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Advanced Energy Systems Towards Energy Resilient and Flexible Zero/Positive Energy Buildings, Communities and Districts

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026 | Viewed by 677

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Interests: zero energy building; positive energy buildings; positive energy district; energy transition; energy system modelling; renewable energy systems integration; energy storages; energy flexibility; energy resilience in buildings and districts; sustainability
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Building sector is important for cities around the world in its Climate Action efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In general, they are responsible for approximately 40% of the EU’s energy consumption and 36% of the emissions. Therefore, energy in the buildings, communities and districts is one of the main fields for the mitigation of emissions and ensuring a sustainable, self-sufficient and safe future. This can be done by enhancing the energy efficiency and using advanced energy systems components of onsite renewable energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies in buildings, communities and districts, which can offset the imported energy from the grids. Various raising concepts for net-zero/positive energy buildings and districts (NZPEBDs) have emerged in recent years to shape cities in to carbon-neutral communities in the near future. In addition to this, the climate change and energy crises (disruptive events) can cause reduction in the building’s energy performance and impact the occupant well-being and habitability conditions especially during the power outage. These buildings and districts can also support in reaching self-sufficiency, flexibility, engage users and provide energy resilience during outages.

For this Special Issue, authors are kindly invited to submit high-quality papers on one or more of the following topics related to advanced energy systems in buildings and districts:

  • Concepts, definitions and KPIs development of energy resilience nearly/net/zero and positive energy buildings/communities/districts;
  • Energy efficiency of buildings in communities and districts;
  • Advanced HVAC systems in buildings;
  • Heating/cooling energy and electricity demand;
  • Advanced short/long-term energy storage for heating/cooling/electricity and controls;
  • Renewable-based energy generations and smart controls;
  • Energy resiliency of the buildings during grid outages under various weather, economical, political conditions;
  • Energy resilience in buildings/districts;
  • Active and passive habitability and survivability conditions in the buildings/districts
  • Energy flexibility offered by buildings, communities and districts to the grid;
  • Energy self-sufficiency of the buildings, communities and districts;
  • Advanced simulation and optimization methods;
  • Experience and results from demos and monitoring sites;
  • Economic-, social- and policy-related aspects;
  • User’s acceptance and engagement in communities and districts.

Dr. Hassam Ur Rehman
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 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

  • nearly/net/zero and positive energy buildings/communities/districts
  • advanced energy systems
  • energy resiliency
  • energy flexibility
  • experience from demo sites
  • economic, social and policy aspects
  • user’s acceptance and engagement

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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41 pages, 1882 KB  
Systematic Review
Modeling of Adaptive Shading Adjustment Behavior in Buildings and Its Impacts on Building Energy Consumption and Indoor Lighting and Thermal Environments: A Systematic Review
by Sheng Li, Gaoxiang Chen, Ruyun Xu and Jian Yao
Energies 2026, 19(10), 2267; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19102267 - 7 May 2026
Viewed by 407
Abstract
As a significant manifestation of interaction between building occupants and the built environment, adaptive shading adjustment behavior exerts a substantial influence on building energy consumption and indoor lighting and thermal environments. Existing reviews either focus on generalized occupant behavior or were published relatively [...] Read more.
As a significant manifestation of interaction between building occupants and the built environment, adaptive shading adjustment behavior exerts a substantial influence on building energy consumption and indoor lighting and thermal environments. Existing reviews either focus on generalized occupant behavior or were published relatively early, lacking a systematic and up-to-date synthesis specifically addressing adaptive shading adjustment behavior. Through a comprehensive analysis of 68 core articles retrieved from the SCOPUS database and Web of Science database, this review summarizes major research advances, including testing methods for adaptive shading adjustment behavior, analysis of its driving factors, modeling and simulation approaches, and its impacts on energy consumption and indoor lighting and thermal environments. Furthermore, this review identifies limitations in current research, such as limited sample sizes, insufficient consideration of psychosocial factors, and the need for further validation of model generalizability. Future research directions are also proposed, aiming to provide a reference for in-depth investigations into adaptive shading adjustment behavior in buildings. Full article
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