Special Issue

Recent Advances in Energy-Efficient Building Technologies: Envisioning a Net-Zero Future

Submission Deadline: October 15, 2026 (Open) Submit Now

Guest Editors

Bruno Barzellay Ferreira da Costa, PhD

Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Macaé, RJ, Brazil

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Research Interests: Construction; civil engineering; sustainability; energy efficiency; smart buildings; BIM; digital twins; MCDM; renewable energy; decarbonization; circular economy; reverse logistics

Raphael de Aquino Gomes, PhD

Professor, Instituto Federal de Goiás (IFG), Goiânia, Brazil

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Research Interests: Internet of Things (IoT); distributed systems; cloud computing; renewable energy; energy efficiency; smart grids; Industry 4.0; sustainability

Ana Carolina Fernandes Maciel, PhD

Professor, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil

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Research Interests: Construction; civil engineering; sustainability; energy efficiency; smart buildings; BIM; digital twins; renewable energy; decarbonization, planning, budget, facility&management

About This Topic

Buildings play a pivotal role in the global transition toward a low-carbon future, as they account for a significant share of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, energy-efficient building technologies have emerged as a critical research field, offering innovative solutions to reduce environmental impacts while enhancing occupant comfort and economic performance. This special issue seeks to bring together cutting-edge research, practical applications, and theoretical advances that address the urgent need for more sustainable and resilient buildings. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Advanced building materials with improved thermal and environmental performance;
• Smart systems for monitoring, automation, and energy management;
• Renewable energy integration in building design;
• Passive and hybrid strategies for heating, cooling, and lighting;
• Digital tools such as building information modeling (BIM) and digital twins for performance optimization;
• Life cycle assessment and circular approaches for construction.

By gathering recent advances in these areas, the Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of innovative pathways that support the decarbonization of the building sector. Contributions are expected to highlight not only technological progress but also the socio-economic implications of energy-efficient building solutions.

Keywords

Energy-efficient buildings; Sustainable construction; Smart building Technologies; Building energy management; Renewable energy integration; Passive design strategies; Advanced building materials; Building performance optimization; Digital twins and BIM; Low-carbon built environment

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted through the LIDSEN Submission System. Detailed information on manuscript preparation and submission is available in the Instructions for Authors. All submitted articles will be thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process and will be processed following the Editorial Process and Quality Control policy. Upon acceptance, the article will be immediately published in a regular issue of the journal and will be listed together on the special issue website, with a label that the article belongs to the Special Issue. LIDSEN distributes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License in an open-access model. The authors own the copyright to the article, and the article can be free to access, distribute, and reuse provided that the original work is correctly cited.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). Research articles and review articles are highly invited. Authors are encouraged to send the tentative title and abstract of the planned paper to the Editorial Office (jept@lidsen.com) for record. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Editorial Office.

Welcome your submission!

Publication

Open Access Original Research Photovoltaic Power Forecasting Without Local Data: A Spatially-Aware Approach Using Neighboring Plants by Leonardo Alves Messias  , José Luis Domingos  , Thiago Augusto Mendes  , Bruno Barzellay Ferreira da Costa  , Ana Carolina Fernandes Maciel  , Saymon Fonseca Santos Mendes  and Raphael de Aquino Gomes Received: 17 October 2025;  Published: 03 April 2026;  doi: 10.21926/jept.2602007 Abstract The increasing demand for renewable energy sources has intensified the adoption of photovoltaic systems. This study proposes predictive models for solar power generation that operate without dependence on on-site meteorological stations. The proposed approach integrates generation data from geographically distributed plants and accounts for [...]