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Thermal Environment and Energy Saving in Buildings
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Thermal Environment and Energy Saving in Buildings

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2024) | Viewed by 9753

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Bin Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Energy and Safety Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin, China
Interests: thermal comfort; ventilation; smart buildings
Dr. Maohui Luo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Interests: thermal comfort; occupant-centric sensing and controlling technologies; comfortable and smart verhicle environment; healthy and low-carbon building technologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Buildings are constructed to address multiple objectives, including sheltering, comfort, productivity, security, and so forth. Given the fact that humans usually spend 90% of their time in built environments, indoor environment quality plays an extremely important role in human thermal comfort, health, and productivity. To create proper indoor environment, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are widely applied in buildings, making the building sector one of the most energy- and resource-intensive sectors. To date, the building sector is responsible for 20~40% of the world's primary energy use and highest carbon footprint. With the increasing awareness of climate change and environmental concerns, efforts have been made to reduce the energy consumption and carbon footprint of buildings, while increasing occupants’ comfort and satisfaction. In this context, innovative ideas, ranging from sustainable building designs to localized personal comfort systems, have emerged in recent years. These can serve as references for future innovations if these ideas are compiled together.

This Special Issue aims to present the most recent advances related to thermal environments in buildings and energy saving technologies. Articles from the following fields of research are most welcome:

  • Thermal environment in buildings;
  • Energy-efficient building design;
  • Climate-adaptive building design;
  • Low-carbon buildings;
  • Energy use in buildings;
  • Ventilation in buildings;
  • Thermal comfort;
  • Adaptive thermal comfort;
  • Personal comfort system;
  • Occupant-centric sensing, predicting, and controlling;
  • Building occupant behaviors;
  • Big data management for building performance and energy use;
  • Other related topics are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Bin Yang
Dr. Maohui Luo
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 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

  • building performance
  • building energy saving
  • thermal comfort
  • occupant behavior
  • building ventilation

