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Renewable Energy Technology and Sustainable Building Research
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Renewable Energy Technology and Sustainable Building Research

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2024) | Viewed by 7579

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yaran Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building Environments and Energy Application Engineering, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135#, Jinnan District, Tianjin, China
Interests: energy system simulation; city-scale district heating network transients; building thermal dynamics estimation & control; AI-aided auto-design of building HVAC systems; fast simulation of thermal systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yan Jiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
Interests: solar energy; air source heat pump; thermal system simulation; operation optimization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past few decades, global warming, extreme weather, environmental degradation and resource depletion have posed a major threat to human society. Green and sustainable development has become a worldwide consensus, and many countries have elevated "carbon neutrality" to a national strategy and put forward a bright vision of a zero-carbon future. The use of renewable energy is a fundamental way to eliminate carbon emissions and environmental pollution caused by fossil energy, but the development of renewable energy technology is still facing many challenges, such as economy, stability, industrialization and so on. In addition, buildings are a major consumer of energy, and according to a recent study, the building sector accounts for 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, improving the energy efficiency of buildings and the utilization of renewable energy in buildings are important factors for energy conservation and emission reduction, and are also hot research topics nowadays. In view of this, the Journal of Sustainability is launching a Special Issue on the theme of “Renewable Energy Technology and Sustainable Building Research”, publishing papers in the scope of renewable energy, sustainable building, energy saving in building, building energy analysis and building energy simulation, aiming to further advance the development of these research areas.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Yaran Wang
Dr. Yan Jiang
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. 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

  • renewable energy
  • sustainable building
  • energy saving in building
  • building energy analysis
  • building energy simulation
  • renewable energy simulation
  • life cycle assessment
  • net zero energy buildings
  • decarbonization

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3631 KiB  
Article
Simulation of Coupled Hydraulic–Thermal Characteristics for Energy-Saving Control of Steam Heating Pipeline
by Xinyong Gao, Lijun Zheng, Yaran Wang, Yan Jiang, Yuran Zhang and Wei Fan
Sustainability 2024, 16(12), 5043; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16125043 - 13 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1066
Abstract
The steam heating pipeline, as a heat energy delivery method, plays an important role in petrochemical, food processing, and other industrial fields. Research on dynamic hydraulic and thermal calculation methods for steam heating pipelines is the basis for the realization of precise control [...] Read more.
The steam heating pipeline, as a heat energy delivery method, plays an important role in petrochemical, food processing, and other industrial fields. Research on dynamic hydraulic and thermal calculation methods for steam heating pipelines is the basis for the realization of precise control and efficient operation of steam pipe networks, which is also the key to reducing the energy consumption and carbon emissions of urban heating. In this study, the coupled hydraulic–thermal model of a steam pipeline is established considering the steam state parameter changes and condensate generation, the SIMPLE algorithm is used to realize the model solution, and the accuracy of the model is verified by the actual operation data of a steam heat network. The effects of condensate, environmental temperature, and steam pipeline inlet temperature and pressure changes on the hydraulic and thermal characteristics of the steam pipeline are simulated and analyzed. Results indicate that condensate only has a large effect on the steam outlet temperature and has almost no effect on the outlet pressure. As the heat transfer coefficient of the steam pipeline increases, the effect of both condensate and environmental temperature on the steam outlet temperature increases. The effect of the steam inlet pressure on the outlet pressure is instantaneous, but there is a delay in the effect of the inlet temperature on the outlet temperature, and the time required for outlet temperature stabilization increases by about 25 s to 30 s for each additional 400 m of pipeline length. The research can be applied to the control of supply-side steam temperature and pressure parameters in actual steam heating systems. Utilizing the coupled hydraulic–thermal characteristics of the steam pipeline network, tailored parameter control strategies can be devised to enhance the burner’s combustion efficiency and minimize fuel consumption, thereby significantly augmenting operational efficiency and fostering sustainable development within the steam heating system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Technology and Sustainable Building Research)
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14 pages, 1353 KiB  
Article
A Dimensionless Study Describing Heat Exchange through a Building’s Opaque Envelope
by Carla Balocco, Giacomo Pierucci, Cristina Piselli, Francesco Poli and Maurizio De Lucia
Sustainability 2024, 16(9), 3558; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093558 - 24 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1005
Abstract
The urban environment represents one of the main contexts in which natural resources are exploited to support intensive human activities, especially from an energy perspective. In this context, there is still a lack of general methodologies/tools which can be used to understand the [...] Read more.
The urban environment represents one of the main contexts in which natural resources are exploited to support intensive human activities, especially from an energy perspective. In this context, there is still a lack of general methodologies/tools which can be used to understand the behavior of buildings and to prove their sustainability under real operating conditions, depending on their location, construction characteristics and materials, plants, external conditions, and conduction. In this research, the Buckingham theorem is applied to the thermophysics of buildings, describing the heat transfer of opaque surfaces in a transient regime. The abstraction of dimensionless numbers merges the main phenomena of interest, such as thermal conduction, convection, and radiation, enhanced by consideration of the surface sun–air temperature and the external air temperature. The parameters themselves were mutually matched through a proper equation, whose coefficients were determined by a regression analysis of the measurements from an intensive experimental campaign investigating a building in Florence for 3 years. The resulting correlation shows a good agreement with the available dataset and a determination coefficient of over 70%. Therefore, the proposed approach, owing to the generalization of the dimensionless numbers, suggests the possibility of sustainability estimates, from an energy point of view, of envelope/plant/user systems, including assessments at a higher scale than that of a single building. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Technology and Sustainable Building Research)
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Review

