Sustainable Built Environment: Innovations, Strategies and Performance

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 184

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. College of Sport, Health and Engineering, Victoria University, Melbourne 3011, Australia
2. Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities (ISILC), Victoria University, Melbourne 3011, Australia
Interests: sustainable construction practices and performance; digital innovation in built environment sustainability; circular economy; AI-enabled decision-making for sustainable project delivery

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Interests: sustainable building; energy efficiency; thermal comfort; building energy management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The construction and built environment sector is undergoing transformative changes driven by sustainability imperatives, technological innovation, and societal expectations. Achieving truly sustainable built environments requires integrated approaches that balance environmental, economic, and social considerations across the lifecycle of buildings and infrastructure. This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to share cutting-edge research, case studies, and innovative solutions that advance sustainability in building design, construction, operation and management. By bridging technology, management, and social dimensions, this issue seeks to highlight strategies that deliver high-performance, resilient and socially responsible built environments. Submissions are invited, discussing, but not limited to, the following areas:

  • Sustainable building design and construction—energy-efficient and low-carbon buildings, passive design, and green infrastructure.
  • Innovative materials and circular economy—recycled, bio-based, and low-impact materials; material reuse and end-of-life strategies.
  • Net-zero and carbon-neutral buildings—strategies, frameworks, and case studies for carbon reduction.
  • Digital technologies for sustainability—Building Information Modelling (BIM), digital twins, AI, IoT, and smart building systems.
  • Risk, safety, and resilience—managing construction risk, occupational safety, and disaster-resilient design.
  • Social and ethical dimensions—social procurement, community engagement, and equity in sustainable construction.
  • Performance assessment and metrics—lifecycle assessment, energy performance, sustainability indicators, and post-occupancy evaluation.
  • Integrated project management approaches—combining cost, risk, and sustainability considerations in project delivery.

Dr. Melissa Chan
Prof. Dr. Wei Yang
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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 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 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.

Keywords

  • sustainable building design and construction
  • innovative materials and circular economy
  • net-zero and carbon-neutral buildings
  • digital technologies for sustainability
  • risk, safety, and resilience
  • social and ethical dimensions
  • performance assessment and metrics
  • integrated project management approaches

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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26 pages, 3373 KB  
Systematic Review
Digital Technologies for Lifecycle Sustainability Compliance Verification in Construction Management: A Systematic Review and Governance Framework
by Robert Haigh, Melissa Chan and Wei Yang
Buildings 2026, 16(11), 2113; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16112113 - 25 May 2026
Abstract
Sustainability targets in contemporary construction projects are increasingly defined through embodied carbon limits, circular material obligations, waste diversion benchmarks, and energy performance requirements. However, a persistent gap remains between the establishment of these commitments during policy and design stages and their effective verification [...] Read more.
Sustainability targets in contemporary construction projects are increasingly defined through embodied carbon limits, circular material obligations, waste diversion benchmarks, and energy performance requirements. However, a persistent gap remains between the establishment of these commitments during policy and design stages and their effective verification throughout project delivery and post-handover operation. Although Building Information Modelling (BIM), digital twins, and associated digital monitoring systems are widely discussed in sustainable construction research, their collective role in enabling continuous sustainability compliance assurance within construction management remains insufficiently synthesised. This study addresses this gap through a PRISMA-guided systematic review and structured comparative thematic synthesis of 117 peer-reviewed studies published between 2016 and 2026. A structured analytical coding matrix, MMAT-informed methodological quality appraisal, and descriptive evidence mapping were used to evaluate dominant digital technologies, sustainability compliance domains, lifecycle verification gaps, and study validation approaches. The findings indicate that current research remains concentrated around BIM-enabled design modelling and isolated operational analytics, with comparatively limited attention to integrated multi-stage sustainability verification during procurement, construction, commissioning, and operation. Four recurring sustainability compliance domains requiring stronger construction management control are identified, including embodied carbon verification, material reuse traceability, waste diversion monitoring, and energy performance validation. In response, the study proposes a Digital Sustainability Compliance Framework that conceptually integrates sustainability targets, PMBOK-aligned project control functions, BIM information models, digital twins, sensor systems, and centralised construction data platforms within a continuous lifecycle verification architecture. The study repositions digital technologies as governance-oriented infrastructures for more transparent, auditable, and continuously monitored sustainability compliance assurance while highlighting the need for future empirical validation. Full article
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