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Low-Carbon Buildings and Climate Change Mitigation
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Low-Carbon Buildings and Climate Change Mitigation

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 6779

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mohammad Saffari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Stokes Building, Dublin City University, DCU Glasnevin Campus, Dublin 9, Ireland
Interests: energy-efficient buildings; concrete technology and advanced construction materials, thermal energy storage; thermal comfort; dynamic and data-driven simulation; optimisation; demand-side management and demand response; renewable energy; HVAC systems; building automation and smart control; natural ventilation; energy flexibility; artificial intelligence; and data analytics
Dr. Valeria Palomba

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Council of Research, Institute for Advanced Energy Technologies (CNR ITAE), 98126 Messina, Italy
Interests: thermal energy conversion and storage; renewable energy; renewables system integration; HVAC systems; sorption systems; heat pumps; thermal energy storage; hybrid systems; polygeneration systems; energy system simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Reihaneh Aghamolaei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Interests: renewable energy; renewable system integration; HVAC systems; thermal energy storage; hybrid systems; smart energy system modeling; technoeconomic energy optimization; data-driven energy modeling in buildings; building automation and smart control; natural ventilation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The building sector is one of the main energy-consuming sectors globally, with about one third of total final energy use and nearly 40% of total energy-related carbon footprint. Both the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight the importance and necessity of new energy solutions to decarbonise the building sector. Today, a considerable effort has been devoted to making buildings and communities carbon neutralise by retrofitting them and integrating renewable energy systems such as solar PV, heat pumps, digitalisation and smart control of HVAC systems, energy storage, and demand-side management technologies, etc.

In Europe, EU member states adopted the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU) 2018/844, and Energy Efficiency Directive ((EU) 2018/2002), which focus on the energy efficiency and performance, as well as decarbonisation of the building stock by 2050. According to the renovation strategies each member state must establish a long-term renovation solution to assist the retrofitting of the national residential and tertiary building sectors into a high-performance building stock by 2050, where all new constructed buildings are required to be nearly zero-energy from 2021 onwards. Additionally, the utilisation of smart technologies, digitalisation, and modernisation of the building stock is highly encouraged and recommended.

Research, development, and innovation are essential to achieve net zero carbon emissions goals by 2050, and to make buildings and communities sustainable and energy resilient. This Special Issue intends to promote a further understanding of relevant R&D topic in the smart buildings and sustainability sector. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Green Buildings
  • Smart Buildings
  • Building Carbon Emissions
  • Zero Energy / Carbon Buildings
  • Building Energy Systems
  • Combined Cooling, Heat & Power Systems (CCHP)
  • Optimal Design / Control of Building Integrated Systems
  • Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Systems
  • Thermal Energy Storage
  • Green Walls and Roofs
  • Adaptive Climatic Responsive Building Design
  • High-Performance Building Envelops
  • Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)
  • Building Energy Performance Assessment
  • Engineered / Strain-Hardening Cementitious Composites (ECC/SHCC)
  • Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC)
  • Low-Carbon Concrete
  • Building Energy Management
  • Demand Response
  • Energy Flexibility
  • Blockchain Technology for Smart Buildings
  • Internet of Things (IoT)
  • Artificial Intelligence Application for Buildings
  • Passive and Active Energy Strategies for Buildings
  • Energy Certification and Compliance
  • Building Energy Modelling Software and Tools
  • Building Energy Simulation and Optimisation
  • Interoperable Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Simulation
  • Whole Building Energy Modelling and Simulation
  • Multi-Scale Energy Modelling (Building to National Scale)
  • Energy Policy and Planning at National Scale
  • Life Cycle Energy Analysis of Buildings
  • Life Cycle Carbon Analysis of Buildings

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Mohammad Saffari
Dr. Valeria Palomba
Dr. Reihaneh Aghamolaei
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

  • energy-efficient buildings
  • sustainable buildings
  • demand response
  • passive and active building envelopes
  • phase change materials
  • heat pump
  • concrete technology
  • renewable energy-integrated buildings
  • interoperable building energy model
  • life cycle analysis

