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Buildings
Special Issues
Low-Carbon and Sustainable Building Structures
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Low-Carbon and Sustainable Building Structures

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Structures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 774

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bing Xia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Interests: structural low-carbon design; carbon emission assessment; structural reliability; structural member reuse; recycled concrete; FRP-concrete structures
Dr. Kaijian Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Civil Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
Interests: recycled aggregate concrete; seawater sea-sand concrete; durability of concrete structures; reliability analysis; 3D-printed concrete
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yuxiang Tang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Transportation, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410114, China
Interests: low-carbon materials and structures; solid-waste reutilization; damage and fracture mechanics
Dr. Dianchao Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
Interests: low-carbon concrete; CO2 sequestration; recycled aggregates; circular economy; multifunctional materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Chunhui Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China
Interests: dynamic performance of recycled aggregate concrete

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global building and construction sector is a primary contributor to carbon emissions, resource depletion and waste generation. In the face of escalating climate change, there is a critical and urgent need for a paradigm shift towards decarbonization and sustainability throughout the lifecycle of building structures. This has spurred a wave of innovation focused on creating structures that are not only resilient and efficient but also environmentally responsible.

This Special Issue aims to showcase state-of-the-art research and recent advancements in the design, construction and performance of low-carbon and sustainable building structures. We invite the submission of high-quality original research articles and comprehensive review papers that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Low-carbon structural design aimed at climate change adaptation and mitigation.
  • Innovative low-carbon construction materials (e.g., green concrete, recycled composites, mass timber).
  • Design for deconstruction, reuse and adaptability.
  • Lifecycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint analysis of building structures.
  • Structural optimization for reduced environmental impacts.
  • Integration of circular economy principles in structural engineering.
  • Performance, durability and resilience of sustainable structures under extreme loads.

Dr. Bing Xia
Dr. Kaijian Zhang
Dr. Yuxiang Tang
Dr. Dianchao Wang
Dr. Chunhui Wang
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

  • low-carbon structural design
  • low-carbon building materials
  • structural performance of low-carbon structures
  • design for deconstruction
  • component reuse
  • low-carbon structural optimization
  • carbon footprint and accounting
  • durability and resilience under extreme loads
  • sustainable construction and retrofit

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 2520 KB  
Article
Towards Carbon-Negative Concrete Using Low-Carbon Binders and Carbonated Recycled Aggregates: MAA-Based Mix Design Optimization, Carbon Emission and Cost Assessment
by Wen Lin, Gaoyu Liao, Lixiang Xu, Guanghui Wang, Chucai Peng, Yueran Zhang and Dianchao Wang
Buildings 2026, 16(2), 462; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16020462 - 22 Jan 2026
Viewed by 473
Abstract
Developing low-carbon building materials is essential for achieving sustainability in the construction sector. This study proposes a carbon-negative concrete (CNC) system that combines low-carbon binders derived from industrial by-products with carbonated recycled aggregates capable of CO2 absorption. To enhance particle packing and [...] Read more.
Developing low-carbon building materials is essential for achieving sustainability in the construction sector. This study proposes a carbon-negative concrete (CNC) system that combines low-carbon binders derived from industrial by-products with carbonated recycled aggregates capable of CO2 absorption. To enhance particle packing and mechanical performance, the Modified Andreasen–Andersen (MAA) model was adopted for mix design optimization and experimentally validated. The optimized CNC mixture containing 22% coarse aggregate achieved the minimum residual sum of squares between the graded particle distribution and the theoretical MAA curve, as well as the highest strength performance. Compared with a 14% coarse aggregate mixture, the 22% mix exhibited 13.5% and 19.8% increases in compressive strength at 7 and 28 days, confirming the applicability of the MAA model for CNC proportioning. Carbon emission assessment, limited to raw material production, demonstrated significant environmental benefits. CNC incorporating both low-carbon binders and carbonated recycled aggregates reduced total emissions and CO2 intensity by 87.1% and 86.2%, respectively, compared with ordinary concrete of the same strength grade. Economic evaluation further showed that CNC reduced material cost by 48.1% relative to ordinary concrete. It should be emphasized that the reported CO2 reduction and negative emission effects are limited to the defined raw material production boundary and do not represent a fully net-negative life cycle. Overall, these results confirm the technical, environmental, and economic feasibility of CNC as a sustainable alternative to traditional concrete. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Carbon and Sustainable Building Structures)
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