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Indoor Environmental Quality and Energy Sustainability

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2023) | Viewed by 9950

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Giorgos Panaras

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50132 Kozani, Greece
Interests: energy efficient buildings; HVAC systems; solar thermal energy; indoor environmental quality; ventilation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Thermal comfort and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) issues have gained significant interest in the scientific and technical community involved in buildings performance analysis and not only. The reasons are related to the fact that people spend much of their time indoors, while indoor environment is affected by external sources (atmospheric pollution) and internal ones (emissions by indoor activities or building materials), also entailing the difficulty to achieve and sustain a thermally acceptable indoor environment, due to the widespread problem of energy poverty. Acoustic and visual comfort issues are also of importance; the term Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) aims at including all the above parameters. The inability to regulate these parameters, not only leads to discomfort and potential productivity loss for humans, but it is also connected to health deterioration.

This special issue should include works discussing the above aspects, with some emphasis on thermal comfort and IAQ, as well as proposing methods, techniques and interventions for the improvement of IEQ. Investigations correlating the identified indoor conditions and interventions to building types, characteristics and applications should also be included, together with works investigating the relation of the achieved levels of indoor environment satisfaction with energy savings. This relation, having lately concerned the relevant Building Regulations, e.g. EPBD, should be clearly quantified, also involving aspects related to the controlling of the operation of the relevant energy systems or building envelope devices with regard to monitored proper input data.

The Special Issue welcomes submissions on the following topics:

Assessment of Indoor Air Quality and/or thermal comfort in specific buildings/applications.
Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) aspects.
Measurement methods and techniques for the assessment of IEQ.
Correlation of IEQ, mainly IAQ and thermal comfort, with health impacts.
IEQ improvement methods, techniques and means.
The effect of building materials, design and use on IEQ
Linking IEQ aspects with energy efficiency.
Control methods and techniques for optimizing IEQ.
The relation of IEQ and energy efficiency as highlighted in Building Regulations.

Keywords

IAQ
thermal comfort
IEQ
energy efficiency
ventilation
building energy systems
sustainability
control

Dr. Giorgos Panaras
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.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2905 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combined Investigation of Indoor Environmental Conditions and Energy Performance of an Aquatic Center

by Giannis Papadopoulos, Evangelos I. Tolis and Giorgos Panaras

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1318; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021318 - 10 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1259

Abstract

This study presents a combined investigation of indoor environmental conditions and energy performance in a naturally ventilated aquatic center in Western Macedonia, Greece. The experimental analysis was conducted over nine days during the summer. The operative temperature exceeded the acceptable limits for most days, while the same can be stated for the PMV, demonstrating high indoor air and radiant temperature values. The weaknesses of applying the above thermal comfort models in this type of buildings are also discussed. Relative humidity presents generally acceptable values during operation time, indicating the contribution of natural ventilation; nevertheless, as demonstrated by the CO₂ concentration values, the ventilation rate can be further increased. On the basis of the above findings, a renovation scenario has been formulated, considering the installation of an air-conditioning system, as well as specific interventions, towards the improvement of the building envelope and systems’ thermal performance. A dynamic energy analysis, based on Energy Plus software, had energy savings of 9%, noting the considerable upgrade of indoor conditions. Overall, the proposed combined investigation approach proved to be suitable for such a complicated problem, as the one of indoor aquatic centers, presenting a high generalization potential. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environmental Quality and Energy Sustainability)

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21 pages, 2460 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Indoor Acoustic Comfort Provided by an Innovative Preconstructed Wall Module: Sound Insulation Performance Analysis

by Dimitra Tsirigoti, Christina Giarma and Katerina Tsikaloudaki

Sustainability 2020, 12(20), 8666; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208666 - 19 Oct 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2554

