Optimised Technologies for Improving Building Energy Efficiency

Dear Colleagues,

Energy is vital for human life. Worldwide energy consumption shows a continuously rising tendency as a consequence of the increasing population, the rising demand for transportation and building services, and improved expectations of people year after year because of technological advancements. However, energy is an unequivocal problem for the world today due to reserve- and environment-related issues. The current energy sector is still dominated by fossil fuels. However, there is a consensus about the limited reserves of fossil fuels and their hazardous environmental effects. In this respect, intensive efforts are being made worldwide to develop alternative energy technologies and strategies for the efficient utilisation of energy in all sectors. Recent reports of the International Energy Agency (IEA) reveal that buildings are the focal point of policymakers and researchers since they are responsible for about 40% of total energy consumed worldwide.

Greenhouse gas emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels is another issue that needs to be dealt with, and the building sector stands as a key field to mitigate the aforesaid CO₂ and other emissions. Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems constitute about 60% of the total energy consumed in buildings. Therefore, in recent years, novel HVAC systems have been at the centre of interest, specifically regarding their integrated designs with renewable energy resources notably solar energy. Moreover, the development of novel building materials is another core field for the built environment to be able to reduce building-based energy consumption. Thermal superinsulation materials, lightweight facade structures, thermally resistive and multifunctional glazing systems, efficient daylighting technologies, seasonal energy storage options, renewable-assisted heating and cooling, effective natural ventilation and novel windcatchers are therefore being widely studied by researchers to optimise building energy efficiency towards the low/zero-carbon building (L/ZCBs) targets. Thus, to further spread the technologies and methods related to building energy efficiency towards L/ZCBs, this Special Issue, entitled “Optimised Technologies for Improving Building Energy Efficiency”, has been proposed for the international journal Sustainability, which is an SSCI and SCIE journal. This Special Issue mainly covers original research and studies related to the above-mentioned topics, including but not limited to active and passive house designs towards L/ZCBs, nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEBs) and plus energy buildings (PEBs), building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal collectors (BIPV/T), thermal superinsulation technologies for roofs and facades, novel solar-assisted heat pumps for buildings, Trombe walls, seasonal energy storage systems, waste heat recovery technologies, cost-effective daylighting, renewable-driven heating, cooling and ventilation, and so on. Papers nominated for this Special Issue are subject to a meticulous peer-review process with the target of rapid and efficient dissemination of research findings, advancements, and applications.

Dr. Erdem Cuce
Prof. Dr. Salvatore Carlucci
Dr. Yahya Sheikhnejad
Guest Editors

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• low/zero-carbon buildings (L/ZCBs)
• nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEBs) and plus energy buildings (PEBs)
• building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal collectors (BIPV/Ts)
• thermal superinsulation for facades and roofs
• photovoltaic (PV), vacuum, aerogel, low-e, electrochromic, gas-filled, transparent insulation material (TIM), phase change material (PCM) glazing systems and other novel fenestration technologies
• novel solar-assisted heat pumps for buildings
• active and passive house designs
• trombe walls
• seasonal energy storage for the built environment
• waste heat recovery systems
• cost-effective daylighting
• solar chimneys
• renewable-assisted heating, cooling and ventilation