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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38 pages, 46213 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Thermal Comfort in Historic Buildings by Wind-Driven Ventilation Systems—A Case Study of the Praterateliers in Vienna
by Aida Shayegani, Viera Joklova, Katarina Kristianova and Juraj Illes
Energies 2025, 18(2), 269; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18020269 - 9 Jan 2025
Viewed by 822
Abstract
This study investigates the effectiveness of natural wind-driven ventilation systems in enhancing thermal comfort and energy efficiency within the context of Central European climates, specifically Vienna. By addressing the unique challenges posed by cultural heritage buildings, such as the Praterateliers’ Pavilions, this research [...] Read more.
This study investigates the effectiveness of natural wind-driven ventilation systems in enhancing thermal comfort and energy efficiency within the context of Central European climates, specifically Vienna. By addressing the unique challenges posed by cultural heritage buildings, such as the Praterateliers’ Pavilions, this research highlights the role of sustainable ventilation strategies in mitigating urban overheating, which is exacerbated by climate change. A novel focus is placed on integrating windcatchers with passive systems like earth tubes and solar ventilation to reduce reliance on mechanical cooling and achieve lower carbon emissions while adhering to heritage preservation regulations. Using DesignBuilder simulations and future climate data (2020–2030), this research evaluates the thermal performance of key zones within the Praterateliers under different operational scenarios. The selected analysis period (May to September) captures the peak thermal stress conditions in Vienna, with wind rose diagrams and temperature characteristics providing insights into the ventilation potential during these months. The quantitative results demonstrate that cross-ventilation, combined with windcatchers and subterranean air exchange systems, improved thermal comfort metrics—such as predicted mean vote indices—by up to 30%, particularly in windward and leeward zones. These findings underscore the viability of non-invasive natural ventilation systems in achieving optimal thermal conditions, demonstrating an innovative yet preservation-friendly approach to sustainable architecture. This research not only advances the application of passive cooling strategies in heritage buildings but also provides scalable solutions for addressing urban overheating in modern constructions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Environment and Energy Saving in Buildings)
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17 pages, 7606 KiB  
Article
Dedicated HVAC Technology in the Renovation of Historic Buildings on the Example of the Marshal Pilsudski Manor in Sulejówek
by Piotr Gleń, Jan Wrana, Wojciech Struzik and Katarzyna Jaromin-Gleń
Energies 2024, 17(23), 5946; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17235946 - 26 Nov 2024
Viewed by 891
Abstract
The article investigates HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) technologies aimed at mitigating Primary Energy (PE) consumption in renovated buildings. This research is part of a broader initiative focused on enhancing air quality and reducing the carbon footprint within the fields of architecture [...] Read more.
The article investigates HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) technologies aimed at mitigating Primary Energy (PE) consumption in renovated buildings. This research is part of a broader initiative focused on enhancing air quality and reducing the carbon footprint within the fields of architecture and urban planning. Conducted since 2018 by a team from the Institute of Architectural Design at the Department of Contemporary Architecture, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Technology in Lublin, the study exemplifies the application of these technologies at the historic Marshal Piłsudski’s “Milusin” Manor House in Sulejówek, near Warsaw. The primary objective of this research is to present HVAC solutions, particularly a free cooling and heating system, which are specifically tailored for the renovation of historic structures. This technology effectively recovers thermal energy from groundwater, achieving low energy consumption levels while simultaneously minimizing CO2 emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Environment and Energy Saving in Buildings)
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17 pages, 3115 KiB  
Article
Influence of Roller Blinds Shading Strategy on West and South Facing Buildings
by Tzu-Yang Hu, Chun-Kuei Chen, Feng-Yi Lin and Ta-Hui Lin
Energies 2023, 16(2), 711; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16020711 - 7 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1883
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of roller blinds as an energy-saving strategy in a subtropical climate. Lighting control experiments were performed on west-facing and south-facing windows in the Subtropical Performance-Testbed for Innovative eNergy Research in Buildings Laboratory (SPINLab). This study accepts sunlight below [...] Read more.
This study investigates the impact of roller blinds as an energy-saving strategy in a subtropical climate. Lighting control experiments were performed on west-facing and south-facing windows in the Subtropical Performance-Testbed for Innovative eNergy Research in Buildings Laboratory (SPINLab). This study accepts sunlight below 8000 lux and requires the indoor lighting of at least a reading of 500 lux. For the west-facing window experiment, the curtain energy-saving strategy implemented in this study resulted in 10% less energy consumption for air-conditioning and saved 90% of the lighting power consumption of the west facing window building. For the south-facing window experiment, we found that sunlight can fully supplement the lighting without adjusting the roller blinds because the window opening is different from the sunlight direction. In addition, the significant heat flux difference between the west-facing and south-facing windows experiments is also reflected in the energy consumption of the air conditioners. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Environment and Energy Saving in Buildings)
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23 pages, 23935 KiB  
Article
Multi-Objective Optimization of Building Environmental Performance: An Integrated Parametric Design Method Based on Machine Learning Approaches
by Yijun Lu, Wei Wu, Xuechuan Geng, Yanchen Liu, Hao Zheng and Miaomiao Hou
Energies 2022, 15(19), 7031; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15197031 - 25 Sep 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4197
Abstract
Reducing energy consumption while providing a high-quality environment for building occupants has become an important target worthy of consideration in the pre-design stage. A reasonable design can achieve both better performance and energy conservation. Parametric design tools show potential to integrate performance simulation [...] Read more.
Reducing energy consumption while providing a high-quality environment for building occupants has become an important target worthy of consideration in the pre-design stage. A reasonable design can achieve both better performance and energy conservation. Parametric design tools show potential to integrate performance simulation and control elements into the early design stage. The large number of design scheme iterations, however, increases the computational load and simulation time, hampering the search for optimized solutions. This paper proposes an integration of parametric design and optimization methods with performance simulation, machine learning, and algorithmic generation. Architectural schemes were modeled parametrically, and numerous iterations were generated systematically and imported into neural networks. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) were used to predict environmental performance based on the simulation results. Then, multi-object optimization can be achieved through the fast evolution of the genetic algorithm binding with the database. The test case used in this paper demonstrates that this approach can solve the optimization problem with less time and computational cost, and it provides architects with a fast and easily implemented tool to optimize design strategies based on specific environmental objectives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Environment and Energy Saving in Buildings)
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Review

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22 pages, 3947 KiB  
Review
A Review of Non-Uniform Load Distribution and Solutions in Data Centers: Micro-Scale Liquid Cooling and Large-Scale Air Cooling
by Yifan Li, Congzhe Zhu, Xiuming Li and Bin Yang
Energies 2025, 18(1), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18010149 - 2 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1212
Abstract
Nowadays, the number of transistors on electronic components is increasing exponentially leading to an ultra-high heat flux (106~107 W/m2). The non-uniform load distribution on the chip and the local hot spots in the thermal environment are key issues [...] Read more.
Nowadays, the number of transistors on electronic components is increasing exponentially leading to an ultra-high heat flux (106~107 W/m2). The non-uniform load distribution on the chip and the local hot spots in the thermal environment are key issues in a data center (DC). Microchannel liquid cooling is an effective method to inhibit heat accumulation on the chip. Optimizing the air distribution is a crucial approach to realizing energy savings. This study summarizes the latest research on thermal management by microchannel liquid cooling and air distribution optimization in DCs. The existing issues concerning the structure universality of the microchannel heat sink (MCHS), the stability of flow boiling and the new coolant, the prediction of local hot spots, and the intelligent control of the cooling system are identified. Furthermore, a novel cooling strategy of multi-scale synergy is recommended, which is expected to suppress local hot spots and heighten temperature uniformity. This review provides valuable insights into multi-scale thermal management for DCs. It paves the way for applying innovative cooling technologies and artificial intelligence methods to promote the efficient operation and low-carbon retrofit of DCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Environment and Energy Saving in Buildings)
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