Applications of Sustainable and Emerging Construction Materials in Civil Engineering

Dear Colleagues,

1) Introduction, including scientific background and highlighting the importance of this research area.

The construction industry has long been acknowledged as an essential factor that influences the economic development and growth of countries around the world. It acts as a critical function in shaping a country’s infrastructure, labor, and wealth. One drawback of the construction sector is its contribution towards greenhouse gases. The manufacturing, transportation, and implementation of traditional materials such as cement, steel, and masonry result in considerable carbon emission. Sustainable construction materials can help to lower the carbon footprint, energy consumption, and waste. Recent advances in material science and engineering have resulted in emerging materials that are stronger, lighter, and more durable than traditional materials. Such materials can be used in the design of new structures as well as in the maintenance and strengthening of existing ones. This Special Issue explores such sustainable and emerging construction materials, their prospects, challenges, and future in civil engineering. It also covers their contribution towards building more sustainable, environmentally friendly, and resilient structures.

2) Aim of the Special issue and how the subject relates to the journal scope.

The aim of this Special Issue is to publish up-to-date research contributions covering the application of sustainable and emerging construction materials in civil structures and infrastructures. The materials under consideration include eco-friendly ones that possess high conservation and recycling impact, as well as advanced materials that are developed after intensive research and analysis to solve different problems encountered in the design, rehabilitation, and strengthening of structures today. State-of-the-art innovative materials with a strong resiliency dimension when facing extreme disasters are particularly encouraged.

3) Suggest themes.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:  

• Aerated, bendable, self-healing, and 3D-printed concrete;
• Use of recycled concrete, plastic, tires, and glass waste in construction materials;
• Ultra-high performance cementitious composites;
• Laminated timber, reclaimed wood, and wood composites;
• Biodegradable and synthetic geotextile and geomembrane use in geotechnical engineering;
• Fiber-reinforced polymers concrete composites;
• High-performance fiber-reinforced materials under extreme loading;
• Structural behavior of steel reinforced geopolymer concrete;
• Disaster resilient structures;
• Structural safety, reliability, and risk assessment;
• Structural integrity and design against progressive collapse;
• Blast-resistant design of steel and concrete structures;
• Long-term durability response of innovative composite materials in harsh environment. 

I look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Prof. Dr. Sami Tabsh
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. Sustainability 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 2400 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.

• sustainable materials
• fiber-reinforced polymers
• engineered cementitious composites
• recycled materials
• geopolymers
• high performance materials
• durability
• engineered wood
• emerging materials
• nanomaterials
• repair
• strengthening
• structural fire engineering
• 3D printing
• resilient structures