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Building Energy-Saving and Renewable Energy Utilization Systems for a Sustainable Human Settlement Environment

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 6410

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Interests: construction management; risk analysis; circular economy; sustainability; cost risk
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Université Clermont Auvergne, 49 bd François Mitterrand, CS 60032, 63001 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Interests: sustainable development; economic analysis; integrated assessment models; industrial ecology

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Guest Editor
Linares Higher Polytechnic School, University of Jaén, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Interests: circular economy; sustainable development; business administration; strategy management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
ESTP Paris - Campus de Dijon, 11 rue Sully, 21 000 Dijon, France
Interests: construction technology; smart cities; innovative materials; energy saving; renewable energy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current illusory order gave us a sense of security and harmony. However, recent socio-economic and geopolitical events around the world have radically changed our perceptions of reality. Moreover, we are also experiencing an increasingly negative human impact on the environment. Nature "defends" itself, and this defense is manifested by an increasing number of floods, storms, and droughts. It seems our world was not prepared for such drastic and rapid changes. However, we have survived regardless.

Construction is one of the sectors of the economy that has the most significant influence on environmental degradation due to its impact throughout the whole life cycle of building structures. Faced with the uncertainty of tomorrow and ubiquitous risks, the world is trying to find an opportunity to deal with these threats. Thus, an important aspect of security is the need to support sustainable construction. The aim of this  Special Issue is to present the means for this reform by describing determinants for building sustainable human settlements. These areas can become human-friendly when all of the aspects of construction (design phase, construction, operation and maintenance, decommission) are managed in a proper way. Among the most important questions are 1) how can we create make energy-saving buildings, 2) how can we improve design to create healthier settlements, and 3) in what ways can we use renewable energy to reduce the negative externalities of construction projects?

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Energy efficiency;
  • Economic efficiency;
  • Integrated assessment models;
  • Life-cycle assessment;
  • Life-cycle cost analysis;
  • Digital-based energy management;
  • Municipal sustainability policies;
  • Green energy applications;
  • Emissions;
  • Innovative heating systems;
  • New mindset and new technologies;
  • Resource planning;
  • Local heritages;
  • Smart cities;
  • Waste management;
  • Electricity usage.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Jarosław Górecki
Dr. Arnaud Diemer
Prof. Dr. Pedro Núñez-Cacho
Prof. Dr. Valentín Molina-Moreno
Dr. Mohamad Achour
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

  • sustainable construction
  • energy saving
  • renewable energy sources
  • circular economy
  • BIM
  • life-cycle approach

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 6366 KiB  
Article
Tropically Adapted Passive Building: A Descriptive-Analytical Approach Using Multiple Linear Regression and Probability Models to Predict Indoor Temperature
by Siti Fatihah Salleh, Ahmad Abubakar Suleiman, Hanita Daud, Mahmod Othman, Rajalingam Sokkalingam and Karl Wagner
Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13647; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813647 - 12 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1894
Abstract
The quest for energy efficiency in buildings has placed a demand for designing and modeling energy-efficient buildings. In this study, the thermal energy performance of a tropically adapted passive building was investigated in the warm tropical climate of Malaysia. Two mock-up buildings were [...] Read more.
The quest for energy efficiency in buildings has placed a demand for designing and modeling energy-efficient buildings. In this study, the thermal energy performance of a tropically adapted passive building was investigated in the warm tropical climate of Malaysia. Two mock-up buildings were built to represent a “green”, made of clay brick double-glazed passive building and a conventional, made of concrete “red” building. The mean indoor temperature of the passive building was found to be always lower than that of the red building throughout the experiment during different weather constellations. Our research builds upon existing work in the field by combining multiple linear regression models and distribution models to provide a comprehensive analysis of the factors affecting the indoor temperature of a building. The results from the fitted multiple linear regression models indicate that walls and windows are critical components that considerably influence the indoor temperature of both passive buildings and red buildings, with the exception of passive buildings during the hot season, where the roof has a greater influence than the window. Furthermore, the goodness-of-fit test results of the mean indoor temperature revealed that the Fréchet and Logistic probability models fitted the experimental data in both cold and hot seasons. It is intended that the findings of this study would help tropical countries to devise comfortable, cost-effective passive buildings that are green and energy efficient to mitigate global warming. Full article
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19 pages, 1900 KiB  
Article
Study on Certification Criteria of Building Energy and Environmental Performance in the Context of Achieving Climate Neutrality
by Seyda Adiguzel Istil, Jarosław Górecki and Arnaud Diemer
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2770; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032770 - 3 Feb 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2083
Abstract
Increased greenhouse gas emissions have led to a global warming threat. As a result, countries have tended to focus their decision-making attention on energy-saving strategies. Specifically, the concept of green building has been developed for the construction sector. It aims to create energy-efficient [...] Read more.
Increased greenhouse gas emissions have led to a global warming threat. As a result, countries have tended to focus their decision-making attention on energy-saving strategies. Specifically, the concept of green building has been developed for the construction sector. It aims to create energy-efficient structural activities (new constructions, repairs, or renovated constructions) that will be carried out in line with the determined criteria. With the concept of green building and the need to establish criteria and standards to ensure energy efficiency, green building certification systems have come to the fore. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) certification systems have been developed. This article investigates the achievements of the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) category of LEED-certified projects in Türkiye and Europe. A comparison study of countries was carried out, based on the fourth version of the LEED BD+C framework that was developed for new green building projects. The study’s primary goal is to show the linear correlation between market value and IEQ. It was revealed that the gross domestic product does not affect IEQ applications. Although Türkiye was ranked first in applying for IEQ credits, its economic development level is lower than that of other European countries. Full article
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18 pages, 5173 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Lean Production Knowledge among Employees in Building Inspection Organizations
by Abdullah Emre Keleş and Hatice Kübra Yılmaz
Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 15142; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215142 - 15 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1601
Abstract
Currently, lean construction has become very important, with lean manufacturing, a philosophy of production that in the most basic sense refers to the elimination of waste and tries to eliminate anything that does not add value to the product or service, emerging as [...] Read more.
Currently, lean construction has become very important, with lean manufacturing, a philosophy of production that in the most basic sense refers to the elimination of waste and tries to eliminate anything that does not add value to the product or service, emerging as a Japanese business pattern. The aim of this study was to determine the lean production knowledge among employees in building inspection organizations. To measure the level of awareness in construction inspection institutions, which are the leading entities in the construction sector, and the level of awareness on this issue, a survey was conducted through face-to-face meetings with engineering employees residing in Adana province. The results were converted into datasets in the appropriate Microsoft Excel format. With these datasets, the reliability level of the survey was measured using the SPSS program, and the data were analyzed using WEKA software. The study used association rule learning, a data mining method. According to the results, the number of employees who knew the definition of lean production was less than half, at 47%, while the number of those who knew about the concept of lean construction was 44%. The results obtained according to three different class labels were statistically interpreted, and it was determined that the employees lacked knowledge and sufficient awareness about the subject. Full article
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