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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 (30 December 2022) | Viewed by 15325

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hooman Farzaneh

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Guest Editor

Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University, 76-1, Kasuga-koen, Kasuga-shi, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
Interests: energy systems modeling; co-benefits assessment of climate change mitigation strategies; hybrid renewable energy systems; energy systems integration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Adrian Bejan

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Guest Editor

Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University, 148A Engineering Bldg, Box 90300, Durham, NC 27708, USA
Interests: thermodynamics; applied physics; life and evolution in Nature; constructal law

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As the world population increases and the pace of urbanization continues unabated, the construction of smart cities with large commercial and residential buildings is expected to accelerate. Flexibility, efficiency, and sustainability are required in the technological structures that are responsible for the advancement of society. The concept of zero-emission and smart buildings, which involves the incorporation of sensors and big data and utilizes renewable and clean energy sources, promises to usher in a new age of urban energy efficiency. The path to this opportunity is traced in recent advances with constructal theory and design. On the way to zero-emission smart buildings, several challenges must be addressed. Improving the comfort level of residents is associated with the use of large amounts of energy, and this stresses the need for establishing a balance between quality of life and energy savings in buildings.

This Special Issue aims to introduce research methodologies and case studies that address the topics related to smart, healthy, zero-emission grid-interactive efficient buildings, and real-world applications.

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

Evaluation of technologies related to energy efficiency and flexibility in smart buildings;
Advanced control schemes for demand flexibility in buildings;
Artificial intelligence in smart buildings;
IoT smart buildings;
Hybrid renewable residential microgrids;
Zero-emissions buildings;
Efficient measures for reducing building-related carbon emissions;
Building design with constructal theory.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Hooman Farzaneh
Prof. Dr. Adrian Bejan
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 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

smart building
energy efficiency
constructal theory
artificial Intelligence
zero carbon emission

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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33 pages, 8740 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimal Design and Operation of an Off-Grid Hybrid Renewable Energy System in Nigeria’s Rural Residential Area, Using Fuzzy Logic and Optimization Techniques

by Taofeek Afolabi and Hooman Farzaneh

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3862; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043862 - 20 Feb 2023

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3276

Abstract

This study focuses on a technical and economic analysis of designing and operating an off-grid hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) in a rural community called Olooji, situated in Ogun state, Nigeria, as a case study. First, a size optimization model is developed on the basis of the novel metaheuristic particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique to determine the optimal configuration of the proposed off-grid system on the basis of the minimization of the levelized cost of electricity, by factoring in the local meteorological and electricity load data and details on the technical specification of the main components of the HRES. Second, a fuzzy-logic-controlled energy management system (EMS) is developed for the dynamic power control and energy storage of the proposed HRES, ensuring the optimal energy balance between the different multiple energy sources and the load at each hour of operation. The result of the size optimization model showed that an LCOE for implementing an HRES in the community would be 0.48 USD/kWh in a full-battery-capacity scenario and 1.17 USD/kWh in a half-battery-capacity scenario. The result from this study is important for quick decision-making and effective feasibility studies on the optimal technoeconomic synopsis of implementing minigrids in rural communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Zero Emission and Energy Intelligent Buildings)

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20 pages, 5592 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Non-Intrusive Detection of Occupants’ On/Off Behaviours of Residential Air Conditioning

by Tetsushi Ono, Aya Hagishima and Jun Tanimoto

Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 14863; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142214863 - 10 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1204

Abstract

Understanding occupants’ behaviours (OBs) of heating and cooling use in dwellings is essential for effectively promoting occupants’ behavioural change for energy saving and achieving efficient demand response operation. Thus, intensive research has been conducted on data collection, statistical analysis, and modelling of OBs. However, the majority of smart metres currently deployed worldwide monitor only the total household consumption rather than appliance-level load. Therefore, estimating the turn-on/off state of specific home appliances from the measured household total electricity referred to as non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM), has gained research attention. However, the current NILM methods overlook the specific features of inverter-controlled heat pumps (IHPs) used for space heating/cooling; thus, they are unsuitable for detecting OBs. This study presents a rule-based method for identifying the occupants’ intended operation states of IHPs based on a statistical analysis of load data monitored at 423 dwellings. This method detects the state of IHPs by subtracting the power of sequential-operation appliances other than IHPs from the total household power. Three time-series characteristics, including the durations of power-on/off states and power differences between power-off/on states, were used for this purpose. The performance of the proposed method was validated, indicating an F-score of 0.834. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Zero Emission and Energy Intelligent Buildings)

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Review

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21 pages, 9124 KiB

Open AccessReview

Algae-Powered Buildings: A Review of an Innovative, Sustainable Approach in the Built Environment

by Mahsa Sedighi, Peiman Pourmoghaddam Qhazvini and Majid Amidpour

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3729; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043729 - 17 Feb 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 9811

Abstract

Environmental pollution, global warming, energy consumption, and limited natural resources are some key factors from which today’s built environment faces interrelated problems and their management plays a vital role in sustainability. The building sector is involved in 35% of global energy usage and 40% of energy related CO₂ emissions. Application of bioactive elements on buildings’ façades is a novel approach for solving the above-mentioned problems. Management of some important factors such as thermal comfort, energy efficiency, wastewater treatment, and CO₂ capture is positively affected by bioactive façades because of their environmentally friendly nature. They also have positive effects on global warming, pollution control, social wealth, and sustainable development on a larger scale. The buildings integrated with photobioreactors (PBRs) can meet their thermal needs due to thermal insulation, shading, solar collection, and light-to-biomass conversion. Energy savings up to 30% are estimated to be met by PBR-integrated buildings due to reduced heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting loads. The above amount of energy saving results in less CO₂ emission. Moreover, the algae-integrated buildings can sequester CO₂ with an average sequestration rate of 5 g/ft²/day when optimum growing environments and operation modes are implemented. This study is an overview of microalgae intervention and PBR-adapted buildings as an innovative approach for energy efficiency in the built environment with regard to implemented or speculative cases, pros and cons, challenges, and prospects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Zero Emission and Energy Intelligent Buildings)

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