Energy and Buildings最新文献

{"title":"Research on frost-resistant characteristics of air-water source finned evaporator based on air dew point temperature","authors":"Chuanming Li ,&nbsp;Xiangshen Gao ,&nbsp;Rongshan Han ,&nbsp;Nianping Li ,&nbsp;Jibo Long ,&nbsp;Minghao Ren ,&nbsp;Fajin Xu ,&nbsp;Qingqing Long","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117042","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117042","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To enhance the heating performance and building load matching capability of finned evaporator heat pumps in winter, this study proposes a frost-suppression method using an air–water source finned evaporator integrated with a hot-water coil. A computational model for this combined heat transfer unit was established. Based on the air dew point temperature, an Artificial Neural Network prediction model with a coefficient of determination R2 of 0.9998 was developed, using inlet air temperature, humidity ratio, air velocity, and hot-water temperature as input variables and refrigerant heat gain as the output. This model was employed to simulate the maximum heat supply capacity and conduct load matching analysis under frost-free evaporator operation. Results indicate that a lower air humidity ratio corresponds to greater frost-free heating potential. For instance, at 5℃ air temperature, the maximum heat supplies for humidity ratios of 0.5 g/kg and 3.5 g/kg are 2.88 W and 0.38 W, respectively. Increasing the evaporator hot-water temperature significantly boosts the heat supply under frost-free operation: at −10℃ air temperature and 0.5 g/kg humidity ratio, the maximum heating capacities with 20℃ hot water and without hot water are 12.86 W and 5.54 W, respectively. Under typical winter conditions, raising the hot-water temperature effectively enhances exerts a more substantial influence on the matching rate between heat supply and building demand than varying the air velocity: in Xiangtan, increasing the temperature from 10℃ to 20℃ improves the matching rate of 11.87% (with 20℃ hot water meeting demand for 12.85% of the heating period), while in Xi’an, the corresponding improvement is 31.66% (with 20℃ hot water satisfying 50.87% of the demand). This research provides an effective methodology for frost suppression and load matching regulation in air-source heat pumps.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 117042"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High-performance cold thermal energy storage for clean and efficient cooling","authors":"Johnson Kehinde Abifarin","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117072","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117072","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aims to optimise the thermal performance and space efficiency of Cold Thermal Energy Storage (CTES) systems using a beneficial and unbeneficial probability utility index analysis. The optimisation framework simultaneously minimises complete solidification time (St) and complete melting time (Mt), while maximising the compactness factor (C). The effects of fin height, fin spacing, and fin thickness on heat transfer performance and system compactness are systematically evaluated. The optimisation results identify an optimal configuration with a fin height of 10 mm, a fin spacing of 2.4 mm, and a fin thickness of 0.75 mm, resulting in an enhancement in heat transfer efficiency and a reduction in both solidification and melting times compared to the baseline design reported in the literature. Sensitivity analysis indicates that fin height is the dominant parameter, contributing 95.8% to overall thermal performance, followed by fin spacing (2.75%) and fin thickness (0.94%). The proposed methodology provides a robust and systematic framework for balancing thermal efficiency, compactness, and response time in CTES systems. These findings offer practical design guidelines for high-performance CTES applications in refrigeration, air conditioning, and peak-load shifting, and support future advancements in cold thermal energy storage technologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 117072"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146071961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of fresh air parameters on thermal comfort and particulate matter removal in floor-heated rooms during winter","authors":"Huang Yuandong,&nbsp;Wang Zijia,&nbsp;Li Bin,&nbsp;Cui Pengyi,&nbsp;Luo Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With urban residents spending over 80% of time indoors, optimizing indoor air quality and thermal comfort in heated environments has become crucial. However, the interaction between fresh air systems and floor heating systems remains poorly understood, particularly concerning their combined effects on particulate removal and thermal comfort. This study systematically examines how supply air temperature (10–20°C) and supply angle (30–90°) influence the thermal environment and particulate matter (0.1–2.5 μm) distribution in floor-heated rooms under displacement (DV) and mixing ventilation (MV) modes, employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations that are validated by experimental data. The research findings indicate that the efficiency of particulate removal is primarily dependent on the supply angle rather than the supply temperature, with a 90° angle proving