Submit to Energies Review for Energies Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

New Advances in Building Physics and Renewable Energy

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 7780

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jerzy Z. Piotrowski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Faculty of Environmental, Geomatic and Energy Engineering, Kielce University of Technology, Al. 1000-lecia PP7, 25-314 Kielce, Poland
Interests: renewable energy sources; energy-saving construction; natural construction; general construction; air conditioning and ventilation; the construction of energy-saving buildings
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Rafał Porowski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Faculty of Environmental, Geomatic and Energy Engineering, Al. 1000-lecia Państwa Polskiego 7, 25-314 Kielce, Poland
Interests: renewable energy; hydrogen technologies; safety engineering

Dr. Maria Krechowicz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Faculty of Management and Computer Modelling, Kielce University of Technology, Al. 1000-lecia Państwa Polskiego 7, 25-314 Kielce, Poland
Interests: passive houses; building physics; renewable energy; risk management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The European Green Deal’s goal is to radically reduce greenhouse emissions by at least 55% by the year 2030, aiming at making Europe the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050. Environmentally friendly, energy-efficient buildings with advanced building physics solutions and renewable energy sources will play an important role in achieving this goal. This goal prompts researchers to look for new solutions in building physics and renewable energy focusing on improving the buildings’ efficiency, considering indoor climate, local conditions, and cost-effectiveness.

Without renewable and clean energy as well as a deep understanding of science going around modern energy-effective structures, we never provide enough protection for our planet in case of devastating climate change and galloping environmental pollution. That is why the aim of this Special Issue is to collect the state of the art on theoretical, experimental, and economic studies covering various areas of buildings’ physics and renewable energy, enhancing a deeper understanding of contemporary trends in the abovementioned fields. Researchers are encouraged to share their original work in the area of building physics and renewable energy. This Special Issue covers a broad range of topics:

New insulation and building envelope materials;
Building partitions (e.g., energy-efficient, with a thermal barrier, made of phase change materials);
Advances in air, heat, and moisture modeling;
Case studies of new building physics solution application;
Interactions with the building’s internal environment, inhabitants, materials, construction type, and systems applied;
Innovative building’s design solution and their energy performance;
Innovations in renewable energy solutions;
Hybrid renewable energy systems;
Safety-related aspects of renewable energy;
Advances in various renewable energy technologies (biomass, photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind energy, ocean energy, and hydro power technologies).

Creative extensions of the abovementioned topics are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Jerzy Z. Piotrowski
Prof. Dr. Rafał Porowski
Dr. Maria Krechowicz
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.

Keywords

innovations in building physics
innovative solutions for building partitions
passive buildings
nearly zero energy buildings
sustainable buildings
performance assessment
indoor climate quality
renewable energy sources
hybrid renewable energy systems
energy-efficient structures

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

16 pages, 1218 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Thermal Comfort in Rooms Equipped with a Decentralised Façade Ventilation Unit

by Ewa Zender-Świercz, Marek Telejko, Beata Galiszewska and Mariola Starzomska

Energies 2022, 15(19), 7032; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15197032 - 25 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1396

Abstract

Thermal comfort affects not only the well-being of the occupants of a building but also the effectiveness of their learning and work efficiency. It can be disturbed if the ventilation airflow is increased when improving indoor air quality. When natural ventilation is used in the fall and winter period, the supply air temperature is low, resulting in a lack of thermal comfort. In existing buildings, there is often no place for mechanical ventilation; hence, decentralised façade ventilation units are increasingly used. The article presents an analysis of thermal comfort in rooms with this type of unit equipped with heat recovery exchangers of different efficiencies. Studies have shown that the alternating supply/exhaust airflow and the related unevenness of air streams flowing through the heat accumulator cause an inflow of low-temperature air, resulting in thermal discomfort. The highest value of the PMV index was −1.6, and the lowest was −4.1, which means that 54.8 to 100% of the occupants are dissatisfied with their thermal comfort. This means there is a need to change the construction of inlet/exhaust vents so that the stream of supply air is not directly parallel to the floor. In addition, the use of an air heater should be considered. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Building Physics and Renewable Energy)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 4644 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Thermal Comfort in Intelligent and Traditional Buildings

by Łukasz J. Orman, Grzegorz Majewski, Norbert Radek and Jacek Pietraszek

Energies 2022, 15(18), 6522; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15186522 - 07 Sep 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1827

