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Human-Centered Energy Optimization in Built Environment

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "G: Energy and Buildings".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 462

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Architecture, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Interests: human-building integration; environmental sustainability and resiliency; high performance building; indoor environmental quality; human factors; work productivity; wellness
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Guest Editor
Civil and Architectural Engineering and Mechanics, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Interests: human building interaction; smart and connected communities; occupant comfort; cyber physical systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Central to our daily lives, built environments seamlessly integrate energy optimization with thermal comfort. Given our significant time in these spaces, achieving energy efficiency without compromising occupant comfort is essential. This intricate balance has long been a focal point of intellectual discourse.

Today's emphasis on environmental sustainability demands more than just energy conservation. It underscores the importance of thermal comfort, environmental health, and enhanced productivity. Bolstered by cutting-edge technologies, modern methods surpass traditional ones in tackling these intertwined challenges.

The Industry 4.0 revolution offers a renewed perspective, highlighting avenues to address long-standing issues in the built environment domain. Innovations like system integration, personal environmental control systems, and intelligent building technologies across various scales present promising strategies to synergize energy efficiency with optimal thermal comfort.

With these considerations, this Special Issue seeks to foster a collaborative space for researchers from diverse disciplines. The focus is on sharing pioneering solutions, insights, and breakthroughs centred on energy and thermal comfort synergy within our built environments.

We invite authors to share their expertise, from innovative technical strategies to comprehensive reviews, insightful case studies, and rigorous analytical studies. The overarching objective is to deepen our understanding of sustainable practices within built environments, emphasizing energy efficiency and thermal comfort.

Dr. Joon-Ho Choi
Dr. Wooyoung Jung
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.

Keywords

  • energy optimization
  • thermal comfort
  • environmental comfort
  • energy efficiency
  • sustainable design
  • building systems
  • system integration
  • personalized environmental controls
  • sustainable urban planning
  • intelligent building technologies
  • computational methodologies
  • environmental sustainability
  • resilience in built design
  • occupant well-being
  • energy conservation
  • building automation systems
  • green building materials

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

32 pages, 5315 KiB  
Article
Correlating Indoor Environmental Quality Parameters with Human Physiological Responses for Adaptive Comfort Control in Commercial Buildings
by Haoyue Dai, Saba Imani and Joon-Ho Choi
Energies 2025, 18(9), 2280; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18092280 (registering DOI) - 29 Apr 2025
Abstract
This study investigates the critical role of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) adaptations in influencing human physiological responses within commercial building settings. By integrating environmental engineering and human physiology, this research offers empirical insights into the relationship between IEQ modifications and occupant well-being, particularly [...] Read more.
This study investigates the critical role of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) adaptations in influencing human physiological responses within commercial building settings. By integrating environmental engineering and human physiology, this research offers empirical insights into the relationship between IEQ modifications and occupant well-being, particularly in the context of energy performance and efficiency. This study examines correlations between human physiological responses and key IEQ components, including indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort, lighting, and acoustics, using data collected from two office areas with 14 participants. Sensors tracked environmental parameters, while wearable devices monitored physiological responses. Cross-correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between physiological indicators and environmental factors, with indoor temperature, PM2.5, and relative humidity showing the strongest impacts on electrodermal activity, skin temperature, and stress levels, respectively (p < 0.05). Furthermore, supervised machine learning techniques were employed to develop predictive models that evaluate IAQ and thermal comfort at both personal and general levels. Individual models achieved 84.76% accuracy for IAQ evaluation and 70.5% for thermal comfort prediction, outperforming the general model (69.7% and 64.3%, respectively). Males showed greater overall sensitivity to IEQ indicators, while females demonstrated higher sensitivity specifically to air quality and thermal comfort conditions. The findings underscore the potential of physiological signals to predict environmental satisfaction, providing a foundation for designing energy-efficient buildings that prioritize occupant health and comfort. This research bridges a critical gap in the literature by offering data-driven approaches to align sustainable building practices with human-centric needs. Future studies should expand participant diversity and explore broader demographics to enhance the robustness and applicability of predictive models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human-Centered Energy Optimization in Built Environment)
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