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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2024) | Viewed by 18348

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Li Yang

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Guest Editor

College of Architecture & Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Interests: green built environment; ecological urban planning; low-carbon building; sustainable regeneration building; big data-driven urban planning; AI-driven architectural design
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The built environment has a crucial impact on urban planning. Cities are built on architecture and urban design. The built environment is an indispensable part of the elements of the city. The built environment is also closely related to the energy consumption of buildings, the healthy development of residents, the development of urban transportation systems, and even the vitality of cities.

With the development of urban design, the relationship between urban planning and the built environment has received increasing attention from researchers. The rationality, scientificity, and applicability of the built environment are directly related to urban planning and design and the comfort of people's living environment. Considering the role of the built environment in urban design is conducive to providing residents with a healthy and comfortable living environment and promoting the prosperity of urban development.

Thus, this Special Issue aims to collect advanced research related to the built environment's effect on urban characteristics, the relationship between urban transport planning and the built environment, and the consideration of the built environment in urban planning.

Topics of interest for publication include but are not limited to:

Ecological low-carbon planning;
Green and low-carbon built environment;
Artificial intelligence algorithms;
Digital built environment;
Ecological restoration planning;
Conservation and regeneration of historic buildings;
Conservation and utilization of classical gardens.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

Sustainable urban planning and design;
Green building design;
Building energy efficiency;
Artificial intelligence architecture;
Built heritage protection;
The relative algorithm in AI architecture;
Innovation techniques for green building;
Building new energy utilization.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Li Yang
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.

Keywords

digital built environment
ecological low-carbon planning
green building
low-carbon
energy saving
artificial intelligence algorithms
conservation and regeneration of historic buildings
conservation and utilization of classical gardens

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

32 pages, 58439 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Relationship Between Spatial Form, Functional Distribution, and Vitality of Railway Station Areas Under Station-City Synergetic Development: A Case Study of Four Special-Grade Stations in Beijing

by Yuhan Sun, Bo Wan and Qiang Sheng

Sustainability 2024, 16(22), 10102; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162210102 - 19 Nov 2024

Viewed by 1405

Abstract

The integration of railway stations into urban environments necessitates a detailed examination of their vitality and influencing factors. This study assesses urban vitality around four major railway stations in Beijing utilizing a variety of analytical models including Ordinary Least Squares, Geographically Weighted Regression, Multi-Scale Geographically Weighted Regression, and machine learning approaches such as XGBoost 2.0.3, Random Forest 1.4.1.post1, and LightGBM 4.3.0. These analyses are grounded in Baidu heatmaps and examine relationships with spatial form, functional distribution, and spatial configuration. The results indicate significant associations between urban vitality and variables such as commercial density, average number of floors, integration, residential density, and housing prices, particularly in predicting weekday vitality. The MGWR model demonstrates enhanced fit and robustness, explaining 84.8% of the variability in vitality, while the Random Forest model displays the highest stability among the machine learning options, accounting for 76.9% of vitality variation. The integration of SHAP values with MGWR coefficients identifies commercial density as the most critical predictor, with the average number of floors and residential density also being key. These findings offer important insights for spatial planning in areas surrounding railway stations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Built Environment)

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20 pages, 2655 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Conditionally Parameterized Feature Fusion U-Net for Building Change Detection

by Yao Gu, Chao Ren, Qinyi Chen, Haoming Bai, Zhenzhong Huang and Lei Zou

Sustainability 2024, 16(21), 9232; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16219232 - 24 Oct 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1607

Abstract

The semantic richness of remote sensing images often presents challenges in building detection, such as edge blurring, loss of detail, and low resolution. To address these issues and improve boundary precision, this paper proposes CCCUnet, a hybrid architecture developed for enhanced building extraction. CCCUnet integrates CondConv, Coord Attention, and a CGAFusion module to overcome the limitations of traditional U-Net-based methods. Additionally, the NLLLoss function is utilized in classification tasks to optimize model parameters during training. CondConv replaces standard convolution operations in the U-Net encoder, boosting model capacity and performance in building change detection while ensuring efficient inference. Coord Attention enhances the detection of complex contours in small buildings by utilizing its attention mechanism. Furthermore, the CGAFusion module combines channel and spatial attention in the skip connection structure, capturing both spatial and channel-wise correlations. Experimental results demonstrate that CCCUnet achieves high accuracy in building change detection, with improved edge refinement and the better detection of small building contours. Thus, CCCUnet serves as a valuable tool for precise building extraction from remote sensing images, with broad applications in urban planning, land use, and disaster monitoring. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Built Environment)

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18 pages, 3731 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Urban Spatial Morphology in Harbin: A Study Based on Building Characteristics and Driving Factors

by Tao Shen, Jia Wu, Shuai Yuan, Fulu Kong and Yongshuai Liu

Sustainability 2024, 16(20), 9072; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16209072 - 19 Oct 2024