Abstract

The complicated nature of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) (thermal, visual, acoustic comfort, etc.) dictates a multi-fold approach for desirable IEQ levels to be achieved. The improvement of building shells’ thermal performance, imposed by the constantly revised buildings’ energy performance regulations, does not necessarily guarantee the upgrade of all IEQ-related aspects, such as the construction’s acoustic quality, as most of the commonly used insulation materials are characterized by their low acoustic performance properties. From this perspective the SUstainable PReconstructed Innovative Module (SU.PR.I.M.) research project investigates a new, innovative preconstructed building module with advanced characteristics, which can, among other features, provide a high quality of acoustic performance in the indoor space. The module consists of two reinforced concrete vertical panels, between which the load bearing steel profiles are positioned. In the cavity and at the exterior surface of the panel there is a layer of thermal insulation. For the scope of the analysis, different external finishing surfaces are considered, including cladding with slate and brick, and different cavity insulation materials are examined. The addition of Phase Change Materials (PCM) in different mix proportions in the interior concrete panel is also examined. For the calculation of the sound insulation performance of the building module the INSUL 9.0 software is used. The results were validated through an experimental measurement in the laboratory in order to test the consistency of the values obtained. The results indicate that the examined preconstructed module can cover the sound insulation national regulation’s performance limits, but the implementation of such panels in building constructions should be carefully considered in case of lower frequency noise environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environmental Quality and Energy Sustainability)

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11 pages, 3100 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Utilisation of Mass and Night Ventilation in Decreasing Cooling Load Demand

by Michael Darmanis, Murat Çakan, Konstantinos P. Moustris, Kosmas A. Kavadias and Konstantinos-Stefanos P. Nikas

Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7826; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187826 - 22 Sep 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2368

Abstract

The building sector consumes 36% of the world’s energy and produces around 40% of energy-related carbon emissions. While the building industry moves towards a zero net greenhouse-gas emission policy, ventilation is, and will be, a necessity for the preservation of air quality—especially in climates defined by unsavoury conditions. Therefore, a “mixing mode” cooling system was employed to lower the required energy consumption at an earthen building situated in the premises of Istanbul Technical University. A room of the high-mass earthen building was monitored under different ventilation and shading conditions. Night ventilation was conducted using two modes, 3.2 and 2.3 air changes per hour, and the air conditioning unit, operating from 08:00 to 17:00, had a set temperature of 23

^{\circ} C

. Night ventilation was somewhat impactful, reducing the average expected cooling energy demand up to 27%. Furthermore, the earthen building proved to be extremely effective on moderating extremes of temperature under non-ventilated conditions. During a rather hot day, with an outdoor maximum temperature of 35

^{\circ} C

, the indoor maximum temperature of the high-mass building was only 25

^{\circ} C

, namely within thermal comfort levels. The diurnal temperature proved to be key in the effective application of night ventilation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environmental Quality and Energy Sustainability)

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Review

Jump to: Research

25 pages, 863 KiB

Open AccessReview

Sustainable Urban Environment through Green Roofs: A Literature Review with Case Studies

by Dimitris Perivoliotis, Iasonas Arvanitis, Anna Tzavali, Vassilios Papakostas, Sophia Kappou, George Andreakos, Angeliki Fotiadi, John A. Paravantis, Manolis Souliotis and Giouli Mihalakakou

Sustainability 2023, 15(22), 15976; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152215976 - 15 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2482

Abstract

This study conducts a literature review coupled with case-study calculations comparing the thermal contribution of semi-intensive and intensive (deeper) green roofs to non-insulated and insulated building roofs, and enhancing comprehension by validating applied scenarios with published literature-based data. Mitigation of the urban heat island is crucial for reducing energy consumption and enhancing urban sustainability, especially through natural solutions such as green (i.e., planted) roofs. The energy and environmental benefits of green roofs include energy conservation, thermal comfort, noise reduction, and aesthetic improvement. Legal mandates, innovative business models, financial subsidies and incentives, regulations, etc. are all components of green roof policies. Conflicts between private property owners and the public, regulatory gaps, and high installation costs are among the challenges. Green roofs are layered and incorporate interacting thermal processes. Green roof models are either based on the calculation of thermal transmittance (U-values), an experimental energy balance, or data-driven (primarily neural network) approaches. U-values were calculated for eight hypothetical scenarios consisting of four non-insulated and four insulated roofs, with or without semi-intensive and intensive green roofs of various materials and layer thicknesses. While the non-planted, non-insulated roof had the highest U-value, planted roofs were particularly effective for non-insulated roofs. Three of these scenarios were in reasonable accord with experimental and theoretical thermal transmittance literature values. Finally, a non-insulated planted roof, particularly one with rockwool, was found to provide a certain degree of thermal insulation in comparison to a non-planted insulated roof. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environmental Quality and Energy Sustainability)

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