Construction Management and Sustainable Development

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce a new Special Issue of the journal Sustainability, entitled “Construction Management and Sustainable Development”.

Construction management plays a crucial role in fostering sustainable development while ensuring that projects meet resilient standards, maintain cost-effectiveness and functionality, and are executed with an emphasis on long-term global environmental, economic, and social objectives. Hence, currently, there is an imperative need to integrate innovative strategies, advanced technologies, and responsible planning and execution practices that align with sustainable development goals.

Incorporating a broad range of categories into the investigation of “Construction Management and Sustainable Development” is essential for a holistic understanding of sustainable practices within the built environment. One of the most important aspects of sustainable construction is the array of life-cycle project management techniques, which aim to enhance the entire life span of a construction project through effective long-term planning and decision making. By optimizing material and resource use, balancing energy consumption, minimizing waste, enhancing durability, and reducing long-term costs, the developed procedures can run through the design, construction, operation, and eventual demolition phases to ensure structural and economic sustainability as well as long-term cost-effectiveness. Additionally, addressing project risk assessment is vital to identify and mitigate potential setbacks that could impact sustainability goals and develop comprehensive single-hazard or multi-hazard risk assessment tools for resilient constructions that consider systems' ability to withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse conditions.

The use of sustainable construction materials and technologies along with sustainable construction equipment management constitutes another significant pillar of sustainable development. For instance, integrating renewable, recyclable, and energy-efficient materials, such as recycled steel and low-emission concrete, reduces the environmental impact while maintaining performance. Furthermore, lean construction principles further support sustainability by minimizing waste and maximizing value, therefore improving overall resource efficiency. The inclusion of smart building technologies promotes real-time energy and system management, while embracing the circular economy encourages adaptive material reuse and recycling, efficient resource use, and energy efficiency, consequently extending the life of resources and reducing environmental degradation.

From a financial perspective, the investigation of cost evaluation methods, such as cost–benefit analysis and life-cycle cost assessment, is indispensable to proving that investing in green materials, technologies, and design strategies can lead to long-term financial savings and lowered operating costs, hence enabling stakeholders to assess the financial viability of sustainable construction and ensure that green initiatives are not only environmentally sound but also financially practical. Moreover, the social and economic aspects of sustainable construction are profound. Sustainable construction generates long-term economic benefits and fosters social equity by creating healthier living environments. Economically, it stimulates local economies through green job creation and reduces operational costs, benefiting both businesses and communities in the long term.

The development of digitalization and advanced information technologies (e.g., Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), etc.) and digital models (building information modeling (BIM), blockchain, etc.) have revolutionized the construction sector by providing tools that enhance project efficiency, safety, and sustainability.

By embracing all the above principles, construction management can drive the transition toward a more sustainable built environment, balancing economic feasibility with environmental responsibility and social well-being. This Special Issue welcomes submissions on a broad thematic range, covering the recent research work and applications of sustainable construction management on different construction fields (infrastructure, civil, building, urban, commercial, etc.).

We invite original research articles and critical reviews on “Construction Management and Sustainable Development” topics that are related (but not limited) to the following:

• Sustainable construction management strategies (eco-friendly and traditional);
• Sustainable life-cycle project management techniques;
• Cost–benefit analysis of sustainable constructions;
• Project cost management for sustainable constructions;
• Project risk assessment for sustainable constructions;
• Resilient construction projects;
• Life-cycle assessment of sustainable construction management;
• Sustainable construction materials and technologies;
• Sustainable construction equipment management;
• Digitalization, smart technologies, and IoT in sustainable construction;
• Lean construction and sustainability;
• Energy efficiency in construction and building operations;
• Social and economic aspects of sustainable constructions;
• Smart building technologies;
• Circular economy.

Dr. Kleopatra Petroutsatou
Dr. Theodora Vagdatli
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. 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 development
• life-cycle management
• sustainable construction equipment
• economic sustainability
• climate resilience
• resilient projects
• eco-friendly materials
• circular economy
• ISO standards
• cost–benefit analysis
• risk assessment