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Energies
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Energy Efficiency and Energy Performance in Buildings—2nd Edition
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Energy Efficiency and Energy Performance in Buildings—2nd Edition

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 November 2025 | Viewed by 815

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Moncef Krarti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Building Systems Program, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Department, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Interests: building energy efficiency; building-integrated renewable energy systems; optimal design and control strategies; smart building energy systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In order to achieve carbon-neutral economies, it is crucial to improve the energy efficiency performance of the built environment, as well as integrated on-site power generation from renewable energy sources. The deployment of innovative materials and technologies is crucial in order to make buildings more energy-efficient, resilient, and adaptable to our ever-changing climate. In addition, optimal design and control strategies, as well as advanced modeling approaches, are needed in order to maximize the energy performance of both new and existing buildings, especially under extreme weather conditions.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances related to the design, retrofitting, modeling, control, and energy assessment of building systems.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Optimal design and retrofitting strategies for carbon-neutral buildings;
  • Innovative materials suitable for energy-efficient buildings;
  • Highly efficient systems for heating and cooling buildings;
  • Smart and dynamic systems to enhance energy-efficient buildings;
  • Modular construction and retrofitting techniques of energy-efficient buildings;
  • Building systems that integrate on-site power generation from renewable energy sources;
  • Advanced modeling and analysis approaches for building energy systems;
  • Measurement and monitoring techniques for the energy assessment of buildings;
  • Cost–benefit analysis techniques for designing and retrofitting building energy systems.

Prof. Dr. Moncef Krarti
Guest Editor

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 efficiency
  • optimal designs
  • optimal control strategies
  • new and existing buildings
  • retrofitting technologies

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3781 KiB  
Article
Thermal Impacts of Air Cavities Associated with Insulated Panels Deployed for Exterior Building Envelope Assemblies
by Utsav Dahal and Moncef Krarti
Energies 2025, 18(13), 3573; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18133573 - 7 Jul 2025
Viewed by 274
Abstract
This paper presents a comprehensive investigation to evaluate the impacts of air cavities between existing walls and insulated panels on the overall R-values of the retrofitted building envelope systems, addressing a key challenge in exterior envelope retrofitting. The effects of several factors are [...] Read more.
This paper presents a comprehensive investigation to evaluate the impacts of air cavities between existing walls and insulated panels on the overall R-values of the retrofitted building envelope systems, addressing a key challenge in exterior envelope retrofitting. The effects of several factors are considered including the air cavity thickness (ranging from 0.1 cm to 5 cm), airflow velocity (varying between 0.1 m/s and 1 m/s), and surface emissivity (set between 0.1 and 0.9), in addition to the thickness of the insulated panels (ranging from 1 cm to 7 cm). It is found that any increase in the air cavity thickness increases the overall R-values of the building envelope assemblies when air is trapped within the sealed cavity. However, when air convection is prevalent, the overall R-value of the retrofitted walls decreases with any increase in air velocity and air cavity thickness. For sealed air cavities, the analysis results show a 9% improvement in R-value of the retrofitted walls. However, the R-value of retrofitted walls with unsealed air cavities can degrade by 76% and 81% for natural and forced air flows, respectively. Emissivity adjustment is found to be the most effective in improving the thermal performance of building envelopes with sealed air cavities, increasing the R-value of retrofitted walls by 13.6% when reduced from 0.9 to 0.1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency and Energy Performance in Buildings—2nd Edition)
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21 pages, 3571 KiB  
Article
An Experimental Study of Wind-Driven Ventilation with Double Skin Facade During Transition Seasons
by Guoqing He, Zhewen Fan, Yuan Meng, Linfeng Yao and Changqing Ye
Energies 2025, 18(13), 3249; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18133249 - 21 Jun 2025
Viewed by 381
Abstract
Double skin facade (DSF) is an energy-efficient solution for glazing facades. However, previous studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding thermal comfort in naturally ventilated DSF buildings. To examine this issue, this study evaluated airflow velocities in naturally ventilated DSF buildings during transition seasons [...] Read more.
Double skin facade (DSF) is an energy-efficient solution for glazing facades. However, previous studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding thermal comfort in naturally ventilated DSF buildings. To examine this issue, this study evaluated airflow velocities in naturally ventilated DSF buildings during transition seasons through a comparative study approach. A full-scale box-type DSF room and a traditional window-wall room were simultaneously monitored in a laboratory building under real climatic conditions, with indoor environmental parameters recorded for 10 days. Airflow sensation surveys complemented the physical measurements to evaluate perceived comfort. The results showed that the DSF room consistently exhibited lower air velocities (≤0.2 m/s) compared to the traditional room, demonstrating minimal response to wind conditions related to its small openings (opening ratio of 4.7%) and increased flow resistance from the dual-layer structure of the DSF. Under unfavorable wind conditions, the DSF room demonstrated higher ventilation rates due to the enhanced stack effect. However, this advantage had a negligible effect on the thermal comfort vote for the indoor temperature range (26 °C to 28 °C). These findings highlight the climate-dependent performance of DSFs: while advantageous for thermal comfort in cooler climates, they may lead to reduced thermal comfort in warm and hot climates due to low indoor airflow velocities. Future work could include the optimization of DSF opening configurations to enhance wind-driven ventilation while maintaining stack ventilation benefits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency and Energy Performance in Buildings—2nd Edition)
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