Search Results (37)

The construction sector presently consumes about 40% of global energy and generates 36% of CO₂ emissions, making facade retrofits a priority for decarbonising buildings. This review clarifies how ventilated facades (VFs), wall assemblies that interpose a ventilated air cavity between outer cladding and the insulated structure, address that challenge. First, the paper categorises VFs by structural configuration, ventilation strategy and functional control into four principal families: double-skin, rainscreen, hybrid/adaptive and active–passive systems, with further extensions such as BIPV, PCM and green-wall integrations that couple energy generation or storage with envelope performance. Heat-transfer analysis shows that the cavity interrupts conductive paths, promotes buoyancy- or wind-driven convection, and curtails radiative exchange. Key design parameters, including cavity depth, vent-area ratio, airflow velocity and surface emissivity, govern this balance, while hybrid ventilation offers the most excellent peak-load mitigation with modest energy input. A synthesis of simulation and field studies indicates that properly detailed VFs reduce envelope cooling loads by 20–55% across diverse climates and cut winter heating demand by 10–20% when vents are seasonally managed or coupled with heat-recovery devices. These thermal benefits translate into steadier interior surface temperatures, lower radiant asymmetry and fewer drafts, thereby expanding the hours occupants remain within comfort bands without mechanical conditioning. Climate-responsive guidance emerges in tropical and arid regions, favouring highly ventilated, low-absorptance cladding; temperate and continental zones gain from adaptive vents, movable insulation or PCM layers; multi-skin adaptive facades promise balanced year-round savings by re-configuring in real time. Overall, the review demonstrates that VFs constitute a versatile, passive-plus platform for low-carbon buildings, simultaneously enhancing energy efficiency, durability and indoor comfort. Future advances in smart controls, bio-based materials and integrated energy-recovery systems are poised to unlock further performance gains and accelerate the sector’s transition to net-zero. Emerging multifunctional materials such as phase-change composites, nanostructured coatings, and perovskite-integrated systems also show promise in enhancing facade adaptability and energy responsiveness. Full article

With the continuous expansion of global trade, achieving sustainable maritime transport optimization and operations has become a key strategic direction for transforming maritime transport companies. To summarize the current state of research and identify emerging trends in sustainable maritime transport optimization and operations, this study systematically examines representative studies from the past decade, focusing on three dimensions, technology, management, and policy, using data sourced from the Web of Science (WOS) database. Building on this analysis, potential avenues for future research are suggested. Research indicates that the technological field centers on the integrated application of alternative fuels, improvements in energy efficiency, and low-carbon technologies in the shipping and port sectors. At the management level, green investment decisions, speed optimization, and berth scheduling are emphasized as core strategies for enhancing corporate sustainable performance. From a policy perspective, attention is placed on the synergistic effects between market-based measures (MBMs) and governmental incentive policies. Existing studies primarily rely on multi-objective optimization models to achieve a balance between emission reductions and economic benefits. Technological innovation is considered a key pathway to decarbonization, while support from governments and organizations is recognized as crucial for ensuring sustainable development. Future research trends involve leveraging blockchain, big data, and artificial intelligence to optimize and streamline sustainable maritime transport operations, as well as establishing a collaborative governance framework guided by environmental objectives. This study contributes to refining the existing theoretical framework and offers several promising research directions for both academia and industry practitioners. Full article

Climate change refers to a significant and measurable alteration in the climate’s state, evident through shifts in the average and variability of key climate factors. Although the onset of climate change spans several decades, recent studies reveal a concerning intensification that is increasingly driven by anthropogenic activities, with the construction sector emerging as a significant contributor. The present paper investigates climate-conscious innovations within Romania’s construction industry, with a specific focus on the implementation of adaptive strategies. Through a narrative review methodology, this study synthesizes diverse sources, including scientific literature, technical reports, urban policy documents and relevant websites, to map the integration of sustainable construction practices in response to climate pressures. The findings highlight a range of local approaches, including passive design, green infrastructure, and reversible architecture, reflecting Romania’s gradual alignment with broader European environmental objectives. Despite Romania’s relatively low green contribution on a global scale, the country faces significant climate risks, including heatwaves, intense rainfall, and droughts. This evolving climate context necessitates a comprehensive adaptation of architectural practices, construction processes, material selection, and design strategies to mitigate environmental impact and enhance resilience. However, the narrative review approach has inherent limitations, including the potential for selection bias and limited replicability, which constrain the generalizability of the findings. Future research should employ quantitative and empirical methods to validate the effectiveness of climate-adaptive measures in structural engineering. Key areas include the integration of climate-resilient materials, structural performance under climate-induced stressors, and lifecycle carbon assessments of building components. Additionally, further investigation is needed into the development of predictive simulation models that assess the long-term structural impacts of evolving climate scenarios specific to Romania’s geographic and climatic conditions. Full article

