Thermal Comfort, Environment Quality and Energy Consumption

Dear Colleagues,

The built environment plays a pivotal role in shaping the well-being of its occupants, with three crucial factors—thermal comfort, environmental quality, and energy consumption—forming a delicate interplay. Achieving an optimal balance among these elements is essential for creating sustainable and occupant-friendly buildings.

Designing buildings that simultaneously prioritize thermal comfort, environmental quality, and energy efficiency requires an integrated approach. Challenges include finding synergies between seemingly conflicting goals, addressing climate variations, and adapting to evolving technological solutions. Sustainable design practices, energy-efficient technologies, and renewable energy sources are crucial for minimizing a building's ecological footprint. Smart building technologies, including energy management systems and advanced HVAC solutions, play a vital role in optimizing energy consumption while maintaining comfort and environmental quality. The ongoing pursuit of net-zero energy buildings underscores the industry's commitment to creating environmentally responsible and occupant-centric spaces.

In conclusion, the intricate relationship between environmental quality and energy consumption necessitates a holistic approach to building design and operation. Striking the right balance is crucial for occupant satisfaction and fostering sustainability in the face of growing environmental challenges. As technology advances and awareness of these factors increases, the construction industry is poised to lead the way in creating energy-efficient buildings that are conducive to the well-being of their occupants.

This Special Issue is dedicated to original research and review articles focusing on thermal comfort, environmental quality, and energy-efficient building design. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Effective design and control of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems;
• Advanced HVAC systems;
• Active and passive solutions for improving environment quality;
• Occupant-centric approaches in building performance (including PECS);
• Occupant well-being;
• Human response to environmental conditioning systems;
• Human building interaction;
• Smart building technologies;
• Energy-efficient buildings, low-carbon buildings, passive houses, zero energy buildings, and green buildings;
• Climate change effects on indoor thermal comfort and building energy use

Dr. Jan Kaczmarczyk
Dr. Asit Kumar Mishra
Dr. Aleksandra Lipczyńska
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. Energies 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.

• thermal comfort
• indoor environment quality
• building energy use
• occupant well-being
• task performance