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Sustainability
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Indoor Environment in Sustainable Buildings
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Indoor Environment in Sustainable Buildings

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 11671

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Paola Villoria-Sáez

E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor
Building Technology and Environment Research Group, School of Building Construction, Polytechnic University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: construction; sustainable materials; regenerative sustainability; indoor environment; thermal comfort
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fernando Ruiz Mazarrón

E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor
School of Agricultural, Food and Biosystems Engineering, Polytechnic University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: renewable energies; building simulation; energy efficiency; underground constructions
Dr. César Porras-Amores

E-Mail Website
Chief Guest Editor
Escuela Técnica Superior de Edificación, Polytechnic University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: building materials ventilation energy efficiency air quality; circular economy; waste management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

This Special Issue focuses on the indoor environment in sustainable existing, refurbished, or future buildings, covering a wide range of building typologies such as underground, residential, commercial, industrial, public and other constructions. The construction of buildings which meet sustainable criteria is progressively increasing because of the environmental and energy benefits entailed.

In this sense, the correct design of interior spaces can provide an additional benefit, as they also provide healthier and more comfortable buildings. This issue aims to contribute good practices, models, methodologies or strategies that help to design indoor environments which provide health and thermal comfort for humans, animals or stored products.

Scientific research works dealing with the indoor environment and its interaction with the following aspects: building physics, construction systems, safety, ventilation, energy performance, HVAC systems, CO2 emissions, energy efficiency, materials, lighting, passive strategies, thermal comfort, air quality, smart devices and renewable energies, among others, are welcome.

The proposed research works must be supported by empirical data or correctly validated simulation models. Authors should clearly identify the gap of knowledge and novelty of their work as well as highlighting the main relevance of the research outcomes.

Dr. César Porras-Amores
Dr. Paola Villoria Sáez
Dr. Fernando Ruiz Mazarrón
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

  • energy efficiency
  • indoor environment
  • thermal comfort
  • air quality
  • ventilation
  • building physics
  • sustainability
  • sustainable construction

