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Buildings
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Energy Consumption and Environmental Comfort in Buildings
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Energy Consumption and Environmental Comfort in Buildings

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 6053

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Tiziana Poli

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Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 31, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: performance-based design; energy efficiency in buildings; climate-responsive design; daylight; building envelope engineering; building technology; architecture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Andrea Giovanni Mainini

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Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 31, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: building envelop innovation; user and comfort centric design; technology transfer; building overheating and energy efficiency
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Alberto Speroni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 31, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: solar; thermal comfort; mechanical engineering; environmental engineering; energy plus; energy; solar radiation; energy efficiency in building; energy saving
Dr. Juan Diego Blanco Cadena

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 31, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: building-human interaction; visual comfort; thermal comfort; smart buildings; building operation performance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Building energy efficiency, low environmental impact, and individual well-being and health (One Health) will pose significant challenges for the construction industry, engineers, and architects in the upcoming years.

The objective of this Special Issue is to compile strategies, methods, tools, and case studies that adopt a challenging, multidisciplinary, and cross-domain approach to achieve these goals. The specific areas of focus within this Special Issue include:

  • Behavioral design and the interaction between people and the environment;
  • Balancing energy efficiency and occupancy assessment;
  • Harmonizing views, comfort, and energy efficiency;
  • Digital twins, measurement, and real-time monitoring;
  • Lean retrofit strategies and design for circularity.

Finally, we will showcase cutting-edge solutions that leverage advanced technologies and materials to address the challenges of energy efficiency and comfort in building envelopes.

Our goal is to disseminate the latest research and best practices related to these topics, contributing to the development of new paradigms for achieving realistic and effective energy efficiency in buildings that are accessible to all. In this vision, people actively participate by adopting virtuous behaviors to reduce consumption, and the environment serves as an enabling platform for ensuring and promoting health.

Prof. Dr. Tiziana Poli
Dr. Andrea Giovanni Mainini
Dr. Alberto Speroni
Dr. Juan Diego Blanco Cadena
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. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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

  • low carbon architecture
  • occupant well-being
  • digital twins
  • circular retrofit strategy
  • multi-domain approach

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  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
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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

