Low-Carbon Construction and Building Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Construction and building materials have encountered heightened scrutiny due to concerns regarding greenhouse gas emissions associated with Portland cement and concrete production. This has spurred a notable surge in interest towards the creation of low-carbon construction and building materials. The escalating demand for raw materials like natural minerals, stones, and river sand, especially in burgeoning economies engaged in extensive infrastructure pro-jects, underscores the necessity for sustainable cementitious materials with reduced carbon footprints in civil and transportation engineering. The pursuit of low-carbon construction and building materials is acknowledged as a strategy to mitigate the carbon impact of the Portland cement and concrete industry, addressing global apprehensions about dwindling natural resources and escalating CO2 emissions from construction activities. The concrete and cement sector faces increasing pressure to embrace sustainability through the innovation of alternative low-carbon cement and concrete materials. Nevertheless, comprehending many fundamental mechanisms in this domain remains a challenge, and the scarcity of industrial applications persists, underscoring the existing gap between foundational research and practical implementation in this realm.

This Special Issue aims to concentrate on the latest advancements, progress, and emerging trends pertaining to the physical and chemical mechanisms, as well as the fresh and hardened properties, long-term performance, and durability of sustainable cementitious materials with low carbon emissions, specifically in the context of civil engineering. We invite submissions of both original research and review articles. Topics of particular interest encompass, but are not confined to:

• Innovations in Green Concrete;
• Sustainable Timber and Wood-Based Materials;
• Advancements in Insulating Materials;
• Recycling and Upcycling in Building Materials;
• Smart and Responsive Materials for Building;
• Biocompatible and Biodegradable Building Materials;
• Low-Carbon Footprint Materials;
• Innovative Steel and Metal Alloys;
• Nano and Micro Technologies in Construction Materials;
• Fire-Resistant and Flame-Retardant Materials;
• Natural-Fiber-Reinforced Composites;
• Low-Impact Exterior Finishes;
• Urban Mining and Material Recovery;
• 3D Printing in Construction;
• Durability and Longevity of Building Materials.

Dr. Junfei Zhang
Guest Editor

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. Materials 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.

• green concrete
• carbon footprint
• recycled aggregate concrete
• biocompatible materials
• fiber-reinforced composites
• durability