A Message from the Special Issue Editor

Abstract

The Journal of Solar Energy Engineering (JSEE) publishes Technical Papers of permanent interest in all areas of renewable energy and energy conservation as well as Discussions of policy and regulatory issues that affect renewable energy technologies and their implementation. Solar Energy has been defined in its broader context to include renewable as well as end-use efficiency. “Energy Conservation and Solar Buildings” is one of 13 topological areas of JSEE. %The present issue is a logical extension of a previous JSEE special issue edited by David Claridge (Vol. 120, August 1998) which covered “Methods for Analysis of Measured Energy Data in Commercial Buildings” largely meant to satisfy the exploding field of energy performance contracting. Papers in that issue covered various techniques for collecting field data, graphical display of data, energy use modeling of secondary building systems (using statistical regression, calibrated simulation and artificial neural networks), and determining energy savings and associated uncertainty resulting from various energy conservation measures in commercial buildings. Recently, another very important application area is slowly emerging: how does one design and operate buildings in an optimal manner during the course of their life cycle? The intent of this issue is to assemble a list of salient technical, both original and review, papers which center around the general theme: Emerging Trends in Commercial Building Design, Diagnosis, and Operation , and include various topics such as recent concepts in solar building design, operation of solar integrated photovoltaic systems, calibrated simulation of energy use in buildings, building commissioning, active and passive methods of controlling building loads either by using the inherent thermal mass of the building structure itself or by using cool storage systems, modeling and fault detection of chillers and air handlers, control of air distribution systems, distributed electrical generation, and issues in indoor air quality and mitigation techniques. A wide variety of modeling, analysis and optimization methods, both traditional as well as adapted from the domain of artificial intelligence, have been compiled in this issue, which includes 16 technical papers, and one discussion paper.