Viewed by 1705

Abstract

With the advancement of urbanization, the complexity and diversity of urban spatial forms have become increasingly prominent, profoundly and widely affecting aspects such as urban spatial layout and planning, as well as residents’ quality of life. This paper focuses on the buildings in Harbin City, comprehensively reflecting the spatial form of Harbin through multiple dimensions including building height, volume, and area. This research precisely quantifies three key indicators of urban buildings: building coverage, building expandability, and building staggeredness. Subsequently, these indicators are intertwined with the main driving factors of urban development (including economic development and resident population) to conduct a multidimensional spatial form analysis. The results indicate that the diversity of Harbin’s urban spatial form is the result of the interplay of multiple factors, including economic and demographic influences. These analytical outcomes not only reveal the evolution mechanism of Harbin’s current urban spatial form but also provide data support and theoretical basis for future urban planning and management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Built Environment)

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25 pages, 44240 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Wind Environment Simulation in Five Types of “Gray Spaces” in Traditional Jiangnan Gardens, China

by Huishu Chen, Zheng Tan and Piman Sun

Sustainability 2024, 16(17), 7765; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177765 - 6 Sep 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1358

Abstract

“Gray space”, also known as transitional space, focuses on the connection and transition between indoor and outdoor spaces in architecture. With its unique diversity of forms and functional inclusiveness, gray space reasonably integrates architectural spaces’ hierarchical construction with innovative ecological energy-saving concepts. Existing research mainly analyzes and interprets the design techniques of gray space from a visual perception perspective but needs more analysis of classification and design interpretation of the gray spaces in traditional gardens based on climate adaptability. This paper studied the gray spaces in traditional Jiangnan gardens, summarizing five common types of gray space in architectural spaces and their responses to the climate. Subsequently, we selected a typical representative for each of the five types of spaces and used “height-to-depth ratio (HDR), open space ratio (OSR), and direction (DIR)” as variables to conduct wind environment simulations. The simulation results help to determine the optimal climate adaptability scheme for each type of space. Through this research on the gray spaces of traditional gardens, we aimed to contribute to the conservation and utilization of classical gardens from an ecological energy-saving perspective and also provide ideas for passive energy-saving design in small public spaces and garden landscape spaces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Built Environment)

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16 pages, 6676 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Relationship Between Three-Dimensional Spatial Structure and CO₂ Emission of Urban Agglomerations Based on CNN-RF Modeling: A Case Study in East China

by Banglong Pan, Doudou Dong, Zhuo Diao, Qi Wang, Jiayi Li, Shaoru Feng, Juan Du, Jiulin Li and Gen Wu

Sustainability 2024, 16(17), 7623; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177623 - 3 Sep 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1593

Abstract

Good urban design helps mitigate carbon dioxide emissions and is important for achieving global low-carbon goals. Previous studies have mostly focused on the two-dimensional level of urban socio-economic activities, urban land use changes, and urban morphology, neglecting the importance of the three-dimensional spatial structure of cities. This study takes 30 cities in East China as an example. By using urban building data and carbon emission datasets, four machine learning algorithms, BP, RF, CNN, and CNN-RF, are established to build a CO₂ emission prediction model based on three-dimensional spatial structure, and the main influencing factors are further studied. The results show that the CNN-RF model performed optimally in both the testing and validation phases, with the coefficient of determination (R²), root mean square error (RMSE), and residual prediction deviation (RPD) of 0.85, 0.82; 10.60, 22.32; and 2.53, 1.92, respectively. Meanwhile, in the study unit, S, V, NHB, AN, BCR, SCD, and FAR have a greater impact on CO₂ emissions. This indicates a strong correlation between urban three-dimensional spatial structure and carbon emissions. The CNN-RF model can effectively evaluate the relationship between them, providing strategic support for spatial optimization of low-carbon cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Built Environment)

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18 pages, 3080 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Objective Optimization of Bifacial Photovoltaic Sunshade: Towards Better Optical, Electrical and Economical Performance

by Chunying Li, Wankun Zhang, Fang Liu, Xiaoyu Li, Jingwei Wang and Cuimin Li

Sustainability 2024, 16(14), 5977; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16145977 - 12 Jul 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1609

Abstract

Bifacial photovoltaic sunshade (BiPVS) is an innovative building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology. Vertically mounted BiPVS is capable of converting part of the incident solar radiation into electricity, regulating the indoor heat gain from solar penetration and improving daylighting. An excellent BiPVS design should comprehensively consider its impact on building performance and economic viability. This study aims to address this issue by proposing a parametric design-based multi-objective optimization (MOO) framework to maximize indoor useful daylight illuminance, minimize air-conditioning energy consumption, and shorten the payback period by optimizing BiPVS design parameters. The framework utilizes the Ladybug, Honeybee, and Wallacei plugins on the Rhino-Grasshopper simulation platform. It validates the optimization potential of BiPVS in a typical office located in a hot summer and warm winter zone. The results indicate that BiPVS has significant energy-saving and daylighting potential. Compared to the baseline model without BiPVS, useful daylight illuminance is increased by 39.44%, air-conditioning energy consumption is reduced by 12.61%, and the economically satisfactory payback period is 4.80 years. This study provides a practical solution for the competing objectives of daylighting and energy saving in buildings with significant renewable energy utilization. The developed framework is highly efficient and versatile and can be applied to other BIPV designs, which benefits the realization of carbon-neutral goals in the building sector. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Built Environment)

