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Optimizing Energy Consumption, Energy Management, and Energy Efficiency in Smart Buildings

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1703

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Process Equipment Design Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: energy and buildings; indoor air quality; HVAC systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Process Equipment Design Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: smart buildings; building energy upgrade; environmental impact analysis; renewable energy systems; carbon footprint analysis; life cycle analysis; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The rapid advancement of smart building technologies presents significant opportunities to reduce energy consumption, enhance operational efficiency, and promote sustainable urban development. As the global energy demand continues to rise, optimizing energy use within buildings—responsible for a substantial share of total energy consumption—has become a critical research and policy priority. This Special Issue, titled 'Optimizing Energy Consumption, Energy Management, and Energy Efficiency in Smart Buildings', seeks to explore emerging methods, technologies, and frameworks that enable intelligent, data-driven energy optimization. Contributions address a broad spectrum of topics, including predictive energy management systems, the integration of renewable energy sources, IoT-enabled building automation, demand response strategies, occupant-centered energy optimization, and the application of artificial intelligence, digital twins, and machine learning in building energy analytics; optimum design and operation approaches are also considered. This Special Issue also highlights interdisciplinary approaches that balance technological innovation with human comfort, economic feasibility, and environmental impact. By gathering cutting-edge research and practical case studies, this Special Issue aims to advance the state of knowledge in smart building energy systems and guide the development of next-generation sustainable infrastructures.

Dr. Giorgos Panaras
Dr. Effrosyni Giama
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. 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

  • optimization
  • energy systems
  • energy efficiency
  • smart buildings
  • control
  • RES
  • machine learning
  • environmental impact

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

36 pages, 3610 KB  
Review
Digitalization for Sustainable Heat Pump Operation: Review on Smart Control and Optimization Strategies
by Konstantinos Sittas, Effrosyni Giama and Giorgos Panaras
Energies 2026, 19(1), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19010066 - 22 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1302
Abstract
This review provides a comprehensive analysis of advanced control strategies and operational optimization of energy systems, focusing on heat pumps, with an emphasis on their role in enhancing energy efficiency and operational flexibility. The study concentrates on methods supported by artificial intelligence algorithms, [...] Read more.
This review provides a comprehensive analysis of advanced control strategies and operational optimization of energy systems, focusing on heat pumps, with an emphasis on their role in enhancing energy efficiency and operational flexibility. The study concentrates on methods supported by artificial intelligence algorithms, highlighting Model Predictive Control (MPC), Reinforcement Learning (RL), and hybrid approaches that combine the advantages of both. These methods aim to optimize both the operation of heat pumps and their interaction with thermal energy storage (TES) systems, renewable energy sources, and power grids, thereby enhancing the flexibility and adaptability of the systems under real operating conditions. Through a systematic analysis of the existing literature, 95 studies published after 2019 were examined to identify research trends, key challenges such as computational requirements and algorithm interpretability, and future opportunities. Furthermore, significant benefits of applying advanced control compared to conventional practices were highlighted, such as reduced operational costs and lower CO2 emissions, emphasizing the importance of heat pumps in the energy transition. Thus, the analysis highlights the need for digital solutions, robust and adaptive control frameworks, and holistic techno-economic evaluation methods in order to fully exploit the potential of heat pumps and accelerate the transition to sustainable and flexible energy systems. Full article
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