Sustainable Materials for Construction
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 37527
Special Issue Editors
Interests: materials science; geopolymers; construction and building materials; waste recycling; porous and foamy inorganic materials; hybrid foams; sustainable and innovative building materials; thermal-acoustic insulating materials; chemical-physical, microstructural, and mechanical characterization of materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: steel and aluminum structures; material and structures for cultural heritage; special materials and devices for the seismic protection of new and existing structures; additive manufacturing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: construction materials; petrography; mineralogy; geochemistry; texture; CDW (construction and demolition waste); analytical methods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The construction industry still represents one of the sectors with the highest environmental impacts, due to energy and raw materials consumption, production of wastes (CDWs: construction and demolition wastes), and greenhouse gas emissions mainly related to cement manufacturing. Remarkably, the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere is about one ton for each ton of cement produced. Considering the increasing awareness of global warming, there is a compelling need to replace cement in concrete with more eco-friendly alternative materials to strongly reduce its environmental impact. In parallel, the limitations of soil consumption require an expansion of the circular economy and processes that limit the extraction of new raw materials and reduce landfill of end-of-life materials. Many of the possible alternatives rely on technological advances that include energy-efficient and low-carbon production methods, new cement formulations based on the use of secondary raw materials, and the utilization of more sustainable binders, like geopolymers or alkali-activated materials. The additive manufacturing process is attracting growing attention for its promising advantage of addressing sustainable manufacturing issues, minimizing negative environmental impact through efficient resource utilization, especially concerning high complexity and customization of products. Moreover, the reuse and valorization of several kinds of waste materials, from different industrial processes and/or anthropogenic activities, especially CDWs, in the production of building materials represents one of the most promising responses to increasing the sustainability of construction sector. These advances are key factors to enhance the circular economy and, at the same time, reduce environmental issues related to waste disposal. Finally, the production of inexpensive, fire-resistant, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly sound absorbing and insulating inorganic material also represents a challenge to improving the energy-efficiency and sustainability of the building sector.
This Special Issue invites reviews, original research advances, and contributions dealing with the design, synthesis, production, and characterization of innovative building materials produced with sustainable raw materials, such as geopolymers, alkali-activated and CDWs materials, and/or using environmentally friendly processes (i.e., additive manufacturing) to promote their possible use in the construction industry.
Dr. Ilaria Capasso
Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Brando
Prof. Dr. Gianluca Iezzi
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.
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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 building materials
- waste materials
- CDWs
- secondary raw materials
- geopolymers
- recycled materials
- inorganic insulating foams
- additive manufacturing