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Green Technology, Assessment Methodologies and Sustainable Construction Infrastructure Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Building".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (21 September 2024) | Viewed by 1033

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, O’ Porto University, O’ Porto, Portugal
Interests: project management; construction management; construction technologies; construction digitalisation; life cycle assessment; sustainability

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Guest Editor
Department of Construction and Planning, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
Interests: construction macroeconomics; capital stock valuation; economic and financial analysis; project management; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Construction and Planning, School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Bragança, Portugal
Interests: project management; construction management; building retrofitting; life cycle assessment; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Construction infrastructure investment plays a key role in production and wealth generation as well as in adaptation and resilience to climate change. As noted by several writers, construction infrastructure is inextricably linked to most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly to SDG 9 on “building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation”. Construction infrastructure is part of the built environment. Like other built assets, construction infrastructure is a significant consumer of natural resources and energy, waste generator, and emitter of greenhouse gas (GHGs). Thus, sustainable infrastructure investment must include climate-aware planning and assessment not only of its economic efficiency but also of its impact on society and on the environment, in a whole life cycle perspective. According to the Group of 20 (G20) Infrastructure Working Group, infrastructure is responsible for around 53% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Of this 53%, about 81% is attributed to operations of infrastructure and 19% is attributed to the embedded emissions from infrastructure. It is the embedded emissions (manufacturing, construction and life cycle management of infrastructure assets) that can be addressed by green practices.

Technical and scientific advances on green technology have been growing in many sectors of the economy, including the construction sector. In the construction field, green technology adoption means organisations can develop infrastructure and other constructed facilities with reduced impact on the environment throughout the life cycle stages of the construction process. However, construction infrastructure is the segment of the construction sector where research on green technology is scarcer. There is also a need to better understand how technical innovation in the construction field can facilitate the effective implementation of green practices.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present the latest research and development on green technology adoption in the construction sector, with a particular focus on construction infrastructure and its main characteristics, research themes and future directions, across all life cycle stages of the construction process. We also seek original papers on policies, data and tool integration, as well as models, approaches and system boundaries of life cycle assessment in construction infrastructure projects. Research may include (but is not limited to) the following topics:

  • Cases studies on the environmental impact of the construction phase in construction infrastructure projects;
  • Prioritisation of construction infrastructure projects according to financial and non-financial returns;
  • Procurement practices for sustainable infrastructure development;
  • Factors that affect, and construction techniques that promote, the durability of construction components and materials;
  • Digitalisation of construction infrastructure projects;
  • Construction infrastructure CO2 footprint;
  • Factors that affect productivity in construction infrastructure works;
  • Green deal policies;
  • Circular treatment of construction and demolition waste.

Dr. Hipólito de Sousa
Dr. Jorge Lopes
Dr. Rui Oliveira
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • green technology
  • construction sector
  • sustainable infrastructure
  • life cycle assessment
  • technical innovation in construction
  • green deal policies
  • sustainable development goals
  • data and tool integration

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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18 pages, 4527 KiB  
Systematic Review
Addressing the Difficulties and Opportunities to Bridge the Integration Gaps of Bio-Based Insulation Materials in the European Construction Sector: A Systematic Literature Review
by Salima Zerari, Rossella Franchino, Nicola Pisacane, Carmen Llatas and Bernardette Soust-Verdaguer
Sustainability 2024, 16(19), 8711; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16198711 - 9 Oct 2024
Viewed by 678
Abstract
Bio-based insulation materials (BbIMs) represent a potential alternative to conventional insulations, with their characteristics that favor a negative-carbon built environment. However, their use may face challenges that could prevent them from being used on a large scale in certain countries. The current study [...] Read more.
Bio-based insulation materials (BbIMs) represent a potential alternative to conventional insulations, with their characteristics that favor a negative-carbon built environment. However, their use may face challenges that could prevent them from being used on a large scale in certain countries. The current study aims to provide focused insights into the practical difficulties and market opportunities for the application of BbIMs in Europe through a systematic literature review (SLR). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used as the basis for the conduct and reporting of this review. A keyword search was performed in Web of Science, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases to select peer-reviewed English-language articles. HubMeta web tool was used to organize the selection process. The quantitative visualization of the literature was made by the Bibliometrix R package V4.1.4. Data were manually extracted and clustered in an Excel sheet. The review included 28 studies that have revealed interrelated insights. Difficulties range from regulatory and policy limitations and variability in performance, such as microbial growth and inconsistency in the behavior of materials under different conditions, to cost barriers. However, there are promising opportunities, including policy incentives and material performance benefits such as improved energy efficiency and indoor air quality. This research contributes to the literature by providing focused insights into the practical difficulties and market opportunities for the application of BbIMs in Europe. Research gaps and future perspectives point to the need for more field validation experiments, exploration of alternative production processes, and expanding life cycle assessment scopes to optimize their integration and performance. Stakeholder perceptions were conducted with a small sample in some countries, so insights from stakeholders are needed to confirm or correct current findings. Full article
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