Application of Eco-Friendly Construction Materials in the Buildings Industry

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the engineering world has become significantly focused on the environment, energy consumption, and gas emissions. Therefore, industries are aiming to incorporate eco-friendly and green materials, especially in the field of building construction. Some construction materials release harmful chemicals into the environment during their production process as well as during their service life. This may even contribute to global warming during the production, placement, and even during the service life of the structure. For instance, Portland cement is one of the most common construction materials, making up approximately 2.4% of the global CO₂ emission from industries. In addition, to produce Portland cement, a remarkable number of natural resources are consumed, such as limestone, clay, etc. By replacing Portland cement with recycled or by-product materials, not only can the existing natural resources be saved but the amount of energy consumption and gas emission can also be significantly reduced. Currently, a great number of studies are being conducted to investigate the actual performance and properties of construction materials containing eco-friendly materials, including mechanical and durability properties. These eco-friendly materials include recycled materials, such as recycled aggregates; by-products of other manufacturing processes, such as fly ash; agricultural waste, such as rice husk ash; and waste materials, such as glass bottles and waste tires. Two primary questions regarding the use of the eco-friendly products are:

• How can using eco-friendly materials in the building construction industry help the environment and reduce the global warming?
• How effective is the performance of building construction materials when eco-friendly materials are used?

In this Special Issue, we seek high-quality research study articles (including original research articles, case studies, and review articles), which investigate the challenges our industries will face to properly incorporate eco-friendly construction materials into the building industry and how this incorporation can benefit the environment and the structural/material performance. 

Dr. Kaveh Afshinnia
Dr. Mahmood R. Soltani
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. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.

• sustainability
• green materials
• recycled materials
• pozzolans
• energy consumptions
• carbon dioxide
• construction materials
• cementitious materials
• carbon footprint
• environment-friendly materials
• eco-friendly construction materials