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Energies
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Innovations in Low-Carbon Building Energy Systems
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Innovations in Low-Carbon Building Energy Systems

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2026) | Viewed by 3396

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jun Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Interests: low-carbon building energy system; multi-energy complementary integrated energy system; renewable energy utilization technology; hybrid ventilation technique; indoor air quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Rongpeng Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture and Planning, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Interests: building simulation; intelligent building; built environment control; building energy saving
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Zhiang Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo 315100, China
Interests: smart and low-carbon buildings; data-driven and physics-based modeling and calibration of integrated energy systems; energy-efficient control and operation of industrial HVAC systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Low-carbon building energy systems refer to building energy systems that adopt efficient and low-carbon energy technology and equipment to save energy, as well as to reduce and recycle greenhouse gas emissions during the entire life cycle of a building (including site selection, planning and design, construction, use management and demolition processes). Low-carbon building energy systems use high-performance energy equipment and systems to improve energy efficiency, reduce energy consumption and achieve high efficiency. At the same time, these systems actively use renewable energy sources, such as solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, etc., to reduce dependence on traditional fossil energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and achieve a low-carbon status. Low-carbon building energy systems focus on energy recycling and sustainable development to attain sustainable energy use and overall sustainability. They are an important method of achieving the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" in the building field. By adopting efficient and low-carbon energy technologies and equipment, actively using renewable energy, conserving energy, and reducing and recycling emissions, the sustainable development of the construction industry can be promoted.

The main aim of this Special Issue is to explore the recent developments in low-carbon building energy systems. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

- New building energy-saving technology;
- Low- or zero-carbon building energy systems;
- Efficient energy conversion and storage technology；
- Renewable energy utilization technology；
- Multi-energy complementation and comprehensive utilization of energy technology；
- Energy management system optimization；
- Building carbon reduction technology.

Dr. Jun Wang
Prof. Dr. Rongpeng Zhang
Dr. Zhiang Zhang
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

  • building energy efficiency
  • low-carbon energy system
  • renewable energy utilization
  • multi-energy complementation
  • energy management

