Energy and BuildingsPub Date : 2026-04-15Epub Date: 2026-02-05DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117104
Kumar Biswajit Debnath , Natalia Pynirtzi , Jane Scott , Colin Davie , Ben Bridgens
{"title":"Bio-jaali: Reimagining vernacular passive cooling screens with mycelium-based composites","authors":"Kumar Biswajit Debnath , Natalia Pynirtzi , Jane Scott , Colin Davie , Ben Bridgens","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117104","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117104","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change and severe urban heat stress in South Asian megacities are driving an amplified reliance on energy-intensive air conditioning, necessitating urgent low-carbon cooling solutions. This study addresses this challenge by reinterpreting the traditional jaali, a perforated passive-cooling screen, using mycelium-based composites (MBCs) to create a novel, climate-responsive, low-carbon façade system: bio-jaali. We assessed the performance of the bio-jaali through a holistic approach, combining historical climate data analysis (New Delhi, 1991–2019), dynamic building energy simulations, and laboratory bio-fabrication and hygrothermal testing. This integrated methodology is a key achievement, bridging materials science with dynamic simulation to improve building-scale performance. The climate analysis revealed a 60% increase in ‘danger-level’ heat-stress hours over the 28 years. Dynamic simulation results showed that replacing the conventional sandstone jaali with the bio-jaali yielded substantial thermal benefits: a 3.5°C (10%) reduction in the annual average indoor operative temperature and a drop in peak summer indoor temperatures by up to 14.8°C. Consequently, the annual cooling energy demand was lowered by 50.4%. Furthermore, laboratory cyclic humidity tests demonstrated the MBCs’ potential for evaporative cooling, confirming they remained dimensionally stable (<3% change) while absorbing up to 17.2% moisture. The bio-jaali is highlighted as a culturally rooted, bio-based solution that significantly reduces reliance on active cooling. This research contributes new knowledge on the building-scale performance, climate adaptability, and cyclic hygrothermal stability of MBC facades. We position the bio-jaali as a robust prototype for integrating passive and adaptive thermal regulation, advancing circular construction practices for sustainable architecture in heat-stressed urban environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117104"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146147115","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}
Energy and BuildingsPub Date : 2026-04-15Epub Date: 2026-02-11DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117146
Dinh Linh Le , Roberta Salomone , Teresa Maria Gulotta , Patrizia Primerano , Giuseppe Saija
{"title":"Applicability of the safe and sustainable by design framework to thermochemical energy storage materials in buildings: A readiness assessment","authors":"Dinh Linh Le , Roberta Salomone , Teresa Maria Gulotta , Patrizia Primerano , Giuseppe Saija","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Thermochemical energy storage (TCES) can support decarbonising the building sector by offering high storage density and the potential for long-duration retention with low standing losses; it can be charged using low-grade solar or waste heat and discharged on demand for peak shaving and renewable integration, though realised benefits depend on material stability and system design. Because units are installed close to occupied buildings, occupant and worker safety is a primary criterion; material selection must therefore look beyond energy metrics to evaluate safety and sustainability. The Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework provides a structured lens for such assessment. This study evaluates the applicability of SSbD to reaction-based TCES materials for buildings. A review of reviews in Scopus identifies 11 reviews and compiles 50 materials. Safety and hazard data are gathered from regulatory sources (ECHA, PubChem) and supplier safety data sheets. Life cycle inventories are screened via the Global Life Cycle Assessment Data Access network and supplemented by literature-based datasets and transparently documented proxies. Cost data are derived from supplier catalogues, market quotations, and literature. Readiness for SSbD assessment spans: 8/50 very high (e.g., CaCl<sub>2</sub>·6H<sub>2</sub>O, MgSO<sub>4</sub>·7H<sub>2</sub>O), 5/50 high (e.g., LiCl·H<sub>2</sub>O, MgCl<sub>2</sub>·6H<sub>2</sub>O), 10/50 medium (e.g., Na<sub>2</sub>S·5H<sub>2</sub>O, SrBr<sub>2</sub>·6H<sub>2</sub>O), 3/50 low (MgSO<sub>4</sub>·6H<sub>2</sub>O, FeCl<sub>2</sub>·2H<sub>2</sub>O, CuCl<sub>2</sub>·H<sub>2</sub>O), and 24/50 not ready yet (mainly minor hydrates and all ammonia adducts). Cross-cutting gaps include PMT/vPvM indicators, selected chronic aquatic and endocrine endpoints, and basic occupational safety and health descriptors. The results provide an actionable evidence base for prioritising safer, sustainability-aligned TCES materials to support energy-efficient and climate-resilient buildings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117146"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146160223","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}
Energy and BuildingsPub Date : 2026-04-15Epub Date: 2026-02-09DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117128
Bo Li, Gangquan Si, Minglin Xu, Detao Fan, Qianyue Wang, Xin Wang
