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Energy-Building-Indoor Environment for Long-Term Sustainability
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Energy-Building-Indoor Environment for Long-Term Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 13777

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jianhui Hu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Interests: Large-Span Spatial Buildings; Polar Buildings; Sustainable Building; Solar Energy; BIPV; Inflatable Structures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Carol Monticelli

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via G. Ponzio n. 31, Milano, Italy
Interests: technology of architecture; construction systems’ innovation; sustainable building materials; eco-efficiency; environmental impact assessment; life cycle assessment; life cycle thinking; design for disassembling; design for re-manufacturing; design for reuse; embodied energy; lightweight building materials; architectural membranes; technical textiles for buildings
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Zhengyu Fan

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
Interests: green building technology; renewable energy utilization in green building; building integrated photovoltaics
Prof. Dr. Shiliang Lu

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
Interests: building thermal performance; indoor environment; energy consumption for public buildings; low-carbon buildings

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nearly 40% of the primary global energy is consumed by buildings in order to maintain comfort in the indoor environment, which is one major reason for greenhouse gas emissions. To improve the performance of buildings through the use of new energy technologies, many novel active and passive strategies (i.e., renewable energy, energy storage, building monitoring, and performance control) have been developed in recent decades. The novel theories and innovation technologies in energy technologies for buildings and the built environment are critical in order to reduce energy comsumption so as to meet the aim of long-term sustainability.

To assess and evaluate the relationship between energy, buildings, and the built environment, big data from buildings are now available for promoting sustainability at a regional and global level. The data methodology and applications on the interdisciplinary areas of energy–building–indoor environment are gaining more and more attention. Artificial intelligence based on big data is an efficient method for energy and indoor environment issues.

This Special Issue will provide a platform for discussing multi-disciplinary and insightful ideas to support novel throries, methodologies, and empirical research on the energy–building–indoor environment for long-term Sustainability. This Special Issue can establish close links among academic research and engineers to address energy, building, and environmental challenges for sustainablibity.

Potential topics of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Revised traditional electrica/thermal energy technologies in buildings
  • Renewable energy and consumption control in buildings
  • Revised indicators of the systems of energy and the indoor environment
  • Building energy performance assessment and benchmarking
  • Building performance control techniques
  • Data mining and artificial intelligence technologies for building sectors
  • Validation, practices, engineering projects, and guidelines for future buildings
  • National and international policies about the future energy–building–indoor environment
  • Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the energy–building–indoor environment

Dr. Jianhui Hu
Prof. Dr. Carol Monticelli
Dr. Zhengyu Fan
Prof. Dr. Shiliang Lu
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

  • electrical/thermal energy technologies
  • renewable energy
  • energy consumption
  • indicators systems of energy
  • indoor environment
  • energy performance assessment
  • benchmarking results
  • building performance control techniques
  • data mining for building sectors
  • artificial intelligence technologies for building sectors
  • practices and engineering projects for future buildings
  • guideline for future buildings
  • national and international policies

