Energy Efficient Green Buildings for Sustainable Construction

Dear Colleagues,

The transition towards sustainable construction is an urgent global necessity, driven by the need to radically reduce emissions and resource consumption in the built environment. The global construction sector is responsible for a considerable proportion of energy consumption and associated carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Consequently, the development of energy-efficient green buildings has emerged as a crucial element in global climate action strategies. To address this challenge directly, the objective of new construction is near-zero-energy buildings (NZEBs), which are based heavily on passive design strategies to drastically reduce energy demand before integrating renewable energy sources to meet remaining needs. However, the pursuit of NZEBs must be grounded in a holistic life-cycle perspective. The Life-Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) methodology is an advanced framework that goes beyond conventional environmental metrics. It provides a comprehensive approach to quantifying the environmental impacts of a facility across all stages of its life-cycle. LCSA is imperative for the evaluation of the sustainability performance of the built environment, as it integrates the environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Within the framework of this life-cycle assessment, particular emphasis is placed on embodied carbon, which encompasses all emissions resulting from the extraction, manufacturing, transportation, construction, and end-of-life management of materials and components. The most progressive designs employ low-carbon materials and adhere to the principles of the circular economy in construction by prioritizing material reuse and Building Information Modeling (BIM) for the minimization of waste and the tracking of components. A vast majority of emissions are expected to originate from existing structures, necessitating the prioritization of retrofitting and complete renovation. Strategies in this area have been shown to be effective when focused on upgrading envelopes and integrating modern energy-efficient systems. Furthermore, the integration of smart building and IoT technologies facilitates real-time energy management, thereby optimizing operational performance and improving occupant health and comfort.

The goal of this Special Issue is to present and disseminate the latest advances in the theory, design, modeling, application, management, and life-cycle assessment of energy-efficient green buildings and sustainable construction methodologies.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Near-zero-energy and zero-emission buildings.
• Strategies for reducing embodied carbon in construction.
• Circular economy principles in construction.
• BIM-based modeling and life-cycle optimization.
• Decarbonization roadmap for the built environment.
• Energy-efficient retrofitting of existing buildings.
• Renewable energy integration in buildings.
• Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life-Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) of buildings.
• Passive design strategies for climate resilience and energy optimization.

Dr. Nerija Banaitiene
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• energy-efficient green buildings
• near-zero-energy building
• embodied carbon
• life-cycle sustainability assessment
• circular economy in construction
• bim
• deep building renovation
• smart building technologies