Sustainable Monitoring Systems for Building and Industrial Sectors: Energy Efficiency, Indoor Air Quality, and Thermal Comfort
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Building".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 26 November 2026 | Viewed by 18
Special Issue Editors
Interests: AI; IAQ; prediction model; sensor validation; reinforcement learning; autonomous control; generative modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: building energy efficiency; green hydrogen; renewable energy integration; machine learning; battery management systems
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue focuses on sustainable monitoring systems that use emerging technologies to enhance performance and well-being within the building and industrial sectors, including enclosed spaces like public buildings, schools, residential buildings, chemical laboratories, and underground mining. This Special Issue further emphasizes three interconnected pillars of modern sustainability practice—energy efficiency, indoor air quality (IAQ), and thermal comfort—highlighting innovative monitoring frameworks, smart sensing technologies, data-driven decision-making tools, and integrated approaches that address environmental performance, hazard prevention, and human health.
The scope of this Special Issue covers, but is not limited to, the following:
- Energy monitoring and optimization: Advanced metering infrastructures, sensor networks, and real-time optimization for reducing energy consumption and improving energy management in buildings and industrial processes.
- Indoor air quality monitoring: Frameworks for detecting and controlling contaminants, developing IAQ indices, low-cost sensing solutions, and applications of AI/IoT for predictive management of pollutants.
- Thermal comfort assessment: Multi-parameter monitoring systems, adaptive comfort models, and occupant-centric sensing and control strategies.
- Cross-cutting technologies: Integration of digital twins, AI, machine learning, and big data analytics into monitoring systmes; development of interoperable standards; and life-cycle assessments linking monitoring outcomes to long-term sustainability goals.
- Application contexts: Residential and commercial buildings, underground and confined spaces, industrial facilities, and smart urban infrastructures.
The purpose of the Special Issue is as follows:
- Provide a platform for interdisciplinary research that advances practical and scalable monitoring solutions.
- Support the transition towards sustainable, resilient, and occupant-centered environments in both the building and industrial sectors.
- Showcase emerging methodologies that can bridge the gap between technological innovation and real-world implementation.
Dr. Jorge Loy-Benitez
Dr. Shahzeb Tariq
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
- sustainable monitoring systems
- energy efficiency
- indoor air quality
- thermal comfort
- smart sensing
- building and industrial sustainability
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