Special Issue "Plant Coverings As Natural Technology for Acclimatization of Buildings"

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Protected Culture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Carlo Alberto Campiotti
E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
ENEA, Department for Energy Efficiency (DUEE), Integrated Services Division for Territorial Development, Lungotevere Thaon di Revel, 76-00196 Roma, Italy
Interests: biology and agronomy; energy efficiency and sustainability in agriculture; agroindustry and rural development; greenhouse technologies for extreme environments
Prof. Dr. Carlo Bibbiani
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: green infrastructures; building efficiency; sustainable development; Life Cycle Assessment; green roofs; rural buildings
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Arianna Latini
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy
Interests: green infrastructures; VOC emission mitigation by plants; biochar; soil amendments; soil carbon sequestration; plant response to abiotic stresses (drought)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Green plants have always been a design element in the architecture of buildings and the urban decoration of cities, but only recently has their contribution been revealed as very effective in reducing negative environmental impacts and energy costs due to air conditioning of buildings, enabling the utilization of spaces and surfaces otherwise not exploited in cities. The use of plant systems to increase the energy efficiency of buildings falls within the objectives of the COM (2013) 249 Directive "Green Infrastructures - Strengthening Natural Capital in Europe". In addition, the theme of vegetation as a natural solution for reducing energy costs for acclimatization in buildings was considered by the Directive (EU) 2018/844 on Energy Efficiency and the European Green Deal 2021–2026 strategy. In this regard, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that air conditioners and electric fans for domestic cooling represent almost 10% of the total electricity used in buildings with the emission of 135 Mt of CO2; furthermore, they predicted that the stock of domestic air conditioners will grow from the current 1.6 billion to 5.6 billion by 2050. In this context, the plant phenomena of photosynthesis and evapotranspiration are particularly useful during the hot seasons to reduce electricity consumption and CO2 emissions due to the air conditioning of buildings since plant-covered surfaces provide shading and shielding of buildings. Thus, plant systems represent a natural solution to achieve the goals for energy reduction and environmental regeneration of buildings, particularly in cities. This Special Issue aims to involve scientists and experts from various research fields on the use of vegetation to promote energy saving, accelerate the decarbonization of cities, as well as reduce air pollution, thus transforming cities into sustainable and resilient ecosystems.

Dr. Carlo Alberto Campiotti
Prof. Dr. Carlo Bibbiani
Dr. Arianna Latini
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. Horticulturae 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 1400 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

  • green walls
  • green roofs
  • green infrastructures
  • air conditioning
  • building energy efficiency
  • urban nature-based solutions
  • urban ecosystem services

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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