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 3747 KiB  
Article
Study on Carbon Emission Measurement and Influencing Factors for Prefabricated Buildings at the Materialization Stage Based on LCA
by Zhengjie Zhan, Pan Xia and Dongtao Xia
Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13648; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813648 - 12 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1313
Abstract
To conduct a more in-depth study on carbon emissions and influencing factors during the materialization stage of prefabricated buildings, this paper focused on a residential prefabricated building in Beijing. The LCA method, combined with BIM technology, was utilized to establish a process-based “LCA-BIM” [...] Read more.
To conduct a more in-depth study on carbon emissions and influencing factors during the materialization stage of prefabricated buildings, this paper focused on a residential prefabricated building in Beijing. The LCA method, combined with BIM technology, was utilized to establish a process-based “LCA-BIM” carbon emission statistical platform and to propose a carbon emission calculation method. The carbon emissions during the materialization stage were calculated. The results revealed that the production of building materials contributed the highest proportion of carbon emissions, accounting for 85.73% of the total emissions during the materialization stage. Specifically, reinforcing steel and concrete dominated the overall carbon emissions from building materials, accounting for 97.44% of the total. Through a quantitative analysis in the process of carbon emissions calculation, the main factors influencing the carbon emissions during the production stage of building materials were identified. This study adopts a combined approach of empirical analysis and a literature review, establishing six basic hypotheses for four aspects: material selection, energy consumption, material storage, and carbon emissions in the production stage of building materials. A structural equation model was used to theoretically validate the influencing factors in the production stage of prefabricated building materials. SPSS27.0 and AMOS28 software were employed for data analysis. From the perspective of the overall impact, material selection had the strongest overall impact on the production stage of building materials, followed by energy consumption, while material storage had the smallest overall impact. From the perspective of direct impacts, energy consumption had the strongest direct impact on the carbon emissions in the production stage of the building materials. The findings of this study can provide a theoretical reference for national institutions and businesses for carbon emission evaluation and decision-making. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Buildings and Climate Change Mitigation)
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21 pages, 7482 KiB  
Article
Research on Technology System Adaptability of Nearly Zero-Energy Office Buildings in the Hot Summer and Cold Winter Zone of China
by Xueying Jia, Hui Zhang, Xin Yao, Lei Yang, Zikang Ke, Junle Yan, Xiaoxi Huang and Shiyu Jin
Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 13061; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su151713061 - 30 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 727
Abstract
In the current context of huge global energy consumption and harsh climatic conditions, the energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings have received much attention. The nearly zero-energy building (nZEB) is a feasible solution for solving the energy crisis in the building sector in [...] Read more.
In the current context of huge global energy consumption and harsh climatic conditions, the energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings have received much attention. The nearly zero-energy building (nZEB) is a feasible solution for solving the energy crisis in the building sector in recent years, and it is important to study the adaptability of its technology system. However, existing studies have not addressed well the issue of the impact of complex and diverse climates on the technology systems of nZEBs. Secondly, in contrast to residential buildings, nearly zero-energy technology systems for office buildings need to be further developed. This study takes the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) zone of China as an example and uses numerical simulations and orthogonal experiments to investigate the adaptability of nearly zero-energy office building technology systems under complex and diverse climate conditions. The results show the following: (1) Passive technologies are greatly affected by the complexity and diversity of climates. Optimal envelope thermal parameters tailored to specific zones are identified. Specifically, the optimal level of KWALL in the CT and HSCWC zones is 0.2 W/(m2·K), and the optimal level of KWALL in the HSWWT zone is 0.3 W/(m2·K); the optimal level of KROOF in the CT zone is 0.15 W/(m2·K), and the optimal level of KROOF in the HSCWC and HSWWT zones is 0.25 W/(m2·K); (2) Active technologies do not mainly receive the influence of the complexity and diversity of climates, and ED, HR, and TS measures should be adopted for office buildings; (3) The rational utilization of renewable energy is influenced by local resource conditions. This study evaluates the adaptability of GSHP, ASHP, and BIPV technologies. To better meet the requirements of nearly zero-energy office buildings, it is recommended to adopt GSHP for the CT zone and ASHP for the HCWWT zone. This study will be helpful for the development of nearly zero-energy office building technology systems in other complex and diverse climatic zones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Buildings and Climate Change Mitigation)
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20 pages, 4594 KiB  
Article
Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions of Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Zones of China
by Zikang Ke, Xiaoxin Liu, Hui Zhang, Xueying Jia, Wei Zeng, Junle Yan, Hao Hu and Wong Nyuk Hien
Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 11453; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su151411453 - 24 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1457
Abstract
