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Green Building Energy System Integration and Eco-Friendly Urban Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2024 | Viewed by 9429

Special Issue Editors

TEP 130: Arquitectura, Patrimonio y sostenibilidad. Instituto Universitario de Arquitectura y Ciencias de la Construcción. Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Universidad de Sevilla, 41015 Sevilla, Spain
Interests: airtightness; indoor air quality; health; sustainable environmental monitoring and modelling; building and district energy efficiency; renewable energy systems; zero-energy buildings; social housing and low carbon architecture
Instituto Universitario de Arquitectura y Ciencias de la Construcción, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Universidad de Sevilla, 41015 Sevilla, Spain
Interests: sustainable environmental monitoring and modeling; building and district energy efficiency; renewable energy systems; zero-energy buildings and districts; energy renovation; urban vegetation and greening process; social housing and low carbon architecture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are working on a Special Issue to foster a wide-ranging discussion on the idea of “Green Building Energy System Integration and Eco-Friendly Urban Development”. We would like to invite you to submit your contributions on the topic.

Given the increase in extreme environmental challenges faced by our cities and buildings, we need to seek urgent action. We must question previous approaches and find new answers on integrated strategies for a sustainable evolution of urban environments and the role of the buildings within them. How can we contribute to healthier, comfortable, more resilient and energy-independent urban scenarios where buildings are a key part of the system?

With climate change, pandemics, pollution, and energy scarcity overwhelming urban ecosystems, we need to question how citizens can not only stay comfortable, but also thermally safe and healthy over the coming decades. Likewise, given the current and potential future global disease crises, it is more necessary than ever to ensure safe indoor and outdoor environments (pollution-free, energy reliable and with thermal comfort), especially for the most vulnerable (aged population, children, impoverished sectors, etc.). Cities play a key role in dealing with diseases, heat waves, and other stress factors affecting citizens. It appears that with the help of new energy technologies, materials, nature integration, and renewed approaches, it is now possible to implement the capabilities for cities to take the next step.

Thus, the main objective of this Special Issue is to discuss and disseminate current work on a series of points, including:

  • Policies and strategies for the eco-friendly retrofit of legacy neighbourhoods and stock level actions. How can effective actions be carried out in the city of today?
  • The impact of political and social agendas on the energy efficiency of legacy neighbourhoods;
  • Eco design for the post-COVID era;
  • Innovative comprehensive actions for new developments, both in theoretical approaches and case analyses;
  • Discussion on standards for the correlation between urban design and the “real” performance of buildings, both in new urban developments and in the existing city;
  • The integration of renewable energy into buildings and urban areas, focusing especially on the coupling of energy production and demand in buildings and urban communities;
  • Urban air pollution and local management of air quality issues;
  • Impact of morphology and building shape on the quality of urban environment;
  • Improving energy security in urban areas through participation in energy production and the development of shared energy systems;
  • New energy models and associated economies for urban communities;
  • Evaluation of ecosystem services and their role in urban conformation;
  • Impact assessment of urban and building greening strategies and tools;
  • New and reviewed indicators, metrics, and assessment methods for the urban environment;
  • Age and gender issues on green development.

This Special Issue welcomes original research papers, reviews, and case studies on the topic and short discussions.

We hope that with your collaboration, we can make a sound contribution to this dimension, with potential for tangible impact on our environment.

Dr. Jessica Fernández-Agüera
Dr. Samuel Domínguez-Amarillo
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

  • Rethinking cities
  • Urban and building retrofitting
  • Urban green design
  • Post COVID-19 urban design
  • Urban and building integration of renewable energy
  • Advanced control strategies for grid integration
  • Future electricity market participation
  • Urban environmental quality
  • Local action-resource conservation and climate change
  • Environmental monitoring and modelling
  • GIS environments for urban design
  • Urban environmental performance modelling
  • Social performance
  • Gender and age design
  • Urban vegetation
  • Ecosystem services
  • Environmental indicators

