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 Thermal Comfort
share announcement

Built Environment and Thermal Comfort

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 September 2026 | Viewed by 3790

Special Issue Editors

Dr. María Luisa de la Hoz Torres

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architectural Graphic Expression and Engineering, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: indoor environmental quality; air quality; acoustics; built environment; thermal comfort; environmental data processing and modelling; building information modelling; energy poverty
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Antonio Jesús Aguilar Aguilera

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building Construction, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: thermal comfort; energy efficiency in buildings; energy poverty; environmental data processing and modelling; acoustics; built environment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Thermal comfort is a fundamental aspect in the design and management of the built environment as ensuring adequate indoor thermal comfort conditions not only enhances people’s quality of life, but also has significant impacts on health, productivity, energy efficiency, energy poverty, and the environmental sustainability of buildings and urban spaces. In outdoor environments, thermal comfort also plays a key role, particularly in the context of rapid urbanization and climate change since extreme climates and limited energy resources stress the need for new approaches to designing and managing built environments.

In this context, this Special Issue of Buildings aims to present knowledge that addresses the transition to sustainable indoor/outdoor thermal environments and how it may affect energy efficiency and people’s thermal experience. Both original research papers and review papers are welcomed and areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • New thermal comfort models;
  • Adaptive thermal comfort models;
  • PMV-based thermal comfort models;
  • Field thermal comfort studies;
  • Thermal comfort and physical and mental health;
  • Thermal comfort and energy poverty;
  • Thermal comfort and energy efficiency;
  • Thermal comfort and active/passive design strategies;
  • Thermal comfort and human behavior;
  • Thermal comfort and urban heat islands;
  • The role of vegetation and urban greenery in improving outdoor thermal comfort.

Dr. María Luisa de la Hoz Torres
Dr. Antonio Jesús Aguilar Aguilera
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

  • indoor/outdoor thermal comfort
  • adaptive thermal comfort
  • natural ventilation
  • mixed ventilation
  • thermal comfort and sleeping
  • energy efficiency
  • personal comfort models
  • climate change
  • human behavior

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 (4 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

19 pages, 5509 KB  
Article
Comparison of Operative Temperature Distribution in Radiator- and Floor-Heated Rooms
by Ferenc Kalmár, Sándor Hámori and Tünde Kalmár
Buildings 2026, 16(10), 1953; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16101953 - 14 May 2026
Viewed by 220
Abstract
Both developed and developing countries are striving to reduce building energy consumption. Heating still accounts for an important share of the total energy used in buildings. Many studies compare different heating modes, but few take into account that, first of all, in heated [...] Read more.
Both developed and developing countries are striving to reduce building energy consumption. Heating still accounts for an important share of the total energy used in buildings. Many studies compare different heating modes, but few take into account that, first of all, in heated rooms, similar operative temperatures should be provided. In this study, operative temperatures in different locations of a heated room have been analysed, assuming two different heating systems. In addition, the operative temperature distribution can be further disturbed by the room geometry (one or more external walls, or family house) and the room’s position in the building (ground floor, intermediate floor, or top floor). The operative temperature distribution was analysed at nine locations across 525 different room models for radiator and floor heating. The conducted research proved that, at the p = 0.05 significance level, the differences in operative temperatures across locations in a radiator-heated room are significant. Differences in operative temperatures across locations in a floor-heated room are significant and the number of external walls (one, two, or three) also have a significant effect on operative temperatures in a heated room. The differences in operative temperatures at the same location in a heated room with different dimensions can be significant. The differences between the mean operative temperatures in a room (radiator-heated or floor-heated) are not significant if the room has different positions in a multilevel building (ground floor, intermediate level, or top level). To compare two heating systems energetically, a complex analysis should be conducted, and efforts should be made to ensure similar operative temperatures at the most critical locations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Built Environment and Thermal Comfort)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 5510 KB  
Article
Integrated Evidence of Winter Childhood Exposure to CO2 in Housing and Classrooms in Santiago de Chile
by Javiera Moltedo-Medina, Maureen Trebilcock-Kelly, Carlos Rubio-Bellido and Alexis Pérez-Fargallo
Buildings 2026, 16(10), 1943; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16101943 - 14 May 2026
Viewed by 222
Abstract
During the winter, school-age children spend much of their time in two indoor environments, homes and classrooms, where ventilation is often restricted to conserve heat, favoring the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2). This study evaluated CO2 exposure in both environments [...] Read more.
During the winter, school-age children spend much of their time in two indoor environments, homes and classrooms, where ventilation is often restricted to conserve heat, favoring the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2). This study evaluated CO2 exposure in both environments in Santiago de Chile to characterize real conditions and their daily combinations. Continuous CO2 monitoring was conducted using sensors in four dwellings with school-age children and four classrooms from different schools during August 2024. Hourly profiles, time over the operating threshold of 1250 ppm, and equivalent hours of exposure, standardized to a daily reference time, were analyzed. In classrooms, levels above the threshold were observed episodically. They were more concentrated during school hours, with marked differences between establishments, ranging from recurrent exposure to high levels to no exposure above the established level. In the bedrooms, the increases were concentrated during the night and early morning hours, consistent with reduced effective ventilation during prolonged stays. Overall, the bedroom-classroom combined exposure showed high variability across cases; together, it allows identifying priority scenarios and the orientation of winter ventilation strategies without neglecting thermal comfort. These results support the incorporation of winter ventilation operational criteria into schools and homes as input for implementing indoor environmental quality policies and standards in urban contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Built Environment and Thermal Comfort)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