optimal for DV systems. Furthermore, DV with 20°C supply air at a 90° achieves superior thermal comfort despite localized temperature stratification. On the other hand, MV demonstrates better performance for smaller particles (0.1–1.9 μm) at specific angle-temperature combinations, while DV excels for all particle sizes at a 90° supply angle. Additionally, the minimum ratio of breathing-zone to exhaust concentrations (RBE) values occur at different angles for MV (30°) and DV (90°). These results provide critical insights for designing energy-efficient ventilation systems that simultaneously ensure thermal comfort and effective particulate control in floor-heated buildings, particularly relevant for cold climate regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 117015"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145995601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A data-driven approach to identifying cost-effective retrofits, predicting energy ratings, and evaluating national retrofit CO2 savings in UK homes","authors":"Rinku Mohan ,&nbsp;Farrukh Saleem ,&nbsp;Turki Althaqafi ,&nbsp;Nahla J. Abid","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117029","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117029","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy efficiency is an important factor contributing to the sustainability and for reducing energy costs. There has been an increasing attention in residential energy performance, but detailed studies exploring cost-effectiveness analysis, predictive modelling, and adoption modelling are still lacking. This study addresses these issues by analysing a large Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) dataset in the UK in 2024, having over 4.8 million property records. The research explores retrofit costs and impact data to investigate three critical research questions. First, we evaluated the energy efficiency and CO₂ savings per pound spent across different property types in the UK, analysing 41 retrofit improvement types using statistical analysis. Second, machine learning models were trained to predict a building’s energy rating from its efficiency and structural traits. Third, standard retrofit interventions were assessed for defining the actual CO₂ savings by integrating retrofit adoption probabilities and Monte Carlo simulations. Our results show that the highest energy efficiency per pound spent could be achieved with inexpensive improvements like low-energy lighting, installing hot water cylinders and draught proofing. The Voting Classifier model (XGB + RF) achieved the best discrimination with 70.8% outperforming XGBoost (69.4%), Random Forest (69.09%), and MLP Neural Network (59.5%). The simulations based on different adoption scenarios demonstrate that even a small increase in the adoption rates can lead to significant national CO₂ reductions. Overall, this study provides a transferable methodology that combines cost-effectiveness analysis, predictive analysis, and retrofit adoption modelling for sustainable housing research in the UK. The findings offer insightful applicability to guide retrofit priority, policy targeting, and future studies in sustainable residential energy planning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 117029"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145995555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantifying electricity-related carbon emission factors of low-emission neighborhoods: A comparison of different methods","authors":"Petry Kristine Nøttum Haaland,&nbsp;Viviane Aubin,&nbsp;Magnus Korpås","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117032","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117032","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Buildings currently account for over 30% of final energy use and 19% of European energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making reductions in this sector highly significant. Zero Emission Buildings (ZEBs) and Zero Emission Neighborhoods (ZENs) have emerged as a potential solution. They aim to achieve net-zero emissions by offsetting embodied emissions through power export from local renewable energy sources (RES), typically solar photovoltaic (PV). While accounting for material-related emissions follows well-established standards, emissions caused by electricity demand remain challenging to quantify. This paper investigates various methods for quantifying emissions linked to energy consumption and local production in a ZEN. We also examine how different time resolutions and geographical scopes impact the final outcomes. We test these calculation approaches on a ZEN case study, exploring how they influence the required investments in local RES. Our results indicate very large variations across emission factor methods and the potential for biases towards specific technologies depending on the methodological choices. In order to ensure that ZENs actually contribute to limiting GHG emissions, we recommend that the approach for calculating emission factors be region-specific and adjustable over time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 117032"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146001006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The role of backup fuel in residential electrification: assessing the environmental, economic, and grid impacts of heat pump backup systems