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Special Issue "Advances on Building Performance and Sustainability, Volume II"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Building".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2023 | Viewed by 578

Special Issue Editor

Leicester School of Architecture, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
Interests: building performance and sustainability; energy and indoor climate; computer simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Generally, energy usage in buildings is responsible for approximately 45% of carbon dioxide emissions. A significant fraction of this energy is consumed to provide comfortable, habitable, conditions indoors. In many countries, the prevailing climate frequently leads to the use of technological themes that are recognised as energy-intensive solutions for providing such good indoor air quality and thermal comfort. Buildings are the largest contributor to climate change. Fears about climate change/global warming have added urgency to the search for methods not only to improve energy efficiency in buildings but also to satisfy the social–cultural needs of communities in different contexts, ensuring sustainable outcomes.

Among these techniques are the use of computer simulation and the development of research methodologies in the built environment aimed at improving alignment between buildings, contexts, climates, and energy performance.

Considering the importance of building performance and sustainability, Sustainability has decided to dedicate a Special Issue to bringing together manuscripts that focus on this research theme.

For this Special Issue on “Advances on Building Performance and Sustainability” in Sustainability, we are looking for original articles that address the following topics:

  • The approach towards improving energy efficiency in buildings;
  • The impact of retrofit pathways on building performance analysis;
  • Computer simulation to evaluate building performance in terms of lighting, energy consumption, and comfort;
  • Case studies that cover various research methodological approaches with an emphasis on the social–cultural needs of the local community or the social–environmental interface of sustainable development purposes;
  • The impact of research on the quality of life and well-being of buildings’ occupants.

Original papers that address other related topics with evidence of contribution to the state of the art are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Ahmad Taki
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 2200 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 and sustainability
  • energy and indoor climate
  • social sustainability
  • computer simulation
  • case studies
  • research methodology

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Using Real Building Energy Use Data to Explain the Energy Performance Gap of Energy-Efficient Residential Buildings: A Case Study from the Hot Summer and Cold Winter Zone in China
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1575; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021575 - 13 Jan 2023
Viewed by 432
Abstract
The International Energy Agency (IEA) emphasizes that using real building energy use data (RBEUD) to reflect the actual condition of buildings and inform policy-making is the most effective way to reduce buildings’ carbon emissions. However, based on IEA’s evaluation, regional and national building [...] Read more.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) emphasizes that using real building energy use data (RBEUD) to reflect the actual condition of buildings and inform policy-making is the most effective way to reduce buildings’ carbon emissions. However, based on IEA’s evaluation, regional and national building stock data are limited and lacking. Especially for China, the lack of RBEUD in buildings has limited our ability to address the energy performance gap (EPG). In this research, EPG refers to the difference between regulated energy consumption by design standards and actual energy usage. EPG makes it difficult to develop buildings that are energy-efficient. Therefore, this study aims to gather and analyze RBEUD in order to understand the role of occupants’ behavior in explaining the EPG of energy-efficient residential buildings in China. The results suggest that the actual consumption of residential buildings is less than 1/5–1/3 of the theoretical limits. The heat pump and air conditioner’s actual schedules and setpoint settings are the significant drivers that explain the EPG. In addition, the presentation of a database of 1128 households provides actual usage behavior parameters for policy-makers to improve the accuracy of building energy forecasting models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Building Performance and Sustainability, Volume II)
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