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Lower Carbon Construction for Sustainable Construction and Environment

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 12271

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Guomin Zhang

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Guest Editor

School of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 3011, Australia
Interests: green construction; life cycle assessment; construction and demolition waste management; BIM; asset management

Dr. Malindu Sandanayake

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Guest Editor

College of Sport, Health and Engineering, Victoria University, Melbourne 3011, Australia
Interests: life cycle assesmsent; sustainable construction; life cycle cost analysis; green and sustainable materials; green and lean construction methods; green buildings and infrastructure; building information modelling; smart technologies use and digitization in construction; modern construction methods
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Dr. Yongtao Tan

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Guest Editor

School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
Interests: sustainability and leadership in the built environment; green retrofit; modular construction; low carbon building; infrastructure resilience; sustainable urbanization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Construction industry is one of the foremost contributors towards carbon emissions due to its excessive material usage, complicated construction processes and dynamic nature of the work. Decisions made on material selection and construction processes could influence the overall sustainability of the project and therefore there is a contemporary requirement to explore sustainable construction techniques. Often the short-term carbon emissions emitted during the construction stage can lead towards adverse environmental impacts towards human health and environment. With the upsurge of green and sustainable concepts, the construction industry is continuously hunting for even smaller process improvements to achieve lower carbon emission construction techniques.These techniques cover from material selection, waste reduction, reuse and recycle, efficient site operation to new materials, off-site construction, renewable energy, and digital techologies. To increase the adoptions of low carbon construction practices, there is a pressing need to encourage more research and innovations, especially in new materials and new technologies.

This special issue aims to capture outstanding research studies, reviews and design papers on low carbon construction practices that lead to sustainable construction and environment. The key focus areas of the Special Issue consist but not limited to the following research topics:

Applications of low carbon building materials;
Optimised construction site operations and sustainable site management;
Use of smart technologies and its sustainable benefits;
Informed decision making towards lower carbon construction techniques;
Sustainable procurement and its benefits towards low carbon construction;
Sustainability assessment of innovative construction techniques;
Impediments towards implementing sustainable construction practices;
Sustainable benefits of on-site waste management and optimisation;
Health and safety improvements in construction operations;
Carbon reduction in prefabrication and modular construction;
Low carbon construction innovations via novel digital technologies;

Prof. Guomin Zhang
Dr. Malindu Sandanayake
Dr. Yongtao Tan
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

lower carbon construction
green construction
sustainable construction
construction materials
environmental impact of construction
life cycle assessment
construction emissions

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 2574 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Construction Cost and Carbon Emission Assessment of a Highway Construction—A Case towards Sustainable Transportation

by Wenkai Luo, Malindu Sandanayake, Guomin Zhang and Yongtao Tan

Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7854; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147854 - 14 Jul 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3802

Abstract

Due to its dynamic nature in construction, benchmarking environmental emissions of road construction projects can be a daunting task. Often stakeholders will have to prioritize the economic and environmental indicators based on the project objectives. The study presents a methodological framework to compare economic and environmental impacts to benchmark sustainable transport construction projects. Through findings, the study aims to inform focus areas and key stages of infrastructure projects to benchmark sustainable performance. Process-based emission and cost estimation models are presented with an AHP based weighting factor that enables prioritization of emissions and costs based on project scopes and objectives. Using a case study, results are represented to validate the framework and methodology. Concrete and steel are identified as the main materials that contribute to total carbon emissions, while soil and gravel are responsible for the highest costs. Electricity consumption is discovered as the major fuel type contributing to carbon emissions. Concrete and dump trucks are discovered as the top two sources of emissions and costs, respectively. Scenario analyses revealed that the choice of equipment significantly affects the project’s emissions and costs. The application of sustainable materials can significantly reduce emissions and cost. The use of the case study approach results in a lack of generalizability. However, the same methodology and process can be adopted for the sustainable benchmarking of different projects. Researchers are encouraged to investigate processes to automate sustainable benchmarking of transport infrastructure construction projects. The study is one of the first attempts to compare cost and environmental impacts using a systematic methodology of transportation infrastructure construction projects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lower Carbon Construction for Sustainable Construction and Environment)

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14 pages, 553 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating the Critical Barriers to Green Construction Technologies Adoption in China

by Yujing Wang, Dan Chong and Xun Liu

Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6510; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126510 - 08 Jun 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4286

Abstract

Green construction technologies (GCTs) are important drivers of sustainable development in the construction industry. Despite a wide range of GCTs being available on the Chinese construction market, they are not yet widely popular. This study aims to evaluate the critical barriers hampering large-scale GCT adoption in China. Through a literature review, 21 barriers were identified and listed in the questionnaire survey, and 225 valid responses from 21 provinces in China were collected. The Mann–Whitney U test was conducted to verify whether different stakeholder groups perceive these barriers differently. Moreover, a comparative analysis of barriers to GCT, GBT (green building technologies), and GC (green construction) adoption was conducted. Results of statistical analyses showed that the top five barriers inhibiting GCT adoption are “lack of government incentives”, “extra costs associated with GCTs”, “dependence on traditional construction technology”, “a shortage of technological training for project staff”, and “conflicts of interest among stakeholders in GCT adoption”. Moreover, the top five factors preventing the adoption of GCTs differ from those of GBTs and GCs. This study not only provides valuable resources for stakeholders to better understand the critical factors preventing GCT adoption, but also could help policy makers to effectively promote GCT adoption. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lower Carbon Construction for Sustainable Construction and Environment)

Review

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31 pages, 4255 KiB

Open AccessReview

Mapping the Knowledge Domains of Emerging Advanced Technologies in the Management of Prefabricated Construction

by Clyde Zhengdao Li, Mingcong Hu, Bing Xiao, Zhe Chen, Vivian W. Y. Tam and Yiyu Zhao

Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8800; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168800 - 06 Aug 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2792

Abstract

Emerging advanced technologies (EAT) have been regarded as significant technological innovations which can greatly improve the transforming construction industry. Given that research on EAT related to the management of prefabricated construction (MPC) has not yet been conducted, various researchers require a state-of-the-art summary of EAT research and implementation in the MPC field. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review by analysing the selected 526 related publications in peer-reviewed leading journals during 2009–2020. Through a thorough review of selected papers from the state-of-the-art academic journals in the construction industry, EAT is recognised as the key area affecting the development of the MPC discipline. This study has value in offering original insights to summarise the advanced status quo of this field, helping subsequent researchers gain an in-depth understanding of the underlying structure of this field and allowing them to continue future research directions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lower Carbon Construction for Sustainable Construction and Environment)

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