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Sustainable Materials Selection in Civil Engineering Projects

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 1435

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of engineering, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale-Isola C4, 80143 Naples, Italy
Interests: LCA; sustainability; construction materials; polymer recycling
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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Naples Parthenope, 80143 Naples, Italy
Interests: additive manufacturing; bio-manufacturing; sustainability; polymer recycling; additive manufacturing; concrete 3D printing; bio-materials; polymers and metal foams; CAD/CAM; composites; smart manufacturing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Gurminder Singh-Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India
Interests: additive manufacturing; biomanufacturing; biomaterials; polymers; ceramics and metal foams; CAD/CAM; composites; smart manufacturing; non-conventional machining and powder metallurgy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The construction industry substantially impacts worldwide environmental challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions, resource depletion, and waste generation; therefore, the growing demand for infrastructure necessitates the use of sustainable materials to mitigate environmental impacts while maintaining economic feasibility and engineering efficiency. The choice of sustainable materials presents a scientific and technical challenge, while also serving as a social necessity to meet global sustainability goals and address climate change.

The Aim of the Special Issue

This Special Issue aims to explore innovative tools, approaches, and frameworks for the sustainable selection of materials in civil engineering efforts. It will align with the journal’s focus on sustainability in engineering by highlighting the need for authentic, research-backed solutions to advance sustainable infrastructure development, and will seek to encourage multidisciplinary discussion and improve understanding of how material choices might integrate environmental, economic, and structural demands. 

Suggested Themes:

We encourage contributions that span a broad range of topics, which may include, but are not limited to:

  • Life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental impact analysis for material selection;
  • Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and optimization frameworks for sustainability;
  • Innovations in green, recycled, and secondary materials in civil engineering;
  • Bio-based materials, geopolymers, and other low-carbon construction materials;
  • Circular economy approaches in material use and waste management;
  • The integration of smart and digital tools for sustainable material selection (e.g., BIM);
  • Social, economic, and environmental trade-offs in material selection;
  • The policies, standards, and certifications driving sustainable material adoption;
  • Case studies highlighting challenges in sustainable material application;
  • Climate adaptation and resiliency through material choices in infrastructure;
  • Innovative testing and performance evaluation of sustainable materials;
  • Sustainable supply chains and logistics for material procurement;
  • Addressing material scarcity and local resource utilization in construction;
  • Long-term durability and maintenance implications of sustainable materials;
  • Hybrid materials and composite innovations for enhanced sustainability. 

This Special Issue will offer practical insights to assist researchers, engineers, and policy makers in promoting sustainable practices in the building industry.

I look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Dr. Narinder Singh
Dr. Ilenia Farina
Dr. Gurminder Singh
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.

Keywords

  • sustainable construction
  • green building materials
  • life cycle assessment (LCA)
  • circular economy in construction
  • low-carbon materials
  • recycled construction materials
  • bio-based building materials
  • multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM)
  • eco-friendly infrastructure
  • material durability and sustainability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 4878 KiB  
Article
Development of Cement-Less Recycled Aggregate Concrete Mixes: A Step Towards Sustainable Construction
by Muhammad Numan, Qasim S. Khan, Asad U. Qazi, Syed Minhaj Saleem Kazmi and Muhammad Junaid Munir
Sustainability 2025, 17(6), 2371; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17062371 - 8 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 968
Abstract
This study investigates the potential of cement-less recycled aggregate concrete (C.R.A.C.) as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete, using industrial waste (fly ash) and construction and demolition waste (recycled coarse aggregates). This research explores the effects of mixes of [...] Read more.
This study investigates the potential of cement-less recycled aggregate concrete (C.R.A.C.) as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete, using industrial waste (fly ash) and construction and demolition waste (recycled coarse aggregates). This research explores the effects of mixes of varying sodium hydroxide (NH) molarities and percentage substitutions of natural coarse aggregates (N.C.As.) with recycled coarse aggregates (R.C.As.) on the mechanical properties of C.R.A.C. A total of eighteen ambient-cured C.R.A.C. mixes, using Thar Coal fly ash with varying NH molarities (12 M, 14 M, and 16 M), and percentage substitutions of N.C.As. with R.C.As. (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%), were prepared and tested under axial compression and flexure. It was observed that the compressive strength increased by about 76% with an increasing NH molarity, whereas the compressive strength decreased by about 52.9% with an increasing percentage substitution of N.C.As. with R.C.As. The flexural strength increased by about 78.3% with an increasing NH molarity, whereas the flexural strength decreased by about 50.5% with an increasing percentage substitution of N.C.As. with R.C.As. The SEM analysis of the C.R.A.C. mixes highlighted the heterogeneous morphology of fly ash particles (e.g., irregular shape, rough surface texture, and porous regions), which negatively influenced the overall performance of the concrete matrix. The environmental assessment exhibited that the C.R.A.C. mixes exhibited about 45% lower CO2 emissions than OPC concrete; however, the cost of the C.R.A.C. mixes was about 21% higher than that of OPC concrete mixes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials Selection in Civil Engineering Projects)
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