Redefining the Built Future: Next-Gen Materials and Resilient Construction for a Low-Impact World
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Building".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 June 2026 | Viewed by 11
Special Issue Editor
Interests: machine learning; nondestructive testing; cementitious composites; civil engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In this Special Issue, “Redefining the Built Future: Next-Gen Materials and Resilient Construction for a Low-Impact World”, we invite original research, case studies, reviews, and visionary perspectives that explore how emerging materials and innovative construction strategies can reshape the future of sustainable and climate-resilient architecture. The built environment must respond not only to environmental pressures, but also to growing demands for circularity, adaptability, and long-term performance. We aim to go beyond conventional green building approaches by highlighting transformative solutions—ranging from bio-based and carbon-negative materials to design-for-disassembly, digital fabrication, and regenerative design practices. This Special Issue seeks to bridge material science, engineering, and architecture to foster integrated approaches that reduce embodied carbon, enhance resilience, and accelerate the transition toward post-carbon construction. While the existing literature often focuses on isolated sustainability metrics, our goal is to collect forward-thinking work that redefines how materials and construction systems contribute to holistic, scalable, and context-responsive solutions for a more sustainable built future.
We welcome papers on the following and related topics, including but not limited to:
- Development and characterization of bio-based, recycled, or carbon-negative materials for structural and envelope applications
- Nano-engineered and smart materials with self-healing, adaptive, or multifunctional properties
- Durability, aging, and weathering behavior of sustainable construction materials under real-world conditions
- Mechanical performance, thermal properties, and lifecycle metrics of innovative building composites
- Low-clinker and geopolymer binders as alternatives to traditional Portland cement
- Use of waste-derived or industrial by-product materials in high-performance construction products
- Moisture buffering, hygroscopicity, and bio-reactivity of natural fiber or earth-based materials
- Fire-, water-, and pest-resistance improvements in low-impact materials
- Material optimization through digital tools: topology optimization, generative design, or machine learning
- Thermo-mechanical modeling and simulation of new material systems under climate stressors
- Testing methods and standardization challenges for next-gen construction materials
- Material circularity, end-of-life strategies, and design for reuse/recycling in material innovation
Dr. Sławomir Czarnecki
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.
Keywords
- low-impact materials
- sustainable construction
- bio-based composites
- carbon-negative materials
- resilient building systems
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