Digitalization for Sustainable Construction Management: Opportunities and Challenges
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 July 2026 | Viewed by 2
Special Issue Editors
Interests: construction education; facilities management; BIM; construction materials; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: sustainability; digitization (GenAI); project leadership and diversity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: sustainability; sustainable infrastructures; facilities management; construction materials; construction education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The construction industry stands on the cusp of a digital transformation, with new tools and methods enabling more sustainable, efficient, and resilient project delivery. Yet, despite the excitement around digitalization—spanning building information modeling (BIM), digital twins, IoT sensing, AI/ML analytics, blockchain, and smart contracts—significant gaps remain regarding how these technologies can be integrated into sustainable construction management. Many projects still operate in silos, hindered by fragmented data flow, legacy systems, and lack of interoperability. Moreover, questions persist about the lifecycle environmental impacts of digital infrastructure itself, as well as regarding digital equity across stakeholder groups and governance frameworks for data sharing. This Special Issue seeks contributions that address both the opportunities and challenges inherent in applying digital technologies to promote sustainability across the construction lifecycle—from early design and procurement to operations and decommissioning. Topics of interest include case studies, methodologies, frameworks, and empirical research exploring (but not limited to) digital tools for carbon reduction, resource optimization, risk mitigation, data-driven decision making, and stakeholder collaboration. The overarching goal is to spotlight best practices and new research directions that accelerate the adoption of digitalization in sustainable construction management.
Dr. Fatemeh Pariafsai
Dr. Roksana Jahan Tumpa
Dr. Daniel Oteng
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
- digitalization
- sustainable construction management
- BIM and digital twins
- IoT and smart sensing
- data analytics/AI in construction
- interoperability and data integration
- lifecycle sustainability
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.
