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Sustainability
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Sustainable Materials for a Passive Indoor Climate Control in Buildings
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Sustainable Materials for a Passive Indoor Climate Control in Buildings

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Air, Climate Change and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2020) | Viewed by 12897

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Mario Grosso

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Architettura e Design, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: bioclimatic design; energy efficiency in buildings; assessment of sustainability of buildings and construction assets; sustainable urban planning; controlled natural ventilation; passive heating and cooling systems; renewable energy systems; site climate design; sustainability in higher education; innovative sustainable materials for buildings and urban forniture
Dr. Giacomo Chiesa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture and Design, Politecnico di Torino, Viale Pier Andrea Mattioli 39, 10125 Turin, Italy
Interests: bioclimatic design; architectural technology; performance-driven design and operation; sustainable design; climatic architecture; passive cooling/heating; free-running buildings; smart technology integration; low-energy buildings; urban microclimate
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

The success of strategies and techniques based on “passive” indoor climate control (PICC) in buildings, as an effective alternative to energy-consuming and global warming-inducing HVAC systems, depend on various factors:

(a) potentiality of local climate variables for controlling indoor thermal conditions;

(b) building design methodology based on a passive approach from the early phases;

(c) knowledge by the professional HVAC engineers of locally-applicable PICC techniques;

(d) local market availability of PICC technologies;

(e) innovative materials that can be used to improve the effectiveness of PICC systems.

Some of these, such as Phase Change Materials (PCM), can work to control indoor thermal conditions for both heating and cooling, depending on the values of the temperature at which the phase change occurs for energy to be released to (solidification), or absorbed from (melting), the environment. PCM can be applied to a building envelope, as well as to internal partitions with surfaces exposed to an airflow path. Other types, such as Transparent Insulation Materials (TIM) and Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIP), can be applied only to the building envelope for reducing space heating load. Similarly, photochromic, thermochromic and electrochromic materials characterize the transparent envelope components. Furthermore, cool materials and coatings are studied to reduce the local increase in temperature arounds buildings by increasing surfaces’ reflection factor.

This Special Issue focuses on the application of the above-mentioned types of materials and possibly others not yet applied in current building technology. For the former types, the Special Issue aims at presenting case studies of buildings where such materials have been applied. For materials in the experimental phase, the Special Issue aims at the presentation of test results. In both cases, articles accepted for this Special Issue will highlight material characteristics and possible critical application aspects, particularly concerning indoor climate control efficiency, duration of performance, and cost-effectiveness.

Prof. Dr. Mario Grosso
Dr. Giacomo Chiesa
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

  • passive indoor climate control
  • innovative materials
  • PCM
  • TIM
  • VIP
  • building envelope
  • cool materials

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 4703 KiB  
Article
Nonuniform Woven Solar Shading Screens: Shading, Mechanical, and Daylighting Performance
by Yao Lu, Hankun Lin, Siwei Liu and Yiqiang Xiao
Sustainability 2019, 11(20), 5652; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205652 - 14 Oct 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4438
Abstract
This study investigated the potential of using a nonuniform woven panel with nonuniform strips—thick sticks and thin battens—as an external solar shading screen that addressed daylighting, shading, and mechanical performance factors. The sustainable material, namely, bamboo, was used as the demonstration material for [...] Read more.
This study investigated the potential of using a nonuniform woven panel with nonuniform strips—thick sticks and thin battens—as an external solar shading screen that addressed daylighting, shading, and mechanical performance factors. The sustainable material, namely, bamboo, was used as the demonstration material for the screen. An on-site experiment and ANSYS simulation were carried out to investigate the basic solar optical performance and structural strength of the proposed screen, respectively. Then, a series of daylighting simulations were conducted to optimize the configuration of the screen. The results showed that the nonuniform woven solar shading screen reduced up to 80.3% of the solar radiation gain in a room during summer months while ensuring a relatively even distribution of useful daylight during the year. Moreover, the screen effectively reduced the negative impact of glare to a level below “imperceptible” and enabled a relatively clear view through the window and shading. Regarding the structural strength, the screen with a size smaller than or equal to 1 × 1 m withstood a wind load of 12 m/s. Furthermore, this study proposed two optimal configurations: a screen woven of square sticks and battens with a distance of 10 mm between them, and a screen woven of round sticks and battens with a distance of 8 mm between them. This study illustrated the superiority of the nonuniform woven solar shading screens, which supports a wider application of solar shading screens made of other materials with similar structures and reflectance values. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials for a Passive Indoor Climate Control in Buildings)
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17 pages, 5049 KiB  
Article
A Novel Composite Material for Foldable Building Envelopes
by Gianluca Rodonò, Vincenzo Sapienza, Giuseppe Recca and Domenico Carmelo Carbone
Sustainability 2019, 11(17), 4684; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11174684 - 28 Aug 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3300
Abstract
Contemporary research is increasingly focused on studying buildings that either interact with environmental boundaries or adapt themselves to their users’ needs. In the current literature, this kind of ability is given different names: responsivity, adaptability, smartness. These are different ways to refer to [...] Read more.
Contemporary research is increasingly focused on studying buildings that either interact with environmental boundaries or adapt themselves to their users’ needs. In the current literature, this kind of ability is given different names: responsivity, adaptability, smartness. These are different ways to refer to a common concept, with subtle nuances. Foldable surfaces are one of the most interesting geometries able to give responsivity to building components, but often their production is complex and expensive. The aim of this research was the creation of a novel material that can provide lightweight solutions for foldable building envelopes. This composite material can be folded and unfolded easily, like a sheet of paper, but with a higher mechanical performance. It is made with the thermoplastic elastomer SEBS (styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene) as its matrix, as well as a fabric reinforcement. In this paper, following an introduction to this subject, the authors present the composite material’s production methods and its mechanical characterization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials for a Passive Indoor Climate Control in Buildings)
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13 pages, 4106 KiB  
Article
TYPHABOARD in the Restoration of Historic Black Sea Houses in Bulgaria
by Georgi Georgiev, Martin Krus, Carina Loretz and Werner Theuerkorn
Sustainability 2019, 11(4), 1000; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11041000 - 15 Feb 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4670
Abstract
TYPHABOARD is a sustainable construction and thermal insulation board made of cattail (lat. typha) and magnesite as a binder. It is characterized by a unique combination of high mechanical strength, highly insulating properties, relatively high diffusion openness, inflammability, and a sustainable lifecycle. The [...] Read more.
TYPHABOARD is a sustainable construction and thermal insulation board made of cattail (lat. typha) and magnesite as a binder. It is characterized by a unique combination of high mechanical strength, highly insulating properties, relatively high diffusion openness, inflammability, and a sustainable lifecycle. The TYPHABOARD concept includes ecological benefits related to the systematic planting of the raw material typha in Bulgaria, the production of TYPHABOARD, and its application as a stabilizing, insulating and passive indoor climate controlling element in the framework structure of the historic typology of the Black Sea House. The entire technological and organizational process provides a sustainable solution for the operation of peat areas by planting typha (which acts as a natural water and ground filter), for the engagement of work forces in structurally underdeveloped regions, for sustainable ecological and social regional development, as well as for the sustainable retrofit of existing historic Black Sea Houses. The building and ecological system TYPHABOARD can be successfully introduced and applied in Bulgaria. In addition to the scientific and the practical study, the political eligibility of this was proved and officially permitted by the relevant public bodies in Bulgaria. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials for a Passive Indoor Climate Control in Buildings)
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