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Buildings
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The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction
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The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 January 2024) | Viewed by 37651

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Qingpeng Man

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Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Interests: construction information technology; infrastructure management; green buildings
Dr. Hongling Guo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100190, China
Interests: intelligent construction; virtual construction (VC)/virtual prototyping (VP); building information modeling (BIM); digital construction security management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Kailun Feng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Interests: sustainable construction; green buildings; construction information technology; uncertainty management
Dr. Hui Yan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Interests: sustainable construction; construction dust control; green buildings
Prof. Dr. Jingxiao Zhang

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Interests: project management; construction economy and management; digital construction education; green productivity in construction industry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modern buildings play a key role in people's daily lives and social development, but their construction and operation severely damage the environment. Globally, the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector is responsible for 36% of global energy consumption and 37% of energy-related global carbon emissions, more than any other sector (IEA 2021). We are in a time of energy-efficient transformations in all industries. The key question is how the AEC sector can realise this transformation. Improving the energy efficiency of the buildings in which we live and work requires more energy-efficient technologies, such as energy-efficient HVAC, lighting, high-performance thermal insulation, and green construction. It also includes other factors such as sustainable policies and national strategies for this sector, as well as people using buildings in an energy-saving way. Investigations into all the abovementioned solutions are meaningful, such as looking at how effective these methods are, what new and innovative methods exist, and how they should be implemented.

This Special Issue will collect research or review papers on the sustainable future of architecture, engineering and construction. The potential topics include but are not limited to sustainable construction, net-zero energy and energy-efficient buildings, positive energy districts, occupant behaviour, energy-efficient retrofitting, carbon strategy/policy for the AEC sector, recycled construction materials, AEC's energy/emission quantification, and building information technology for sustainability.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Dr. Qingpeng Man
Dr. Hongling Guo
Dr. Kailun Feng
Dr. Hui Yan
Prof. Dr. Jingxiao Zhang
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. 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

  • architecture, engineering and construction
  • sustainability
  • energy-efficient building
  • sustainable
  • construction
  • occupant behaviour
  • recycled construction materials

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

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 2526 KiB  
Article
Research on Safety Risk Transfer in Subway Shield Construction Based on Text Mining and Complex Networks
by Kunpeng Wu, Jianshe Zhang, Yanlong Huang, Hui Wang, Hujun Li and Huihua Chen
Buildings 2023, 13(11), 2700; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13112700 - 26 Oct 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2039
Abstract
Subway construction is often in a complex natural and human-machine operating environment, and that complicated setting leads to subway construction being more prone to safety accidents, which can cause substantial casualties and monetary losses. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the safety risks [...] Read more.
Subway construction is often in a complex natural and human-machine operating environment, and that complicated setting leads to subway construction being more prone to safety accidents, which can cause substantial casualties and monetary losses. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the safety risks of subway construction. The existing literature on the identification and assessment of subway construction safety risks (SCSR) is susceptible to the influence of subjective factors. Moreover, although existing studies have explored the interrelationships between different risks, these studies usually analyze the interrelationships of single risks, lack the study of risk chain transfer relationships, and fail to find out the key path of risk transfer. Therefore, this paper innovatively combines text mining, association rules, and complex networks to deep mine subway construction safety incident reports and explore the risk transfer process. Firstly, it uses text mining technology to identify subway construction safety risks. Then, association rules are introduced to explore the causal relationships among safety risks. Finally, the key safety risks and important transfer paths of subway construction safety accidents (SCSA) are obtained based on the complex network model. Research results show that (a) improper safety management, unimplemented safety subject responsibilities, violation of operation rules, non-perfect safety responsibilities system and insufficient safety education and training are the key safety risks in SCSA; (b) two shorter key risk transfer paths in the subway construction safety network can be obtained: insufficient safety education and training→lower safety awareness→violation of operation rules→safety accidents; insufficient safety checks or hidden trouble investigations→violation of operation rules→safety accidents; (c) in the process of risk transfer, the risk can be controlled by controlling the key safety risk or cutting off the transfer paths. This paper provides new ideas and methods for SCSR identification and influence element mining, and the results of the study help safety managers propose accurate subway construction safety risk control measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
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18 pages, 746 KiB  
Article
Differentiated Improvement Path of Carbon Emission Efficiency of China’s Provincial Construction Industry: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis Approach
by Hua Liu, Chengjian Yang and Zhaorong Chen
Buildings 2023, 13(2), 543; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13020543 - 16 Feb 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2231
Abstract
Promoting carbon reduction in the construction sector is crucial to achieving China’s ‘double carbon’ target. However, due to the interaction of multiple factors, the carbon emission efficiency of Chinese construction industry (CEECI) varies from province to province, and the path to efficient CEECI [...] Read more.
Promoting carbon reduction in the construction sector is crucial to achieving China’s ‘double carbon’ target. However, due to the interaction of multiple factors, the carbon emission efficiency of Chinese construction industry (CEECI) varies from province to province, and the path to efficient CEECI is not uniform. This study aims to analyze the combined effects of multiple factors on CEECI and to explore the underlying logic behind the formation of efficient CEECI in the province, which measures the CEECI for 2018 and 2019 for 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government of China using the super-slack-based measure (Super-SBM), which includes non-desired outputs. From a group perspective, the qualitative comparative analysis method is applied to analyze the common mechanism of the regional economic development level, energy consumption structure, business management level, market openness, science, and technology innovation level on CEECI. The results show that the regional construction industry has three equivalent low-carbon development paths: “low energy management”, “scale management”, and “scale market opening”. Finally, according to the differences in regional resource endowments, differentiated paths suitable for the low-carbon development of the construction industry in different regions are proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
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22 pages, 11783 KiB  
Article
Embodied Carbon Emissions in China’s Building Sector: Historical Track from 2005 to 2020
by Chen Zhu, Zhihan Yang, Boyu Huang and Xiaodong Li
Buildings 2023, 13(1), 211; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13010211 - 12 Jan 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4146
Abstract
China’s large-scale construction has led to massive energy consumption and carbon emissions. The embodied carbon emissions (ECs) of China’s building sector play a key role in realizing national emission reduction targets. Currently, the understanding of the status quo of ECs is vague and [...] Read more.
China’s large-scale construction has led to massive energy consumption and carbon emissions. The embodied carbon emissions (ECs) of China’s building sector play a key role in realizing national emission reduction targets. Currently, the understanding of the status quo of ECs is vague and inconsistent, and the existing accounting models still have several limitations. Therefore, this study develops two improved models (i.e., the process-based and the input-output-based life cycle assessment models) and dynamic accounting datasets to reveal historical trends and emission characteristics of ECs from 2005 to 2020. The results show that the total ECs in 2020 were as high as 2.28 billion tCO2, accounting for 25.2% of China’s total energy-related carbon emissions. The indirect ECs are the largest contributor, representing 95.9% of the total building ECs. The ECs increased quickly at first and entered a plateau, stable at about 2.2 billion tCO2 after 2015. From 2005 to 2020, the total building ECs contributed 38.7% to the national carbon emission growth, while the intensity of ECs showed a downward trend, indicating that the increase in China’s building ECs is scale-driven. This study provides sound methodological, and data support for emission tracing and the low-carbon development of China’s building sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
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19 pages, 3585 KiB  
Article
Collaborative Evolution Mechanism and Simulation of Construction Waste Recycling Stakeholders Based on Social Network
by Zhiguo Shao, Mengdi Li, Dehu Yu, Chuanfeng Han and Lingpeng Meng
Buildings 2022, 12(12), 2255; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12122255 - 17 Dec 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3382
Abstract
With the continuous advancement of urbanization, a huge amount of construction waste is generated in large-scale construction activities, which has aggravated the problems of environmental pollution, waste of resources and destruction of city appearance. Construction waste recycling can effectively solve these problems. However, [...] Read more.
With the continuous advancement of urbanization, a huge amount of construction waste is generated in large-scale construction activities, which has aggravated the problems of environmental pollution, waste of resources and destruction of city appearance. Construction waste recycling can effectively solve these problems. However, the recycling rate of construction waste is low in China. Therefore, this paper, firstly through the way of literature analysis and questionnaire investigation, analyzes the factors that influence construction waste resource utilization, determines the key influence factors and the stakeholders in the process of construction waste resource utilization, and uses social network analysis method to identify core stakeholders. On this basis, this paper selects construction enterprises and recycling enterprises as the game subjects, and the government and the public as the external environment to explore the influence of the external environment on the cooperation behavior of the two stakeholders, and uses Matlab simulation to analyze the influence of external variables on the decision-making behavior evolution of the two stakeholders. The research results show that the government, construction enterprises, recycling enterprises and the public are the four core stakeholders of the construction waste recycling system, which have the power to control the information transmission among other stakeholders and play a great supporting role in the smooth implementation of the construction waste recycling project. Among them, the construction enterprise and recycling enterprise are the construction waste recycling system’s two stakeholders playing the pivotal role, and the government and the public are the external environment of the construction waste recycling system’s incentive and regulatory effect. The difference between the benefits and costs of the two stakeholders and the effect intensity of the external environment determines the stable state of the system, that is, the stronger the effect of the external environment and the larger the difference, the more the behavior of the two tends toward the recycling, on-site recycling strategy. Government penalties and rewards can effectively reduce the illegal dumping of construction waste, while excessive penalties and rewards have limitations in controlling illegal dumping. Public participation can effectively improve the efficiency of government supervision. The research results help to deeply understand the behavior, needs and cooperation of stakeholders in the construction waste recycling market, improve the efficiency of cooperation between construction enterprises and recycling enterprises, and provide management inspiration for the construction waste recycling practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
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27 pages, 4019 KiB  
Article
Network Model Analysis of Quality Control Factors of Prefabricated Buildings Based on the Complex Network Theory
by Shulan Yang, Zhiwei Hou and Hongbo Chen
Buildings 2022, 12(11), 1874; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12111874 - 3 Nov 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3390
Abstract
Prefabricated buildings are gradually gaining popularity in China because of their lower costs, shorter construction periods, and environmental friendliness. However, compared with traditional buildings, prefabricated buildings require coordination and management of processes such as component production, transportation and storage, and on-site component assembly. [...] Read more.
Prefabricated buildings are gradually gaining popularity in China because of their lower costs, shorter construction periods, and environmental friendliness. However, compared with traditional buildings, prefabricated buildings require coordination and management of processes such as component production, transportation and storage, and on-site component assembly. Therefore, managing the quality of prefabricated buildings is complex. In order to manage the quality of prefabricated buildings better, it is necessary to study the quality systems of prefabricated buildings. Firstly, by analyzing the logical relationship of each stage of the prefabricated buildings, we identified the key stages. Then, the main quality control factors that affect the qualities and relationships of the main quality control factors were derived by combining relevant building codes, literature studies, and project experiences; a network model of quality control factors of prefabricated buildings (NQPB) was constructed. Secondly, the complex network theory was applied to analyze the node degree, betweenness centrality, clustering coefficient, and other indicators of the NQPB to derive 17 key quality control factor nodes. The importance of the 17 key nodes in the quality management of prefabricated buildings was verified through a simulation. Next, the NQPB of Project A was constructed and analyzed, and five key nodes were identified. This demonstrates how the NQPB method can be applied to a specific prefabricated building project. Moreover, Project A was used as a case study to compare fault tree analysis (FTA), fishbone diagram, and 4MIE methods with the NQPB method to derive the potential advantages of the NQPB method. Finally, further analysis led to recommendations for quality management of prefabricated building projects in general as well as for Project A. This study can be used as a reference for quality control and assurance managers in all stages of prefabricated buildings and provide new ideas and methods for the quality analysis and management of prefabricated buildings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
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19 pages, 4788 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Innovation Path of the Digital Construction Industry Using Mixed Methods
by Xiaolong Xue, Xianyu Tan, Qiongyu Huang, Hui Zhu and Jianshuo Chen
Buildings 2022, 12(11), 1840; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12111840 - 1 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3114
Abstract
To provide a theoretical basis for deepening digital reform in the construction industry and explore the innovation path of the digital construction industry, this research uses patent data for Guangdong Province to carry out explanatory sequence research. First, this research analyzes the dynamic [...] Read more.
To provide a theoretical basis for deepening digital reform in the construction industry and explore the innovation path of the digital construction industry, this research uses patent data for Guangdong Province to carry out explanatory sequence research. First, this research analyzes the dynamic evolution process of networks in the digital construction industry by using social network analysis. Then, grounded theory is used to conduct qualitative research to explore the innovation path of the digital construction industry. The results show that the scale of the innovation network of the digital construction industry is continually expanding and the digital carriers are becoming increasingly diverse. Influenced by the diversification of digital carriers, the research theme of the digital construction industry is beginning to develop in the direction of intelligence. The findings indicate that the use of mixed methods improves the robustness of the results and that the quantitative research results are explained by the qualitative research results. This research not only contributes to information development in the construction industry but also provides a theoretical basis for deepening digital reform in the construction industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
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17 pages, 788 KiB  
Article
Understanding the Determinants of Blockchain Technology Adoption in the Construction Industry
by Xuetong Wang, Lingyi Liu, Jingkuang Liu and Xiaojun Huang
Buildings 2022, 12(10), 1709; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12101709 - 17 Oct 2022
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 5868
Abstract
Blockchain has great potential for facilitating the development of the construction industry but has not been widely used to this end. The objective of this study was to identify the factors affecting the adoption of blockchain in the construction industry from the technical, [...] Read more.
Blockchain has great potential for facilitating the development of the construction industry but has not been widely used to this end. The objective of this study was to identify the factors affecting the adoption of blockchain in the construction industry from the technical, organizational, and environmental dimensions with the help of theories related to technology adoption. Empirical results showed that relative advantage, compatibility, competitive pressure, technological maturity, organizational readiness, and policy have an impact on intention to adopt blockchain in the construction industry through perceived usefulness or perceived ease of use. Competitive pressure has the greatest impact on the internal variables of the technology acceptance model (TAM) (0.696). Perceived cost of adoption does not have a significant effect on blockchain adoption behavior. However, in contrast to previous research, organizational readiness has a negative effect (−0.03) on perceived usefulness. The research results provide inspiration for further research on the impact mechanisms of blockchain adoption in the construction industry, as well as guidance for governments to formulate blockchain adoption policies and guidance for the widespread application of blockchain in construction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
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28 pages, 4392 KiB  
Article
Energy-Efficient Retrofitting under Incomplete Information: A Data-Driven Approach and Empirical Study of Sweden
by Kailun Feng, Weizhuo Lu, Yaowu Wang and Qingpeng Man
Buildings 2022, 12(8), 1244; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12081244 - 15 Aug 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2507
Abstract
The building performance simulation (BPS) based on physical models is a popular method to estimate the expected energy-savings of energy-efficient building retrofitting. However, many buildings, especially the older building constructed several decades ago, do not have full access to complete information for a [...] Read more.
The building performance simulation (BPS) based on physical models is a popular method to estimate the expected energy-savings of energy-efficient building retrofitting. However, many buildings, especially the older building constructed several decades ago, do not have full access to complete information for a BPS method. Incomplete information generally comes from the information that is missing, such as the U-value of part building components, due to incomplete documentation or component deterioration over time. It also comes from the case-specific incomplete information due to different documentation systems. Motivated by the available big data of real-life building performance datasets (BPDs), a data-driven approach is proposed to support the decision-making of building retrofitting selections under incomplete information conditions. The data-driven approach constructed a Performance Modelling with Data Imputation (PMDI) with integrated backpropagation neural networks, fuzzy C-means clustering, principal component analysis, and trimmed scores regression. An empirical study was conducted on real-life buildings in Sweden, and the results validated that the PMDI method can model the performance ranges of energy-efficient retrofitting for family house buildings with more than 90% confidence. For a target building in Stockholm, the suggested retrofitting measure is expected to save energy by 12,017~17,292 KWh/year. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
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Review