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19 pages, 5424 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Conceptualization of a Modular Residential Settlement Project Emerging in a Displacement Situation due to War in the Context of Sustainable Development Requirements

by Anna Maria Wierzbicka, Paweł Trębacz, Renata Jóźwik and Magdalena Duda

Sustainability 2024, 16(14), 5971; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16145971 - 12 Jul 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2365

Abstract

Modular housing represents an opportunity for the mass provision of housing of an appropriate standard, implemented sustainably. We analyzed the theoretical basis of this type of housing for refugee populations. We identified several generations of housing provision, from tented camps to container settlements, and ultimately to units resembling traditional housing estates. The latter is feasible due to technological advancements. Our research contributes to the implementation of the principles of the New European Bauhaus initiative, which underpins the European Green Deal policy on space design. Using the Research through Design (RtD) method within the framework of a settlement project for the Ukrainian population migrating from war zones (Modular Refugees Settlement Project “ProModSe”), we tested the suitability of these principles in extreme and critical war-related situations. The most important criteria were speed of implementation, the prospect of long-term residence, and ensuring safety. We analyzed the social, environmental, and aesthetic–functional aspects, comparing them with existing practices in the design of settlements for displaced persons, modular settlements, and quality standards in residential environments. The results demonstrate, at multiple scales, the critical interdependence of sustainable development, aesthetics and functionality, and community creation. We emphasize the need to include security as an essential fourth axis within the New European Bauhaus concept. This study contributes to addressing the complex housing problem for refugee populations. The generalizations formulated based on empirical research complement the knowledge of housing and the functioning of the sociotechnological system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Built Environment)

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27 pages, 8310 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Microclimate Performance Simulation Application and Scheme Optimization in Traditional Neighborhood Renewal—A Case Study of Donghuali District, Foshan City

by Jian Zheng, Haitao Zhang, Zhonghui Liu and Bohong Zheng

Sustainability 2024, 16(5), 1899; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16051899 - 26 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1791

Abstract

With global warming and rapid urbanization, the microclimate in the Lingnan region is prone to health problems, such as pyrexia and infectious diseases, and the average annual number of heatwave-related deaths is rising rapidly. The large-scale regeneration of traditional neighborhoods in Lingnan under high-quality development is underway, which has implications for the thermal comfort of microclimatic environments. This study focused on the impact of different building unit types and spatial patterns on thermal comfort in the Donghuali traditional neighborhood of Foshan City as an example. We extracted eight basic morphological units and designed a prototype block of 400 m × 400 m. In the Rhinoceros & Grasshopper parametric software 6.7, a variety of plug-ins were integrated to establish a platform with parametric modeling, microclimate simulation and evaluation, and optimal design for thermal comfort. Through experiments, the effects of new single-type and new composite building units on thermal comfort were investigated, and the correlation equations between spatial morphology and microclimate comfort in Lingnan traditional neighborhoods were established. Finally, the multi-objective genetic optimization of thermal comfort was carried out as an example of real block renewal, which provides a practical reference for the planning and design of traditional blocks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Built Environment)

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22 pages, 80666 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Narrative Space in the Chinese Classical Garden Based on Narratology and Space Syntax—Taking the Humble Administrator’s Garden as an Example

by Huishu Chen and Li Yang

Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12232; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612232 - 10 Aug 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3660

Abstract

Using the theory of Narratology and the analysis method of Space Syntax, the complex structure and plot of space in Chinese Classical Gardens (CCGs) are described and analysed, taking the Humble Administrator’s Garden as an example. The three elements of the garden’s spatial system (nodes, boundaries, and linkages) constitute the complexity and similarity of the garden’s spatial structure. Plaques, couplets, poems, and paintings serve as the narrative vocabulary of the gardens, bringing out the theme and sublimating space. The garden owner uses the garden’s physical space as a carrier, combining the text of the “stories within a story” with the spatial structure of the “gardens in a garden”. By visiting the garden over time, visitors complete the narrative of the garden’s plot space and receive the garden owner’s aspiration of “Reclusive”. The introduction of narrative theory and space syntax into the analysis of Chinese Classical Gardens (CCGs) not only provides a new means of insight into the space of CCGs, but also provides designers with an idea of how to create rich spatial variations and emotional experiences in architectural practice by skilfully using limited spatial resources Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Planning and Built Environment)

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