Green Buildings: Renewable Energy Systems and Bioclimatic Design in Architecture

Dear Colleagues,

Bioclimatic architecture offers innovative designs that provide both visual and thermal comfort for users. This concept is globally accepted as a new approach to build energy-efficient buildings, where the remaining energy demand can be met by the utilization of renewable energy sources. So far, several zero energy buildings (ZEB) have been developed by passive and active solar thermal applications to be the most efficient design while PV integration is necessary for electric energy demand. Connecting ZEBs to the utility power grid has been demonstrated as a boon for delivering storage energy to the grid. In this concept, although the first aim is to apply the passive strategies to diminish the entire load for cooling and heating, the PV power is used for the remaining energy demand. Good architecture has always been a bioclimatic architecture, but today, after the energy crisis, no building quality can be found apart an energy control of the planning.

A ‘green’ building is a building that, in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment. Green buildings preserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life.

There are a number of features that can make a building ‘green’. These include:

• Efficient use of energy, water, and other resources
• Use of renewable energy, such as solar energy
• Pollution and waste reduction measures, and the enabling of re-use and recycling
• Good indoor environmental air quality
• Use of materials that are non-toxic, ethical, and sustainable
• Consideration of the environment in design, construction, and operation
• Consideration of the quality of life of occupants in design, construction, and operation
• A design that enables adaptation to a changing environment

The issue will be Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common objective of green buildings is to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by:

• Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources
• Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity
• Reducing waste, pollution, and environmental degradation

Dr. Maatouk Khoukhi
Guest Editor

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• efficient use of energy
• water, and other resources
• use of renewable energy
• pollution and waste reduction measures
• enabling of re-use and recycling
• indoor environmental air quality
• use of materials that are non-toxic
• ethical, and sustainable
• quality of life of occupants in design, construction, and operation
• a design that enables adaptation to a changing environment
• green buildings
• energy-saving strategies in buildings
• impact of the environment on the energy performance of buildings
• methods for monitoring building energy performance