The global environment has been facing sustainability threats recently owing to industrial and economic expansion. Hence, achieving the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality is crucial for promoting sustainable economic growth. To help the transportation industry achieve these goals, this study selects eight variables, including population size, per capita GDP, personal vehicle ownership, passenger and freight turnover, and green space coverage, as factors influencing the carbon emissions of the transportation industry in Jiangsu Province. This research uses these variables as the basis for predicting and analyzing transportation carbon emission trends from 2000 to 2021. In addition, the current study forecasts the future carbon emissions of the transportation industry and estimates the time of carbon emission peak in Jiangsu Province. To verify the accuracy of the results, this study compares the predicted results with those from other models. The whale optimization algorithm–support vector machine model is found to have the fewest errors among several models. On this basis, targeted measures are proposed to accelerate the carbon peak process and ensure the smooth achievement of carbon neutrality goals in Jiangsu Province. Results indicate that under the current policy measures, peak carbon emissions in Jiangsu Province will occur in 2038, with a peak of 48.72 million tons. Jiangsu Province should actively adopt energy-saving and emission-reduction measures, build a green and low-carbon transportation development model, and achieve the carbon peak target ahead of schedule. Findings from this study will provide valuable insights and practical recommendations for policy makers and stakeholders to formulate effective strategies for carbon reduction in the transportation sector, contributing to the sustainable development of China and the world. Full article

In the context of high-quality economic development, the empowering effect of regional integration policies on urban green and low-carbon development has significantly strengthened, playing a crucial strategic role in achieving the coordinated development of the economy and ecology. This study uses the expansion of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration as a quasi-natural experimental scenario, analyzing the pathways and mechanisms through which regional integration policies influence urban green and low-carbon development based on panel data from Chinese cities between 2004 and 2022, using a multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) model. The empirical results show the following: ① Regional integration policies significantly enhance the efficiency of urban green and low-carbon development, a conclusion that remains robust after a series of robustness tests, including PSM-DID estimation, placebo tests, instrumental variable methods, indicator reconstruction, and policy interference exclusion. ② Mechanism tests reveal that regional integration policies mainly drive the green and low-carbon transformation through three channels: innovation investment, industrial upgrading, and talent aggregation. ③ Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the positive impact of regional integration policies on the green and low-carbon development of cities is more significant in eastern regions, resource-based cities, small and medium-sized cities, and old industrial cities. Spatial effect tests show that regional integration development has a significant spatial spillover effect on urban green and low-carbon transformation. Based on these findings, it is recommended that, in the future, in global efforts should be made to continuously improve the regional collaborative governance system, strengthen multi-dimensional linkage mechanisms in urban agglomerations, and build a policy support framework that drives innovation and optimizes the allocation of factors. This study not only provides empirical support for the green efficiency enhancement mechanisms of regional integration policies but also offers decision-making references for promoting regional coordinated development and achieving green economic growth in the digital economy era. Full article

As the global ecological environment faces serious challenges and extreme climate change threatens the survival of humankind, the promotion of green development has become the focus for all countries in the world. As one of the world’s major greenhouse gas emitters, China has put forward the “twin goals” of achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality and is committed to promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of its cities. As the core of economic and social development, cities are the main source of carbon emissions. In response to the dual challenges of carbon emission control and traffic growth, it is particularly important to promote the development of green transportation. With the acceleration of urbanization, urban traffic pollution is becoming more and more serious. As a zero-emission transportation mode, electric vehicles have become a key way to achieve the carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets. In order to deeply analyze the research status of electric vehicles in the field of the green and low-carbon transformation of urban transportation in China and to explore the research hot spots, evolution trends, and their roles and strategies in the construction of green transportation networks, this paper uses the CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Tableau analysis tools to review and analyze the 2460 articles and reviews in the Web of Science Core Collection (WOS) and 2650 articles and reviews in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), including the “publication volume and publication trend”, “subject citation path”, “countries cooperation and geographical distribution”, “author cooperation and institution cooperation”, “keyword co-occurrence and keywords clusters”, and the “evolution trend of research hot spots in timeline”. The results show that: (1) Since 2010, the research focus on electric vehicles has gradually increased, and especially in the past three years, the number of such publications has increased significantly. (2) China holds the lead in research output regarding electric vehicles and related fields, but its international cooperation needs to be strengthened. (3) In recent years, the research has focused on “energy transformation”, “energy-saving technology”, “carbon emissions”, “battery recycling”, and other relevant topics. The promotion and development of electric vehicles will continue to usher in new opportunities concerning technological innovation, policy support, and market expansion. Finally, based on the research hot spots and evolution trends of electric vehicles in the field of urban green transportation and low-carbon transportation in China, this paper discusses the key paths and strategies for electric vehicles to promote the transformation of urban transportation in China to green and low-carbon types and looks forward to future research directions. The research in this paper can provide theoretical support and practical guidance for China to promote electric vehicles, build low-carbon cities, and realize green transportation. It is expected to act as a useful reference for relevant policy formulation and academic research. Full article