in cold-climate residential","authors":"Mojtaba Khastar ,&nbsp;Nicholas Rivers","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.116963","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.116963","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Electrifying residential heating using heat pumps is critical for decarbonization. However, during extreme low temperatures heat pumps typically require backup. Backup fuel choice can have significant impact on emissions, cost, and peak electricity demand. This study employs an hourly techno-economic model to simulate space heating and cooling energy demand for a nationally representative sample of 6,000 Canadian homes and compare the impacts of adopting heat pumps with either electric or natural gas backup versus new conventional furnaces. We analyze space heating and cooling energy consumption, GHG emissions, household economics, marginal abatement costs, and electricity demand profiles. Results show that fully electrified heating systems can cut annual space heating and cooling energy use by over 59% and reduce national residential emissions by up to 21 Mt CO₂e/yr compared to new conventional furnace replacements. However, only 9% of households save money by adopting fully electric heating systems in the absence of supportive policy, and these systems increase peak electricity demand. Hybrid gas-backup systems have smaller impacts on peak electricity demand and on greenhouse gas reduction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 116963"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145903167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Performance optimization of parametric hexagonal façade openings for natural ventilation and cooling load reduction in high-rise buildings","authors":"Sanam Aeinfar,&nbsp;Nuri Serteser","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117021","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117021","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the potential of parametric façade openings to enhance natural ventilation and reduce cooling loads in high-rise office buildings. These buildings often experience stagnation zones on the windward façade, typically at mid-height, where airflow divides upward and downward. Focusing on the floor intersecting the stagnation point, the study investigates how aperture design and spatial distribution can optimize airflow and thermal comfort during warm seasons. A multi-stage methodology was employed, combining CFD analysis (ANSYS Fluent) to identify façade pressure zones, with seasonal energy simulations conducted in EnergyPlus through the Honeybee interface, and generative parametric modeling in Grasshopper. Various hexagonal aperture configurations were assessed based on air change rates (ACH), operative temperature, and cooling energy use intensity (EUI). The results indicate that aperture distribution has a notable influence on ventilation performance and indoor comfort. Among the four tested configurations, the edge-to-center (EC) scenario, which represents a gradient distribution where the size and porosity of openings increase from the façade edges toward the center, achieved the highest comfort percentage and a notable reduction in cooling EUI compared to the least effective scenario. These findings demonstrate that strategic, static aperture design can effectively balance passive airflow and thermal comfort without relying on complex dynamic systems, offering a scalable solution for climate-responsive façade strategies in high-rise buildings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 117021"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145995566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Self-Powered dynamic Façades using thermoelectric generators and phase change materials","authors":"Zia Mohajerzadeh ,&nbsp;Mohammad Elmi ,&nbsp;Amin Nozariasbmarz ,&nbsp;Julian Wang ,&nbsp;Rahman Azari","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117066","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117066","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Residential and commercial buildings in the U.S. are major energy consumers, with demand projected to rise significantly in the coming decades. This research develops a self-powered dynamic façade that integrates thermoelectric generators (TEGs) with phase change materials (PCMs) to convert solar-driven temperature gradients into electricity for automated shading. While TEG performance is constrained by thermal management, PCMs act as latent-heat buffers that stabilize the cold side and help maintain larger temperature differences.</div><div>A prototype combining two 4 cm × 4 cm TEG modules with a 29 °C BioPCM was designed and evaluated in both controlled solar chamber conditions and outdoor testing. In the solar chamber, the measured surface temperature difference between the sun-exposed aluminum fin and the outer PCM container reached approximately 24 °C under 800 W/m² irradiance with PCM integration. This enabled a 1.5 V supercapacitor to charge to 1.0 V and intermittently drive a 3 V DC motor to rotate a 39 cm × 7 cm aluminum louver, consuming an average of 19.5 mW. Outdoor tests in a humid continental climate (ASHRAE 5A) showed strong weather dependence and demonstrated that black-coated fins achieved stored voltages above 400 mV.