Photovoltaic Shading Devices (PVSDs) serve as integral components of Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), fulfilling both architectural shading functions and supplying on-site renewable energy to buildings. Previous studies have primarily focused on the energy efficiency of PVSDs in single-story or low-rise buildings, often overlooking the thermal hotspot effects caused by the shading of upper

This paper provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of state-of-the-art technological advancements in building integration insmartgrids, with a focus on enabling their participation in demand response (DR). We consolidate knowledge from high-quality sources on the main research topics, helping researchers, building owners, and energy stakeholders to stay informed about the latest developments

This study proposed a novel approach for naturally ventilated buildings to address the challenges of rising temperatures and increased urban heat island effect in African cities. Existing research often overlooks the performance of combined wind and buoyancy-driven systems in the context of climate change. This research introduced a novel chimney-enhanced cross-ventilation configuration that effectively

The cooling requirements of communication base stations (CBSs) align with the effects of radiative cooling coatings. However, these effects have not been comprehensively verified by in-situ measurements heretofore. To evaluate the cooling efficacy of radiative cooling coatings on CBSs, in this study, the radiative properties of a radiative cooling coating were tested in the laboratory. The cooling

The application of renewable energy in the building sector has received increasing attention. In this work, a zero-energy photocatalytic double-layer ventilation window was proposed to reduce building energy consumption and improve indoor air quality. The effects of environmental and operational parameters on the system’s performance were investigated through experimental testing and simulation analysis

This Editorial briefly introduces and organizes the worthy studies provided in the Special Issue of Energy and Buildings, entitled “Future technologies for building sector to accelerate energy transition: a special issue”. The main topics of selected papers are herein summarized, proposing scientific studies concerning the next generation buildings, and thus mandatory targets of energy efficiency,

Low delta-T syndrome is known to decrease the energy efficiency of chilled water systems and jeopardize human thermal comfort. Many studies have addressed low delta-T syndrome, suggesting possible measures to solve or mitigate its symptoms. However, while numerous measures have been proposed, a connection to the fundamental causes and the potential side effects that could cause low delta-T syndrome

Renewable Energy Communities (REC) can largely contribute to building decarbonization targets and provide flexibility through the adoption of advanced control strategies of the energy systems. This work investigates how the role of flexibility sources will be impacted by shifting towards advanced control strategies under a high penetration of variable Renewable Energy Sources, in the following years

Building Energy Models (BEM) are widely utilized throughout all stages of a building's lifecycle to understand and enhance energy usage. However, creating these models demands significant effort, particularly for larger buildings or those with complex HVAC systems. While a substantial amount of information can be extracted from Building Information Models (BIM) — which are increasingly accessible and

The simulation of human behavior is an essential component in the domain of energy demand modeling. However, due to its diverse nature, it is often unclear whether a simulated behavior pattern is fitting to certain contexts. Combined with the poor availability of appropriate activity data, this makes proper validation of behavior models difficult. Existing validation approaches are limited and specialized

The present study proposes an innovative active solar heating soil heat storage system to enhance the thermal environment of Gobi solar greenhouses (GSGs) and address the issue of uneven heat distribution. This system utilizes Gobi gravel soil as a heat storage medium, combining solar flat plate collectors and horizontal buried pipes at a depth of 0.15 m. To validate the system’s practical efficacy

A real-scene 3D model of complex buildings, derived from UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) surveys, can significantly improve the accuracy of sunlight analysis for the arrangement of photovoltaic panels. We propose a method for sunlight analysis of complex building roofs driven by the real-scene 3D model, which includes generating and optimizing the 3D model and a parameterized sunlight analysis algorithm

This study investigates the daylighting performance and energy efficiency optimization strategies of double-glazed photovoltaic windows (DS-STPV) in cold regions of China. By conducting a comprehensive comparative analysis with traditional and energy-efficient window systems, this research aims to identify high-efficiency building solutions tailored to extreme climatic conditions. Amidst the escalating

Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems are designed to store excess thermal energy, addressing supply-demand mismatches during periods of low supply. Integrating such systems in the field is challenging due to the slow charging caused by the low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCM). This shortfall can be mitigated using composite PCM (CPCM) as the thermal storage medium

