Special Issue "Sustainable Urban Environment and Building Energy Efficiency"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Seung Hyun Cha
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Interior Architecture Design, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea
Interests: future cities; IOT/AR/VR; digital twin; smart design; human behavior
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Choongwan Koo
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Architecture & Urban Design, Incheon National University, Incheon 22012, Korea
Interests: smart building and construction management; health/safety/environment (HSE); human behavior; biometrics; smart and sustainable technologies (IOT/big data/AI/VR)
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Accelerated urbanization, caused by the rapid growth of the global population, has led to a significant increase in energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions, consequently contributing to global climate change. For instance, buildings in cities are responsible for 70% of total global energy consumption, representing more than two-thirds of CO2 emissions. Therefore, good understanding and planning of energy use in buildings are crucial for establishing adequate future energy policies that are more environment-friendly, without harming the primary functions of buildings (e.g., good lighting and comfortable indoor environment).

Accordingly, the use of passive technologies, renovation in existing buildings, sustainable energy sources, and cost-effective building designs have been accepted as an essential component of comprehensive solutions in built environments. On this basis, great efforts have been made to improve the building performance and reduce energy-related emissions through the application of passive technologies (e.g., phase change materials, passive solar heating system, solar panel windows, daylight harvesting systems, passive cooling systems, etc.), renewable energy sources (solar panels, photovoltaics, bioenergy, etc.), smart technologies (e.g., IOT sensors, smart HVAC systems, etc.), and building performance optimization in design stages. In addition to using machine learning, and intelligent analytics to develop predictive energy models, other study aspects include socio-economic and environmental impacts and extract insights.

This Special Issue is a platform for a wide range of professionals to enhance interdisciplinary research and share the most recent ideas in the related fields listed below for more sustainable buildings.

Prof. Dr. Seung Hyun Cha
Prof. Dr. Choongwan Koo
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.

Keywords

Related fields include but are not limited to the following:

  • Integration of solar renewable systems with building structures
  • Sustainable renovation of existing buildings
  • Building energy performance optimization
  • Building design optimization using modeling techniques
  • Evaluating socio-economic and environmental impacts with renewable energy projects
  • Feasibility study of applying passive solar heating systems into buildings
  • New and advanced materials and technologies applied to buildings
  • Development of predictive models, control systems
  • Mapping and planning renewable energy potentials
  • Technical analysis of energy-intelligent buildings
  • Occupant behavior
  • Occupant comforts and building energy performance

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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Article
The Energy Consumption of Terraces in the Barcelona Public Space: Heating the Street
Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 865; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020865 - 16 Jan 2021
Viewed by 626
Abstract
Terraces, as outdoor extensions of food and beverage businesses located in the public realm, have very high potential to activate the streetscape, bring people together and improving urban experiences. Among the consequences of the current COVID-19 pandemic are the recommendations of maximizing outdoor [...] Read more.
Terraces, as outdoor extensions of food and beverage businesses located in the public realm, have very high potential to activate the streetscape, bring people together and improving urban experiences. Among the consequences of the current COVID-19 pandemic are the recommendations of maximizing outdoor environments when conducting human interactions. Therefore, outdoor eating has dramatically increased throughout the world, with terraces becoming a radical urban change in many streetscapes. The urgency of the situation, and rapid implementation of these changes, has revealed some aspects of this phenomenon that should be considered when adapting the regulations to this new reality. However, the research on their functioning and impact is limited. Additionally, although energy consumption in the architectural and urban field is considered fundamental, research has rarely addressed small business outdoor spaces, placing the focus instead on residential heating or public lighting. This study focuses on the intersection of these two gaps by analyzing a set of terraces in Barcelona and estimating the power installed in their outdoor heating devices. The goal is to determine the potential energy consumed, contrast it with other values more commonly used when researching architectural energy consumption and point out the lack of sustainability of these approaches to providing comfort. The calculations show that the installed power in Barcelona terraces is significant and, when estimating potential consumption, it presents values higher that the average heating consumption of residential units in Spain. These results support two main conclusions: first, the relevance of addressing the means of providing comfort in outdoor urban spaces due to the high magnitude of their potential energy consumption; second, the importance of adapting those systems to outdoor conditions, understanding the needs of the occupants and the limitations of the environment in order to develop sustainable solutions that provide comfort without attempting to heat the air of the street. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Environment and Building Energy Efficiency)
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Article
Turbulence Effect of Urban-Canopy Flow on Indoor Velocity Fields under Sheltered and Cross-Ventilation Conditions
Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 586; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020586 - 09 Jan 2021
Viewed by 571
Abstract
Understanding the characteristics of natural, wind-induced ventilation of buildings is essential for accurate predictions of ventilation flow rates; however, indoor ventilation is significantly influenced by surrounding buildings. Therefore, a series of wind-tunnel experiments were performed to clarify the relationship between outdoor and indoor [...] Read more.
Understanding the characteristics of natural, wind-induced ventilation of buildings is essential for accurate predictions of ventilation flow rates; however, indoor ventilation is significantly influenced by surrounding buildings. Therefore, a series of wind-tunnel experiments were performed to clarify the relationship between outdoor and indoor air flows around and within a target cube model with several openings. Two surrounding building arrangements, namely square (SQ) and staggered (ST), were placed under the condition of a building coverage ratio of 25%. The results indicated that the wind speed near the windward openings on the streamwise faces showed 0.3 to the reference wind speed, whereas those on the lateral faces were less than 0.1; these numbers indicate that the opening positions significantly affect the mean indoor wind speed. Furthermore, the temporal fluctuations of velocities near the opening demonstrated that the introduction of the flow is significantly affected by turbulent flow due to the surrounding buildings. In addition, correlation between the outdoor and indoor air flows was observed. The highest correlations were obtained for both opening conditions with a certain temporal delay. This result indicates that indoor air flows become turbulent because of the turbulent flows generated by the surrounding outdoor buildings; however, slight temporal delays could occur between indoor and outdoor air flows. Although the present study focuses on the fundamental turbulent characteristics of indoor and outdoor air flows, such findings are essential for accurately predicting the ventilation flow rate due to turbulent air flows for sheltered buildings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Environment and Building Energy Efficiency)
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Review

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Review
Safety Barriers Identification, Classification, and Ways to Improve Safety Performance in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Industry: Review Study
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3316; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063316 - 17 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 620
Abstract
The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry is one of the most dangerous industries due to its unique nature. Safety is a critical issue in developed and developing countries. The main objective of this paper was to identify and classify the barriers that [...] Read more.
The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry is one of the most dangerous industries due to its unique nature. Safety is a critical issue in developed and developing countries. The main objective of this paper was to identify and classify the barriers that hinder the implementation of safety in projects and ways to improve safety performance. The method used in this paper includes a heavy review of many sources related to the safety barriers in the AEC industry, including a process of identification and classification of these barriers, after which we discuss the most popular methods between them, based on the appearance of it in the sources which were reviewed. Then, the ways to improve safety performance were viewed in AEC industry. Based on that, it was found that there are the following 4 categories associated with safety barriers: (1) Behavior Barriers; (2) Management Barriers; (3) Awareness Barriers; and (4) Culture Barriers. At the same time, the most popular barriers are based on appearance in sources: lack of safety training, lack of commitment, work pressure is high when deadlines are approaching, and low level education, lack of experience, and lack of knowledge. The many ways to improve safety performance are illustrated in the end of this paper. The results of this paper show the importance of safety and that the actual safety of the projects should be focused on in order to reduce injuries, accidents, and reduce barriers of applying safety, which will enhance the sustainability and development of safe environments within in AEC industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Environment and Building Energy Efficiency)
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