiency; ventilation performance; IAQ; NZEB
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The issue of carbon neutrality is gaining more importance as global warming continues, pushing governments, industries, and societies to adopt more sustainable practices. The building sector is one of the major energy-consuming industries and has a significant role in achieving carbon neutrality. Furthermore, the demand for a better-built environment has been rising, driven by many recent technological advancements. The growing importance of carbon neutrality has led to considerable research being carried out on improving energy efficiency in the building sector.

The demand for a better-built environment has increased in recent years, fueled by technological advancements in construction, materials, and energy systems. These developments not only aim to reduce energy consumption but also to create healthier, more comfortable indoor environments.

The aim of this Special Issue is to find a new research area on building energy-saving and indoor and built environments. It seeks to address the energy challenges faced by the building sector and explore potential pathways toward carbon-neutral buildings. The main topics of interests include the following:

  • Building energy;
  • Indoor air quality;
  • Indoor environmental quality;
  • Thermal comfort;
  • Advanced building control and optimization;
  • Building simulation;
  • Building materials;
  • IoT technology.

Dr. Kyungmo Kang
Dr. Daeung Kim
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

  • building energy
  • indoor air quality
  • indoor environmental quality
  • thermal comfort
  • advanced building control and optimization
  • building simulation
  • building materials
  • IoT technology
  • building information modeling

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

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

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 1609 KB  
Article
Low-Cost Gas Sensing and Machine Learning for Intelligent Refrigeration in the Built Environment
by Mooyoung Yoo
Buildings 2026, 16(1), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16010041 (registering DOI) - 22 Dec 2025
Abstract
Accurate, real-time monitoring of meat freshness is essential for reducing food waste and safeguarding consumer health, yet conventional methods rely on costly, laboratory-grade spectroscopy or destructive analyses. This work presents a low-cost electronic-nose platform that integrates a compact array of metal-oxide gas sensors [...] Read more.
Accurate, real-time monitoring of meat freshness is essential for reducing food waste and safeguarding consumer health, yet conventional methods rely on costly, laboratory-grade spectroscopy or destructive analyses. This work presents a low-cost electronic-nose platform that integrates a compact array of metal-oxide gas sensors (Figaro TGS2602, TGS2603, and Sensirion SGP30) with a Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) model to estimate a continuous freshness index under refrigerated storage. The pipeline includes headspace sensing, baseline normalization and smoothing, history-window feature construction, and probabilistic prediction with uncertainty. Using factorial analysis and response-surface optimization, we identify history length and sampling interval as key design variables; longer temporal windows and faster sampling consistently improve accuracy and stability. The optimized configuration (≈143-min history, ≈3-min sampling) reduces mean absolute error from ~0.51 to ~0.05 on the normalized freshness scale and shifts the error distribution within specification limits, with marked gains in process capability and yield. Although it does not match the analytical precision or long-term robustness of spectrometric approaches, the proposed system offers an interpretable and energy-efficient option for short-term, laboratory-scale monitoring under controlled refrigeration conditions. By enabling probabilistic freshness estimation from low-cost sensors, this GPR-driven e-nose demonstrates a proof-of-concept pathway that could, after further validation under realistic cyclic loads and operational disturbances, support more sustainable meat management in future smart refrigeration and cold-chain applications. This study should be regarded as a methodological, laboratory-scale proof-of-concept that does not demonstrate real-world performance or operational deployment. The technical implications described herein are hypothetical and require extensive validation under realistic refrigeration conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Built Environment and Building Energy for Decarbonization)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

26 pages, 7556 KB  
Article
Reduction Characteristics of Stack-Effect Problems According to Applying Local Countermeasures by Pressure Distribution Measurement in Buildings
by Taeyon Hwang, Min-ku Hwang and Joowook Kim
Buildings 2025, 15(24), 4453; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15244453 - 10 Dec 2025
Viewed by 192
Abstract
Stack effects in high-rise buildings cause noise, drafts, and elevator door malfunctions during cold weather yet remain difficult to control. Because vertical shafts couple pressures between floors, local fixes at a single lobby can unintentionally disturb the pressure field elsewhere. To analyze these [...] Read more.
Stack effects in high-rise buildings cause noise, drafts, and elevator door malfunctions during cold weather yet remain difficult to control. Because vertical shafts couple pressures between floors, local fixes at a single lobby can unintentionally disturb the pressure field elsewhere. To analyze these interactions, we developed a measurement-calibrated CONTAM multizone model of a 43-story office building and evaluated representative local countermeasures. Under base winter conditions, the pressure difference across the problematic first-floor high-rise elevator doors is 56 Pa, driving approximately 1300 CMH of airflow through the door line. First-floor depressurization reduces this to 34 Pa (about 30% lower airflow) but simultaneously increases the pressure at the main entrance doors from 19 to 39 Pa. Additional first-floor partitions slightly reduce pressures on upper high-rise floors, whereas opening exterior windows in the high-rise zone increases shaft airflow by 7.7% and further amplifies elevator door pressures. We show that neutral pressure level (NPL) shifts into vertical shafts are a key mechanism limiting the effectiveness of purely local interventions. These results demonstrate that effective countermeasures must be designed at the whole-building scale, jointly controlling pressure redistribution and neutral-pressure-level movement while directing unavoidable pressure transfer toward the exterior envelope and away from sensitive interior spaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Built Environment and Building Energy for Decarbonization)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

28 pages, 15018 KB  
Article
The Influence of Hot and Humid Climate Data on Modern Architectural Façade Design: A Case Study of Educational Buildings in Adana, Türkiye
by Gökhan Uşma and Derya Sökmen Kök
Buildings 2025, 15(11), 1939; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15111939 - 3 Jun 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1766
Abstract
This study focuses on how modern architecture can be interpreted using regional data and how hot and humid climate data ultimately affect façade design. Despite modernism’s dominance in 20th-century architecture, research on its adaptation to climates remains limited. Five educational buildings of modern [...] Read more.
This study focuses on how modern architecture can be interpreted using regional data and how hot and humid climate data ultimately affect façade design. Despite modernism’s dominance in 20th-century architecture, research on its adaptation to climates remains limited. Five educational buildings of modern architectural style in Adana, Türkiye, a city with a hot–humid climate, were selected for detailed analysis. These buildings were evaluated based on key façade parameters such as opening configurations and solar shading elements. Additionally, thermal imaging, sun-path diagram simulation, and thermal comfort evaluations were conducted to assess façade performance. The findings suggest that contrary to criticisms of modern architecture’s disregard for local conditions, the studied buildings integrate climate-responsive design strategies. In contrast to contemporary architecture’s reliance on technical equipment for thermal comfort, this study also demonstrates that passive design strategies and structural decisions can offer effective alternatives in hot and humid climates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Built Environment and Building Energy for Decarbonization)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop