Call for papers: Energy Conservation and the Built Environment

Call for papers: Energy Conservation and the Built Environment

A special issue of International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy

The main purpose of buildings is to provide a comfortable living environment for their occupants, which includes thermal, visual and acoustic comfort as well as indoor air quality. As for modern society, humans spend a majority of their time living and working indoors, so that indoor environment quality and human health (IEQ&HH) are very important factors to implement building development sustainability. As we know, good IEQ will help to maintain the health and comfort of the indoor occupants and under such conditions they will be invariably more satisfied and productive.

Towards a sustainable development strategy, the aim of research performed in IEQ groups is to provide related technicians with valuable advice, methods and tools, helping them to design, construct, operate and maintain buildings to a comfortable and healthy situation, with a minimum use of energy and technical installations.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems bring indoor occupants to a comfortable status. Due to the unprecedented growing scale of building construction, energy consumption has risen sharply for the building environment. The energy required for building heating and cooling is approximately 6.7% of the total world energy. In China, data show that energy consumption accounts for more than 50% total electricity use in the residential sector and 60% total electricity use in the public building sector, both for heating and cooling.

Increasing energy demand and environmental consciousness all over the world have made it imperative that energy sources should be used more efficiently. How to use the least energy to maintain indoor environment quality and the comfort of the occupants is the focus of this issue.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• Energy demands and consumption in existing and future buildings Thermal comfort, health and indoor environment
• Natural and mechanical ventilation Renewable energy sources in buildings
• Heat recovery systems in buildings HVAC and refrigeration systems in residential, public and industrial buildings Energy efficient buildings Intelligent buildings
• Evaluation and control of indoor thermal, lighting systems and human factors Facilities management and maintenance
• Policy and legal issues

Important Dates
Submission Deadline: 30 January, 2008
Notification of the Initial Decision: 30 April, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: 30 July, 2008