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27 pages, 52448 KiB  
Review
Recent Research Progress in Intelligent Construction: A Comparison between China and Developed Countries
by Jing-Ke Yan, Zhe Zheng, Yu-Cheng Zhou, Jia-Rui Lin, Yi-Chuan Deng and Xin-Zheng Lu
Buildings 2023, 13(5), 1329; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13051329 - 19 May 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 8694
Abstract
Intelligent construction (IC) has emerged as a new approach to transforming the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry through the integration of advanced information technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). However, due to its interdisciplinary nature, the [...] Read more.
Intelligent construction (IC) has emerged as a new approach to transforming the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry through the integration of advanced information technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). However, due to its interdisciplinary nature, the relevant documents on IC are diverse and fragmented. To provide a comprehensive understanding of research progress and future opportunities in IC and to offer suggestions for both developing and developed countries, this study employed VOSviewer and Gephi to conduct a comparative review of relevant literature from the 21st century. A keyword search of Web of Science (WOS) identified 2788 relevant documents which were subjected to an overall co-citation and co-authorship analysis. To illustrate the differences between developing and developed countries, China, a representative developing country, was taken as the candidate to be compared with developed countries via a co-occurrence analysis. Differences between China and developed countries in the three sub-directions of IC, research foundation and domain knowledge transformation; information perception, fusion, and decision making; and embodied AI, were qualitatively discussed. Finally, four future research directions were suggested: (1) data fusion and decision-making, (2) improving the accuracy and efficiency of knowledge representation, learning, and utilization, (3) the establishment of large, pre-trained models in the field, and (4) embodied AI for taking actions according to the decisions made. This paper provides an overview of the relevant literature and the IC context for practitioners and scholars in the AEC industry in countries with different levels of development, as well as suggestions for the future development of IC. The findings of this study can serve both academia and industry in promoting IC in the AEC industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
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