</div><div>To increase thermal input, a Fresnel lens and acrylic dome were added. This optical–thermal configuration improved voltage generation by ∼ 20% by concentrating solar flux and reducing convective losses. Under these enhanced conditions, the 29 °C PCM did not always fully melt, prompting evaluation of a 20 °C PCM to activate the phase-change process more completely. The 20 °C PCM fully melted and produced higher early-stage stored voltage (∼550 mV) compared with the 29 °C PCM (∼450 mV), although its cooling duration was shorter once fully liquid. Overall, the results show that melting-point selection, optical concentration, and thermal storage can be combined to advance façade-integrated thermoelectric systems toward autonomous operation and lower building energy demand.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 117066"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146048120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Building climate zoning in the sea-land interlaced region based on the clustering method","authors":"Jingjie Tan ,&nbsp;Xiaojing Zhang ,&nbsp;Ziyang Hao ,&nbsp;Jingchao Xie ,&nbsp;Jiaping Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117040","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117040","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To address the boundary ambiguity issue in building climate zoning for sea-land interlaced region at low-latitudes in China, this study proposes a collaborative zoning method that integrates density-based clustering with subsequent classification. The method enables the identification of arbitrarily shaped climate clusters and the precise treatment of noisy samples in sea-land transition zones, thereby overcoming the limitations of K-means and hierarchical clustering approaches, which assume spherical clusters and rigid boundaries. The ERA5 high-resolution meteorological data (with a spatial resolution of 0.25° × 0.25°) is used to construct a zoning index system incorporating three elements: temperature, precipitation, and radiation. By optimizing the dual-index joint classification, the proportion of boundary-disputed samples is reduced to 0.76%, with key thresholds identified as an annual total horizontal solar radiation of 1573 kWh/m² and a coldest-month mean temperature of 15 °C. The zoning results show that the low-latitude regions in China can be distinctly partitioned along the coastline into a <em>New Hot-Summer and Warm-Winter Zone</em> (wherein buildings must adequately address the heat prevention requirements and rain protection during summer) and an <em>Extreme Hot-Humid Zone</em> (wherein buildings require year-round heat prevention, rain protection, and full-shading design). Building energy simulations across 19 typical cities reveal that the average building energy consumption is significantly higher in the <em>Extreme Hot-Humid Zone</em> (101.27 kWh·m⁻²·a⁻¹) than in the <em>New Hot-Summer and Warm-Winter Zone (</em>57.07 kWh·m⁻²·a⁻¹<em>)</em>. Moreover, the rate of energy consumption changes peaks across the climate zone boundary. These simulation results effectively validate the accuracy of the new building climate zoning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 117040"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146048180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Building climate-resilient Indian cities through regulatory and green rating frameworks","authors":"Rohit Thakur ,&nbsp;Anil Kumar","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117041","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117041","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rapid urbanization and the increasing impact of climate change have amplified the need for climate-resilient strategies in Indian cities. Building codes and green rating systems play a pivotal role in shaping sustainable urban development. This article systematically analyzes major frameworks, including the Energy Conservation Sustainable Building Code (ECSBC), the National Building Code (NBC), and various Green Building Rating Systems (GBRS), to assess their contributions to climate resilience. Through a structured evaluation, this study identifies the strengths, gaps, and synergies across existing standards, with a particular focus on energy efficiency, -energy conservation, material sustainability, and the integration of passive design. Peer-reviewed studies demonstrate that enforcement of these policies reduces energy consumption by up to 32% in commercial buildings and 20–30% in residential buildings. This research underscores the imperative of shifting from design compliance to performance-oriented regulation, bolstered by post-construction assessments and enhanced enforcement capabilities within Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), while also advocating for the alignment of mandatory standards with voluntary rating systems and the incorporation of climate resilience metrics to guarantee that buildings are efficient, accountable, and capable of adapting to future risks. Research highlights the need to develop a web-based platform for evaluating the performance of green-rated buildings. This platform could facilitate better communication and collaboration among stakeholders, ensuring that best practices are shared and implemented effectively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"355 ","pages":"Article 117041"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}