29 pages, 5033 KB  
Article
Optimizing Microclimate for the Elderly: Synergistic Effects of Landscape Elements in China’s Hot-Summer and Cold-Winter Zone
by Qin Hu and Qingqing Guan
Buildings 2026, 16(6), 1223; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16061223 - 19 Mar 2026
Viewed by 460
Abstract
This study addresses the critical challenge of optimizing outdoor thermal comfort for the aging population in old residential communities within China’s Hot-Summer and Cold-Winter (HSCW) climate zones. Against the backdrop of urban regeneration and rapid demographic aging, it investigates how key landscape elements—Square [...] Read more.
This study addresses the critical challenge of optimizing outdoor thermal comfort for the aging population in old residential communities within China’s Hot-Summer and Cold-Winter (HSCW) climate zones. Against the backdrop of urban regeneration and rapid demographic aging, it investigates how key landscape elements—Square Reflectance, Greening Type, and Pergola Condition—influence the microclimate of community public spaces. The research employed an integrated methodology centered on numerical simulation. Using the ENVI-met 5.9.0 software and an L9(34) orthogonal experimental design, it simulated the microclimatic effects of nine combined scenarios on typical summer and winter days for a case study in Nanjing. The comprehensive thermal comfort index, Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET), was used as the primary evaluation indicator to assess the thermal comfort performance for elderly occupants, with the assistance of air temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity, and the results were analyzed via range analysis and ANOVA. The key findings indicate that: (1) Greening Type and Pergola Condition are the dominant factors affecting microclimate and annual thermal comfort across seasons, while Square Reflectance has a comparatively minor influence. (2) The combination of deciduous trees with lawn achieves the optimal cross-seasonal PET gain. It provides effective shading and cooling in summer while allowing beneficial solar penetration for warming in winter, substantially outperforming evergreen-dominated configurations. (3) The presence of a pergola consistently enhances comfort by providing essential shade in summer and acting as a windbreak in winter. The combination dominated by deciduous trees + lawn and pergola yields an overall PET gain 1.097 °C higher than that of evergreen trees + shrub without pergola. This study provides evidence-based, elderly specific landscape design strategies to inform the thermal environment optimization of public spaces in old residential areas undergoing renewal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Built Environment and Thermal Comfort)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

27 pages, 5944 KB  
Article
Street Canyon Microclimate Effect on Thermal Comfort at Entrances and Exits of Underground Commercial Streets: Measured and ENVI-Met Simulation
by Dongqing Zhong, Yancui Gao, Lingxiang Wei, Xingqing Gu, Tian Li, Jingnan Xu, Lei Yao and Ziye Liu
Buildings 2025, 15(22), 4147; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15224147 - 18 Nov 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2268
Abstract
In response to the demand for high-density urban renewal and quality enhancement, the microclimate of street canyon spaces has become a critical factor influencing pedestrian experience and public space vitality. As key nodes connecting above-ground and underground spaces, the entrances and exits of [...] Read more.
In response to the demand for high-density urban renewal and quality enhancement, the microclimate of street canyon spaces has become a critical factor influencing pedestrian experience and public space vitality. As key nodes connecting above-ground and underground spaces, the entrances and exits of underground commercial streets are particularly sensitive to temperature, humidity, and wind conditions. This study examined a semi-open street canyon adjacent to Entrance No. 11 of the Jianjun Road Underground Commercial Street in Yancheng City as a case study. Through continuous field measurements and numerical simulations using ENVI-met v5.5.1, we conducted a comprehensive analysis. Five monitoring points were established at a height of 1.5 m to simultaneously record the air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and thermal radiation images. The results indicate that ventilation acceleration zones form near openings and channel constrictions, whereas leeward sides and corners are prone to stagnant airflow and heat accumulation. During afternoon periods with strong solar radiation and low wind speeds, the predicted mean vote (PMV) values near the entrance increased significantly. The simulation results were in good agreement with the field observations in terms of both the trend and spatial distribution. On the basis of these findings, optimization strategies are proposed including controlling enclosure ratios and local height-to-width ratios, utilizing ventilation corridors and side openings to guide airflow, and incorporating shading devices and low-emissivity materials to improve pedestrian thermal comfort and accessibility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Built Environment and Thermal Comfort)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop