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Optimizing Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort in Building

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "G: Energy and Buildings".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 22 January 2025 | Viewed by 4858

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Laboratoire des Sciences de l’Ingénieur Pour l’Environnement (LASIE, UMR CNRMS 7356), La Rochelle Université, 17000 La Rochelle, France
Interests: energy efficiency in building; thermal engineering; building simulation; green building
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Today, it is widely accepted that climate change is a global phenomenon. Not only is the average temperature rising but heatwaves are also becoming more frequent. In addition, currently, the construction industry is not particularly adapted to extreme heat. Thus, research is necessary not only to analyze how building design will impact the climate but also how the future climate will impact building design.

On the other hand, the design of buildings aims to achieve a number of objectives in terms of energy consumption and the quality of indoor environments, which are often in conflict with each other. Thus, managing conflicting criteria in building design optimization is a real challenge that needs to be addressed.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances related to methods, modelling, experimentation, and application for optimizing energy-efficient design against thermal comfort in indoor spaces.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Optimal design methodologies
  • Multi-objective optimization
  • Advanced modelling approaches
  • Suitable design of experiments
  • Energy efficiency measures
  • Thermal comfort assessment
  • Efficient cooling and heating systems

Prof. Dr. Christian Inard
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • design
  • optimization
  • modelling
  • experimentation
  • thermal comfort
  • energy efficiency

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 18156 KiB  
Article
Research on Multi-Objective Optimization Design of University Student Center in China Based on Low Energy Consumption and Thermal Comfort
by Ming Liu, Yufei Que, Nanxin Yang, Chongyi Yan and Qibo Liu
Energies 2024, 17(9), 2082; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17092082 - 26 Apr 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 986
Abstract
Ensuring optimal building performance is vital for enhancing student activity comfort and fostering energy-saving initiatives toward low-carbon objectives. This paper focuses on university student centers in China, aiming to diminish building energy consumption while enhancing indoor thermal comfort. Parametric modeling of typical cases [...] Read more.
Ensuring optimal building performance is vital for enhancing student activity comfort and fostering energy-saving initiatives toward low-carbon objectives. This paper focuses on university student centers in China, aiming to diminish building energy consumption while enhancing indoor thermal comfort. Parametric modeling of typical cases is executed using the Grasshopper 1.0.0007 software package, and the simulation of building energy consumption and indoor thermal comfort relies on the Ladybug and Honeybee plug-in. Employing a multi-objective optimization design method and the Octopus multi-objective optimization algorithm, this study integrates numerical simulations and on-site surveys to analyze how factors like building form, orientation, envelope structure, and others impact the indoor and outdoor environment. A comprehensive optimization design approach is implemented for the building’s exterior components, including the walls, windows, roof, and shading system. After conducting a comparative analysis of the annual comprehensive energy consumption and indoor thermal comfort before and after the optimization plan, it is determined that implementing these measures reduces the annual comprehensive energy consumption of the building under study by 58.8% and extends the duration of indoor thermal comfort by 53.0%. This study presents a practical optimization design methodology for university student center architecture in China, aiding architects in decision making and advocating for energy-efficient building designs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimizing Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort in Building)
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16 pages, 4269 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Exterior Glazing on Human Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings
by Bing Song, Lujian Bai and Liu Yang
Energies 2024, 17(4), 776; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17040776 - 6 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 899
Abstract
As a major component of the building envelope, the energy-saving design of exterior windows is key to energy savings in office buildings. The conventional design of exterior windows mainly focused on their impact on heating and cooling energy but ignored the indoor thermal [...] Read more.
As a major component of the building envelope, the energy-saving design of exterior windows is key to energy savings in office buildings. The conventional design of exterior windows mainly focused on their impact on heating and cooling energy but ignored the indoor thermal comfort problems caused by the direct solar radiation transmitted by windows and the fluctuation of their internal surface temperatures. This study analyzed the influence of exterior windows on the indoor thermal environment of office buildings by carrying out field experiments. The experiments were carried out in a typical office building in Xi’an during December and January. The impact of exterior windows on human thermal comfort was studied from two perspectives: longwave radiation from the surface of window glass and solar shortwave radiation. It was found that solar radiation was the main cause of temperature fluctuations on the internal surface of windows and created non-uniform thermal environments. The mean radiant temperature fluctuations in the near-window area could reach up to 7.8 °C due to outdoor solar radiation in winter. Solar radiation transmitted by windows directly affects thermal sensations. Since conventional thermal comfort models or indices underestimated the thermal sensations of occupants in the presence of solar radiation, the additional thermal loads caused by solar radiation needed to be taken into account. The allowable operative temperature range for maintaining thermal comfort should be reduced by 0.5 °C when occupants are exposed to solar radiation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimizing Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort in Building)
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20 pages, 7540 KiB  
Article
Concentration of CO2 in the Local Working Area during the Joint Operation of a Gas Infrared Heater and an Air-Exchange System
by Boris Vladimirovich Borisov, Geniy Vladimirovich Kuznetsov, Vyacheslav Ivanovich Maksimov, Tatiana Aleksandrovna Nagornova and Felix Yurievich Salikhov
Energies 2024, 17(1), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17010155 - 27 Dec 2023
Viewed by 678
Abstract
The formation of local areas in large buildings with regulated thermal conditions is an urgent task. The use of gas infrared heaters for this purpose raises questions on the utility of an air-exchange system and the monitoring of the combustion product concentration. In [...] Read more.
The formation of local areas in large buildings with regulated thermal conditions is an urgent task. The use of gas infrared heaters for this purpose raises questions on the utility of an air-exchange system and the monitoring of the combustion product concentration. In this study, the modeling of heat transfer processes on premises with a gas infrared heater and an air-exchange system was conducted. The carbon dioxide concentration in the local working area when using a light-type gas infrared heater was determined. The regularities of current formation for circulating air and combustion products on the premises at various air-exchange rates were analyzed. The profiles of CO2 temperatures and concentrations in the local working areas on the left and right of the equipment model are shown. The article makes a conclusion about the influence of air velocity from the air-exchange system based on average values of carbon dioxide concentration on the premises and in the local working area. The possibility of increasing the temperature in the local working area without exceeding the permissible CO2 concentrations (less than 1000 ppm) has been identified. The formulated approach allows us to predict the available modes of the air-exchange system to create the highest possible comfort heating parameters while maintaining an acceptable degree of air pollution from combustion products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimizing Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort in Building)
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Review

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33 pages, 4967 KiB  
Review
A Review of Data-Driven Methods in Building Retrofit and Performance Optimization: From the Perspective of Carbon Emission Reductions
by Shu-Long Luo, Xing Shi and Feng Yang
Energies 2024, 17(18), 4641; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17184641 - 17 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1564
Abstract
In order to reduce the contribution of the building sector to global greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, it is important to improve the building performance through retrofits from the perspective of carbon emission reductions. Data-driven methods are now widely used in building [...] Read more.
In order to reduce the contribution of the building sector to global greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, it is important to improve the building performance through retrofits from the perspective of carbon emission reductions. Data-driven methods are now widely used in building retrofit research. To better apply data-driven techniques in low-carbon building retrofits, a better understanding is needed of the connections and interactions in optimization objectives and parameters, as well as optimization methods and tools. This paper provides a bibliometric analysis of selected 45 studies, summarizes current research hotspots in the field, discusses gaps to be filled, and proposes potential directions for future work. The results show that (1) the building-performance optimization (BPO) process established through physical simulation methods combines the site, retrofit variables, and carbon-related objectives, and the generated datasets are either directly processed using multi-objective optimization (MOO) algorithms or trained as a surrogate model and iteratively optimized using MOO methods. When a sufficient amount of data is available, data-driven methods can be used to develop mathematical models and use MOO methods for performance optimization from the perspective of building carbon emission reductions. (2) The benefits of retrofits are maximized by holistically taking environmental, economic, and social factors into account; from the perspectives of carbon emissions, costs, thermal comfort, and more, widely adopted strategies include improving the thermal performance of building envelopes, regulating HVAC systems, and utilizing renewable energy. (3) The optimization process based on data-driven methods, such as optimization algorithms and machine learning, apply mathematical models and methods for automatic iterative calculations and screen out the optimal solutions with computer assistance with high efficiency while ensuring accuracy. (4) Only 2.2% and 6.7% of the literature focus on the impacts of human behavior and climate change on building retrofits, respectively. In the future, it is necessary to give further consideration to user behaviors and long-term climate change in the retrofit process, in addition to improving the accuracy of optimization models and exploring the generalization and migration capabilities of surrogate models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimizing Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort in Building)
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