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Energies
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Energy Efficiency and Thermal Performance in Buildings
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Energy Efficiency and Thermal Performance in Buildings

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2026 | Viewed by 984

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Wuxing Zheng

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Guest Editor
School of Mechanics, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710060, China
Interests: building thermal environment; human thermal comfort; building energy efficiency; green buildings
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Seigen Cho

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Urban Innovation, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan
Interests: building environmental engineering; building equipment; sustainability
Prof. Dr. Honglian Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Information and Control Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
Interests: building meteorological year; building energy consumption; external design conditions for building energy-efficiency; building energy simulation; building climatology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wen Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
Interests: building thermal engineering; building energy consumption; heat and moisture transfer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the face of the ever-increasing global energy demand and the growing severity of environmental challenges, the theme of “Energy Efficiency and Thermal Performance in Buildings” holds profound significance. Buildings, as the primary spaces for human living and working, account for a substantial portion of total societal energy consumption. Enhancing energy efficiency in buildings can effectively reduce energy usage, decrease reliance on conventional energy sources, and significantly lower carbon emissions, thereby contributing to global efforts in combating climate change. Moreover, optimal thermal performance in buildings is crucial for providing a comfortable indoor environment. Whether in winter or summer, maintaining stable indoor temperatures is essential for improving quality of life and work for occupants.

By delving into insulation and heat retention technologies, optimizing the design of building envelopes, and exploring the application of novel energy-efficient materials, we can achieve substantial improvements in building energy efficiency. Additionally, the integration of smart building technologies offers new pathways for energy management in buildings. Through real-time monitoring and intelligent control, further optimization of energy usage efficiency can be realized.

This Special Issue will gather the latest research findings from around the world in this field, promoting innovation and development in building energy efficiency and thermal performance. It seeks to provide a scientific basis and technological support for the construction of a more sustainable built environment.

Dr. Wuxing Zheng
Prof. Dr. Seigen Cho
Prof. Dr. Honglian Li
Dr. Wen Yang
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

  • building thermal engineering
  • outdoor meteorological parameters
  • indoor thermal environment
  • thermal comfort
  • thermo-hygro-physical parameters of building materials

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

35 pages, 6795 KiB  
Article
Thermal Analysis of Energy Efficiency Performance and Indoor Comfort in a LEED-Certified Campus Building in the United Arab Emirates
by Khushbu Mankani, Mutasim Nour and Hassam Nasarullah Chaudhry
Energies 2025, 18(15), 4155; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18154155 - 5 Aug 2025
Viewed by 430
Abstract
Enhancing the real-world performance of sustainably designed and certified green buildings remains a significant challenge, particularly in hot climates where efforts to improve thermal comfort often conflict with energy efficiency goals. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), even newly constructed facilities with green [...] Read more.
Enhancing the real-world performance of sustainably designed and certified green buildings remains a significant challenge, particularly in hot climates where efforts to improve thermal comfort often conflict with energy efficiency goals. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), even newly constructed facilities with green building certifications present opportunities for retrofitting and performance optimization. This study investigates the energy and thermal comfort performance of a LEED Gold-certified, mixed-use university campus in Dubai through a calibrated digital twin developed using IES thermal modelling software. The analysis evaluated existing sustainable design strategies alongside three retrofit energy conservation measures (ECMs): (1) improved building envelope U-values, (2) installation of additional daylight sensors, and (3) optimization of fan coil unit efficiency. Simulation results demonstrated that the three ECMs collectively achieved a total reduction of 15% in annual energy consumption. Thermal comfort was assessed using operative temperature distributions, Predicted Mean Vote (PMV), and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfaction (PPD) metrics. While fan coil optimization yielded the highest energy savings, it led to less favorable comfort outcomes. In contrast, enhancing envelope U-values maintained indoor conditions consistently within ASHRAE-recommended comfort zones. To further support energy reduction and progress toward Net Zero targets, the study also evaluated the integration of a 228.87 kW rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system, which offset 8.09% of the campus’s annual energy demand. By applying data-driven thermal modelling to assess retrofit impacts on both energy performance and occupant comfort in a certified green building, this study addresses a critical gap in the literature and offers a replicable framework for advancing building performance in hot climate regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency and Thermal Performance in Buildings)
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24 pages, 3325 KiB  
Article
Multi-Energy Flow Optimal Dispatch of a Building Integrated Energy System Based on Thermal Comfort and Network Flexibility
by Jian Sun, Bingrui Sun, Xiaolong Cai, Dingqun Liu and Yongping Yang
Energies 2025, 18(15), 4051; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18154051 - 30 Jul 2025
Viewed by 301
Abstract
An efficient integrated energy system (IES) can enhance the potential of building energy conservation and carbon mitigation. However, imbalances between user-side demand and supply side output present formidable challenges to the operational dispatch of building energy systems. To mitigate heat rejection and improve [...] Read more.
An efficient integrated energy system (IES) can enhance the potential of building energy conservation and carbon mitigation. However, imbalances between user-side demand and supply side output present formidable challenges to the operational dispatch of building energy systems. To mitigate heat rejection and improve dispatch optimization, an integrated building energy system incorporating waste heat recovery via an absorption heat pump based on the flow temperature model is adopted. A comprehensive analysis was conducted to investigate the correlation among heat pump operational strategies, thermal comfort, and the dynamic thermal storage capacity of piping network systems. The optimization calculations and comparative analyses were conducted across five cases on typical season days via the CPLEX solver with MATLAB R2018a. The simulation results indicate that the operational modes of absorption heat pump reduced the costs by 4.4–8.5%, while the absorption rate of waste heat increased from 37.02% to 51.46%. Additionally, the utilization ratio of battery and thermal storage units decreased by up to 69.82% at most after considering the pipeline thermal inertia and thermal comfort, thus increasing the system’s energy-saving ability and reducing the pressure of energy storage equipment, ultimately increasing the scheduling flexibility of the integrated building energy system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency and Thermal Performance in Buildings)
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