The Effects of Urban Climate on the Energy Performance and Carbon Emissions of Buildings

Dear Colleagues,

As global urbanization increases at an unprecedented rate, over half of the world’s population are now living in urban areas according to the World Bank. Climate change has intensified the global energy crisis, both of which present new challenges to urban development. Buildings are a significant contributor to global carbon emissions, accounting for approximately 40% of the total energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The construction phase contributes to emissions through the use of materials and the processes of extracting, manufacturing, and transporting these. The operational phase of buildings is a major source of carbon emissions due to the reliance on fossil fuels for energy. The carbon emissions from buildings have become crucial for mitigating climate change. Strategies such as improving the energy efficiency of buildings, reducing their carbon emissions, adopting renewable energy sources, and implementing sustainable building practices are essential steps toward reducing the environmental impact of the built environment.

In this context, this Special Issue aims to cover various aspects involving the urban climate’s effect on buildings’ performance, including urban building energy modeling, energy use intensity, building carbon emissions, energy-efficient building designs, and the utilization of green building technologies (e.g., passive design, BIPV, etc.).

We invite submissions of a broad range of building performance studies from various parts of the world. We also welcome papers reporting on innovative methods and interdisciplinary research, with the aim to provide insights into recent research in experimental and numerical modeling, integrated planning, and other design approaches. We hope that this Special Issue will enrich the ongoing research on energy efficiency and building design practices.

We welcome papers on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

• The effects of the urban climate and microclimate on buildings’ performance;
• Urban building energy modeling;
• Smart, energy-efficient, and green buildings;
• The application of renewable energy in buildings;
• Carbon emissions across various phases and the entire life cycle of buildings;
• The use of artificial intelligence to improve the comfort and energy efficiency in buildings.

Prof. Dr. Lihua Zhao
Prof. Dr. Lei Yuan
Dr. Yueer He
Dr. Meng Tian
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.

• urban climate
• energy-efficient buildings
• green building technology
• energy modeling
• carbon emissions
• renewable energy