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Energy Consumption and Sustainable Urban Environment

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 15235

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Donelaicio str. 20, LT44239 Kaunas, Lithuania
Interests: sustainable cities; sustainable industrial innovations; nature based solutions for urban environment; circular economy; resource efficiency

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the opening of a new Special Issue focusing on Sustainable Urban Environment and Energy Consumption.

Urbanization is the phenomenon where the ever-growing worldwide population is spreading globally, and constantly moving into cities. In the face of the current environmental challenges, cities are considered as one of the main contributors to climate change acceleration. Consequently, sensitivity to environmental issues related to energy, efficiency, and sustainability has become a vital issue when addressing urbanization. Therefore, to prepare for an urban influx of 2.5 billion people by 2050, it is critical to create cities that are low-carbon, resilient, and livable.

This Special Issue will bring together a collection of articles that address this challenge from a variety of perspectives, from the macro level, studying sustainability of a city in relation to its surrounding region, its role, and size, to the micro level, presenting research on urban patterns (compact vs. dispersed developments), land use distribution, and home–work trips, road and transportation networks, buildings with their layout forms, heights and facade treatments, and the use of renewable energy. In addition, articles about the impact of city consumption in the form of its ecological footprint and sustainability will be presented.

I expect that this Special Issue will contribute to advancing our knowledge of new sustainable city development trends and will provide decision-makers and all stakeholders with new perspectives and long-term visions.

Prof. Dr. Zaneta Stasiskiene
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. 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 city
  • zero energy city
  • biophilic design for urban environment
  • circular cities

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 1509 KiB  
Article
Individual Energy Consumption Behavior Leads to Energy Sustainability in Malaysia
by Muhammad Ridhuan Tony Lim Abdullah, Mohd Nuri Al-Amin Endut, Farrah Ilyani Che Jamaludin, Jalal ud Din Akbar and Asra
Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4734; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084734 - 15 Apr 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2828
Abstract
Malaysia ranks third in the world in terms of carbon emissions, with an average annual rate of 4.7 percent. There is a strong need to understand the challenges and motivations for energy consumption change at the individual level. This study aims to investigate [...] Read more.
Malaysia ranks third in the world in terms of carbon emissions, with an average annual rate of 4.7 percent. There is a strong need to understand the challenges and motivations for energy consumption change at the individual level. This study aims to investigate the relevant factors affecting Malaysian individual energy consumption behavior towards energy sustainability using the multi-criteria decision-making methodology of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The data were collected from 121 experts using a purposive sampling technique. A framework is developed by assigning weight to the selected factors and sub-factors based on their relative importance in pairwise comparison matrices. The results showed that there were five main factors influencing individual energy consumption behavior in Malaysia, where education was ranked as the top priority, followed by institutions, social values and norms, social structure, and lastly, lifestyle. There were also 16 relevant sub-factors ranked from top priority to least priority (environmental concern, ecology knowledge, energy policy, environmental consciousness, energy tariff, energy efficient technology, morals, social class, location, culture, ethics, choice of lifestyle, personal materialism, gender, ethnicity, and spirituality). Policymakers will be in a better position to design intervention strategies for energy sustainability through energy policy if they understand individual consumption behavior. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Consumption and Sustainable Urban Environment)
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17 pages, 5247 KiB  
Article
Autonomous Photovoltaic LED Urban Street Lighting: Technical, Economic, and Social Viability Analysis Based on a Case Study
by Rami David Orejon-Sanchez, Jose Ramon Andres-Diaz and Alfonso Gago-Calderon
Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 11746; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111746 - 24 Oct 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5173
Abstract
This paper analyzes the technical and economic viability and sustainability of urban street lighting installation projects using equipment powered by photovoltaic (PV) energy. First, a description of the state-of-the-art of the technology is performed, studying the components involved in solar LED luminaires for [...] Read more.
This paper analyzes the technical and economic viability and sustainability of urban street lighting installation projects using equipment powered by photovoltaic (PV) energy. First, a description of the state-of-the-art of the technology is performed, studying the components involved in solar LED luminaires for street lighting application and examples of autonomous PV systems installed in different countries. Later, a case study a based on a renovation project of the street lighting installation at a 5000-inhabitant municipality in Lanzarote (Spain) is presented. Two alternatives are analyzed: underground channeling of the previous aerial electrical grid and the installation of LED luminaires, and, on the other hand, the installation of autonomous LED solar luminaires. Simulations concluded that a PV lighting installation proposal guarantees the existing M3 lighting requirements (EN 13201-2:2015) and represents a saving in the material execution budget of 43.78% with respect to the channeled power grid option. Finally, a statistical study has been carried out to assess the social acceptance of Spanish citizens of this autonomous PV technology in urban environments. This considers strengths and weakness of the technology: sustainability, robustness, visual impact, or risk of vandalism. In general, most subjects of all age segments are aware of the problem that means having aerial wiring running at facades (95%) and considers the use of PV in urban lighting sustainable (88%). However, 47% of those surveyed consider that shutdowns due to lack of energy harvesting is problematic and 17% consider this very problematic. This major drawback (visual impact of PV equipment is mostly evaluated as neutral) gives rise to social reluctance, especially in people younger than 50 who remarked this as more problematic than senior segments. Thus, guaranteed operational service is fundamental to have social agreement for PV technology implementation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Consumption and Sustainable Urban Environment)
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20 pages, 5837 KiB  
Article
Critical Determinants of Household Electricity Consumption in a Rapidly Growing City
by Sharif Shofirun Sharif Ali, Muhammad Rizal Razman, Azahan Awang, M. R. M. Asyraf, M. R. Ishak, R. A. Ilyas and Roderick John Lawrence
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4441; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084441 - 15 Apr 2021
Cited by 71 | Viewed by 6261
Abstract
Despite growing urban electricity consumption, information on actual energy use in the household sector is still limited and causal factors leading to electricity consumption remain speculative due to urban expansion and its growing complexity, particularly in developing countries such as Malaysia. This study [...] Read more.
Despite growing urban electricity consumption, information on actual energy use in the household sector is still limited and causal factors leading to electricity consumption remain speculative due to urban expansion and its growing complexity, particularly in developing countries such as Malaysia. This study aims to examine the critical determinants of household electricity consumption by evaluating the patterns and flows of consumption and analysing relationships and their effects on electricity usage among 620 urban households in Seremban, Malaysia. Results suggest that the average urban household electricity consumption is 648.31 kWh/month; this value continues to grow with the increase in the household monthly income (r = 0.360; p < 0.01) and number of rooms (r = 0.360; p < 0.01) as quality of life improves. A large portion of electricity is allocated for kitchen/home consumption, followed by cooling and lighting. Multiple linear regressions revealed that married households with a high monthly income and living in spacious houses together with three to five people are important predictors of electricity consumption in Seremban. This study empirically identified that the number of rooms is the most critical factor of electricity consumption and strategies to increase energy efficiency, maintain resource sustainability and minimise greenhouse gas threat on the urban ecosystem are vital. Therefore, promoting low carbon initiatives for energy conservation and technology improvement and implementing policies in the domestic sector are essential to achieve the greatest potential energy consumption reduction in urban regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Consumption and Sustainable Urban Environment)
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