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Sustainable Buildings and Smart Cities
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Sustainable Buildings and Smart Cities

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 7445

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ibrahim Abotaleb

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Assistant Professor, Department of Construction Engineering, American University in Cairo, AUC Ave., SSE Bldg., Room 1152, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo 11835, Egypt
Interests: virtual reality; simulation and optimization; statistical modeling for construction applications; decision support systems; contract management and dispute mitigation; site layout planning; project control and productivity enhancement; performance assessment and prediction; green infrastructure
Dr. Fahad Alqahtani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Civil Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Interests: engineering sustainability; rapid and safe transportation systems; smart cities; safety management in road projects; recycling and circular economy; smart integrated waste management; privatization of infrastructure and waste management projects; smart monitoring and controlling; bim, planning and strategic management; risk and crisis management; lca; innovative green construction materials and technologies; green buildings and concrete

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current climate crisis and increase in urban populations pose several environmental, social, and economic challenges to advancing city management. Urban developments are now directed towards green buildings (that utilize innovative materials, architectural designs, and electromechanical systems to minimize emissions) and smart cities (where digital technology is integrated into monitoring and controlling all city functions).

This Special Issue aims to tackle modern urbanization and environmental challenges through promoting innovations and creative ideas in sustainable, environmentally friendly, and energy-efficient smart cities. Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Specific research areas of interest include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Advances in green building materials;
  • Technologies and design aspects in net-zero buildings;
  • Internet of things (IOT) and holistic integration in smart cities;
  • Blockchain and metaverses and how they could be utilized to shape and enhance sustainable smart cities;
  • Monitoring technologies (sensors, drones, etc.) for sustainable buildings and smart cities;
  • Legal frameworks for better enabling sustainable smart cities;
  • Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies for sustainable development;
  • Development of rating systems, evaluation metrics, and KPIs for sustainable buildings and smart cities;
  • Resilience and vulnerability of smart cities in terms of cyber security, public infrastructure, environment, social security, etc.;
  • Digital twinning and information management systems;
  • Solid-waste-management technologies.

Dr. Ibrahim Abotaleb
Dr. Fahad Alqahtani
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 buildings
  • green building materials
  • sustainable infrastructure systems
  • internet of things
  • smart cities
  • operational efficiency
  • environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies
  • automation

