Building Energy-Saving Technology

Abstract

Buildings consume about 40% of the global energy. Therefore, the building sector plays a key role in achieving the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Various energy-saving technologies for buildings, such as building envelops, mechanical systems, and energy resources, have been developed to help to achieve zero- or even net-energy buildings while maintaining comfort and a healthy indoor environment. This Special Issue on building energy-saving technology was open to all contributors in the field of building engineering. The original experimental studies, numerical simulations, and reviews in all aspects of building energy utilization, management, and optimization have been considered. For this event, all of these topics were covered in the extensive submissions which were accepted, but interesting papers on other aspects of building energy efficiency were also received. The purpose of this editorial is to summarize the main research findings of the accepted papers in this Special Issue, including the energy-saving technologies involved in building envelops, mechanical systems, and occupant behaviors, and to identify a number of research questions and research directions.

Model Predictive Control for Energy Optimization of HVAC Systems Using EnergyPlus and ACO Algorithm

“…Space heating and hot water systems represent approximately 12% of global energy and process-related CO 2 emissions [2], and space cooling, which is the fastest-growing end-use in buildings, is responsible for a significant amount of final electricity use in buildings [3,4]. Hence, improving the efficiency of cooling and heating systems, together with improved building design [5,6], has the potential to significantly mitigate CO 2 emissions in the coming decades [7][8][9].…”