Wood is a natural and high-quality material for green and low-carbon buildings, and it is increasingly winning the favor of architects and consumers against the background of “dual carbon”. Exploring the current characteristics and trends of wood consumption in the construction industry (WCCI) and identifying its influencing factors are of great value for the scientific management of WCCI and the improvement of the comprehensive utilization efficiency of wood in the construction industry. In this study, the Boston Consulting Group Matrix and Geodetector were used in combination for empirical analysis of WCCI in China from 2000 to 2021. It is found that the changes in WCCI in China present a diversified trend with significant regional differences. The WCCI market at the provincial scale in China is divided into star, lost, potential, and marginal spaces. WCCI in China has very complex influencing factors and their mechanisms of action, and the interaction of its factor pairs is manifested as bifactor enhancement and nonlinear enhancement. This study provides a great application value for rational planning of wood resource utilization and pushing buildings into a low-carbon and green future, and it inspires the government to pay more attention to the design of spatial policies rather than industry policies and more attention to the design of policy combinations rather than individual policies. In addition, in the management of WCCI under the background of ecological civilization, it is necessary to escape the set pattern of the wood industry and force more use of wood in buildings in the design of constraint policies for non-wood building materials (such as glass, aluminum, steel, cement, and other high-carbon and energy-intensive building materials). Full article

Green building materials refer to environmentally friendly low-consumption construction materials. Their widespread adoption is hindered by high costs, limited technological implementation, and the absence of standardized regulations. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of 5381 publications from 2003 to 2024, sourced from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS), applying Sustainability Transitions Theory (STT) to classify research into Niche Innovation (new materials like phase change materials), Regime Adaptation (policies and lifecycle assessments), and Landscape Pressures (climate goals and circular economy integration). The results show rapid growth in research, shifting from basic sustainability concepts to advanced materials, lifecycle analysis, and digital technologies. Key themes include energy conservation, mechanical performance, and environmental impact, with emerging trends like carbon reduction strategies, blockchain applications in circular economies, and the integration of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in construction. Future research should focus on enhancing material durability, standardizing sustainability metrics, and developing cost-effective recycling strategies to promote wider adoption. Full article

Green hydrogen is a promising energy carrier for the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors and supporting renewable energy integration, aligning with carbon neutrality goals like the European Green Deal. Iceland’s abundant renewable energy and decarbonized electricity system position it as a strong candidate for green hydrogen production. Despite early initiatives, its hydrogen economy has yet to significantly expand. This study evaluated Iceland’s hydrogen development through stakeholder interviews and a techno-economic analysis of alkaline and PEM electrolyzers. Stakeholders were driven by decarbonization goals, economic opportunities, and energy security but faced technological, economic, and governance challenges. Recommendations include building stakeholder confidence, financial incentives, and creating hydrogen-based chemicals to boost demand. Currently, alkaline electrolyzers are more cost-effective (EUR 1.5–2.8/kg) than PEMs (EUR 2.1–3.6/kg), though the future costs for both could drop below EUR 1.5/kg. Iceland’s low electricity costs and high electrolyzer capacity provide a competitive edge. However, this advantage may shrink as solar and wind costs decline globally, particularly in regions like Australia. This work’s findings emphasize the need for strategic planning to sustain competitiveness and offer transferable insights for other regions introducing hydrogen into ecosystems lacking infrastructure. Full article

Green and low-carbon transformation has become a global development theme. This paper provides a systematic survey of the literature related to key technologies for green and low-carbon future buildings, including the green design method system of low-carbon future buildings; the low-carbon future buildings construction system and green building materials; the low-carbon future buildings energy system; the low-carbon intelligent operation of buildings and carbon emission control in the operation stage; and the low-carbon future buildings assessment system. This paper analyzes and summarizes the whole chain of “carbon monitoring-carbon accounting-carbon assessment-carbon control” of the whole life cycle of buildings. We systematically surveyed the development overview and the latest development trend of scientific and technological innovation; the existing starting level of science and technology; and the existing intellectual property, competition, and industrialization prospects in each stage of the whole life cycle. We conducted an overall analysis of the characteristics, thematic context, and knowledge evolution of low-carbon future building-related research, both domestically and internationally; referring to the relevant standards and specifications for new types of buildings, such as green buildings, a preliminary theoretical framework for low-carbon future buildings is constructed from the perspective of the entire life cycle. Full article

