Sustainable Built Environments and Cities: Innovations in Energy, Materials, and Control Systems

Dear Colleagues,

The built environment is a central contributor to global environmental challenges, including climate change, resource depletion, and energy overconsumption. As cities and buildings account for a significant share of energy use and emissions, the transition toward sustainable and environmentally intelligent design and operation is more urgent than ever. This Special Issue of Environments aims at bringing together cutting-edge research and interdisciplinary approaches that advance the sustainability of buildings and urban systems.

We welcome contributions exploring both technological innovations and material solutions that reduce the environmental footprint of the built environment while enhancing energy performance and occupant well-being. Of particular interest are studies that address renewable energy integration, green and biosourced construction materials, intelligent control systems, and digital tools for environmental performance monitoring and optimization.

Topics of interest include

• Biosourced and low-carbon construction materials;
• Phase-change materials (PCM) for thermal regulation;
• Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and renewable energy systems;
• Energy management systems (EMSs) and model predictive control (MPC);
• Indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort, and occupant well-being;
• Digital twins, building information modeling (BIM), and AI-based optimization and prediction;
• Life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental performance metrics;
• Circular economy strategies in design and construction;
• Climate-resilient urban planning and passive design approaches;
• Simulation-based energy and environmental modeling.

This Special Issue seeks to provide a collaborative platform for academics, practitioners, and policymakers aiming at shaping a future where buildings and cities are environmentally responsible, energy-efficient, and human-centered.

Dr. Niima Es-Sakali
Dr. Federico Minelli
Dr. Umberto Berardi
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. Environments is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1800 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.

• sustainable biosourced building materials
• phase-change materials (PCMs)
• energy management systems (EMSs)
• model predictive control (MPC)
• indoor air quality (IAQ)
• digital twins and BIM
• life cycle assessment (LCA)
• urban environmental sustainability
• net-zero energy buildings
• circular economy in construction