{"title":"Computationally efficient smart building energy management via deep reinforcement learning-enhanced model predictive control","authors":"Bo Li, Gangquan Si, Minglin Xu, Detao Fan, Qianyue Wang, Xin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117128","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117128","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Model predictive control (MPC) is a powerful strategy for optimizing building energy management, but its high computational burden hinders its deployment on resource-constrained hardware. To address this challenge, this paper presents a novel hierarchical control framework that synergizes MPC with deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to navigate the trade-off between control performance and computational burden. Within this framework, a low-level MPC controller is responsible for precise building energy management with the objective of maximizing energy efficiency and ensuring user thermal comfort, while a high-level DRL agent adaptively tunes the MPC’s meta-parameters to reduce unnecessary computational burden without significantly degrading performance. To implement this framework, an adaptive meta-parameter MPC algorithm is developed based on expert-guided proximal policy optimization by using an expert demonstrator to enhance the DRL training efficiency. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms standalone MPC and DRL methods. Compared to a fixed-long-horizon MPC, the proposed method reduces the actual computation time by 75.8% with only a marginal 2.6% increase in operational cost. Furthermore, by coordinately adjusting both the recomputation frequency and prediction horizon of the MPC controller, the framework achieves a more favorable trade-off between control performance and computational efficiency than a standard event-triggered MPC. Finally, robustness analyses confirm that the DRL agent learns an intelligent policy that adaptively intensifies computational effort to mitigate the impact of prediction errors and strategically allocates resources in response to price volatility, thereby maintaining high performance and efficiency even under extreme conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117128"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146146619","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":"Optimizing Ventilation Performance of a Solar Chimney with Transparent Insert: A Synergistic Study on Depth, Height, and Configurational Parameters","authors":"Yuxing Yan, Shenglan Jing, Yonggang Lei, Yang Guo, Tianci Liang, Jupeng Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117137","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117137","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To address the inherent limitation of traditional solar chimneys—where ventilation efficiency is constrained by their heavy reliance on single-sided heating—this study explores the performance enhancement potential of integrating transparent glass inserts. Employing a synergistic approach combining experimental tests and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, the research clarifies the nonlinear coupling mechanism between the insert-induced efficiency improvement and key geometric parameters (i.e., chimney depth and height).</div><div>In the experimental phase, an electrically heated aluminum plate was used as a controllable heat source to avoid external weather interference, with benchmark tests conducted on ventilation performance under three depths (0.2, 0.3, 0.4 m) with/without inserted plates at constant power. In CFD simulations, 500 W/m<sup>2</sup> incident solar radiation was applied to the glass outer surface as a boundary condition. Extended simulations were further performed to systematically investigate the impacts of chimney height (1.0–2.2 m), depth-to-height ratio and plate length ratio (λ) on ventilation performance.</div><div>The results demonstrate that the integration of transparent inserts double the effective plume area, thereby reducing flow resistance and significantly enhancing the mass flow rate. While, the ventilation rate increases monotonically with both chimney depth and height, but the relative efficiency increment exhibits a distinct nonlinear characteristic, with an optimal depth-to-height ratio of 0.1–0.3. Additionally, optimizing λ to 0.8 effectively the formation of bottom recirculation vortices, leading to a further 7% improvement in ventilation rate. This study not only provides actionable design optimization guidelines for solar chimney systems but also reveals the intrinsic coupling mechanism among geometric parameters, built-in components, and flow field structures, thereby laying a solid theoretical foundation for the development of high-performance passive ventilation technologies in buildings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117137"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146152990","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}
Energy and BuildingsPub Date : 2026-04-15Epub Date: 2026-02-05DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117112
Lukas Anselm Wille , Björn Schiricke , Kai Gehrke , Tobias Dehne , Bernhard Hoffschmidt
{"title":"Reduction of heating energy demand by combining IR heaters and IR reflective walls: An experimental study","authors":"Lukas Anselm Wille , Björn Schiricke , Kai Gehrke , Tobias Dehne , Bernhard Hoffschmidt","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117112","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117112","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, we build upon previous simulation research that advocates the use of infrared (IR) heaters in conjunction with IR reflective interior walls to meet heating demand in buildings. This combination allows the walls to reflect the heat emitted by the IR heaters back to the occupants in a room, rather than absorbing the radiation. As a result, the radiant temperature increases and the air temperature can be lowered in order to maintain constant thermal comfort and to reduce heat loss through the building envelope. We conducted experiments in a climate chamber to isolate the effects of four factors on thermal comfort: the heating power of IR heaters, the IR emittance of the interior walls, the interior wall surface temperature, and the air temperature. The emittance was modified by applying an increasing number of adhesive aluminium foil stripes. Heat conduction through the wall to the outside is not part of this study. To minimize the number of required experiments, we employed a Central Composite Design, from which we derived a response surface function. The experimental results confirm a correlation between wall emittance and occupant thermal comfort in a room, particularly at higher IR heater power levels. The Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) value increases at lower wall emittance (corresponding to higher radiant temperatures), highlighting the potential for energy savings through reduced air temperatures. However, the observed impact of low emittance surfaces on the PMV is less pronounced than previously estimated in simulation studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117112"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146172596","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}
