The Sustainable Future of Architecture, Engineering and Construction

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 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.