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22 pages, 714 KiB  
Review
A Review on Harnessing Renewable Energy Synergies for Achieving Urban Net-Zero Energy Buildings: Technologies, Performance Evaluation, Policies, Challenges, and Future Direction
by Yoorae Noh, Shahryar Jafarinejad and Prashant Anand
Sustainability 2024, 16(8), 3444; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083444 - 19 Apr 2024
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2569
Abstract
As urbanization continues to accelerate globally, energy demand in cities is reaching unprecedented levels, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. In response, the concept of net-zero energy building (NZEB) is becoming a sustainable solution for urban energy needs. NZEB aims to achieve a net-zero [...] Read more.
As urbanization continues to accelerate globally, energy demand in cities is reaching unprecedented levels, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. In response, the concept of net-zero energy building (NZEB) is becoming a sustainable solution for urban energy needs. NZEB aims to achieve a net-zero energy footprint by balancing the energy it consumes with the energy it produces, primarily from renewable energy (RE) sources. This comprehensive literature review-based study explores the role of RE synergies in the context of urban NZEBs, including discussions on definition and development of NZEBs, RE-synergies for achieving NZEBs, sustainable trends and clusters of NZEBs, climate change impacts on NZEBs, their performance evaluation, policy and regulatory frameworks, and challenges and possible solutions related to NZEBs. It has been identified that while customizing NZEB definitions to align with regional energy supply and demand is important, the same is highly dependent on building architectural and micro-climate features. The assessment of climate change effects and NZEB practices should involve evaluating building energy equilibrium, occupant comfort, and interactions with the energy grid. There are still some technical, policy, and socio-economic challenges that need more attention to provide comprehensive solutions for further enhancing the sustainable development/performance of NZEBs and achieving their goal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Technology and Sustainable Building Research)
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31 pages, 7193 KiB  
Review
A Review of Evaluative Measures of Carbon-Neutral Buildings: The Bibliometric and Science Mapping Analysis towards Sustainability
by Quddus Tushar, Guomin Zhang, Satheeskumar Navaratnam, Muhammed A. Bhuiyan, Lei Hou and Filippo Giustozzi
Sustainability 2023, 15(20), 14861; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152014861 - 13 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1998
Abstract
This study aims to comprehensively depict a thematic evaluation within the context of carbon-neutral buildings over this century at variable time phases (2000–2008, 2009–2016, and 2017–2023). The overarching objectives of this study are delineated into three (3) contexts. Firstly, a bibliometric network encompassing [...] Read more.
This study aims to comprehensively depict a thematic evaluation within the context of carbon-neutral buildings over this century at variable time phases (2000–2008, 2009–2016, and 2017–2023). The overarching objectives of this study are delineated into three (3) contexts. Firstly, a bibliometric network encompassing influential research documents, authors, prominent journals, organisations, and countries is erected in pertinent fields. Secondly, significant terms are extracted from the scientific literature to exhibit co-occurrence patterns. Finally, an analysis of the evaluative clusters across variable phases was conducted to ascertain their intricate interrelations. The software tool VOSviewer Version 1.6.19 successfully achieves the initial objectives by visualising networks based on co-authorship, citations, co-citations, and bibliographic coupling. The ultimate goal of this research is fully realised through the application of the Science Mapping Analysis Tool (SciMAT), Version 3, which facilitated the evaluation of diverse clusters, phases, and thematic domains. The findings from the initial stages of research conducted on carbon-neutral buildings primarily revolve around energy-savings measures, environmental impacts, and the pursuit of energy-efficient design. As the research progressed into subsequent phases, the scope of inquiry broadened into specific themes, such as (1) optimisation, (2) retrofitting, (3) transitioning, and exploring (4) phase change materials (PCMs). Moreover, the areas of study continued to expand by developing diverse scenarios, algorithms, and digital twin technologies. The graphical representations of the strategic diagrams, evaluation areas, and cluster networks are a valuable resource for practitioners and policymakers, offering valuable insight and understanding of the multifaceted landscape of thematic evaluation in carbon-neutral buildings, thus facilitating further investigations and informed decision making. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Technology and Sustainable Building Research)
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