Sustainable Approaches for Developing Concrete and Mortar

Dear Colleagues,

We are calling for papers for a Special Issue of the journal Sustainability to shed light on the most sustainable approaches for developing concrete and mortar.

Concrete and mortar, which basically consist of different constituents such as binding materials, aggregate, water, and admixture materials, are some of the most widely used construction materials in the world. However, the extensive increase in the rate of industrialization and urbanization, as a result of the parallel growth in economy and population, has made conventional concrete/mortar one of the most unsustainable materials, as it consumes a high amount of natural resources and impacts the environment. For instance, the production of Portland cement, as an essential constituent of concrete/mortar, releases a significant amount of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. Another example is the extraction of natural aggregates for developing concrete/mortar, which causes soil erosion and ecosystem destruction. Thus, the introduction and application of sustainable solutions for the production of the more environmentally friendly concretes/mortars (e.g., by adopting alternative recycled waste materials that reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, collaborate in construction and demolition waste management, and conserve non-renewable resources) is of paramount importance for the building sector in order to deal with environmental issues.

This Special Issue encourages the submission of research papers that present novel methods and sustainable approaches for developing concrete and mortar. We also welcome original research that utilizes environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) methods to evaluate the effect of sustainable solutions on reducing the environmental impact of concrete/mortar production.

The papers submitted to this Special Issue will undergo a rigorous peer review procedure similar to the other issues of Sustainability, with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

Dr. Ali Edalat Behbahani
Dr. Fatemeh Soltanzadeh
Dr. Amin Abrishambaf
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.