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 3334 KiB  
Article
Industrial Buildings with Zero Energy Consumption: Cathedral Warehouse for Sherry Wines
by Eduardo Galán Navia-Osorio, Fernando R. Mazarrón, César Porras-Amores and Ignacio Cañas
Sustainability 2022, 14(1), 563; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010563 - 05 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1882
Abstract
The industrial sector needs solutions and strategies that allow buildings to reduce their energy consumption and develop their daily business activities. This paper discusses the long-term monitoring measures of indoor thermal conditions in a warehouse with zero energy consumption. The objective is to [...] Read more.
The industrial sector needs solutions and strategies that allow buildings to reduce their energy consumption and develop their daily business activities. This paper discusses the long-term monitoring measures of indoor thermal conditions in a warehouse with zero energy consumption. The objective is to promote the use of passive design strategies within the industrial sector by analyzing an example of the feasibility of achieving controlled environmental conditions with zero energy consumption. In total, more than a million data points were processed and analyzed in different periods of the year. Experimental measurements showed strong gradients in the vertical distribution of temperature, this being a key aspect of the general behavior of the indoor environment of the warehouse. A standard comparison variable was developed to quantify the monthly and daily evolution of vertical stratification of the air to explain in detail the thermal behavior of the warehouse throughout the year. The results showed the efficacy of the design of these constructions to mitigate the high temperatures typical in a Mediterranean-Oceanic climate. This example of ingenuity in passive design demonstrates how, by combining the right strategies, the desired conditions can be obtained without any energy consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environment in Sustainable Buildings)
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18 pages, 6971 KiB  
Article
Comprehensive Assessment of Thermal Comfort and Indoor Environment of Traditional Historic Stilt House, a Case of Dong Minority Dwelling, China
by Yue Jin and Ning Zhang
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9966; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179966 - 06 Sep 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3478
Abstract
The stilt house is one of the most representative of Chinese architecture among national minority traditional dwellings, most of which are located in mountainous regions whose climate is characterized by hot summers and cold winters. Moreover, it is widely distributed in Southeast Asian [...] Read more.
The stilt house is one of the most representative of Chinese architecture among national minority traditional dwellings, most of which are located in mountainous regions whose climate is characterized by hot summers and cold winters. Moreover, it is widely distributed in Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, etc., as well as tropics like Hawaii, Guam. These kinds of dwellings have unique architectural aesthetics as well as high climate adaptability. However, because of their remote locations and rapid disappearance in urbanization, few studies have focused on their real indoor environment and thermal comfort. More studies were engaged in their architectural aesthetics and space patterns. In this study, based on the measurement and evaluation of residential natural lighting, ventilation, air quality, and thermal comfort in traditional stilt Dong village houses, the air temperature, humidity, CO2 and PM2.5 concentrations, wind speed, direction, and other variables are monitored and analyzed. Results show that the inhabitants have a higher thermal comfort adaptation than urban residents under natural ventilation. Meanwhile, the humidity of Dong stilt dwelling can reach a satisfactory level within 24 h except for the morning period. The satisfaction of the acoustic environment needs to be improved via reasonable structural maintenance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environment in Sustainable Buildings)
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23 pages, 8803 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of a Coupled Model to Predict the Impact of Adaptive Behaviour in the Thermal Sensation of Occupants of Naturally Ventilated Buildings in Warm-Humid Regions
by Luciano C. de Faria, Marcelo A. Romero and Lúcia F. S. Pirró
Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 255; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010255 - 29 Dec 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1694
Abstract
Improving indoor environment quality and making urban centres in tropical regions more sustainable has become a challenge for which computational models for the prediction of thermal sensation for naturally ventilated buildings (NVBs) have major role to play. This work performed analysis on thermal [...] Read more.
Improving indoor environment quality and making urban centres in tropical regions more sustainable has become a challenge for which computational models for the prediction of thermal sensation for naturally ventilated buildings (NVBs) have major role to play. This work performed analysis on thermal sensation for non-residential NVBs located in Brazilian tropical warm-humid climate and tested the effectiveness of suggested adaptive behaviours to mitigate warm thermal sensation. The research method utilized transient computational fluid dynamics models coupled with a dynamic model for human thermophysiology to predict thermal sensation. The calculated results were validated with comparison with benchmark values from questionnaires and from field measurements. The calculated results for dynamic thermal sensation (DTS) seven-point scale showed higher agreement with the thermal sensation vote than with the predicted mean vote. The test for the suggested adaptive behaviours considered reducing clothing insulation values from 0.18 to 0.32 clo (reducing DTS from 0.1 to 0.9), increasing the air speed in 0.9 m/s (reducing DTS from 0.1 to 0.9), and applying both suggestions together (reducing DTS from 0.1 to 1.3) for five scenarios with operative temperatures spanning 34.5–24.0 °C. Results quantified the tested adaptive behaviours’ efficiency showing applicability to improve thermal sensation from slightly-warm to neutral. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environment in Sustainable Buildings)
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Review

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16 pages, 1222 KiB  
Review
Resilient Built Environment: Critical Review of the Strategies Released by the Sustainability Rating Systems in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Antonio Marotta, César Porras-Amores and Antonio Rodríguez Sánchez
Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11164; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011164 - 10 Oct 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3563
Abstract
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, buildings have been viewed as a facilitator of disease spread, where the three main transmission routes (contact, droplets, aerosols) are more likely to happen. However, with proper policies and measures, buildings can be better prepared for re-occupancy and beyond. [...] Read more.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, buildings have been viewed as a facilitator of disease spread, where the three main transmission routes (contact, droplets, aerosols) are more likely to happen. However, with proper policies and measures, buildings can be better prepared for re-occupancy and beyond. This study reviews the strategies developed by several Sustainability Rating Systems (SRS, namely WELL, Fitwel and LEED) to respond to any infectious disease and ensure that building occupants protect and maintain their health. The best practices, that are similar between each SRS, highlight that the overall sustainability of the spaces increases if they are resilient. Results indicate that SRS promote a weak sustainability approach since they accept that economic development can reduce natural capitals. SRS are also characterized by an aggregated level of assessment of different criteria that does not allow to map different choices. However, the decomposition of the concept of sustainability in its three bottom lines (i.e., environmental, social and economic) shows that preventive strategies are likely to be systematically adopted as the state-of-the-art. Finally, even if the latest research points out the airborne transmission as the major infection route, the SRS lack analytical measures to address issues such as social distancing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Environment in Sustainable Buildings)
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