Sustainable Buildings Life Cycle through Digitalization

Dear Colleagues,

In line with the European Green Deal, which aims to bring a more efficient, innovative, and human-centered perspective to the European construction sector, the sustainable built environment surpasses the sole aim of improving the energy and resource efficiency of buildings. On the one hand, it includes comfort and a human dimension to ensure the application of the life-cycle assessment and a circular approach, but on the other hand, digital technologies such as BIM and/or Digital Twins offer different opportunities for a more efficient life-cycle design of buildings and thus constitute a tool for the sustainability of the building sector.

Addressing the broader transformation of the built environment requires a higher level of involvement from all the actors across the value chain of the built environment and throughout the building life cycle, thereby developing holistic R&I for an effective transition towards sustainability.

To achieve this, we would like to ask you to participate in this Special Issue by presenting your new research results in scientific papers.

Topics targeting sustainable building life cycles through digitalization seek to achieve the following targets:

• Building stocks that are more energy-efficient and are supported by an accurate understanding of materials, building performance, and related evolutions and emissions.
• Building design, construction, operation, and refurbishment procedures that effectively combine energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, as well as digital and smart technologies to support the transformation of the built environment towards climate neutrality.

We invite papers on innovation, reviews, case studies, analytical and numerical sustainable assessments, and optimization, as well as assessment papers on the topic of the operation, maintenance, and renovation of existing buildings through approaches that are based on the principles of the circular economy and are supported by digital technologies.

This Special Issue belongs to the section "G: Energy and Buildings" and represents a fusion of scientific rigor and engineering innovation, thereby contributing to the digitalization of sustainable designs and the analysis of the whole building life cycle.

Dr. Marta Maria Sesana
Dr. Helena Gervásio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• sustainability
• LCA
• building information management
• digital twins
• energy efficiency
• low carbon