Building Simulation

Dear Colleagues,

Energy flexibility in buildings is an attractive recourse to manage energy use and mobilizing this untapped resource would allow for a larger roll-out of renewable energy sources and make the buildings more energy resilient through the ability to change energy demand in time. Energy flexibility of buildings is the ability to provide demand side management and/or load control, thus satisfying requirements of the surrounding energy networks and contributing to the resilience of the future energy systems. Additionally, the collective demand response (DR) can support efficient and safe operation of energy systems. Recent reviews from IEA Annex 82 working group highlight the lack of large-scale field implementation of energy flexible buildings.

Quantification methods such as flexibility functions require a large variety of simulation testbeds to achieve a comprehensive assessment. Additionally, emerging data-driven techniques have the potential to address the operational bottlenecks. Stakeholders and new business model development are critical dimensions in building energy flexibility, which has not received sufficient attention.

The purpose of this special issue is therefore to present 8–16 scientific articles that develop methods and provide tools that can accelerate large-scale implementation of energy flexible buildings in due time. This special issue mainly covers original research studies, including, but not limited to the following topics:

1) Comprehensive (and open-source) simulation testbeds for building clusters

2) Environmental and economic impacts of DR using energy flexibility in buildings

3) Data-driven methods validated with real-world smart meter data

4) Tools to assess climate- and energy-resilient buildings

5) Stakeholder engagement, business models and policy recommendations

Papers selected for this special issue are subject to a rigorous peer review procedure before being rapidly and widely disseminated. Upon its acceptance, the paper will go into production immediately. It will be published in the latest regular issue, while be presented on the specific Topical Collection webpage simultaneously. In regular issues, Topical Collection articles will be clearly marked.

We sincerely invite you to submit your original work to this special issue and are looking forward to sharing your outstanding research outcomes with peers around the world.

Paper submissions: When preparing your manuscript, please follow the Instructions for Authors of Building Simulation.

Submit your paper online at www.editorialmanager.com/buil and mark “Special Issue on Energy Flexible Buildings for Resilient Low Carbon Built Environment and Energy Systems” in your manuscript.

Submission deadline: October 31, 2023

Co-guest Editors: 

Rongling Li, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark.  E-mail: liron@dtu.dk
Hanmin Cai, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), Switzerland. E-mail: hanmin.cai@empa.ch