25 pages, 9379 KiB  
Article
Exploring Built Environment Visual Interactions: A SoftBIM Data-Driven Approach for a Database About the Outdoor View
by Matteo Cavaglià, Alberto Speroni, Juan Diego Blanco Cadena, Andrea Giovanni Mainini and Tiziana Poli
Buildings 2024, 14(11), 3340; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14113340 - 22 Oct 2024
Viewed by 515
Abstract
Windows and glazed facades provide outdoor views, serving as vital sources of visual information that aid navigation and interaction within buildings. These views can trigger psychological and physiological responses, affecting individual well-being. However, optimizing outdoor view quality is challenging due to the complex [...] Read more.
Windows and glazed facades provide outdoor views, serving as vital sources of visual information that aid navigation and interaction within buildings. These views can trigger psychological and physiological responses, affecting individual well-being. However, optimizing outdoor view quality is challenging due to the complex interplay of factors influencing the building’s experience of vision. Managing the complexity of optimizing outdoor view quality within current digital frameworks for building design presents significant challenges. A key issue lies in the ambiguity of certain visual metrics, which are often difficult to translate into explicit descriptors of spatial configurations. Even when such metrics are available, their practical use as guiding tools in the design process is frequently obstructed by complex data interoperability procedures. These procedures are necessary to enable seamless data transfer across the multiple software environments involved in the design process. This study advocates for the softBIM paradigm, which optimizes workflows by embedding visual analysis results into target geometries. Supported by this process, the calculation of a metric to measure the impact of existing and planned visual obstructions on the vision of the targeted landmarks is proposed and analysed. This metric is specifically applied to assess the visual information incoming to the vertical facades of building envelopes, a context of application that denotes criteria of assessment different from the ones usually applied in the most established frameworks for visual analysis (e.g., isovist analysis). SoftBIM enables effective automation strategies to aid the metric computation and the processing of the results to implement seamless export and data implementation. The visual metric is built upon implementing the Ladybug suite and addresses the different limitations in the target-based visibility calculation supported by the tool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Consumption and Environmental Comfort in Buildings)
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16 pages, 45557 KiB  
Article
Full-Scale Comparison of Two Envelope Systems for Lightweight Wooden Framing in Cold Climates
by Dario Samper Hernandez, Pierre Blanchet, Masoud Dadras Chomachayi and Antoine Cogulet
Buildings 2024, 14(9), 3020; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14093020 - 23 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1161
Abstract
Residential homes and apartments’ cooling and heating needs account for 63% of total building energy consumption. Improvements in the properties of building envelopes are among the best ways to reduce their energy consumption. The project’s general objective was to compare the performance of [...] Read more.
Residential homes and apartments’ cooling and heating needs account for 63% of total building energy consumption. Improvements in the properties of building envelopes are among the best ways to reduce their energy consumption. The project’s general objective was to compare the performance of externally insulated and traditional envelopes of light wooden frame buildings at full scale. Two houses were constructed and equipped with relative humidity sensors and temperature probes to assess the physical properties of the building envelope. The first house was built according to the conventional method (insulation between the studs), and the second house was built according to the method with the insulation outside the wall (also known as the perfect wall). The results showed that external insulation effectively mitigates internal condensation risks by relocating dew points to the exterior surface, thereby enhancing structural durability and thermal stability. Thermographic imaging confirmed reduced thermal bridging and improved thermal performance in the externally insulated walls. Overall, this study supports, with a full-scale experiment, the adoption of external insulation as a viable strategy for enhancing energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and durability in residential buildings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Consumption and Environmental Comfort in Buildings)
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18 pages, 3003 KiB  
Article
Integrating Internet of Things (IoT) Approach to Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE): An Experimental At-the-Moment Occupant Comfort Control System
by Eziaku Rasheed, Kris Wang, Ali Hashemi, Masoud Mahmoodi and Kajavathani Panchalingam
Buildings 2024, 14(7), 2095; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14072095 - 9 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1276
Abstract
This paper describes an empirical experiment of Internet of Things (IoT)’s integration in the Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) process. The experiment aimed to trial a novel IoT approach to enabling building user responsiveness to prevalent IEQ for individualised comfort. The purpose is to provide [...] Read more.
This paper describes an empirical experiment of Internet of Things (IoT)’s integration in the Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) process. The experiment aimed to trial a novel IoT approach to enabling building user responsiveness to prevalent IEQ for individualised comfort. The purpose is to provide a system that mitigates a common issue of centralised air conditioning that limits occupants’ control over their immediate environment. To achieve this, an IoT platform was developed with smart IEQ monitoring sensors and wearable devices and trialled with PhD researchers in a shared university workspace. The findings provided empirical evidence of IoT’s enhanced benefits to improving user control over their individual comfort and enabling positive energy behaviour in buildings. Specifically, the IoT system provided real-time insight into CO2 concentration data while enabling responsive occupant interaction with their immediate environment and at-the-moment mitigation actions. Outputs of the experiment showed that the perceptions of participants about the stuffiness of the air, productivity, and healthy environment were significantly better after taking the mitigation action compared to before. Also, we found a significant relationship between measured CO2 concentration readings and perceived air stuffiness (p = 0.004) and productivity (p = 0.006) and a non-significant relationship between CO2 concentration readings and perceived healthy environment (p = 0.058). Interestingly, we observed that irrespective of the similarities in recorded CO2 concentration readings being within acceptable ranges (632–712 ppm), the perception of air stuffiness significantly differed (p = 0.018) before and after the mitigation actions. The effectiveness of the developed IoT platform was evidenced as most of the participants found the process very easy to participate in with little interruptions to their work as little time was consumed. The results are useful in modifying approaches to building occupant comfort and energy behaviour in commercial and residential settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Consumption and Environmental Comfort in Buildings)
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33 pages, 8301 KiB  
Article
Linking Occupant Behavior and Window Design through Post-Occupancy Evaluation: Enhancing Natural Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality
by Mojgan Pourtangestani, Nima Izadyar, Elmira Jamei and Zora Vrcelj
Buildings 2024, 14(6), 1638; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14061638 - 3 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1168
Abstract
This study investigates how window design features, such as size, placement, and orientation, might impact occupants’ behavior related to natural ventilation in residential houses and how residents manage natural ventilation to affect indoor air quality (IAQ), comfort, and energy efficiency. By analyzing responses [...] Read more.
This study investigates how window design features, such as size, placement, and orientation, might impact occupants’ behavior related to natural ventilation in residential houses and how residents manage natural ventilation to affect indoor air quality (IAQ), comfort, and energy efficiency. By analyzing responses from a questionnaire distributed among 200 occupants, this article reveals that stuffy air, perceived outdoor pollutants, odors, and relative humidity, along with factors like inadequate ventilation, temperature fluctuations, and energy consumption concerns, emerge as primary issues affecting occupants’ comfort and well-being. This study proposes design recommendations for enhancing IAQ, including optimal window placement for cross-ventilation, window-to-wall ratio (WWR) considerations, and the integration of smart window technologies. This research recognizes that window design is not just a technical matter but involves understanding social and behavioral factors as well. By analyzing occupant responses, it aims to provide insights into the socio-technical parameters that should be considered in window design. The findings offer valuable strategies for architects, designers, and homeowners to optimize natural ventilation and underscore the importance of an occupant-centered approach in sustainable building design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Consumption and Environmental Comfort in Buildings)
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12 pages, 4073 KiB  
Article
Increasing the Utilization of Solar Energy through the Performance Evaluation of Air-Based Photovoltaic Thermal Systems
by Youngjin Choi
Buildings 2024, 14(5), 1219; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14051219 - 25 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1021
Abstract
Photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems are attracting a significant amount of attention in research because they can generate electricity outside of daytime hours, unlike photovoltaic (PV) systems, and can increase efficiency and collect additional energy by reducing the temperature of PVT panels. However, a [...] Read more.
Photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems are attracting a significant amount of attention in research because they can generate electricity outside of daytime hours, unlike photovoltaic (PV) systems, and can increase efficiency and collect additional energy by reducing the temperature of PVT panels. However, a somewhat lower amount of collected energy is used in the summer than in the winter, and research on this issue is lacking. In this study, first, we experimentally evaluated the performance of PV and PVT systems by season and verified the improvement in the performance of the PVT system. Second, experiments were conducted to verify the enthalpy reduction via mist cooling and dehumidification, and the temperature and humidity control effect via mist cooling and dehumidification was verified. Based on our research findings, we propose a model that can be integrated with indoor ventilation systems to increase the solar energy utilization of PVT systems. Using the PVT system, we improved the panel power generation efficiency by up to 5.89% and generated up to a 38.0% higher collection efficiency than that of the PV system. The air that passed through the PVT system was then subjected to mist cooling and dehumidification to reduce its temperature and increase its humidity, resulting in a 23.2% reduction in enthalpy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Consumption and Environmental Comfort in Buildings)
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