Energy and BuildingsPub Date : 2026-04-15Epub Date: 2026-02-12DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117145
Francesca Villano , Fabrizio Ascione , Tomasz Cholewa , Rosa Francesca De Masi , Gerardo Maria Mauro , Silvia Ruggiero
{"title":"Climate change impact on envelope retrofit effectiveness: energy and carbon performance of Italian residential and office buildings today vs. 2050","authors":"Francesca Villano , Fabrizio Ascione , Tomasz Cholewa , Rosa Francesca De Masi , Gerardo Maria Mauro , Silvia Ruggiero","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117145","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117145","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Buildings significantly contribute to global energy consumption and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, and their performance is increasingly challenged by rising cooling demands under climate change. While many studies assess envelope retrofit measures, most focus on a single building use. This study addresses this gap through a comparative analysis across building typologies, uses, and climatic conditions. The effects of climate change and envelope retrofit strategies on thermal energy demand (TED) and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions are evaluated for four representative Italian building typologies—apartment block, multifamily building, terraced house, and single-family house—considering residential and office uses, standard and high internal loads, and current and 2050 climate conditions. Dynamic simulations are performed using EnergyPlus for four Italian climatic zones. Several retrofit options are analyzed, including insulation measures, window replacement, cool roofs, and a global retrofit. The global retrofit provides the largest benefits, reducing TED and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by up to 65% and 60% under current conditions, with a slight decrease in effectiveness (2–4%) toward 2050. Office buildings with high internal loads show smaller improvements than residential ones. Compact buildings exhibit greater climate resilience, whereas less compact typologies experience larger performance declines. Cool roofs are effective in mitigating cooling-related emissions under warmer climates, though their impact is limited in high-load office scenarios. Results highlight the need for adaptive and climate-resilient retrofit strategies in Mediterranean contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117145"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146160230","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}
Energy and BuildingsPub Date : 2026-04-15Epub Date: 2026-02-06DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117105
Liu Xingmin , Zhang Xiaoxue , Qin Beibei , Ma Yinghao , Liu Jingrui
{"title":"A study on the influence mechanism of residents’ willingness to participate in the carbon generalised system of preferences from a configuration perspective","authors":"Liu Xingmin , Zhang Xiaoxue , Qin Beibei , Ma Yinghao , Liu Jingrui","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117105","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117105","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Carbon Generalised System of Preferences (CGSP) is an institutional innovation strategy designed to promote low-carbon behaviours at the individual level. China’s CGSP remains in its embryonic stages of development. Although the CGSP has been launched in several Chinese cities, the level of public participation has not yet met expectations, thus affecting its sustainable operations. Individual willingness to participate in CGSP is a critical factor determining the effective implementation of this approach. This study applies grounded theory to identify factors influencing the desire to participate in CGSP and constructs a theoretical model of these influencing factors. Subsequently, the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method is employed to examine the configurational effects of multiple factors and their causal mechanisms. Research indicates that the elements impacting residents’ willingness to participate in CGSP are complex, encompassing social norms, incentives, psychological cognition, self-regulation, demographic characteristics, and the convenience and reliability of CGSP platforms. The fsQCA analysis identified four pathways indicating a high willingness to participate in CGSP among residents, along with three pathways reflecting a low willingness to participate. Based on these findings, this paper analysed which combinations of influencing factors are more effective in furthering residents’ willingness to participate in CGSP. This study evaluates the multiple concurrent factors and causal mechanisms underlying residents’ intentions to engage in CGSP from a configuration perspective. It enhances industry decision-makers’ understanding of such behavioural intentions and offers practical recommendations for fostering CGSP.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117105"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146135251","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}
Energy and BuildingsPub Date : 2026-04-15Epub Date: 2026-02-09DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117123
Lucas Verleyen , Lieve Helsen
