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Dear Colleagues,

Thermal comfort and energy efficiency in buildings are two fundamental aspects of a wider issue related to our communities in terms of human well-being and energy sustainability. Efficient buildings need high-efficiency energy systems and components that are able to satisfy local energy demands to also employ renewable energy resources. Within this context, single structures need to be designed by applying a holistic vision oriented towards energy efficiency and indoor comfort. In turn, single structures can be considered part of greater communities able to join forces and invest in clean energy towards a zero-carbon emission perspective. The concept of designing energy communities based on renewables or community-based energy projects has gained worldwide attention, demonstrating economic, energy, and environmental benefits. Consequently, this Special Issue, titled “Research Trends of Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in Buildings”, has a wide-ranging goal, considering different levels of knowledge. This Special Issue welcomes high-quality papers focused on the following topics:

HVAC system solutions;
Renewable energy sources for buildings;
Energy communities;
Thermal and visual comfort;
Urban building energy modeling;
Heat transfer in building components;
Zero or nearly-zero energy buildings;
Case studies.

Prof. Dr. Roberto de Lieto Vollaro
Dr. Luca Evangelisti
Guest Editors

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Keywords

thermal comfort
energy efficiency
renewables
energy communities
case studies

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

15 pages, 4247 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Experimental Direct Model for the Sky Temperature Evaluation in the Mediterranean Area: A Preliminary Investigation

by Edoardo De Cristo, Luca Evangelisti, Claudia Guattari and Roberto De Lieto Vollaro

Energies 2024, 17(9), 2228; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17092228 - 6 May 2024

Viewed by 364

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 20th century, many studies have focused on the possibility of considering the sky as a body characterized by an apparent temperature, and several correlations to quantify the apparent sky temperature have been proposed. However, the different models were obtained for specific meteorological conditions and through measurements at specific sites. The available models do not cover all locations in the world, although the evaluation of the sky temperature is fundamental for estimating the net radiative heat transfer between surfaces and the sky. Here, experimental data logged from a regional micrometeorological network (in Italy, within the Lazio region) were processed and used to identify an empirical model for the estimation of the sky temperature in the Mediterranean area. Data relating to atmospheric infrared radiation were used to compute the sky temperature, aiming at identifying a direct correlation with the ambient temperature. Climatic data acquired during 2022 were processed. The proposed correlations were compared with other models available in the literature, including the standard ISO 13790. This study proposes an annual-based direct correlation in its initial phase, demonstrating a superior fit to the measured data compared to well-known direct empirical models from the literature. Subsequently, quarterly-based correlations are introduced further in a secondary phase of the work to improve the model’s adaptation to experimental observations. The results reveal that quarterly-based correlations improve goodness-of-fit indexes compared to annual-based and well-known direct empirical correlations. Finally, a detached building was modeled via a dynamic code to highlight the influence of different correlations on annual energy needs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Trends of Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in Buildings)

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