This paper presents a Stochastic Model Predictive Control (SMPC)-based energy management system (EMS) for residential complexes with integrated solar photovoltaics (PV), battery energy storage systems (BESS), and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. The EMS coordinates BESS operations, integrating solar generation, residential load demand, and EV charging. It optimizes BESS charging/discharging

This paper introduces a dynamic Smart Home Energy Management System (SHEMS) integrating a hybrid photovoltaic (PV) and gravity energy storage (GES) system aimed at minimizing environmental impacts and household energy consumption. The novel SHEMS features a one-week dynamic forecasting model that adapts to variable electricity prices, smart appliance schedules, solar output, and energy storage states

Thermal and moisture properties of building insulation materials are crucial input parameters for analyzing thermal and moisture transfer phenomena in building environments. Accurate determination of these parameters under different conditions is essential for the correct application and assessment of materials and envelope structures. However, numerous factors influence thermal and moisture properties

Air conditioning (AC) plays a major role in building energy management because it generally requires a large amount of energy to maintain indoor thermal comfort. The main objective of this study is to develop a novel method for scheduling AC operations to minimize energy costs and ensure the thermal comfort of occupants under uncertainty. The key challenge is the uncertainty and variability in time-series

It is well established that the configuration and operation of variable speed air source heat pumps (VS ASHPs) can significantly influence their frosting performance. However, there is currently no effective method to conveniently and accurately evaluate the frosting suppression performance of these units. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a novel evaluation method based on a frosting suppression

Developing a building-compatible radiative cooler that exhibits an all-day subambient cooling effect and maintains a clean surface for long-term stability is challenging. This study proposes a liquid marble-derived core–shell particle (LM-CSP) that combines excellent anti-wetting capability, efficient and durable daytime radiative cooling properties, and compatibility with building materials. A series

Urban downtown areas are often overheated and contribute to the creation of urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. Implementation of trees is considered an effective way to mitigate UHI and improve outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) in densely built-up areas.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a powerful but time-consuming simulation tool for building indoor environment analysis. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based surrogate models, especially artificial neural networks (ANN)-based models which are the dominated ones, have demonstrated a great potential in accelerating CFD simulations. However, the published AI-based models are not good at capturing local

Achieving carbon neutrality is a critical global goal, with urban building energy modeling (UBEM) playing a pivotal role by providing data-driven insights to optimize energy consumption and reduce emissions. This paper introduces GPT-based urban building energy modeling (GPT-UBEM), a novel approach utilizing GPT’s advanced capabilities to address key UBEM challenges using GPT-4o. The study aimed to

Efforts to enhance the energy efficiency of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems have been bolstered by technical advancements and stringent regulations. However, HVAC systems not only emit during operation due to energy consumption but also have significant embodied emissions, which recent studies show can exceed those of the operational phase. This study introduces an optimization

In residential buildings, domestic hot water (DHW) used for showering and handwashing produces significant amounts of hot drain water (DW), which is typically wasted. This study proposes a horizontal drain water heat recovery (DDWHR) unit to capture waste heat from DW and improve overall DHW system efficiency with the focus on thermal exchange in a compact installation suitable for high-rise apartment

Effective management of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is crucial for enhancing building energy efficiency. Chillers, a significant component of HVAC systems, are responsible for more than 50 % of energy usage of the whole cooling plant, underscoring the importance of optimizing chiller sequencing. Although Model Predictive Control (MPC) has demonstrated efficacy in enhancing

Village areas cover 94.7% of the land in China and are carriers for energy use and renewables. To support national decarbonization strategy, it is essential to devise proper village decarbonization measures. Understanding the relationships among village spatial form, electricity use and photovoltaic potential is critical to provide empirical references. However, due to the scarcity of spatial form

The integration of photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage systems into official buildings has garnered considerable attention, which are recognized as DC power sources. Notably, DC power can satisfy the majority of electrical demands in official buildings. The primary objective of this research is to enhance overall system efficiency by efficiently utilizing renewable energy through direct current (DC)

Cities in the past made it simple for people and space to interact. However, in today’s world, city planning and foreseeing strategies and options to create a desirable place that fits human life have become more important due to the spread of urbanization and the emergence of new problems brought about by the frequent implementation of foreign and Western patterns in urban neighborhoods. Sense of

