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Optimization of Building Thermal and Indoor Air Quality Performance

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 6754

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Building Science Centre of Excellence, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 3700 Willingdon Ave., Burnaby, BC, Canada
Interests: building performance optimization; net-zero energy; smart buildings; passive design; energy efficiency; thermal comfort; high-performance materials; whole-building hygrothermal performance; building integrated renewable systems; life-cycle assessment
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Guest Editor is inviting submissions to a Special Issue of Energies on the subject area of “Optimization of Building Thermal and Indoor Air Quality Performances”. Currently, there is a global movement in designing and building more airtight and highly insulated buildings with the aim of reducing their energy use and impacts on the environment. Measures that are taken to improve the energy performance of the buildings, however, should not compromise the indoor air quality of the buildings, where people spend most of their time. As such, the optimization of buildings' thermal and indoor air quality performances is critical in designing and operating high-performance buildings.

This Special Issue will focus on optimization and smart operations of high-performance buildings. Topics of interest for publication include but are not limited to:

  • Net-zero energy building;
  • Ventilation and IAQ;
  • Building-integrated renewable systems;
  • Indoor and outdoor pollutants transport;
  • Advanced building envelope design;
  • Thermal comfort;
  • Smart control;
  • Advanced materials and systems;
  • Resilient building;
  • Climate change and buildings performance.

Dr. Fitsum Tariku
Guest Editor

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

  • Building optimization
  • Net-zero buildings
  • Indoor air quality
  • Thermal comfort
  • Passive design Building envelope
  • Hygrothermal performance
  • Renewable energy
  • Building control

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

40 pages, 36837 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Energy, Indoor Air Quality, and Moisture Performance for a Three-Story Building Using an Integrated Model, Part Two: Integrating the Indoor Air Quality, Moisture, and Thermal Comfort
by Seyedmohammadreza Heibati, Wahid Maref and Hamed H. Saber
Energies 2021, 14(16), 4915; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14164915 - 11 Aug 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3453
Abstract
In this paper, an integrated model that coupled CONTAM and WUFI was developed to assess the indoor air quality (IAQ), moisture, and thermal comfort performance. The coupling method of CONTAM and WUFI is described based on the exchange of airflow rate control variables [...] Read more.
In this paper, an integrated model that coupled CONTAM and WUFI was developed to assess the indoor air quality (IAQ), moisture, and thermal comfort performance. The coupling method of CONTAM and WUFI is described based on the exchange of airflow rate control variables as infiltration, natural and mechanical ventilation parameters between heat and moisture flow balance equations in WUFI and contaminant flow balances equations in CONTAM. To evaluate the predictions of the integrated model compared to single models of CONTAM and WUFI, four scenarios were used. These scenarios are airtight-fan off, airtight-fan on, leaky-fan off, and leaky-fan on, and were defined for a three-story house subjected to three different climate conditions of Montreal, Vancouver, and Miami. The measures of the simulated indoor CO2, PM2.5, and VOCs obtained by CONTAM; the simulated indoor relative humidity (RH), predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD), and predicted mean vote (PMV) obtained by WUFI; and those obtained by the integrated model are compared separately for all scenarios in Montreal, Vancouver, and Miami. Finally, the optimal scenarios are selected. The simulated results of the optimal scenarios with the integrated model method (−28.88% to 46.39%) are different from those obtained with the single models. This is due to the inability of the single models to correct the airflow variables. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimization of Building Thermal and Indoor Air Quality Performance)
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19 pages, 5071 KiB  
Article
Application Method of a Simplified Heat and Moisture Transfer Model of Building Construction in Residential Buildings
by Joowook Kim and Michael J. Brandemuehl
Energies 2021, 14(14), 4180; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144180 - 10 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2074
Abstract
Several building energy simulation programs have been developed to evaluate the indoor conditions and energy performance of buildings. As a fundamental component of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning loads, each building energy modeling tool calculates the heat and moisture exchange among the outdoor [...] Read more.
Several building energy simulation programs have been developed to evaluate the indoor conditions and energy performance of buildings. As a fundamental component of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning loads, each building energy modeling tool calculates the heat and moisture exchange among the outdoor environment, building envelope, and indoor environments. This paper presents a simplified heat and moisture transfer model of the building envelope, and case studies for building performance obtained by different heat and moisture transfer models are conducted to investigate the contribution of the proposed steady-state moisture flux (SSMF) method. For the analysis, three representative humid locations in the United States are considered: Miami, Atlanta, and Chicago. The results show that the SSMF model effectively complements the latent heat transfer calculation in conduction transfer function (CTF) and effective moisture penetration depth (EMPD) models during the cooling season. In addition, it is found that the ceiling part of a building largely constitutes the latent heat generated by the SSMF model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimization of Building Thermal and Indoor Air Quality Performance)
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