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Special Issue "Sustainable Buildings and Energy Performance"

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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: 31 May 2022.

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tullio De Rubeis
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Guest Editor

Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics (DIIIE), University of L’Aquila, Piazzale Pontieri 1, Monteluco di Roio, I 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Interests: building physics; energy efficiency; lighting systems; dynamic simulations; lighting control systems; heat transfer; renewable energy
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Dr. Luca Evangelisti
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Co-Guest Editor

Department of Engineering, Roma TRE University, Via Vito Volterra 62, 00146 Rome, Italy
Interests: building physics; energy efficiency; experimental measurements; simulation; heat transfer; sustainability
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current global energy scenario shows that the building sector is one of the main responsible sector for energy consumption, accounting for 40% of the total [1] and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, which have more than doubled since 1970 [2]. This scenario, together with the growing global warming, requires more and more efforts to find innovative solutions which are able to reduce the energy demands of new and existing buildings, maximizing the efficiency of technological systems and ensuring high comfort levels. Thus, in this context, the energy efficiency concept blends with the issue of the comfort of built environments, highlighting a deep relationship between technological solutions and human being.

Therefore, this Special Issue on “Sustainable Buildings and Energy Performance” has a wide-ranging goal. It aims to collect scientific papers dealing with innovative solutions for the building sector, taking into account several levels of knowledge. This Special Issue welcomes high-quality papers on the following topics:

Sustainable and green buildings;
Sustainable and green building materials;
HVAC system solutions;
Climate change, weather conditions, and thermal loads of buildings;
Energy and environmental auditing and monitoring;
Energy and environmental certification of buildings;
Building simulation;
Energy retrofit of buildings;
Renewable energy sources for buildings;
Zero or nearly zero energy buildings;
Thermal and visual comfort;
Building acoustics;
Heat transfer in opaque and transparent components;
High energy performance materials;
Daylight harvesting optimization;
Non-destructive testing;
Smart solutions;
Urban building energy modeling;
Machine learning techniques;
Case studies.

Dr. Tullio de Rubeis
Dr. Luca Evangelisti
Guest Editors

References

International Energy Agency (IEA). (2016). World Energy Outlook; IEA: Paris, France, 2016.
International Energy Agency (IEA). (2012). CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion. Beyond 2020 Online Database, International Energy Agency, Paris, 2012, p. 135. Available at: http://data.iea.org.

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

Sustainable buildings
Energy performance
Energy efficiency
Optimization
Comfort
Case studies
ZEB and nZEB
Renewables

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Radiant Floors versus Radiant Walls Using Ceramic Thermal Panels in Mediterranean Dwellings: Annual Energy Demand and Cost-Effective Analysis

Víctor Echarri-Iribarren

Nyuk Hien Wong

and

Ana Sánchez-Ostiz

Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 588; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020588 - 09 Jan 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 568

Abstract

The present study focuses on the application of large-format thermal ceramic conditioning panels (TCPs) containing polypropylene (PPR) capillary tube mats in dwellings on the Mediterranean coast. The thermal and energy behaviours were examined once the underfloor heating was installed, and they were compared with an alternative wall application. The system was implemented in a single-family house located on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. After having monitored the house during a complete one-year cycle, the annual energy demand was quantified using the Design Builder tool. TCP panels applied to radiant floors reduced energy demand by 5.15% compared to the wall-layout alternative. Significant reductions in CO₂ emissions were also achieved, as well as a 25.19% reduction in energy demand compared to convection systems. The incorporation of 24 m² of solar thermal panels into the system, combined with solar cooling systems based on lithium chloride, was also analysed. A reduction in energy demand of 57.46% was obtained compared to all-air convection systems. Finally, the amortisation periods of the investments in TCP panels and solar panels were calculated and compared to a convection system. Underfloor TCP panels proved to be more cost-effective than a wall installation. The additional cost of EUR 21,844 could be amortised over approximately 14 years with the radiant underfloor TCP system, while the wall TCP would be amortised over 17.4 years. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Buildings and Energy Performance)

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Open AccessArticle

Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies: Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a University Campus in Rome (Italy)

Gabriele Battista

Luca Evangelisti

Claudia Guattari

Emanuele De Lieto Vollaro

Roberto De Lieto Vollaro

and

Francesco Asdrubali

Sustainability 2020, 12(19), 7971; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197971 - 25 Sep 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 731

Abstract

The urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon is strictly related to climate changes and urban development. During summer, in urban areas, the lack of green zones and water sources causes local overheating, with discomfort and negative effects on buildings’ energy performance. Starting from this, an experimental and numerical investigating of the climatic conditions in a university area in Rome was achieved, also assessing the occurrence of the UHI phenomenon. The analyzed area was recently renewed, with solutions in contrast to each other: on one side, an old building was re-designed aiming at high performance; on the other hand, the neighboring areas were also refurbished leading to large paved surfaces, characterized by high temperatures during summer. A calibrated numerical model was generated through ENVI-met software and eight different scenarios were compared, to mitigate the overheating of this area and to analyze the influences of the proposed solutions in terms of air temperature reduction. The analysis of this case study provides information on potential mitigation solutions in the urban environment, showing that goals and priorities in the design phase should concern not only buildings but also external areas, also considering university areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Buildings and Energy Performance)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

A Review on Effective Use of Daylight Harvesting Using Intelligent Lighting Control Systems for Sustainable Office Buildings in India

Gnana Swathika Odiyur Vathanam

Karthikeyan Kalyanasundaram

Rajvikram Madurai Elavarasan

Shabir Hussain Khahro

Umashankar Subramaniam

Rishi Pugazhendhi

Mehana Ramesh

and

Rishi Murugesan Gopalakrishnan

Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4973; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094973 - 29 Apr 2021

Viewed by 772

Abstract

Lighting is a fundamental requirement of our daily life. A lot of research and development is carried out in the field of daylight harvesting, which is the need of the hour. One of the most desirable attributes of daylight harvesting is that daylight is available universally and it is a very clean and cost-efficient form of energy. By using the various methods of daylight harvesting, it is possible to attain the global Sustainable Development Goals. Daylight harvesting in the most fundamental sense is the lighting strategy control of the artificial light in an interior space where daylight is also present so that the required illumination level is achieved. This way, a lot of energy can be saved. Recently, in addition to energy efficiency, other factors such as cost-efficiency, user requirements such as uniform illuminance, and different levels of illuminance at different points are being considered. To simulate the actual daylight contribution for an office building in urban Chennai, India before construction, ECO TECH software is used by providing the inputs such as building orientation, and reflectance’s values of the ceiling, wall, and floor to analyze the overall percentage of daylight penetration available versus the percentage prescribed in the Indian Green Building Council to obtain the credit points. Thus, the impact of architectural design on daylight harvesting and daylight predictive technology has experimented with office building in Chennai, India. This article will give an insight into the current trends in daylight harvesting technology and intends to provide a deeper understanding and spark a research interest in this widely potential field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Buildings and Energy Performance)

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