Issues of energy efficiency and sustainability in buildings are gaining increasing attention in the context of the “3060” dual-carbon initiative. In recent years, nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) have emerged as a potentially viable solution to the challenges of the energy crisis in the [...] Read more.
Issues of energy efficiency and sustainability in buildings are gaining increasing attention in the context of the “3060” dual-carbon initiative. In recent years, nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) have emerged as a potentially viable solution to the challenges of the energy crisis in the building sector, and it is important to study the factors influencing their energy consumption and carbon emissions. However, existing research lacks analyses of multifactor interactions, and the problem of high energy consumption has not been sufficiently addressed. Taking a typical residential building in the Yangtze River basin as the study subject, this study, jointly funded by the University of Nottingham and Hubei University of Technology, proposes a hybrid approach that combines building energy simulation and orthogonal experiments to investigate factors pertaining to buildings, people, and the environment to identify key influencing factors and explore the energy consumption and carbon emission characteristics of residential buildings in hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) zones. Our findings reveal the following: (1) The use of renewable energy sources, such as solar photovoltaic power generation and solar hot water, and renewable energy systems such as ground-source heat pumps, in the operation phase of a baseline building can result in a 61.76% energy-saving and a 71% renewable energy utilization rate. (2) To more easily meet the requirements of nZEB standards, it is recommended to keep KE within the range of 0.20–0.30 W/(m2·K), KR within the range of 0.15–0.20 W/(m2·K), and VT within the range of 0.6–0.7 h−1. This study will help to identify the critical factors affecting energy consumption and provide a valuable reference for building energy efficiency in HSCW zones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Buildings and Climate Change Mitigation)
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23 pages, 4816 KiB  
Article
Flexibility Analysis for Multi-Energy Microgrid and Distribution System Operator under a Distributed Local Energy Market Framework
by Ali Sahebi, Shahram Jadid and Morteza Nazari-Heris
Sustainability 2023, 15(13), 9985; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15139985 - 23 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 901
Abstract
Increasing the penetration rate of microgrids (MGs) for Local Energy Market (LEM) participation creates new challenges for the market-clearing process under a large number of requests for energy transactions. The market-clearing process for decentralized market frameworks is dependent on participants’ flexibility in negotiations [...] Read more.
Increasing the penetration rate of microgrids (MGs) for Local Energy Market (LEM) participation creates new challenges for the market-clearing process under a large number of requests for energy transactions. The market-clearing process for decentralized market frameworks is dependent on participants’ flexibility in negotiations for bilateral energy transactions. Multi-energy microgrids (MEMGs) include combined heat and power units which can be less dependent on electricity prices because of energy conversion equipment, gas infrastructure, and combined heat and power loads. In this regard, to evaluate prosumers’ flexibility role in market negotiations, a new analysis based on energy scheduling of MEMG considering a Demand-Response Program (DRP) model is executed under a distributed market structure. Moreover, two new flexibility indexes for market participants with attention to prosumers’ adaption capabilities are proposed. The results show that, under a 9.35% flexibility index improvement for the entire system, the social welfare function improved by 2.75%. Moreover, the results show that the DRP model for changeable and shiftable loads can improve the flexibility of the entire system by 35.82%. Combined heat and power load are considered as the resource of flexibility for system evaluations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Buildings and Climate Change Mitigation)
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19 pages, 5865 KiB  
Article
The Environmental Sustainability Study of an Airport Building System Based on an Integrated LCA-Embodied Energy (Emergy)-ANN Analysis
by Fei Xie, Junxue Zhang, Guodong Wu, Chunxia Zhang and Hechi Wang
Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7626; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15097626 - 06 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1172
Abstract
From a global perspective, the ecological sustainability of building systems has always been a hot research topic, especially in China, where the annual amount of new construction is nearly half of the world. The difficulty is making a complete and accurate ecological assessment [...] Read more.
From a global perspective, the ecological sustainability of building systems has always been a hot research topic, especially in China, where the annual amount of new construction is nearly half of the world. The difficulty is making a complete and accurate ecological assessment of the building system. This study has designed and adopted the LCA-Emergy-ANN framework to assess and analyze an airport building system for sustainability. The results demonstrate that building material emergy and operational stage emergy play a critical role and account for 92.4% of the entire emergy, which are the primary contributors. As the vital indicator, the emergy sustainability index (ESI) is 0.669, which is unsustainable (The eligibility standard is 1). Simultaneously, to ensure the accuracy of the data results, sensitivity analysis was performed. The artificial neural network (ANN) was used by integrating the LCA method and emergy approach to predict the sustainability trend in the long run. In the end, the optimization strategy is proposed to enhance the sustainability of the building system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon Buildings and Climate Change Mitigation)
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