Ecological and Digital Transitions in Cultural Heritage Conservation: Pathways to Sustainable Strategies
A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 February 2027 | Viewed by 115
Special Issue Editors
Interests: building diagnostics; digital survey; historic building information modelling; virtual reality; sustainability; circular economy; digital twin
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: building information modelling; construction technology; BIM; heritage digital twin; HBIM (heritage building information modeling); IT architecture; heritage conservation; conservation and restoration of cultural heritage; architectural drawings; architecture; construction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: energy efficiency in building; architectural history; energy saving; green building; sustainable architecture; architecture; building technology; sustainable construction; BIM; construction project management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: retrofitting; restoration; adaptive reuse; building diagnostics; digital survey; historic building information modelling; virtual reality; sustainability; circular economy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The conservation of cultural heritage recognizes sustainability as one of the five pillars of the Framework for Action for Cultural Heritage. Its objectives include the enhancement of social capital, the promotion of economic development, and the achievement of environmental sustainability, in alignment with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Cultural heritage can function both as a strategic driver for sustainable development and as a direct object of sustainability-oriented interventions.
The ecological transition in cultural heritage preservation is increasingly supported by the digital transformation of processes involved in the physical implementation of conservation strategies. Key sustainability approaches include deep renovation, the use of sustainable and circular materials, adaptive reuse interventions, and the promotion of inclusive and responsible tourism, among others.
This Special Issue aims to collect fundamental research contributions, industrial developments, and best practices related to methods and tools that support the study, documentation, and rigorous acquisition of data for the sustainable preservation of cultural assets, both movable and immovable. In this context, the conservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage (CH) require the application of advanced, accurate, and efficient techniques to ensure the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of conservation actions.
Case studies may address archaeological, architectural, and artistic heritage at building, urban, or district scales. Contributions may explore strategies related to energy efficiency, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA), and circular economy approaches, supported by cutting-edge information technologies. These include, but are not limited to, 3D digital surveying, Building Information Modelling (BIM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), advanced diagnostic techniques, database management, semantic web technologies, cloud-based platforms, sensor networks, artificial intelligence, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), holography, and related tools.
Despite significant advances, the management of sustainability actions in cultural heritage remains challenged by several critical issues. Among these, the limited interoperability of datasets across different operators, disciplines, and software ecosystems within the academic and professional communities represents a particularly significant barrier.
The Special Issue seeks to compile a series of contributions that provide solutions to existing knowledge gaps in the sector.
Dr. Silvana Bruno
Dr. Juan Enrique Nieto-Julián
Dr. Juan J. Moyano
Prof. Dr. Fabio Fatiguso
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
- cultural heritage
- conservation
- sustainability
- circular economy
- sustainable material
- digital twin
- digital survey
- performance monitoring
- artificial intelligence
- semantic segmentation
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