Efficient prediction of indoor temperature distribution (ITD) is crucial for various building-related applications, particularly in real-time thermal management. Despite efforts from both physics-based and data-driven perspectives, ITD prediction still faces challenges, particularly in balancing prediction accuracy with computational speed and addressing the need for extensive high-quality data in

Taiwan is known for its hot and humid climate, where buildings rely on air conditioning systems to provide comfortable conditions. Specifically in commercial buildings such as hotels, apart from being required to provide comfortable indoor conditions, they need to provide hot water 24 h for guests, leading to the common application of chiller and heat pump systems in hotels. With the rise of the Taiwanese

Global energy use and its environmental impacts have spurred considerable research on energy usage patterns, notably in the built environment, which accounts for a large portion of worldwide energy needs. This study conducted extensive bibliometric analysis to map energy usage behavior research from 1981 until 2024. From 2005, scholarly interest increased significantly in 1,215 works. This matches

Green technology innovation is regarded as a key catalyst for sustainable urban development. This study mainly utilizes 278 Chinese cities data from the China Urban Statistical Yearbook, adopting ordinary least squares (OLS) and mediation effect model to investigate the dual impact and mechanism of green technology innovation on urban carbon emissions. Besides, spatial Durbin model (SDM) and threshold

The building sector has a significant influence on energy use and environmental impact. When observing a university campus, reduction of energy use is a complex issue due to the variety of building types, usage, building construction age, and different implementation of improvement measures. To investigate how energy efficiency measures on a single building may influence the entire campus, a combination

This study evaluates the energy performance of ASHRAE Guideline 36–compliant control (ASHRAE 36 control) and reinforcement learning (RL)–based control through experimental field tests and a simulation study. Three field tests were conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s commercial building test facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee: a baseline with a baseline conventional control, a test with ASHRAE

Network investments and projected energy prices greatly impact the financial viability and environmental impact of fifth-generation district heating and cooling (5GDHC) networks. Compared to the previous generation, the upfront investment costs in 5GDHC networks are relatively high due to the decentralized energy demand and supply of the participating prosumers. The transition to 5GDHC is also hindered

Artificial intelligence is a phenomenon that influences every aspect of our lives. AI applications have already started to change the methods in different disciplines. Architecture is one of the disciplines that is highly affected by the developments of AI technologies. With the United Arab Emirates heading to employ new technology to lead the country and region development, it is important to explore

This paper uniquely and systematically explores the relationship between energy performance of buildings and urban morphology by studying an existing urban fabric in a Mediterranean climate. The study took place in the city of Hebron which is geographically confined in area with continuous urbanization. Using (GIS), the K-means clustering technique was chosen to perform the statistical analysis. The

Smart technologies play a vital role in facilitating the response of buildings to the external conditions, including climate, grid, and the internal building requirements such as user needs. A salient concern lingers in relation to existing buildings due to their increasing energy consumption. Around 35 % of EU buildings are older than 50 years and 90 % are built before the nineties. In this sense

Surrogate models for predicting housing stock thermal comfort, and operational cost, energy or emissions have increasingly gained popularity due to the potential to identify solutions to accelerate and optimise construction. In addition to the potential opportunity to progress towards climate goals and increase resource efficiencies by identifying areas of interest, they are much less time consuming

The supply momentum-driven stratified thermal environment created by advanced air distribution is a promising solution for sustainable and livable indoor environments. This study proposes a strategy to decouple the exhaust and return air for the supply momentum-driven stratified thermal environment. Experimentally validated Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations are used to verify the effectiveness

The transfer learning method has gained increasing attention in the domain of building load prediction, particularly in scenarios with limited data samples. Its core principle involves leveraging knowledge obtained from abundant data in source buildings to aid the learning process of models for the target buildings. Existing research has predominantly concentrated on optimizing the selection of source

Thermal environments hold significant importance in human living environments, affecting quality of life, work efficiency, and building energy consumption. Accurate evaluation of thermal comfort involves the quantification of subjective information and the establishment of indices and models. Although various thermal comfort evaluation methods currently exist, the complexity of subjective emotions

Current research into electricity consumption forecasting for General Hospital still has considerable scope for further development, particularly in its failure to incorporate hospital-specific energy usage characteristics as input variables. This study explores the impact of the usage frequency of sizeable medical equipment on the electricity demand of general hospitals. It proposes a hybrid forecasting