Site selection is the key to carrying out the industrial layout of construction and demolition waste (CDW) resourcing enterprises. The current study needs more data on CDW industry location. The current construction waste resource utilization rate and industrial layout need to be improved. This study uses statistical and visualization methods to analyze key factors affecting the location of CDW recycling enterprises. Additionally, it identifies planning strategies and policy incentives to drive industry development. The study explicitly adopts global and weighted geographic regression (GWR) analysis methods and uses ArcGIS 10.8 to visualize point of interest (POI) data. It was found that (1) the main factors affecting the spatial distribution of the CDW recycling economy, in order of importance, are river network density, financial subsidies, R&D incentives, the number of building material markets, the value added by the secondary industry, the area of industrial land, and the density of the road network. The three main drivers of site selection decisions are government subsidies, market size, land, and transportation resources. (2) Enterprise industry chain and transportation costs are industrial economic decision-making considerations. Enterprises are generally located on flat terrain, around industrial parks, near the center of urban areas, and close to demand and cost reduction. (3) At the city level, there are more resource-based enterprises in cities with high levels of economic development and strong policy support. The spatial distribution of enterprises is consistent with the direction of urban geographic development. There is a positive global correlation between construction waste resourcing enterprises. Ningbo, western Qingdao, and northern Beijing show high aggregation characteristics. Low–low aggregation characteristics exist in regions other than central Chongqing. High–low aggregation characteristics are found in the center of the main city of Chongqing, eastern Shanghai, and central Nanjing. Low–high aggregation is distributed in northeastern Ningbo, northern Guangzhou, and southern Shenzhen. (4) Regarding industrial agglomeration, except for Nanjing, construction waste industrial agglomeration occurs in all 11 pilot cities. Among them, Shanghai, Xiamen, and Hangzhou have industries that are distributed evenly. Xi’an and Chongqing have a centralized distribution of industries. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Ningbo, and Qingdao have multi-center clustering of industries. Nanning’s industry has a belt-shaped distribution. This research explores the micro elements of industry chain integration in the CDW industry. It combines incentive policies and urban planning at the macro level. Together, these efforts promote sustainable city construction. This research provides CDW location data and dates for future digital twin and city model algorithms. It supports industrial planning, transportation, spatial optimization, carbon emission analysis, city operations, and management and aims to enhance the city’s green and low-carbon operations. Full article

The advent and application of biophilic architecture bring numerous environmental, economic, and energy-efficiency benefits, playing a crucial role in advancing low-carbon, energy-saving, healthy, comfortable, and sustainable development within the construction industry. Thanks to its many advantages—such as aesthetic enhancement, improved microclimates, and negative carbon potential—biophilic architecture has been widely adopted in building design, particularly as a response to the escalating environmental crisis. Integrating plants with various architectural forms can optimize building performance, especially by reducing operational energy consumption. This study uses knowledge mapping tools like CiteSpace 6.1.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.19 to analyze 2309 research papers from the Web of Science (WoS) published over the past decade on the topic of “energy efficiency in biophilic architecture”. It conducts visual analyses of publication trends, collaborative networks, and key themes. The research categorizes plant–architecture integration methods, focusing on three primary areas: green roofs, vertical green systems, and green photovoltaic systems. Additionally, it reviews the ways in which biophilic architecture contributes to energy savings, the research methodologies employed, energy-saving rates, and the factors influencing these outcomes. Finally, a SWOT framework is constructed to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential threats of biophilic architecture, as well as its future development prospects. The findings indicate that integrating plants with building roofs is an effective energy-saving strategy, achieving energy savings of up to 70%. Furthermore, combining biophilic elements with photovoltaic systems can enhance the efficiency of solar energy generation. This study offers valuable insights for architects and researchers in designing more energy-efficient and sustainable buildings. Full article