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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42 pages, 4476 KB  
Article
Optimization of Climate Neutrality for a Low-Energy Residential Building Complex in Poland
by Małgorzata Fedorczak-Cisak, Beata Sadowska, Elżbieta Radziszewska-Zielina, Michał Ciuła, Mirosław Cisak, Mirosław Dechnik and Tomasz Kapecki
Energies 2026, 19(6), 1568; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19061568 - 22 Mar 2026
Viewed by 464
Abstract
Since 2021, the design and construction of nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) have been mandatory for European Union Member States. Subsequent requirements for the building sector, characterized by high energy demand and significant environmental impact, include the minimization of carbon footprint and the introduction [...] Read more.
Since 2021, the design and construction of nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) have been mandatory for European Union Member States. Subsequent requirements for the building sector, characterized by high energy demand and significant environmental impact, include the minimization of carbon footprint and the introduction of climate-neutral building standards. The carbon footprint comprises both embodied emissions related to materials and construction processes and operational emissions resulting from building use. This paper analyzes both types of carbon footprint using a residential building that is part of an experimental housing estate consisting of 44 semi-detached buildings as a case study. Analyses of energy consumption optimization and carbon footprint reduction were conducted at both the individual building scale and the scale of the entire housing complex. The estate was developed in two stages. In the first stage (completion of construction in 2024), the primary criterion for technology selection was investment cost while maintaining compliance with applicable technical and building regulations. Prior to the implementation of the second stage, the investor conducted a social participation process in the form of a survey among future users. The survey addressed environmental aspects of the newly designed buildings and enabled the selection of materials, technologies, and energy sources aligned with user preferences. The results indicate that environmental aspects are important to future users; however, investment decisions are strongly balanced against economic factors. At the same time, the energy analyses demonstrate that a substantial reduction in the operational carbon footprint can be achieved, enabling a significant progression toward climate neutrality, both at the level of individual buildings and across the entire housing estate. Social participation, therefore, becomes an important element in the pursuit of climate neutrality in buildings. However, it must be taken into account already at the design stage. The results of the analyses carried out in the article showed that, taking into account public participation in the design process and user recommendations, the selected optimal variant (W5) allows for a reduction in the EP index by over 90% compared to the variant based on standard low-cost solutions (W0) (EP (W0) = 243.64 kWh/(m2 year); EP (W5) = 18.42 kWh/(m2 year). In terms of the embodied carbon footprint, the optimal option W5 allows for a reduction of over 30% in the embodied carbon footprint of the building structure (W0—51,585.32 [kgCO2e]; W5—35,537.87 [kgCO2e]). The optimal variant indicated by users (W5) allows for a reduction in the operational carbon footprint by approximately 80% compared to the basic variant (W0): W0—604,189.50 [kgCO2e/kWh]; W5—247,402.0 [kgCO2e/kWh]. The results obtained indicate that public participation is not only a complementary element of the design process, but it can also be a key component of the decarbonisation strategy in residential construction. Involving future users in the decision-making process increases the likelihood of achieving long-term greenhouse gas emission reductions and supports the implementation of long-term climate policy goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Low-Carbon Building Energy Systems)
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27 pages, 3705 KB  
Article
A Method for Selecting the Appropriate Source Domain Buildings for Building Energy Prediction in Transfer Learning: Using the Euclidean Distance and Pearson Coefficient
by Chuyi Luo, Liang Xia and Sung-Hugh Hong
Energies 2025, 18(14), 3706; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18143706 - 14 Jul 2025
Viewed by 1167
Abstract
Building energy prediction faces challenges such as data scarcity while Transfer Learning (TL) demonstrates significant potential by leveraging source building energy data to enhance target building energy prediction. However, the accuracy of TL heavily relies on selecting appropriate source buildings as the source [...] Read more.
Building energy prediction faces challenges such as data scarcity while Transfer Learning (TL) demonstrates significant potential by leveraging source building energy data to enhance target building energy prediction. However, the accuracy of TL heavily relies on selecting appropriate source buildings as the source data. This study proposes a novel, easy-to-understand, statistics-based visualization method that combines the Euclidean distance and Pearson correlation coefficient for selecting source buildings in TL for target building electricity prediction. Long Short-Term Memory, the Gated Recurrent Unit, and the Convolutional Neural Network were applied to verify the appropriateness of the source domain buildings. The results showed the source building, selected via the method proposed by this research, could reduce 65% of computational costs, while the RMSE was approximately 6.5 kWh, and the R2 was around 0.92. The method proposed in this study is well suited for scenes requiring rapid response times and exhibiting low tolerance for prediction errors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Low-Carbon Building Energy Systems)
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Review

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30 pages, 3158 KB  
Review
Heat Transfer Calculation Method, Thermal Performance, and Control Strategy of Radiant Heating and Cooling System: A Review
by Zichen Liu, Jun Wang, Chengjun Jing, Xiaozhou Wu and Dong Liu
Energies 2025, 18(24), 6382; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18246382 - 5 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1113
Abstract
The radiant heating and cooling (RHC) system is one of the important air-conditioning methods that simultaneously achieves indoor thermal comfort and building energy efficiency. It is characterized by utilizing low-grade energy sources to provide low-temperature heating and high-temperature cooling, playing a significant role [...] Read more.
The radiant heating and cooling (RHC) system is one of the important air-conditioning methods that simultaneously achieves indoor thermal comfort and building energy efficiency. It is characterized by utilizing low-grade energy sources to provide low-temperature heating and high-temperature cooling, playing a significant role in promoting the development of green and low-carbon buildings. This study firstly introduces the typical heat transfer calculation methods of the RHC system and analyzes the surface heat transfer coefficients of radiant heating and cooling. Subsequently, the factors affecting the thermal performance of the RHC system are discussed from two aspects: relevant physical property parameters and flow channel structures. Finally, the control strategies of RHC systems are summarized to address issues such as condensation, overheating, and long response times. And several conclusive findings are presented that are worthy of further investigation in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Low-Carbon Building Energy Systems)
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