Green Building Energy System Integration and Eco-Friendly Urban Development

Dear Colleagues,

We are working on a Special Issue to foster a wide-ranging discussion on the idea of “Green Building Energy System Integration and Eco-Friendly Urban Development”. We would like to invite you to submit your contributions on the topic.

Given the increase in extreme environmental challenges faced by our cities and buildings, we need to seek urgent action. We must question previous approaches and find new answers on integrated strategies for a sustainable evolution of urban environments and the role of the buildings within them. How can we contribute to healthier, comfortable, more resilient and energy-independent urban scenarios where buildings are a key part of the system?

With climate change, pandemics, pollution, and energy scarcity overwhelming urban ecosystems, we need to question how citizens can not only stay comfortable, but also thermally safe and healthy over the coming decades. Likewise, given the current and potential future global disease crises, it is more necessary than ever to ensure safe indoor and outdoor environments (pollution-free, energy reliable and with thermal comfort), especially for the most vulnerable (aged population, children, impoverished sectors, etc.). Cities play a key role in dealing with diseases, heat waves, and other stress factors affecting citizens. It appears that with the help of new energy technologies, materials, nature integration, and renewed approaches, it is now possible to implement the capabilities for cities to take the next step.

Thus, the main objective of this Special Issue is to discuss and disseminate current work on a series of points, including:

• Policies and strategies for the eco-friendly retrofit of legacy neighbourhoods and stock level actions. How can effective actions be carried out in the city of today?
• The impact of political and social agendas on the energy efficiency of legacy neighbourhoods;
• Eco design for the post-COVID era;
• Innovative comprehensive actions for new developments, both in theoretical approaches and case analyses;
• Discussion on standards for the correlation between urban design and the “real” performance of buildings, both in new urban developments and in the existing city;
• The integration of renewable energy into buildings and urban areas, focusing especially on the coupling of energy production and demand in buildings and urban communities;
• Urban air pollution and local management of air quality issues;
• Impact of morphology and building shape on the quality of urban environment;
• Improving energy security in urban areas through participation in energy production and the development of shared energy systems;
• New energy models and associated economies for urban communities;
• Evaluation of ecosystem services and their role in urban conformation;
• Impact assessment of urban and building greening strategies and tools;
• New and reviewed indicators, metrics, and assessment methods for the urban environment;
• Age and gender issues on green development.

This Special Issue welcomes original research papers, reviews, and case studies on the topic and short discussions.

We hope that with your collaboration, we can make a sound contribution to this dimension, with potential for tangible impact on our environment.

Dr. Jessica Fernández-Agüera
Dr. Samuel Domínguez-Amarillo
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized 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.