The increasing demand for cement, which is being driven by global urbanization and infrastructure expansion, necessitates sustainable alternatives to be used as construction materials. Cement-based composites, a prevalent construction material, are known for their high carbon footprint. Consequently, exploring sustainable alternatives is urgently needed to curb the environmental impact of the construction sector by capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂). Thus, utilizing biochar (BC) in cement-based composites, either as additive or cement, and in aggregate replacement could be a green approach, by producing enhanced composites with the capabilities of CO₂ sequestration. This review investigates the BC-modified cement composites by performing a scientometric assessment of the Scopus database and a thorough manual review. A scientometric assessment of Scopus-indexed publications retrieved from 2010–2024 was conducted to highlight key research trends, including influential authors, frequently cited works, countries, and institutions. The findings provide a comprehensive overview of the current situation of BC research and applications in cement-based composites for sustainable construction. The assessment revealed that the Construction and Building Materials journal was the most prolific source of publications (n = 34), followed by Gupta, with S as the most prolific author (n = 11), and China as the leading country in the field (n = 56). It also highlights the emerging areas for the use of BC in the construction sector for sequestering CO₂ and potential future directions. Additionally, the review discusses BC sources and BC production technologies and characteristics. It also discusses the influence of BC inclusion on the fresh properties, its mechanical properties, durability characteristics, carbon capture capabilities, and the environmental impacts of modified cement-based composites. It has been noted that BC addition to cement-based composites from 1% to 2% can increase its mechanical performance, whereas, beyond a 5% to 6% replacement, they experienced a decline compared to non-modified composites. BC addition has reduced the flow characteristics of the modified composites due to its porous morphology and hydrophobic nature but has shown improved internal curing and reduced shrinkage. It also improved the microstructure of the cement-based composite through pore refinement, due to the filling ability of the BC particles attributed to its specific surface area and size. Additionally, the carbon sequestration potential of BC can be exploited in cement-based composites to create low carbon or carbon-negative building materials with improved mechanical and durability characteristics. The study also highlights the future directions for further studies and implementation strategies of BC as a sustainable construction material at a large scale. Full article

This analysis provides a comprehensive overview of current research regarding prefabricated construction costs, explained under three main categories: collaboration, intellectual basis, and research trends. The collaboration network covers country, institution, and journal distribution. Intellectual basis includes a cited journal, cited reference, and cited author, while research trends cover research category, keyword and keyword cluster analysis, and cited reference cluster. Through bibliometric analysis, we find that this field has garnered significant attention in the academic community and has developed rapidly. China dominates the field of prefabricated construction, with Curtin University, Chongqing University, and Deakin University being the leading research institutions, while Automation in Construction is the most cited journal. Although technology integration is widely regarded as a key means of cost optimization, its high implementation costs and complexity have limited its widespread application. The challenges of technology integration lie in the need to address high capital costs, complex management practices, and the demand for advanced technology integration, which have become significant barriers to the promotion of prefabricated construction. Moreover, current research also focuses on how to enhance risk control and management practices in cost management to promote sustainable development. Future research will focus on green and sustainable technologies, multidisciplinary engineering, energy and fuel, construction technologies to optimize prefabricated construction techniques, advance low-carbon building practices, and improve decision analysis and risk management. The key factors influencing costs include technological factor, policy factors, market and environmental factors, and organizational management. By systematically controlling these factors, cost pressures can be effectively alleviated, construction efficiency improved, and the sustainability of prefabricated buildings enhanced. This study not only provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state and trends in research on the costs of prefabricated construction but also highlights the critical role of technological innovation, policy optimization, and interdisciplinary collaboration in promoting the sustainable development of prefabricated construction globally. Full article

The demand for low-carbon and energy-efficient building designs is urgent, especially considering that building energy consumption constitutes a significant part of global energy usage. Unlike small to medium-sized buildings such as residential and office spaces, large public buildings, like sports facilities, have unique usage patterns and architectural forms, offering more significant potential for energy-saving strategies. This review focuses on sports buildings, selecting 62 high-quality papers published in building science over the past 30 years that investigate low-carbon and energy-efficient research. Summarizing and synthesizing these papers reveals that current studies predominantly concentrate on four main areas: indoor air quality, ventilation, thermal environment, and energy consumption. Notably, many studies emphasize improving indoor thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption in sports buildings through measurements and evaluations of indoor thermal environments, temperature distributions, heat transfer phenomena, and energy consumption analyses. Key outcomes indicate that green technology innovations, such as energy substitution technologies, significantly enhance energy efficiency and reduce CO₂ emissions. However, present research emphasizes singular energy-saving approaches, suggesting future directions could integrate comprehensive green technologies, life-cycle assessments, and applications of intelligent technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT). These enhancements aim to provide more effective and sustainable solutions for implementing green, low-carbon energy practices in sports buildings. The review emphasizes that in order to accomplish sustainable urban growth and achieve global carbon neutrality targets, a comprehensive approach involving technical innovation, legislative assistance, and extensive preparation is crucial. Full article