Digitalization for Smart and Energy-Efficient Buildings

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2024 | Viewed by 1815

Special Issue Editor

Center for Energy Informatics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark
Interests: sustainable energy technologies; built environment; energy in buildings; energy systems; renewable energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is crucial to integrate new building technologies and services in a sensible and cost-effective manner in order to benefit the environment, as globally, buildings account for about 40% of overall energy consumption and 36% of total CO2 emissions . Heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting account for a major portion of the total energy use in buildings. Currently, the actual performance of systems and services is regularly monitored and managed using advanced systems in both new and retrofitted energy-efficient buildings, providing a firm foundation for our understanding of both energy and information flows.

Buildings in future smart communities must have energy-efficient systems, provide complete comfort, provide occupants with information, adjust operations to changing energy grid conditions, and ease strategic maintenance. Given the newest transformations and breakthroughs in the building and construction industry, it is expected that digital technology will play a large role in making buildings more intelligent, sustainable, efficient, reliable, and linked around the world. Data, analytics, and connectivity have made it possible to design a variety of new digital smart applications and devices. The major drivers are digitalization and digital information, which are rapidly spreading across all elements of the building sector and construction business.

This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive collection of research studies, investigations, experiments, and applications that deal with the implementation of digitalization and digital technologies and frameworks in the building and construction sector. This includes a wide range of investigations including digital twins, building design, the development of building information models, energy systems’ operation, sensing and metering, performance optimization, and data collection and storage. In this regard, contributions from research institutions as well as practitioners and industrial parties are welcomed.

Dr. Muhyiddine Jradi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • digital twins
  • building information models (BIMs)
  • sensing and metering
  • data collection and storage
  • Internet of Things (IoT)
  • building automation systems
  • building design and construction
  • commissioning and control
  • human behavior
  • new software development
  • performance optimization
  • smart buildings

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 2576 KiB  
Article
DanRETwin: A Digital Twin Solution for Optimal Energy Retrofit Decision-Making and Decarbonization of the Danish Building Stock
by Muhyiddine Jradi, Bo Eskerod Madsen and Jakob Hovgaard Kaiser
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(17), 9778; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13179778 - 29 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1354
Abstract
The current trend in renovating existing buildings is to perform retrofits on a case-by-case basis without a systematic assessment, using static tools with broad assumptions and generic inputs. As a result, only about 1% of the building stock undergoes energy renovations each year. [...] Read more.
The current trend in renovating existing buildings is to perform retrofits on a case-by-case basis without a systematic assessment, using static tools with broad assumptions and generic inputs. As a result, only about 1% of the building stock undergoes energy renovations each year. To address this issue, new approaches and modern tools are necessary to enhance and expedite energy retrofits in Danish buildings. While there were a few initiatives and projects exploring the implementation of digital twins in building applications, the focus is primarily on newly constructed, highly energy-efficient buildings with integrated building information models (BIM). Conversely, existing and older buildings often lack any form of digital modeling, making it challenging to implement digital twins in those contexts. This paper presents an innovative digital twin solution, ‘DanRETwin’, which will provide decision-making support, retro-commissioning, and data-driven performance optimization for non-residential existing buildings. The proposed solution will utilize building operational data, employing machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to develop scalable data-driven models of building energy. Additionally, clamp-on IoT sensors will be used for data collection, enabling a fully automated and flexible solution. By utilizing DanRETwin, building owners will enjoy higher energy efficiency and improved comfort in their retrofitted buildings; facility managers will have an advanced monitoring solution that enables systematic retro-commissioning of their newly retrofitted buildings, eliminating faults and reducing losses; consultants will have a potential solution to retrofit, enhance, and optimize their clients’ building performance, allowing them to make informed, data-driven decisions and interventions; and city planners will have an effective, scalable, and adaptable tool to expand retrofit efforts and evaluate various scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digitalization for Smart and Energy-Efficient Buildings)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

 
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