Special Issue "Addressing Sustainability at a Community Scale"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Lucelia Rodrigues
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Nottingham University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Interests: resilience; energy efficiency; architecture; sustainability

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

In response to the climate crisis, much thought has been given to addressing sustainability at building and city scales. While this is of course commendable, it is not always feasible or the best approach. Buildings are restricted by many parameters such as plot size, orientation, setting, budget, aesthetic values, material availability and user preferences, and these often limit how far sustainability and carbon neutrality can be achieved. Cities are extremely complex entities, and although many have committed to becoming carbon neutral, the actual delivery mechanisms of meeting this goal without heavy reliance on carbon offsetting are unknown and often overlook other aspects of sustainability.

Could communities be a more manageable scale? What is the contribution of communities towards sustainability goals? What are the benefits of shared assets and carbon trading within a community?

In this Special Issue, I would like to cover the following topics:

  • Carbon neutrality design approaches that go beyond building scale
  • Addressing the nexus of mobility, energy and health
  • Meeting social, economic and environmental needs through collective means
  • Net zero carbon emissions and circular economy
  • Community initiatives that address the sustainability of key resources such as energy and water
  • Community engagement and their contribution to addressing sustainability issues
  • Smart technology and their contribution to addressing sustainability issues in a community
  • District and neighbourhood sustainable or carbon neutral design or retrofit
  • Standards and performance assessment for communities
  • Contribution of communities to the sustainability and resilience of cities

Prof. Dr. Lucelia Rodrigues
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 papers will be 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 1900 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.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Bioclimatic and Regenerative Design Guidelines for a Circular University Campus in India
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8238; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158238 - 23 Jul 2021
Viewed by 313
Abstract
To transform the negative impacts of buildings on the environment into a positive footprint, a radical shift from the current, linear ‘make-use-dispose’ practice to a closed-loop ‘make-use-return’ system, associated with a circular economy, is necessary. This research aims to demonstrate the possible shift [...] Read more.
To transform the negative impacts of buildings on the environment into a positive footprint, a radical shift from the current, linear ‘make-use-dispose’ practice to a closed-loop ‘make-use-return’ system, associated with a circular economy, is necessary. This research aims to demonstrate the possible shift to a circular construction industry by developing the first practical framework with tangible benchmarks for a ‘Circular University Campus’ based on an exemplary case study project, which is a real project development in India. As a first step, a thorough literature review was undertaken to demonstrate the social, environmental and economic benefits of a circular construction industry. As next step, the guideline for a ‘Circular University Campus’ was developed, and its applicability tested on the case study. As final step, the evolved principles were used to establish ‘Project Specific Circular Building Indicators’ for a student residential block and enhance the proposed design through bioclimatic and regenerative design strategies. The building’s performance was evaluated through computational simulations, whole-life carbon analysis and a circular building assessment tool. The results demonstrated the benefits and feasibility of bioclimatic, regenerative building and neighbourhood design and provided practical prototypical case study and guidelines which can be adapted by architects, planners and governmental institutions to other projects, thereby enabling the shift to a restorative, circular construction industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Addressing Sustainability at a Community Scale)
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