Towards Climate-Neutral and Resilient Building and Urban Energy Systems
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Building".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 3
Special Issue Editor
Interests: energy efficiency in buildings; digitalization of the built environment; the development of smart and climate-neutral cities
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The built environment is at the forefront of global sustainability challenges. Urban areas are responsible for over 70% of global CO2 emissions, with buildings and energy systems accounting for a significant share. As cities face increasing pressures from climate change, energy crises, and resource scarcity, there is an urgent need to accelerate the transition towards climate-neutral, low-carbon, and resilient built environments.
This Special Issue invites original research and review papers that explore strategies, technologies, policies, and tools aimed at decarbonizing buildings and urban energy systems while enhancing their flexibility, efficiency, and resilience. It seeks to integrate perspectives from energy-efficient building design, digitalization and smart systems, renewable energy integration, circular material flows, and adaptive urban planning. Contributions addressing the synergies between mitigation and adaptation—such as climate-resilient infrastructures or flexibility measures supporting both energy system decarbonization and robustness to extreme events—are particularly welcome.
The scope includes but is not limited to the following topics: low-carbon and passive building design, district energy systems, smart grids, building digital twins, demand-side flexibility, nature-based solutions, and urban retrofitting for climate neutrality. Cross-disciplinary work that combines technical, policy, economic, and social dimensions is strongly encouraged.
This Special Issue aims to contribute to the scientific discourse by addressing both technical solutions and system-level transformations necessary to achieve sustainable and climate-resilient urban environments. It will complement the existing literature by emphasizing integrative approaches that respond simultaneously to climate mitigation and adaptation needs within the built environment.
Dr. Miguel Á. García-Fuentes
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 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. Sustainability 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 2400 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
- climate-neutral cities
- energy efficient buildings
- urban resilience
- decarbonization
- smart and flexible energy systems
- low-carbon buildings
- energy transition
- sustainable urban planning
- building retrofitting
- climate adaptation strategies
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