Thermal Energy Storage and Conversion for Building Applications: Materials and Systems Advancements

Dear Colleagues,

The buildings sector has a very large carbon footprint when both direct and indirect emissions are accounted for. In 2021, it was responsible, directly and indirectly, for approximately one-third of global energy- and process-related CO₂ emissions, approximately 8% of which resulted from the use of fossil fuels in buildings. A further 19% were due to the generation of electricity and heat used in buildings, and an additional 6% were related to the manufacture of cement, steel and aluminium used for buildings construction. Therefore, to align with the Net Zero Scenario, carbon emissions from building operations need to more than halved by 2030, requiring significant efforts to reduce energy demand through clean and efficient technologies in all end uses. Thermal energy storage (TES) systems integration into buildings is essential to boost their efficiency and reduce building energy consumption. In this regard, more compact, modular, and sustainable TES is essential to guarantee the ease of technology integration.

In this Special Issue, dedicated to the advancement and perspectives of materials and systems for thermal energy storage and conversion technologies for building applications, original research papers, short communications, and reviews are welcome. Experimental, theoretical, and computational research approaches, as well as a combination of these approaches, are welcome, and contributions can be both in fundamental and applied science, including industrial case studies. Topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Thermal energy storage material and techniques (phase change materials, thermochemical materials, metal hydrate thermal energy storage materials, sensible heat storage, latent heat storage, thermochemical heat storage, or a combination of these), and thermal energy storage material development and characterization;
• Thermal energy grid storage for building applications, either independent or integrated into the renewable system, for energy saving or energy efficiency;
• Thermal energy conversion systems. 

This Special Issue will provide the scientific community with a thorough overview of the current research on innovative thermal energy storage materials and systems for the building sector.

Dr. Emanuela Mastronardo
Dr. Andrea Frazzica
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. Energies 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 2600 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.

• thermal energy storage systems
• phase change materials (PCM)
• thermochemical materials (TCM)
• building energy efficiency
• heat and cold storage
• energy conversion