Optimizing building designs for energy efficiency and occupant comfort presents significant challenges due to the complex and often conflicting requirements of various stakeholders. Consequently, this study conducts a multifaceted sensitivity and economic impact analysis that aims to improve building performance in terms of energy efficiency and occupant comfort by implementing machine learning techniques

Consumer acceptance of direct load control is becoming increasingly important as energy systems transition towards greater reliance on intermittent renewable energy sources. The objective of this paper is to better understand the attitudinal and socio-economic determinants of direct load control acceptance. To do so, we collect survey data from participants in 31 European countries (N = 5,970). Regression

The Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are complex and prone to failures during operation, often leading to significant energy waste. Timely and accurate Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) can enhance energy efficiency. The HVAC system operates under diverse conditions, data-driven models trained under existing conditions may experience performance degradation when faced with

Creating high performance buildings is crucial not only for energy conservation but also for enhancing indoor comfort and well-being of occupants. Complex Fenestration Systems (CFS) can modulate daylight and/or solar radiation, thereby improving the quality of indoor light and thermal environments. This paper provided a comprehensive review of the application of micro-prismatic materials (MiPMs) in

Since both the cross-seasonal borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) system and the ground source heat pump (GSHP) system use buried tubes for heat exchange, GSHP is often mistaken for a BTES system. However, there are essential differences between the GSHP system and the BTES system, and the purpose of this study is to elucidate in detail the differences between these two systems. This study first

Solid desiccant dehumidification systems offer an effective and energy-efficient alternative for deeply dehumidifying air. Desiccant coated heat exchangers (DCHEs), a type of solid desiccant dehumidification system, have garnered attention due to their ability to eliminate adsorption heat and thereby enhance dehumidification capacity, unlike desiccant wheels that perform adiabatic dehumidification

Residential buildings consume around 24 percent of overall electricity use in Australia. Though the energy efficiency of new buildings is progressively increasing, there are around 10 million existing homes most with poor thermal and energy performance. Improving these existing homes are imperative for Australia to reach its target of net zero by 2050. This paper adopts a stock modelling approach using

The relationship between the built environment and epidemic transmission is particularly pronounced within the context of lockdown policies and high-density urban areas. Non-pharmaceutical interventions have become increasingly important during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study proposes an evaluation index system for pandemic-resilient residential building designs in high-density cities,

Building performance simulation (BPS) is crucial for building performance assessments across its lifecycle. However, the complexity of buildings and the iterative nature of simulation poses challenges, leading to high costs and low values. Previous studies focused on simplification, but did not fully utilize advanced simulation engines. Despite recent advancements, there is a lack of research on leveraging

Resilience analysis is gaining focus, but no extensive research exists for commercial buildings. This research presents the results of a novel analysis of the resiliency in commercial buildings by examining the relationship between electric microgrids, Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). As energy systems face increasing challenges, including extreme weather

Smart home energy management systems (SHEMS) can help users save on energy costs by controlling various household loads in response to environmental changes. However, human activity is closely related to household energy consumption, which can lead to potential energy waste. Additionally, smart homes often feature multiple types of distributed energy resources (DER), and how to leverage their potential

Empowering citizen energy communities (CECs) to produce, self-consume and share renewable energy can enhance household energy efficiency, support the adoption of renewable energy sources, reduce energy consumption and supply tariffs, and increase independence from fossil fuels. This study analyzes actual electricity consumption data from 31 dwellings in typical five-story multi-apartment buildings

Energy efficient building envelopes, particularly innovative prefabricated building components, can significantly contribute to lower the building industry energy-related emissions. In this research the composite masonry unit Double C Block (DCB) is quantitatively tested by means of three-dimensional thermal simulation validated by in-situ U-value measurements carried out in both summer and winter

The relationship between operational energy (OE) and embodied energy (EE) in buildings is a highly complex issue. In countries with extreme climates and high sustainability standards, efforts are made to reduce OE for climatization with materials and technologies that eventually increase the EE. The case of non-extreme climates such as the Ecuadorian Andean region is different. New building systems

The conventional heat flow meter (HFM) method is used to measure the thermal performance of building walls. Typically, this method is applicable for measurements on lightweight walls and when the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures exceeds 10 °C. However, modern buildings are constructed using highly insulated high-performance heavy-weight walls. Therefore, an in-situ measurement