{"title":"The role and CO2 emission reduction cost of battery energy storage in fully integrated, optimally controlled micro energy communities","authors":"Lucas Verleyen , Lieve Helsen","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117123","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117123","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Battery Energy Storage (BES) is often seen as an attractive component in residential (district) energy systems. Typically, BES is considered the sole source of flexibility. However, thermal energy systems inherently offer significant flexibility through the thermal capacity of the buildings and hydronic systems. Therefore, this paper presents a fully integrated approach that combines all relevant energy services (space heating, domestic hot water and electricity for appliances), detailed building models representing a flexible demand side, and proper hydronic and electrical connections between all components into one non-linear physics-based energy system model. An optimal controller acts as the system integrator, fully exploiting the inherent system flexibility and leveraging synergies between heat and electricity. The proposed method is applied to a Micro Energy Community (MEC) under Belgian boundary conditions. A comparative analysis of 33 energy system layouts is conducted to investigate the role and quantify the CO<sub>2</sub> emission reduction cost of BES in fully integrated MECs optimised for minimal CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. The analysis demonstrates that neglecting thermal system flexibility leads to biased results. The most <em>cost-effective</em> system <em>for emission reduction</em> is a scenario with a collective heat pump, without BES, and where heat and electricity are shared. This system reduces annual emissions by 11.6 <em>tonnes</em> at the cost of 215 <em>EUR</em>/<em>tonne</em>. A collective BES further reduces emissions by 0.1 <em>tonnes</em>, but at a significantly higher cost of 5,430 <em>EUR</em>/<em>tonne</em>. Therefore, BES is not <em>cost-effective for emission reduction</em> in buildings. However, this conclusion may change when considering grid support or applying other policy frameworks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117123"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146146608","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}
Energy and BuildingsPub Date : 2026-04-15Epub Date: 2026-02-09DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117136
Yingying Lyu , Xuelian Bai , Ligang Wang , Yating Wang , Chaoqiang Jin
{"title":"Improvement strategies based on airflow characteristic in a row-based cooling data center","authors":"Yingying Lyu , Xuelian Bai , Ligang Wang , Yating Wang , Chaoqiang Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117136","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117136","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The short airflow paths of row-based cooling systems can enhance cooling efficiency for data centers (DCs). However, the placement of row-based air conditioning units (ACUs) close to the racks significantly increases the airflow velocity in the aisles. Meanwhile, different power modules share one hot aisle, which is easy to occur the hot exhaust air mixing problem. Existing researches neglect the airflow interaction, which leads to the return air temperatures inaccurately reflecting the cooling demand of each module. To address this issue, this study investigates the interaction phenomena within the row-based cooling system, through the combination of experimental observations and numerical simulations. To evaluate the interaction, a new index Δ<em>T</em>, defined as the return air temperature difference of in-row ACUs between different power modules, was presented. Then the effect of varying the shared hot aisle width on the interaction under different power ratios are analyzed. The results indicate that the airflow interaction intensifies with power ratios, and there exists a proper hot aisle width at different power ratios. To further relieve the interaction, improvement strategies involving airflow deflectors, vertical isolation, and horizontal isolation were proposed. With these strategies implemented, the airflow becomes more organized in the hot aisle, and Δ<em>T</em> increases from 0.75 °C to 1.06 °C, 1.64 °C, and 1.66 °C, respectively. Finally, installing a vertical curtain in the shared hot aisle central and sealing the top effectively alleviated the hot exhaust air interaction in higher power modules scenarios, with Δ<em>T</em> increased from 0.86 °C to 1.578 °C.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117136"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146146605","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}
Energy and BuildingsPub Date : 2026-04-15Epub Date: 2026-02-10DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117130
Jie Wu , Shimin Li , Hongtao Xu , Mincheng Jiang , Ye Zhao , Tukuan Huang
{"title":"Predicting and alleviating urban heat stress for early adolescents: an integrated environmental and physiological study","authors":"Jie Wu , Shimin Li , Hongtao Xu , Mincheng Jiang , Ye Zhao , Tukuan Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117130","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117130","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the increasing frequency of extreme heat events and the intensification of the urban heat island effect, thermal safety for children in outdoor urban environments has become a critical concern. Traditional heat stress indicators have limited applicability for early adolescents, leading to ambiguous predictions. Using experimental data collected from 36 junior high school students (aged 12 ± 1 years) in Nanning, China, from June to August 2024, we introduced an enhanced two-node model integrated with a genetic algorithm to predict and mitigate heat stress. Through real-time monitoring of core/skin temperatures and microclimate data via wireless sensors and a mobile thermal comfort device, four key physiological parameters in the model were optimized. The optimized model improved the predictive accuracy for group trends in skin and core temperatures, reducing the RMSE by 76.07% and 75.86%, respectively. Furthermore, by incorporating six spatial scenarios with different shading conditions and underlying surfaces into ENVI-met, the model quantitatively revealed significant effects of various environmental factors on the body temperature changes of early adolescents (p < 0.05). This study lays a theoretical foundation for evidence-based child-friendly design strategies and provides scientific support for protecting adolescents’ health in the context of climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11641,"journal":{"name":"Energy and Buildings","volume":"357 ","pages":"Article 117130"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146153003","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}