The built environment is facing growing demands for increasing water and energy efficiency, exergy optimization, and climate adaptation. Conventional technologies with low effectiveness, leading to resource waste and urban heat islands, and urban floods. Recent multidisciplinary developments confirm that hybrid systems integrating solar systems, water recovery, and vegetative envelopes can achieve unique levels of self-sufficiency. Innovations such as adaptive modular photovoltaic–thermal panels, vapor–piston solar pumps, and green roofs and walls with atmospheric water harvesting mesh demonstrate how novel architectural surfaces can become active exergy interfaces, and simultaneously generate power, recovering water from dew and fog, urban runoff management, and improving microclimate comfort. This integrated approach offers transformative potential for cities in arid and Mediterranean climates where both energy and water are scarce.
This Research Topic seeks to advance the science and engineering of integrated solar–water–vegetation systems that enhance exergy conversion and environmental resilience. It aims to bridge the gap between civil, mechanical, and environmental disciplines by promoting adaptive solutions where solar harvesting, water collection, and bioclimatic envelopes act as synergistic systems.
The collection will explore:
• Green roofs and walls with fog/dew water recovery and passive cooling; • Multifunctional photovoltaic–thermal panels with electrochromic control and solar concentration; • Solar-driven water pumping, desalination, and micro-hydraulic generation; • Floating reflective devices for oceanic albedo and thermal mitigation; • Life-cycle and exergy-based performance metrics for sustainable urban systems.
Together, these themes represent a new generation of adaptive infrastructures, capable of producing water, power, and cooling simultaneously while regenerating the urban environment and runoff management.
This Article Collection aims to gather cutting-edge research on the integration of water, energy, and living systems in the built environment, fostering dialogue between engineers, architects, and environmental scientists. By combining adaptive photovoltaic–thermal technologies, atmospheric water harvesting, and bio-integrated envelopes, the Collection will highlight multidisciplinary innovations that reduce exergy losses and enhance climate resilience in urban and regional contexts. Contributions spanning modeling, prototyping, and case studies are welcome.
Potential topics include:
• Green roofs and living walls with atmospheric water harvesting; • Adaptive PV-thermal systems and dynamic exergy optimization; • Solar-driven water pumping, desalination, and vapor–piston mechanisms; • Climate-responsive envelopes combining vegetation and solar technologies (Bio-Solar); • Smart control, AI-based resource management, and circular materials; • Urban albedo management and reflective microstructures for cooling; • Socio-environmental and life-cycle analyses of integrated water–energy–vegetation systems.
The topic welcomes contributions from engineers, architects, physicists, and environmental scientists aiming to redefine sustainable design through functional integration of energy and water processes.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Opinion
Original Research
Perspective
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Opinion
Original Research
Perspective
Review
Systematic Review
Keywords: Water–energy nexus, Adaptive photovoltaic–thermal systems, Green roofs and walls, Exergy optimization, Atmospheric water harvesting, Electrochromic solar panels, Sustainable envelopes, Climate-resilient design, Renewable thermodynamics, Urban sustainability
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
