Green Buildings: Renewable Energy Systems and Bioclimatic Design in Architecture

Dear Colleagues,

Bioclimatic architecture offers innovative designs that provide both visual and thermal comfort for users. This concept is globally accepted as a new approach to build energy-efficient buildings, where the remaining energy demand can be met by the utilization of renewable energy sources. So far, several zero energy buildings (ZEB) have been developed by passive and active solar thermal applications to be the most efficient design while PV integration is necessary for electric energy demand. Connecting ZEBs to the utility power grid has been demonstrated as a boon for delivering storage energy to the grid. In this concept, although the first aim is to apply the passive strategies to diminish the entire load for cooling and heating, the PV power is used for the remaining energy demand. Good architecture has always been a bioclimatic architecture, but today, after the energy crisis, no building quality can be found apart an energy control of the planning.

A ‘green’ building is a building that, in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment. Green buildings preserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life.

There are a number of features that can make a building ‘green’. These include:

• Efficient use of energy, water, and other resources
• Use of renewable energy, such as solar energy
• Pollution and waste reduction measures, and the enabling of re-use and recycling
• Good indoor environmental air quality
• Use of materials that are non-toxic, ethical, and sustainable
• Consideration of the environment in design, construction, and operation
• Consideration of the quality of life of occupants in design, construction, and operation
• A design that enables adaptation to a changing environment

The issue will be Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common objective of green buildings is to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by:

• Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources
• Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity
• Reducing waste, pollution, and environmental degradation

Dr. Maatouk Khoukhi
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized 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.