Dear Colleagues,

The construction industry is one of the largest consumers of global resources, contributing significantly to global pollution and emissions.

Indeed, the construction industry must equally contribute to building a world that improves the lives of future generations and uses environmentally friendly methods. Working sustainably involves meeting the needs of the expanding population, as well as preserving the environment in the long run. 

Sustainable construction means building with renewable and recyclable resources and materials. Care should be taken to reduce waste and energy consumption within construction projects wherever possible, and steps should be taken to protect natural environments around sites. The end result of a sustainable construction project should be the creation of an environmentally friendly building or environment.

According to the Supply Chain Sustainability School, buildings and construction work in countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) use:

• 25–40% of total energy
• 30% of raw materials
• 30–40% of global greenhouse gas emissions
• 30–40% of solid waste generation

The World Green Building Council's (WorldGBC) Annual Report 2021/2 2 outlines the main achievements of the organization and our global network of Green Building Council (GBC) urged systemic changes aimed at:

• Addressing lifelong carbon emissions from existing and new buildings
• Enabling resilient, healthy, equitable and inclusive places
• Creating regenerative infrastructure that is safe, resource-efficient and waste-free

Modern digital technologies can make the process of managing the entire life cycle of a building more sustainable, reducing human error, process time and cost, emissions, and a whole host of other negative factors.

The BIM-LCA approach is recognized as valuable for the control and management of green building assessment standards, particularly when applied to large public buildings, where the traditional management approach is lacking, especially in the operation, maintenance, and end-of-life disposal phases.

Dr. Giacomo Di Ruocco
Dr. Andrea di Filippo
Dr. Fulvio Re Cecconi
Guest Editors

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• sustainability
• green building
• embodied energy
• refurbishment
• low-carbon design
• reversible construction
• LCA approach
• circular economy
• end-of-life approach
• design for disassembly