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Building Resilience and Green Building Construction for Environmental Sustainability

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 22 July 2025 | Viewed by 1835

Special Issue Editors

Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Bologna, Italy
Interests: seismic vulnerability assessment; seismic sustainability retrofitting; mechanical analysis; ancient timber mechanical identification; ND in situ tests on materials (timber, R.C., masonry); bio-based building materials

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Guest Editor
L2MGC—Civil Engineering Mechanics and Materials Laboratory, CY Cergy-Paris University, 95031 Neuville-sur-Oise, France
Interests: mix-design and mechanics of construction materials; static and dynamic behavior of structures
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The vulnerability of existing building heritage against catastrophic events, the enormous costs for the reconstruction and/or repairing intervention, in addition to the 11th goal of the UNISDR, which require the transformation of our world in cities and human settlements to adopt inclusivity, safety, resilience and sustainability, push researchers and industries to search and set up proper strategies for risk mitigation and vulnerability reduction via sustainable interventions.  In particular, strategies should be characterized by a low impact on the community in terms of cost primary matter, energy consumption and time duration. In this way, the equilibrium between people’s wellness and environmental health can be reached. Therefore, the research should be focused on solutions that conjugate innovation and sustainability, efficiency and low costs, durability and easy realization. To realize innovation by preserving our planet, new materials obtained from their second life or waste reuse should be encouraged by realizing green building in order to reduce the costs for the actual and future communities.

Based on the previous premises, this Special Issue aims to encourage the dissemination of ideas and knowledge concerning the assessment of and reduction in the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings via sustainable solutions, by favoring interdisciplinary approaches between architectural, engineering and energetic issues.

In this Special Issue, original experimental, computational and theoretical research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Seismic vulnerability;
  • Consolidation and retrofit sustainable techniques;
  • Architectural–functional conservation;
  • Traditional and innovative strategies;
  • Conservation, protection and prevention;
  • Reuse and functional redevelopment;
  • Timber constructions: tradition and innovation;
  • Bio-based building materials;
  • Bio-waste solutions which conjugate seismic capacity and thermal insulation;
  • Composite solutions for seismic capacity and thermal insulation upgrading;
  • Numerical simulation tools for seismic and energy consumption analysis;
  • Surrogated models for numerical simulations;
  • Remaining life prediction of retrofitted structures;
  • Structural experimental investigations;
  • Structural resilience against natural risks.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Anna Marzo
Dr. George Wardeh
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

  • sustainable constructions
  • reuse of building materials
  • seismic protection
  • sustainable interventions
  • bio-based materials
  • zero-damage constructions
  • quick vulnerability assessment
  • durability
  • concrete
  • rupture
  • masonry
  • modeling

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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22 pages, 10030 KiB  
Article
The Integration of a Multidomain Monitoring Platform with Structural Data: A Building Case Study
by Elena Candigliota, Orazio Colaneri, Laura Gioiella, Valeria Leggieri, Giuseppe Marghella, Anna Marzo, Saverio Mazzarelli, Michele Morici, Simone Murazzo, Rifat Seferi, Angelo Tatì, Concetta Tripepi and Vincenza A. M. Luprano
Sustainability 2025, 17(7), 3076; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073076 - 31 Mar 2025
Viewed by 47
Abstract
In recent years, innovative Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques, applicable for the assessment of existing civil structures, have become available for in situ analysis on Reinforced Concrete (RC) and masonry structures, but they are still not established for regular inspections, especially after seismic events. [...] Read more.
In recent years, innovative Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques, applicable for the assessment of existing civil structures, have become available for in situ analysis on Reinforced Concrete (RC) and masonry structures, but they are still not established for regular inspections, especially after seismic events. The damage assessment of RC buildings after seismic events is a very relevant issue in Italy, where most of the structures built in the last 50 years are RC structures. Furthermore, there is also a growing interest in being able to monitor structural health aspects by storing them on the building’s digital twin. For these reasons, it is necessary to develop an affordable and ready-to-use NDT procedure that provides more accurate indications on the real state of damage of reinforced concrete buildings after seismic events and to integrate these data into an interoperable digital twin for automated, optimized building performance monitoring, management, and preventive maintenance. To this end, a case study was conducted on a building in the Marche region in Italy, damaged by the 2016 earthquake. Non-destructive tests were performed and inserted into the LIS platform for the creation of a digital twin of the building. This platform seamlessly manages, visualizes, and analyzes the collected data and integrates various sensor nodes deployed throughout the building. The paper also presents a methodology to simplify the work of the test operator and make the entire process of knowledge of the building faster and more sustainable through a QR-code interface. Full article
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23 pages, 5039 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Environmental Impact of Demountable Space-Dividing Walls: A Scenario Analysis Approach in a Semi-Detached Case Study Dwelling
by Jade Claes, Lisa Van Gulck, Jarne Verhaeghe and Marijke Steeman
Sustainability 2024, 16(20), 9126; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16209126 - 21 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1296
Abstract
The transition towards sustainable construction is crucial, and demountable building elements are frequently advocated for achieving this goal. While these elements offer relocatability during refurbishments, their adoption may increase initial environmental impact due to higher material use and steel connections. To address this, [...] Read more.
The transition towards sustainable construction is crucial, and demountable building elements are frequently advocated for achieving this goal. While these elements offer relocatability during refurbishments, their adoption may increase initial environmental impact due to higher material use and steel connections. To address this, a quantitative assessment of demountable building elements in refurbishment scenarios at the building level is needed, filling a gap in the existing literature. This study bridges the gap by comparing the total environmental impact of demountable and traditional space-dividing walls in refurbishment scenarios for a semi-detached dwelling. Using a life cycle assessment, seven space-dividing wall types, including metal studs, wood structures, and masonry walls, are evaluated under four refurbishment scenarios spanning a 60-year building lifespan. The results reveal that traditional metal stud walls have a lower environmental impact in scenarios with limited refurbishments. In contrast, demountable walls become more environmentally beneficial only when refurbishing at least 60% of the wall area with three or more refurbishments. This conclusion was further validated through sensitivity analysis on the refurbishment rate, refurbished area, and impact assessment method. In this study, the assumed environmental benefits of demountable walls are challenged, providing a robust evaluation in a specific building typology and offering insights for policymakers and industry professionals on the environmental implications of incorporating demountable building elements. Full article
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