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 2948 KiB  
Article
Selection of the Energy Performance Indicator for Hotels Based on ISO 50001: A Case Study
by Luis Angel Iturralde Carrera, Andrés Lorenzo Álvarez González, Juvenal Rodríguez-Reséndiz and José Manuel Álvarez-Alvarado
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1568; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021568 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2895
Abstract
The work deals with the study of the Energy Planning stage according to the ISO 50001:2018 Standard at the Hotel Punta la Cueva in Cienfuegos, Cuba. The current energy management indicators for hotels are well-studied. However, the study aims to incorporate the variable [...] Read more.
The work deals with the study of the Energy Planning stage according to the ISO 50001:2018 Standard at the Hotel Punta la Cueva in Cienfuegos, Cuba. The current energy management indicators for hotels are well-studied. However, the study aims to incorporate the variable Degree-Days in the Room Days Occupied (RDO) to establish a correct Baseline and Energy Performance Indicator. The methodology followed is based on the energy management standards of energy review stage. The fundamental results were in obtaining the Energy Baseline with a Coefficient of Determination (R2) of 0.97. One of the opportunities for improvement consisted of the replacement of 80 bulbs 15 W with 9 W LED bulbs. It has an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 28%, a Present Value Net Income (NPV) of 71.5 USD, and an Investment Recovery Period (PRI) of 3.6 years. The second opportunity is a preliminary project for a Photovoltaic Solar System on the roofs of the buildings, where it is possible to install 1011 photovoltaic and achieve a generation of 384 kilowatt-peak (kWp). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Building-Indoor Environment for Long-Term Sustainability)
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24 pages, 8622 KiB  
Article
Multi-Objective Optimization Design of Geometric Parameters of Atrium in nZEB Based on Energy Consumption, Carbon Emission and Cost
by Zhenzhong Guan, Xiang Xu, Yibing Xue and Chongjie Wang
Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 147; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010147 - 22 Dec 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1960
Abstract
Through the detailed design of the passive design of the geometric parameters of the atrium, it is beneficial to achieve the design goal of a nearly zero-energy building. In the architectural design stage, the geometric design parameters of the atrium are verified and [...] Read more.
Through the detailed design of the passive design of the geometric parameters of the atrium, it is beneficial to achieve the design goal of a nearly zero-energy building. In the architectural design stage, the geometric design parameters of the atrium are verified and evaluated with different objectives such as energy consumption, carbon emissions, and costs, and then the most appropriate solution according to different design requirements is selected, which can reduce energy consumption and save costs. This paper proposes a method to optimize the energy consumption of a building’s atrium. Taking Jinan City as an example, this paper conducted 1260 energy consumption simulations for buildings with different geometric parameters of the atrium, based on the investigation of the geometric scale and energy consumption of the multi-story office buildings with near-zero energy consumption in cold areas with atriums. The degree of influence of each parameter on building energy consumption was determined. Finally, the parameter selection combination with the best effect is proposed. The results show that the selected four parameters are significantly related to energy consumption, and a new atrium design parameter was found through the combined analysis of the parameters: the body shape coefficient of the atrium. It was found that the importance of atrium design parameters on building energy consumption is as follows: the body shape coefficient of the atrium, the height-span ratio of the atrium (DSR), the atrium building volume ratio (VR), the skylight area ratio (SR), the atrium width-to-depth ratio (FDR). Seven groups of optimal design parameters were obtained by analyzing the design decisions with energy consumption as the target. Taking carbon emission and cost as the targets, three groups of optimal design parameters were obtained according to the Pareto frontier solution set, such as DSR = 2, VR = 0.13, SR = 0.1, and FDR = 2.5. It provides some references and ideas for the optimization of the energy consumption of the atrium of multi-story nearly zero-energy office buildings in the cold regions of China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Building-Indoor Environment for Long-Term Sustainability)
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18 pages, 5784 KiB  
Article
Performance-Oriented Passive Design Strategies for Shape and Envelope Structure of Independent Residential Buildings in Yangtze River Delta Suburbs
by Ning Li, Zhechen Peng, Jian Dai and Ziwei Li
Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4571; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084571 - 12 Apr 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2079
Abstract
The Yangtze River Delta is a relatively developed area with many detached houses in the suburbs. Such detached houses are usually 1–3 stories high, mostly self-built by local people. Due to the lack of passive design guidance in the design and construction process, [...] Read more.
The Yangtze River Delta is a relatively developed area with many detached houses in the suburbs. Such detached houses are usually 1–3 stories high, mostly self-built by local people. Due to the lack of passive design guidance in the design and construction process, these houses’ energy consumption is usually high. At present, residents in the area use air conditioners, fans, and other electrical equipment in their daily lives. This paper takes detached houses in the suburbs of Ningbo as the research objects, through performance simulation and big data mining of a large number of generated samples, and proposes a passive design strategy suitable for the local building form and envelope structure, which can guide local housing construction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Building-Indoor Environment for Long-Term Sustainability)
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22 pages, 7660 KiB  
Article
A Novel Method of BP Neural Network Based Green Building Design—The Case of Hotel Buildings in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Region of China
by Bin Xu and Xiang Yuan
Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2444; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042444 - 21 Feb 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2547
Abstract
With the advent of the big data era, architectural design gradually tends to become more quantified and intelligent. This study proposes a novel green design method for energy-saving buildings based on a BP neural network. This study changed the traditional trial–error mode by [...] Read more.
With the advent of the big data era, architectural design gradually tends to become more quantified and intelligent. This study proposes a novel green design method for energy-saving buildings based on a BP neural network. This study changed the traditional trial–error mode by evaluating energy consumption based on design performance parameters such as building shape, space, and interface. Instead, energy consumption quota values obtained from statistical data, as well as thermal parameters and energy system parameters in energy-saving standards, were taken as input parameters, and then the design scheme of building shape can be obtained through BP neural network technology. Based on data of 61 hotel buildings in a representative city among a hot summer and cold winter climate zone, the BP neural network model is established to control the building design variables, with 41 kgce/m2·a as its energy-saving design target. Through the energy consumption quota, the trained BP network is applied to predict the optimal architectural design parameters, including the building orientation angle, shape coefficient, window–wall ratio, etc., for twelve building typologies in an area range of 5000~60,000 m2. With recommended control thresholds of quantifiable architectural design elements obtained, this research can provide effective design decision-making suggestions for architects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Building-Indoor Environment for Long-Term Sustainability)
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17 pages, 1942 KiB  
Article
Indoor Environmental Quality Survey in Research Institute: A Floor-by-Floor Analysis
by Jong-Won Lee, Deuk-Woo Kim, Seung-Eon Lee and Jae-Weon Jeong
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 14067; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414067 - 20 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3011
Abstract
Comprehensively monitoring indoor environmental quality (IEQ) parameters and their dynamic relations is essential to ensure improved productivity and a healthy environment for building occupants. Although IEQ significantly influences working efficiency, studies addressing this aspect with researchers in institutes as the focal point are [...] Read more.
Comprehensively monitoring indoor environmental quality (IEQ) parameters and their dynamic relations is essential to ensure improved productivity and a healthy environment for building occupants. Although IEQ significantly influences working efficiency, studies addressing this aspect with researchers in institutes as the focal point are limited. Thus, this study employed drill-down analyses, such as floor-by-floor and building-by-building examinations and used an occupant IEQ survey approach to evaluate working conditions in research buildings. This study systematically and objectively assessed IEQ using the Korea building occupant survey system. The results indicate that acoustic qualities affect the work productivity and satisfaction of the building occupants. The floor-by-floor analysis is necessary to identify IEQ factors and the reasons for the satisfaction of occupants. Additionally, it is important to improve the user-friendliness of the system, implement frequent survey distribution systems, and empirically analyze data associations among building, spatial, and demographical characteristics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Building-Indoor Environment for Long-Term Sustainability)
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