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Buildings
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Healthy, Low-Carbon and Resilient Built Environments
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Healthy, Low-Carbon and Resilient Built Environments

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: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 2177

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yingdong He

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410012, China
Interests: vehicle to grid; vehicle-to-building; building-vehicle-grid energy systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ninaping Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410012, China
Interests: indoor air quality; building environment; building energy; thermal comfort
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Faced with environmental issues such as global warming, our society requires buildings to be healthy and have low carbon emissions. Besides, when a disaster (frozen weather) or extreme event (e.g., heatwave) happens, buildings should be energy efficient and provide sufficient protection to their occupants and operations. In other words, future buildings, including the communities they are located in, should provide healthy, energy-efficient, and adaptive built environments under different scenarios. The relevant research may involve indoor and outdoor environments, air quality, building energy efficiency, building systems, distributed renewable energy, energy storage, demand response, grid interaction, intelligent building control, etc., emphasizing not only our knowledge and understanding but also practical technologies and intelligent management for buildings.

This Special Issue of Buildings, titled “Healthy, Low-Carbon and Resilient Built Environments”, welcomes high-quality original contributions and high-impact works related to the above-stated topics.

We warmly invite authors to submit their original papers to this Special Issue on “Healthy, Low-Carbon, and Resilient Built Environments”.

Dr. Yingdong He
Prof. Dr. Ninaping Li
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

  • human health
  • carbon neutralization
  • thermal comfort
  • indoor air quality
  • emission reduction
  • building energy system
  • intelligent building technologies
  • resilient buildings

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

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 4420 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Energy Comsuption and Indoor Environment in Rural Residences in South China
by Hua Lei, Miaoyan Qiu, Tianwei Tang, Yanping Yang and Yukang Yuan
Buildings 2025, 15(7), 1129; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15071129 - 30 Mar 2025
Viewed by 176
Abstract
With the development of society, energy application and building thermal comfort in rural residences are receiving more and more attention. The rural residences in this survey mainly cover the rural areas of 21 prefectures in Guangdong province, of which 24.7% are in the [...] Read more.
With the development of society, energy application and building thermal comfort in rural residences are receiving more and more attention. The rural residences in this survey mainly cover the rural areas of 21 prefectures in Guangdong province, of which 24.7% are in the Pearl River Delta, 18.9% in western Guangdong, 13.1% in eastern Guangdong, and 43.2% in northern Guangdong. Rural household energy consumption is mainly used for lighting equipment, household appliances, and cooking equipment, where lighting equipment and household appliances mainly consume electrical energy, and cooking equipment consumes different types of energy due to the diversity of types. First, there is a wide variety and variation in rural energy consumption, with electricity and liquefied petroleum gas as the main sources of cooking energy. Hot water is mainly obtained by heating with electricity and natural gas. Secondly, for rural residents, renewable energy is too expensive to build, is also affected by the environment and weather, and is often not convenient to use. Third, rural residents generally experience a warm, humid indoor environment with adequate airflow, but poor kitchen ventilation reduces air quality satisfaction. To enhance renewable energy adoption, technological advancements and cost reductions are necessary, along with increased government efforts in awareness campaigns, policy incentives, and demonstration projects. This study analyses the rural energy structure in Guangdong, proposes the direction of rural energy optimization, and analyses rural energy use and the feasibility of renewable energy promotion, considering the population and income of rural households. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy, Low-Carbon and Resilient Built Environments)
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31 pages, 9021 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Floor-Level Impact on Natural Ventilation and Indoor Thermal Environment in Hot–Humid Climates: A Case Study of a Mid-Rise Educational Building
by Emeka J. Mba, Peter I. Oforji, Francis O. Okeke, Ikechukwu W. Ozigbo, Chinyelu D. F. Onyia, Chinelo A. Ozigbo, Emmanuel C. Ezema, Foluso C. Awe, Rosemary C. Nnaemeka-Okeke and Stephanie C. Onyia
Buildings 2025, 15(5), 686; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15050686 - 22 Feb 2025
Viewed by 788
Abstract
The rapid urbanization of developing cities has intensified the challenge of maintaining thermal comfort in buildings, particularly in hot–humid climates. This study investigates the impact of floor level on airflow patterns and indoor temperatures in multi-purpose mid-rise buildings in Onitsha, Nigeria, where increasing [...] Read more.
The rapid urbanization of developing cities has intensified the challenge of maintaining thermal comfort in buildings, particularly in hot–humid climates. This study investigates the impact of floor level on airflow patterns and indoor temperatures in multi-purpose mid-rise buildings in Onitsha, Nigeria, where increasing urban density and frequent power outages necessitate effective passive cooling strategies. Through a mixed-method approach combining empirical measurements, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, and thermal performance analysis, the research examined variations in ventilation rates and temperature distributions across different floor levels of a six-story educational building over an annual cycle, focusing on the hottest (27 February), coldest (28 December), most windy (3 April), and least windy (17 September) days. Results revealed distinct floor-level ventilation patterns: upper floors (fourth–fifth) achieved 39–40 air changes per hour (ACH) during hot periods while maintaining temperatures of 30–35 degrees Celsius (°C); middle floors (second–third) showed moderate ventilation (15–22 ACH) but experienced heat accumulation (35–42 °C); and lower floors reached 20 ACH during windy conditions. Temperature stratification varied from 15 °C between floors across the entire building during peak conditions to 7 °C during windy periods. Stack-driven ventilation in upper floors contributed to temperature reductions of up to 3 °C, while wind-driven ventilation promoted uniform temperature distribution across all levels. These findings informed floor-specific design recommendations: hybrid ventilation systems with automated controls, strategic architectural features including a minimum floor level area of 15% for the central atrium, and comprehensive monitoring systems with six temperature sensors per floor. This study provides evidence-based strategies for optimizing thermal comfort in tropical urban environments, particularly valuable for designing energy-efficient buildings in rapidly developing cities with hot-humid climates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy, Low-Carbon and Resilient Built Environments)
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16 pages, 4564 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study of Energy Recovery Ventilator for Enhancing Indoor Air Quality in Daycare Centers: A Case Study in South Korea
by Daeung Danny Kim and Kyungmo Kang
Buildings 2025, 15(4), 566; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15040566 - 12 Feb 2025
Viewed by 664
Abstract
Improving indoor air quality (IAQ) in daycare centers is essential due to children’s vulnerability to pollutants and prolonged indoor exposure. To address these challenges, energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) with varying filtration efficiencies were evaluated through field measurements and CONTAM simulations. Baseline assessments of [...] Read more.
Improving indoor air quality (IAQ) in daycare centers is essential due to children’s vulnerability to pollutants and prolonged indoor exposure. To address these challenges, energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) with varying filtration efficiencies were evaluated through field measurements and CONTAM simulations. Baseline assessments of CO2 and PM2.5 levels revealed significant impacts from outdoor pollutant infiltration. ERVs successfully reduced CO2 concentrations, maintaining levels below 1000 ppm during most occupancy periods. However, low-efficiency filters (MERV 8 or lower) permitted outdoor particulate matter infiltration, increasing indoor PM2.5 levels. High-performance filters (MERV 13 or higher) reduced indoor PM2.5 concentrations by up to 50%, significantly improving air quality. Findings emphasize the necessity of combining high-efficiency filtration with ERVs to mitigate pollutant infiltration and ensure healthy indoor environments. Policymakers and practitioners are urged to implement ventilation systems equipped with MERV 13 or higher filters, particularly in regions with high outdoor pollution. These strategies are critical for safeguarding children’s health and meeting IAQ standards in daycare facilities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy, Low-Carbon and Resilient Built Environments)
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