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Buildings
Special Issues
Low-Carbon Transformation of Existing Built Environments: From Retrofit to Regeneration
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Low-Carbon Transformation of Existing Built Environments: From Retrofit to Regeneration

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: 30 August 2026 | Viewed by 829

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xiaojun Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture and Planning, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Interests: building energy modeling; low-carbon buildings; energy use behavior; low-carbon communities; embodied carbon emissions
Dr. Hu Du

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores University, 3.09 Cherie Booth Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK
Interests: low-carbon buildings; performance monitoring and modelling; retrofit; climate change; renewable energy integration in buildings; indoor air quality and health impact of mould
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Qunfeng Ji

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: sustainable building design (zero energy, zero carbon, energy-positive buildings); multi-scale urban form and carbon emissions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As global building stocks age while climate goals tighten, the decarbonization of existing built environments has become the defining challenge of urban sustainability. New construction accounts for a declining proportion of building stocks annually, making the retrofit, adaptive reuse, and systemic renewal of existing structures imperative for achieving carbon neutrality. This Special Issue addresses the multi-scale complexities—from individual buildings to neighborhood systems—in transforming existing built environments through integrated technological, behavioral, and policy innovations.

Fields Covered:

  • Building stock modeling and carbon accounting;
  • Deep retrofit technologies and systemic innovation;
  • Adaptive reuse and circular economy strategies;
  • Community-scale renewal and energy flexibility;
  • Occupant engagement and behavior in retrofitted environments;
  • Policy, finance, and governance models;
  • Digitalization and performance assurance.

Dr. Xiaojun Li
Dr. Hu Du
Dr. Qunfeng Ji
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 stock modeling
  • existing building retrofit
  • adaptive reuse
  • retrofit policy and finance
  • post-occupancy evaluation
  • heritage building decarbonization
  • urban energy transition
  • socio-technical systems
  • circular construction
  • district-level decarbonization

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

30 pages, 11967 KB  
Article
Incorporating Occupant Age Structure into Building Energy Simulation for Envelope Retrofit Evaluation in Existing Residential Buildings
by Zexin Man, Yutong Tan, Han Lin, Zhengtao Ai and Rongpeng Zhang
Buildings 2026, 16(7), 1323; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16071323 - 26 Mar 2026
Viewed by 479
Abstract
The retrofit of existing residential buildings plays a critical role in reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions in the building sector. However, previous retrofit evaluations often fail to account for the age-related thermal and lighting requirements of residents in aging residential buildings, thereby [...] Read more.
The retrofit of existing residential buildings plays a critical role in reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions in the building sector. However, previous retrofit evaluations often fail to account for the age-related thermal and lighting requirements of residents in aging residential buildings, thereby overlooking the substantial behavioral heterogeneity that shapes retrofit effectiveness. This study evaluates the comprehensive performance of different building envelope retrofit strategies, considering occupants’ thermal and visual comfort, from the perspectives of energy efficiency, economic feasibility, and environmental sustainability. First, age-specific differences in occupancy patterns, thermal preferences, and lighting requirements between elderly and non-elderly comparison group occupants were systematically extracted from the literature. Then, a typical high-rise residential building was modeled in EnergyPlus to serve as the reference building, within which the differentiated occupant behavior models were implemented, and the pre-retrofit condition was defined as the baseline scenario. Next, six commonly applied exterior wall insulation materials and different glass configurations and window frames were parameterized and evaluated under varying insulation thicknesses and remaining building service life scenarios. Finally, the energy-saving performance, economic benefits, and carbon reduction potential of envelope retrofit measures were quantitatively assessed across three primary functional zones (bedroom, living room, and study), using area-normalized indicators. The results indicate that, in the retrofit of existing residential buildings, bedrooms and study rooms exhibit greater retrofit benefits than living rooms, primarily due to longer occupancy durations and higher heating demand. In terms of retrofit strategies, exterior wall insulation consistently outperforms window retrofitting in energy-saving potential, with energy-saving rates of approximately 3.2–4.3% depending on functional zone, material type, and insulation thickness. Among the evaluated materials, vitrified microbead insulation performs best overall in terms of energy, economic, and carbon benefits at 40–60 mm thickness. These findings support occupant-informed, low-carbon retrofit decision-making for existing residential buildings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Transformation of Existing Built Environments: From Retrofit to Regeneration)
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