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 15996 KiB  
Article
Sustainability Research of Building Systems Based on Neural Network Predictive Models and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)–Emergy–Carbon Footprint Method
by Junxue Zhang, Ashish T. Asutosh and Yan Zhang
Sustainability 2024, 16(1), 329; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010329 - 29 Dec 2023
Viewed by 869
Abstract
Facing the abnormal climate changes and the goal of carbon neutrality, the ecological sustainability research of building systems has become a focus of attention for experts in this field. However, the definition of sustainable buildings is broad. This article discusses the quantitative analysis [...] Read more.
Facing the abnormal climate changes and the goal of carbon neutrality, the ecological sustainability research of building systems has become a focus of attention for experts in this field. However, the definition of sustainable buildings is broad. This article discusses the quantitative analysis of sustainable buildings from the perspectives of an ecological emergy and carbon footprint. It also establishes the long-term sustainability of buildings through predictive neural networks. The research findings indicate that the emergy and carbon emissions during the operational and materials phases dominate the entire system. The calculation and analysis of the emergy sustainability indicator (ESI) demonstrate a decreasing trend in the sustainability of the building system over three time periods (10 years, 20 years, and 30 years), with results of 0.58, 0.238, and 0.089, respectively. As the operational time increases, carbon emissions from the building system also increase, further exacerbating the pressure on the building and reducing its overall sustainability. To address this dilemma, sustainable retrofit measures have been proposed, such as rainwater harvesting and embedded applications of distributed energy sources, which reduce the burden of emergy and carbon emissions. The effectiveness of these measures has been validated in this article, demonstrating their potential to enhance building sustainability and providing references for architects and building managers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Buildings and Smart Cities)
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16 pages, 941 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Urban Water Consumption in Residential Buildings
by Mahmoud M. Amin, Elkhayam M. Dorra and Ossama A. Hosny
Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 7952; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15107952 - 12 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1333
Abstract
Water scarcity is a global issue that is rapidly worsening. Many researchers have explored various approaches to promote sustainable uses of water, with Greywater (GW) recycling and utilization of innovative plumbing fixtures being among the methods presented to reduce freshwater consumption for domestic [...] Read more.
Water scarcity is a global issue that is rapidly worsening. Many researchers have explored various approaches to promote sustainable uses of water, with Greywater (GW) recycling and utilization of innovative plumbing fixtures being among the methods presented to reduce freshwater consumption for domestic usage. Nonetheless, previous studies have dealt with both means independently, without studying the integrated effect of utilizing both GW recycling and innovative plumbing fixtures together both on the quality of supplied water, as well as on the cost of the integrated system. Accordingly, this research aims at improving the efficiency of water usage in residential buildings through the development of a mathematical optimization model that utilizes a constructed database in order to select the most appropriate GW recycling system, plumbing fixtures and system components with the aim of improving the water quality, minimizing the water usage and reducing the cost. The developed model is divided into three main modules: input, water flow and annual worth quantification. The model was verified on a case study, and sensitivity analysis was performed to explore the impact of changing major input factors on the total annual cost. A factorial design examining both two- and three-factor interactions was used. The number of residents and the annual increase in water tariffs factors had the most significant impact on the total annual worth, accounting for 55% and 43.7% of the total variability, respectively. Furthermore, the model was validated by comparing its results with a previous study conducted in the United Kingdom, where the developed model presented a significant reduction of the lifecycle cost of the decentralized water system in residential buildings and attained freshwater savings of 58.17%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Buildings and Smart Cities)
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18 pages, 3392 KiB  
Article
Construction of Green Concrete Incorporating Fabricated Plastic Aggregate from Waste Processing
by Fahad K. Alqahtani and Idrees Zafar
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4114; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054114 - 24 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1603
Abstract
The recent industrial revolution has improved the quality of human life with technological advancement; adversely, it has also doubled waste generation, including plastic waste, in the last two decades. The concrete industry is under strict scrutiny to deliver tangible sustainable solutions to lessen [...] Read more.
The recent industrial revolution has improved the quality of human life with technological advancement; adversely, it has also doubled waste generation, including plastic waste, in the last two decades. The concrete industry is under strict scrutiny to deliver tangible sustainable solutions to lessen its carbon footprint; the use of plastic waste in concrete can deliver a potential solution to these global environmental issues. In the current study, the fresh, mechanical and durability properties, including water absorption and chloride ion permeability of green concrete containing a plastic, fabricated aggregate were examined. The compressive and flexural strength gain with time was also examined and compared to reference concrete. All the mechanical parameters including compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity were found to decrease with the addition of fabricated plastic aggregates as compared to the reference concrete. The increase in the compressive strength and flexural strength at 100% replacement, with an increase in the curing period from 28 to 90 days, was 13% and 11%, respectively. The flexural deformation of green fabricated plastic aggregate concrete signposted the ductile behavior compared to the reference concrete. The concrete with 100% fabricated plastic aggregates showed an increase of 16.4% and a decrease of 68% in the water absorption and chloride ion permeability in comparison to the reference concrete, respectively. This study presents an effectual method for the utilization of plastic waste with promising results, especially for non-structural applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Buildings and Smart Cities)
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16 pages, 4103 KiB  
Article
Design and Characteristics of a Hybrid Wood-Soil System Made from Casuarina glauca Wood
by Hassan Allam, Khaled Yosry, Mohamed Adham, Mohamed Darwish and Khaled Nassar
Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3579; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043579 - 15 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1621
Abstract
Wood has been used in construction has for several millennia; however, global warming has created situations in which the wood needs to be utilized in a more eco-friendly, sustainable, and cost-effective manner. Using wood from trees farmed on wastewater is an ideal option [...] Read more.
Wood has been used in construction has for several millennia; however, global warming has created situations in which the wood needs to be utilized in a more eco-friendly, sustainable, and cost-effective manner. Using wood from trees farmed on wastewater is an ideal option that has been found to be sound for this use. Casuarina glauca wood has been farmed on wastewater for years, making it eco-friendly and cost effective, in addition to being of relatively high strength when compared to soft woods. Hence, within this research, Casuarina glauca wood is used within a hybrid wood-soil system. A scaled model of the structure was constructed and tested structurally until failure in two horizontal planes: the lateral and transverse. The points of weakness in the connections were identified in order to adjust the design, which mainly involved the nails connecting the studs to the upper and lower beams. The adjusted model was constructed including additional X-braces and tested structurally, and was proven to have sufficient strength compared to the wind loads according to the Egyptian Code of Loading. The design was compared to its reinforced concrete alternative to assess its cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness in terms of the cost per unit area and the carbon emissions per unit area. The system proved to be more cost-effective and eco-friendly when compared to its reinforced concrete counterpart. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Buildings and Smart Cities)
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21 pages, 5628 KiB  
Article
Economic Land Utilization Optimization Model
by Ossama A. Hosny, Elkhayam M. Dorra, Khaled A. Tarabieh, Ahmed El Eslamboly, Ibrahim Abotaleb, Mariam Amer, Heba Kh. Gad, Mostafa Farouk, Youmna Abd El Raouf, Adham Sherif and Youssef Hussein
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2594; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032594 - 1 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1485
Abstract
Recently, population growth and resource depletion have been matched by a growing demand for self-sustaining communities. Numerous studies promote sustainable solutions to the concerns of climate change and food scarcity. This study aims at creating an automated Economic Land Utilization Optimization Model (ELUOM) [...] Read more.
Recently, population growth and resource depletion have been matched by a growing demand for self-sustaining communities. Numerous studies promote sustainable solutions to the concerns of climate change and food scarcity. This study aims at creating an automated Economic Land Utilization Optimization Model (ELUOM) that identifies sustainable and cost-effective agricultural practices. Soil, water & climatic characteristics of over 400 crops are gathered in a relational database to build the model. Evolutionary algorithms are utilized to filter the database based on user input. Optimization process is then performed on all possible utilization plans of the filtered crops to maximize the 20-year return while minimizing water consumption. The model is verified on a case study in Giza, Egypt where it shows the potential of increasing the return/m3 of water by 370% versus current practices. This research also studies the application of ELOUM on a vacant plot in the American university in Cairo, Egypt. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Buildings and Smart Cities)
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