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3724 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Building Archetypes for Optimising New Photovoltaic Energy Facilities: A Case Study
by Jesica Fernández-Agüera, Samuel Domínguez-Amarillo, Nerea García-Cortés and Miguel Ángel Campano
Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 12249; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132112249 - 06 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1584
Abstract
Fuel poverty rates are high in southern Europe, particularly in social housing, despite the enormous potential for capturing solar power inherent in the roofs of apartment buildings. The in situ generation, distribution and consumption of photovoltaic energy carry obvious advantages including vastly improved [...] Read more.
Fuel poverty rates are high in southern Europe, particularly in social housing, despite the enormous potential for capturing solar power inherent in the roofs of apartment buildings. The in situ generation, distribution and consumption of photovoltaic energy carry obvious advantages including vastly improved efficiency attendant upon the reduction in distribution-related losses and costs, and the energy empowerment afforded lower income communities. The primary drawback is the imbalance between photovoltaic production patterns and users’ actual needs (peak consumption vs. peak generation). That mismatch is difficult to reconcile without resorting to energy storage or net metering, both of which entail grid involvement and greater management complexity. The present study introduces a methodology for analysing residential archetypes to determine the values of the parameters essential to optimising photovoltaic energy production and use. The aim is to determine where excess generation can be shared with other users in the vicinity and optimally pool residential rooftop facilities to meet community-scale energy demand, ultimately enhancing such disadvantaged neighbourhoods’ self-sufficiency. The case study discussed defines archetypes for just such a neighbourhood in Madrid, Spain. The solar energy production potential of the example is promising for its application in large southern European cities, with self-sufficiency rates obtained ranging from 15% to 25% and self-consumption rates from 61% to 80%. Full article
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27 pages, 10200 KiB  
Article
Parametric Design and Comfort Optimization of Dynamic Shading Structures
by Doris A. Chi, Edwin González M., Renato Valdivia and Eduardo Gutiérrez J.
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7670; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13147670 - 09 Jul 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3897
Abstract
This work implements parametric tools to optimize the environmental design of urban adaptive shadings through multiobjective evolutionary algorithms that look for solutions of dynamic (time-changing) structures used in open public spaces. The proposal is located in Malecon Cancun Tajamar in the southeast part [...] Read more.
This work implements parametric tools to optimize the environmental design of urban adaptive shadings through multiobjective evolutionary algorithms that look for solutions of dynamic (time-changing) structures used in open public spaces. The proposal is located in Malecon Cancun Tajamar in the southeast part of Mexico, and the main objective is to enhance the thermal comfort of users as well as to become part of the social dynamics of the place reinforcing identity through appropriation. The proposed workflow includes four steps: (1) geometric modelling by parametric modelling tools; (2) simulation of environmental parameters by using BPS tools; (3) shape optimization by using an evolutionary algorithm; and (4) environmental verification of the results. The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was used to assess the outdoor thermal comfort derived from the dynamic shadings. The results showed a significant improvement in the thermal comfort with absolute UTCI differences of 3.9, 7.4, and 3.1 °C at 8, 12, and 16 h, respectively, during the summer; and absolute differences of 1.4, 3.5, and 2 °C at 8, 12, and 16 h, respectively, during the winter. The proposed workflow can help to guide the early design process of dynamic shadings by finding optimal solutions that enhance outdoor thermal comfort. Full article
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10 pages, 2966 KiB  
Article
Energy Evaluation and Energy Savings Analysis with the 2 Selection of AC Systems in an Educational Building
by Milen Balbis-Morejón, Juan J. Cabello-Eras, Javier M. Rey-Hernández and Francisco J. Rey-Martínez
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7527; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13147527 - 06 Jul 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2533
Abstract
This paper presents an energy performance assessment on an educational building in Barranquilla, Colombia. The electricity consumption performance was assessed using the software DesignBuilder for two different Air Conditioning (AC) systems. The current electricity intensity is 215.3 kWh/m2-year and centralized AC [...] Read more.
This paper presents an energy performance assessment on an educational building in Barranquilla, Colombia. The electricity consumption performance was assessed using the software DesignBuilder for two different Air Conditioning (AC) systems. The current electricity intensity is 215.3 kWh/m2-year and centralized AC systems with individual fan coils and a water chiller share 66% of the total consumption and lighting at 16%. The simulation of the AC technology change to Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) resulted in an improvement of 38% in AC energy intensity with 88 kWh/m2-year and significant savings in electricity consumption and life-cycle cost of AC systems in buildings. Full article
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Urban Socioecosystem Renewal: an Ecosystem Services Evaluation Approach
Authors: María López de Asiain; Marcos Castro; Milagrosa Borrallo-Jiménez; Rubén Mora Esteban
Affiliation: Departamento de Arte, Ciudad y Territorio, Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad de Las Palmas, Spain. Departamento de Estadística y Econometría, Facultad de CC. Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Málaga, Spain. Departamento Construcciones Arquitectónicas 1, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain. Departamento de Estadística y Econometría, Universidad de Málaga, Spain.
Abstract: The evaluation of ecosystem services is a well-known and fully documented area from disciplines such as biology or ecology. It is an effective approach to studying ecosystems and their conservation, thus helping to ensure their environmental sustainability. In urban areas, the requirements linked to the concept of sustainability, both social and economic, also acquire great relevance and are sometimes prioritized over environmental aspects. Using an approach based on the enhancement of ecosystem services in the urban environment fosters, on the one hand, the relation to economic and environmental aspects, and on the other hand it allows to introduce the social dimension understanding it from the urban perspective. This strategy enable us to define an approach based on the study and intervention for urban improvement from a socioecosystemic, inclusive approach. It raises from the supporting ecological system, but does not play down the aspects of human and social living that are the basis of the definition of the concept of the city. The effective application of this approach has been developed in two case studies. This article presents, firstly, the theoretical justification of the approach and, secondly, its potential applications based on the experiences developed. The results obtained allow us to ensure the great potential of the stated approach, although the need for the development of specific tools that allow their application to different situations and circumstances, as well as different scales of action and approaches, is clearly evident.

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