Special Issue "The Sustainable City: Advances in Renewable Energy and Energy Saving Systems"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alberto Jesús Perea Moreno
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Applied Physics, Radiology and Physical Medicine, University of Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Interests: renewable energy; energy saving; biomass; sustainability; remote sensing
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Quetzalcoatl Cruz Hernández-Escobedo
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, Campus Juriquilla, UNAM, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
Interests: Renewable Energy, Wind Energy, Photovoltaic Energy, Microscale Modelling, Techno-Economic Analysis

Special Issue Information

According to United Nations data, half of the world's population lives in cities and forecasts indicate that by the middle of the 21st century this percentage will increase to 65%. The increase in the urban population favours the creation of a network of interactions that entails a series of material and energy flows. These cause environmental impacts that affect the quality of life of citizens and the environment as a whole.

According to data from the International Energy Agency, cities occupy 3% of the planet's surface and are responsible for 67% of global energy consumption. The effects caused by this consumption, as well as its impact on the depletion of resources, make it necessary to carry out an exhaustive study of renewable energies and new energy saving systems.

This special issue aims to present new advances and developments in renewable energy and energy saving systems that allow cities to evolve in a sustainable way.

This Special Issue seeks contributions spanning a broad range of topics related, but are not limited to:

  • Wind energy
  • Solar energy
  • Smart grids
  • Energy conversion from urban biomass or residues
  • Pressure management of water supply and distribution systems
  • Energy management for sewage water
  • Geothermal energy
  • Cogeneration
  • The use of rooftops for energy generation
  • Public and private urban energy saving
  • Zero-energy-buildings
  • Bioclimatic architecture and green buildings
  • Smart meters
  • Legislations, regulations and standards of energy

Policy for urban energy saving

Dr. Alberto Jesús Perea Moreno
Dr. Quetzalcoatl Cruz Hernández-Escobedo
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 papers will be 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 2000 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

  • Zero-Energy-Buildings
  • Energy Saving
  • Renewable Energy
  • Sustainability and Sustainable Energy
  • Smart Grids
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Bioclimatic Architecture
  • Sustainable Transport
  • Biomass, Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Geothermal Energy

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
The Significance of the Adaptive Thermal Comfort Practice over the Structure Retrofits to Sustain Indoor Thermal Comfort
Energies 2021, 14(10), 2946; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14102946 - 19 May 2021
Viewed by 847
Abstract
Any building’s design should sustain thermal comfort for occupants and promote less energy usage during its lifetime using accurate building retrofits to convert existing buildings into low-energy buildings so that the heating and cooling loads can be minimized. Regarding the methodology adopted in [...] Read more.
Any building’s design should sustain thermal comfort for occupants and promote less energy usage during its lifetime using accurate building retrofits to convert existing buildings into low-energy buildings so that the heating and cooling loads can be minimized. Regarding the methodology adopted in this research, an energy model of an educational building located at the German Jordanian University in Jordan was constructed utilizing DesignBuilder computer software. In addition, it was calibrated utilizing real energy consumption data for a 12-month simulation of energy performance. Subsequently, a computerized evaluation of the roles of building envelope retrofits or the adaptive thermal comfort limits in the reduction of the overall building energy consumption was analyzed. The results of the study show that the current building’s external wall insulation, roof insulation, glazing, windows, and external shading devices are relatively energy-efficient but with high cost, resulting in significant financial losses, even though they achieved noticeable energy savings. For instance, equipping the building’s ventilation system with an economizer culminated in the highest financial profit, contributing to an annual energy savings of 155 MWh. On the other hand, in an occupant-centered approach, applying the adaptive thermal comfort model in wider ranges by adding 1 °C, 2 °C, and 3 °C to the existing operating temperatures would save a significant amount of energy with the least cost (while maintaining indoor thermal comfort), taking over any retrofit option. Using different adaptive thermal comfort scenarios (1 °C, 2 °C, and 3 °C) led to significant savings of around 5%, 12%, and 21%, respectively. However, using different retrofits techniques proved to be costly, with minimum energy savings compared to the adaptive approach. Full article
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Article
A Multi-Level World Comprehensive Neural Network Model for Maximum Annual Solar Irradiation on a Flat Surface
Energies 2020, 13(23), 6422; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13236422 - 04 Dec 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 564
Abstract
With the growing demand for clean and economically feasible renewable energy, solar photovoltaic (PV) system usage has increased. Among many factors, the tilt and azimuth angles are of great importance and influence in determining the photovoltaic panel’s efficiency to generate electricity. Although much [...] Read more.
With the growing demand for clean and economically feasible renewable energy, solar photovoltaic (PV) system usage has increased. Among many factors, the tilt and azimuth angles are of great importance and influence in determining the photovoltaic panel’s efficiency to generate electricity. Although much research was conducted related to solar PV panels’ performance, this work critically determined the tilt and azimuth angles for PV panels in all countries worldwide. The optimum tilt and azimuth angles are estimated worldwide by the photovoltaic geographic information system (PVGIS). Also, annual and average daily solar irradiation incident on the tilted and oriented plate optimally (AR1 and DR1) are calculated. Besides, annual and average daily solar irradiation incident on plate tilt optimally and oriented because of the south in the northern hemisphere and because of the north in the southern hemisphere (AR2 and DR2) are estimated. PVGIS is also used to calculate the annual and average daily solar irradiation incident on the horizontal plate (AR3 and DR3). The data collected from PVGIS are used to develop an efficient and accurate artificial neural network model based on feed-forward neural network approach. This model is an essential subpart that can be used in an embedded system or an online system for further PV system analysis and optimization. The developed neural model reflected very high accuracy in predicting the PV panels’ optimal tilt and azimuth angles worldwide. The benefit of tilting is generally increased by increasing the latitude. As the latitude increases, the tilt factor (F) increases because of the increase in the optimum tilt angle by increasing the latitude. The optimal orientation is due to the north in the southern hemisphere and due to the south in the northern hemisphere for most cities worldwide. In sum, it can be concluded that the optimum tilt angle is equal to or greater than the latitude until the latitude 30°. The optimum tilt angle becomes less than the latitude, and the difference is increased until it reaches more than 20°. Hence in this study the aim is to develop a simple neural network model which can accurately predict the annual radiation and optimum tilt and azimuth angle in any region of the world and can be easily implemented in a low-cost microcontroller. Full article
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