Special Issue "Renewable Energy Use and Savings in Buildings for Sustainable Development"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Tomasz Cholewa
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Indoor and Qutdoor Air Quality, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Lublin University of Technology, 20-618 Lublin, Poland
Interests: HVAC systems analysis, optimization and control; energy efficiency in buildings; radiant heating/cooling; heat cost allocation in buildings; renewable energy use/integration in buildings
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Alicja Siuta-Olcha
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Indoor and Qutdoor Air Quality, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Lublin University of Technology, Lublin 20-618, Poland
Interests: energy efficiency in buildings; heat consumption in buildings; renewable energy; solar energy systems; HVAC systems; modernization of district heating systems
Prof. Dr. Dorota Anna Krawczyk
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of HVAC Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bialystok University of Technology, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland
Interests: energy consumption; renewable energy; solar systems; wind energy; geothermal energy; biomass; final energy use in buildings; efficiency of HVAC and DHW systems; sustainable energy systems; gas boilers; energy saving versus indoor air quality
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Łukasz Amanowicz
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering and Building Services Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan 60-965, Poland
Interests: energy efficiency in buildings; renewable energy; radiant heating/cooling; thermal and hydraulic performance of HVAC systems; experimental investigations and CFD simulations
Dr. Michał Turski
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sanitary Networks and Installations, Faculty of Infrastructure and Environment, Czestochowa University of Technology, Czestochowa 42-200, Poland
Interests: environmental engineering; open cooling systems; technical and economic analysis of thermal and cooling processes; auditing and energy certification of buildings; communal and residential energy; reducing the demand for primary energy; heating, ventilation and air conditioning installations; indoor air quality;solar energy; optimization of the parameters of construction and installation systems; thermal comfort conditions

Special Issue Information

In residential buildings in Europe is used around 40% of the total amount of energy produced, of which more than 70% for space heating. Therefore, reducing energy consumption in this sector is constantly gaining importance, especially in the face of the obligations of individual European Union member states in the field of increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources (RES).

Rationalization of heat consumption should be taken into account in new buildings already at the stage of designing energy-efficient heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and domestic hot water preparation (DHW) (also with the use of RES), and then continued through education and full involvement of residents in the process of effective use of the supplied heat or electricity.

On the other hand, in the majority of existing buildings, the reduction of heat consumption has already been achieved by implementing thermal modernization of the building envelope, often combined with a certain scope of modernization of the HVAC systems (e.g. installation of thermostatic radiator valves). Therefore, further modernization measures aimed at further increasing the level of energy efficiency in this type of buildings will now focus, in particular, on the modernization of the HVAC system and domestic hot water preparation, education of residents, and improvement of control and automation of delivery, storage and use of energy.

However, there is often a lack of reference values that would define the level of heat reduction that could be achieved by a given retrofit measure and that would be confirmed by long-term field tests.

The aim of this Special Issue is to incorporate works on energy efficiency and/or integration of RES in existing buildings, supported by (if possible): a) calculation of the time of execution of modernization works; b) analysis of difficulties during the implementation of modernization works for users; c) calculation of Simple Pay Back Time (SPBT).

Manuscripts related to below specific topics are also warmly welcome for this special issue:

1) Tests and simulations of HVAC systems and their components aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the building

2) Long-term simulations of modernization changes aimed at improving energy efficiency

3) Analysis of the impact of user behavior and HVAC system operation control on the

energy efficiency of buildings

4) Energy, financial and environmental costs of operating HVAC systems and RES in buildings

The aim of this Special Issue is to incorporate works on energy efficiency and/or integration of RES in existing buildings, supported by (if possible): a) calculation of the time of execution of modernization works; b) analysis of difficulties during the implementation of modernization works for users; c) calculation of Simple Pay Back Time (SPBT).

Manuscripts related to below specific topics are also warmly welcome for this special issue:

1) Tests and simulations of HVAC systems and their components aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the building

2) Long-term simulations of modernization changes aimed at improving energy efficiency

3) Analysis of the impact of user behavior and HVAC system operation control on the

energy efficiency of buildings

4) Energy, financial and environmental costs of operating HVAC systems and RES in buildings

In residential buildings in Europe is used around 40% of the total amount of energy produced, of which more than 70% for space heating. Therefore, reducing energy consumption in this sector is constantly gaining importance, especially in the face of the obligations of individual European Union member states in the field of increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources (RES).

Rationalization of heat consumption should be taken into account in new buildings already at the stage of designing energy-efficient heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and domestic hot water preparation (DHW) (also with the use of RES), and then continued through education and full involvement of residents in the process of effective use of the supplied heat or electricity.

On the other hand, in the majority of existing buildings, the reduction of heat consumption has already been achieved by implementing thermal modernization of the building envelope, often combined with a certain scope of modernization of the HVAC systems (e.g. installation of thermostatic radiator valves). Therefore, further modernization measures aimed at further increasing the level of energy efficiency in this type of buildings will now focus, in particular, on the modernization of the HVAC system and domestic hot water preparation, education of residents, and improvement of control and automation of delivery, storage and use of energy.

However, there is often a lack of reference values that would define the level of heat reduction that could be achieved by a given retrofit measure and that would be confirmed by long-term field tests.

Dr. Tomasz Cholewa
Prof. Alicja Siuta-Olcha
Prof. Dr. Dorota Anna Krawczyk
Dr. Łukasz Amanowicz
Dr. Michał Turski
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 papers will be 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 1900 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

This special issue is now open for submission.
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