Abstract

The paper analyses thermal comfort in intelligent and traditional buildings in Poland. It provides a comprehensive study on the subjective assessment of indoor environment conditions as well as on parameters that influence human thermal sensations and preferences. Direct measurements of physical parameters (e.g., air and globe temperature, relative humidity) as well as simultaneously conducted anonymous questionnaire studies were used to provide the necessary data. The study covered all seasons and a large number of participants representing various age groups and body build types, who completed a total of 1778 questionnaires. The results indicate that typically smart buildings offer higher levels of thermal comfort than the traditional ones and that people tend to prefer warmer environments. Moreover, it has been observed that the BMI index, air movement and the number of people per surface area can have an impact on the perceived thermal sensations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Building Physics and Renewable Energy)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 505 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reduction of the Risk of Inaccurate Prediction of Electricity Generation from PV Farms Using Machine Learning

by Maria Krechowicz, Adam Krechowicz, Lech Lichołai, Artur Pawelec, Jerzy Zbigniew Piotrowski and Anna Stępień

Energies 2022, 15(11), 4006; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15114006 - 30 May 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1906

Abstract

Problems with inaccurate prediction of electricity generation from photovoltaic (PV) farms cause severe operational, technical, and financial risks, which seriously affect both their owners and grid operators. Proper prediction results are required for optimal planning the spinning reserve as well as managing inertia and frequency response in the case of contingency events. In this work, the impact of a number of meteorological parameters on PV electricity generation in Poland was analyzed using the Pearson coefficient. Furthermore, seven machine learning models using Lasso Regression, K–Nearest Neighbours Regression, Support Vector Regression, AdaBoosted Regression Tree, Gradient Boosted Regression Tree, Random Forest Regression, and Artificial Neural Network were developed to predict electricity generation from a 0.7 MW solar PV power plant in Poland. The models were evaluated using determination coefficient (

R^{2}

), the mean absolute error (

M A E

), and root mean square error (

R M S E

). It was found out that horizontal global irradiation and water saturation deficit have a strong proportional relationship with the electricity generation from PV systems. All proposed machine learning models turned out to perform well in predicting electricity generation from the analyzed PV farm. Random Forest Regression was the most reliable and accurate model, as it received the highest

R^{2}

(0.94) and the lowest

M A E

(15.12 kWh) and

R M S E

(34.59 kWh). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Building Physics and Renewable Energy)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

24 pages, 12247 KiB

Open AccessReview

Sustainable Construction—Technological Aspects of Ecological Wooden Buildings

by Anna Stepien, Jerzy Zbigniew Piotrowski, Sławomir Munik, Magdalena Balonis, Milena Kwiatkowska and Maria Krechowicz

Energies 2022, 15(23), 8823; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15238823 - 23 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1978

Abstract

Wooden construction constitutes a specific branch of the building industry that focuses on high-quality materials, a developed sense of aesthetics connected with comfort and functionality, and concern for ecology and durability. This type of construction has a positive effect on human quality of life. This article focuses on modular frame construction and technological aspects of wooden houses built according to Canadian or Scandinavian technologies. Taking weather conditions of Scandinavian countries into consideration, timber is a popular building material, which, when preserving certain parameters such as density of rings, may provide durability of a modular wooden building even up to 200–300 years. This article is a review and presents the possibility of producing frame buildings in Europe (Poland) in accordance with the applicable standards, including a heat transfer coefficient U = 2 [W/(m²·K]. In Poland, wooden frame buildings can be traced back to the 14th century. Wooden frame buildings and modular wooden frame buildings were produced even earlier in Norway. Wooden construction continued in the mid-1800s in various forms (with wooden filling and/or panels). In the mid-1900s (1941), certain dimensioning became regulated by law, which then applied to different types of insulation fillings. Prefabricated modular wood frame houses were common in the 1960s. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Building Physics and Renewable Energy)

► Show Figures