Energy and Climate Policy in Practice: Insights from Sustainable, Smart and Resilient Buildings
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 August 2026 | Viewed by 75
Special Issue Editors
Interests: building energy modelling and optimization; indoor climate; building sustainability; nZEB; indoor environment; climate change mitigation; building automation; building simulation; HVAC system design
Interests: building performance monitoring, modelling and optimization; hygrothermal and energy performance; indoor environmental quality; climate influence in buildings; climate change mitigation; development of predictive control models for building performance
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The building sector stands at the intersection of technological innovation, climate action, and policy implementation. As global efforts intensify to meet ambitious climate and energy goals, buildings are increasingly viewed not only as energy consumers but also as active contributors to a more sustainable and resilient built environment. While smart technologies and data-driven systems continue to evolve, the practical application of energy and climate policies in buildings—whether sustainable, smart, or resilient—remains a complex and often underexplored challenge due to its multi-nature feature.
This Special Issue aims to highlight how energy and climate policies are experienced, interpreted, and implemented in practice, uncovering both opportunities and barriers across different building contexts.
To support this aim, the Special Issue seeks to achieve the following:
- Investigate how smart technologies and digital tools influence the implementation of climate and energy policies.
- Explore the integration of resilience strategies in building design, operation, and management.
- Evaluate the impact of energy and climate policies on indoor environmental quality (IEQ), including thermal comfort, air quality, lighting, and acoustics, to ensure health and well-being alongside energy efficiency.
- Examine how users, professionals, and institutions respond to and shape policy outcomes.
- Analyze the interaction between policy, behaviour, and technology in real-life building settings.
- Reflect on how lived experiences can inform more inclusive and effective energy and climate strategies.
- Assess the role of AI-based technologies in optimizing energy use, predicting performance, and supporting policy compliance in buildings.
We welcome contributions offering empirical insights, interdisciplinary approaches, and innovative frameworks to advance sustainable building practices worldwide.
Dr. Mehrdad Rabani
Dr. Guilherme Coelho
Dr. Mehran Rabani
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
- energy policy implementation
- climate-responsive buildings
- sustainable building practices
- smart building technologies
- resilient design strategies
- lived experiences in buildings
- AI in building performance
- policy-practice gap
- indoor environmental quality
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