Businesses around the world are being asked to be more open about climate-change risks by adopting the best-practice guidelines of the international Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures. The property and construction sector contributes more than 40% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, yet not much is known about how these companies are addressing climate-change risk. Research was

The determination of whether market size can influence industrial agglomeration or selection is an important topic in economic development. To analyse the differential economic development of the construction industry under different market sizes, this research analyses the employment density of China’s provinces and their total factor productivity (TFP). It also analyses whether the differences in

It is becoming more common to replace cement partially with supplementary cementitious materials, which in turn influence the mechanical performance and environment impact of the resulting mortar or concrete. A study was undertaken to evaluate the eco-mechanical performance of both binary and ternary blended cement mortars. For this purpose, fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag were used

As concerns grow over sustainable development, it is important to consider properly the environmental implications of using fibre-reinforced polymers to strengthen concrete structures. Since the load capacity of a structure has an effect on its relative environmental impact, an energy–mechanical index, in which both energy consumption and mechanical aspects are taken into account, was proposed for

The Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) was introduced in 1997 to improve the image of the UK construction industry and has grown dramatically, with over 6000 construction and infrastructure projects registered valued at £43 billion. While evidence exists that the industry’s image is improving, there is little research into the CCS perceptions of those tasked with scheme delivery. It is not clear

Due to the large number of buildings, energy consumption in the university campuses of Turkey may tend to increase over time. In this context, their potential energy savings need to be explored. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate energy savings in university campuses by applying different energy-efficient measures with simulation-based analysis. To do that, four buildings from the Balıkesir

A study was undertaken to develop an agent-based model for building renovation waste management in Shenzhen, China, considering various stakeholders. An extensive literature review on renovation waste management was followed by development of a Java-based model. The model simulates results on the environmental impact of different policy scenarios with various interactions between stakeholders. Based

This study analysed the current thermal comfort conditions of Balikesir University Hospital in Turkey. Measurements and questionnaire surveys were performed to evaluate thermal comfort conditions. Environmental parameters such as air temperature, globe temperature, relative humidity and air velocity were measured. A total of 429 questionnaires were collected and analysed by using SPSS software version

Use of industrial waste in alkali-activated materials is promoted widely across the world as it unlocks the potential to produce sustainable and cost-effective products to meet increased constructi...

Sustainability has become a recognised important sector and a main concern in modern life. The attention towards sustainability was particularly increased when the UN set the target of achieving 17...

In 2015, the UN member countries, on mutual understanding, identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be achieved by 2030. According to several reports, some countries are reflecting go...

Interviews were undertaken with expert bridge designers to reveal their opinions on environmental considerations and the possibility of integrating life-cycle assessment into the bridge design proc...

Round tables discussing the resilience of critical infrastructure systems held in the UK, the USA and New Zealand have provided insight into how organisations are changing the basis of planning and...

In 2015, the UN member countries, on mutual understanding, identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be achieved by 2030. According to several reports, some countries are reflecting good progress, but overall, no country is on track towards achieving all the UN SDGs. This paper aims to show the progress and commitment of the UAE towards UN SDGs. A qualitative research approach using a

Sustainability has become a recognised important sector and a main concern in modern life. The attention towards sustainability was particularly increased when the UN set the target of achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The role of universities cannot be ignored in promoting sustainability, but to play this role effectively, universities first need to be sustainable. This paper aims

Round tables discussing the resilience of critical infrastructure systems held in the UK, the USA and New Zealand have provided insight into how organisations are changing the basis of planning and investment decisions to enhance resilience. The events convened stakeholders to explore how resilience is embraced in their sectors and to identify how to advance practice. The overarching premise was to

Interviews were undertaken with expert bridge designers to reveal their opinions on environmental considerations and the possibility of integrating life-cycle assessment into the bridge design process. Bridge designers were generally found to consider that the need for the bridge, access for future maintenance, use of quality materials, longevity, cost savings and sustainability are matters more important

Across sub-Saharan Africa, 238 million people live in slums or informal settlements. Due to rapid urbanisation and population growth, informal settlements have become a major challenge in the urban...

Building energy efficiency (BEE) is regarded as the key sector in the world for addressing climate change and energy problems, since buildings consume around one-third of global energy and produce ...

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an increasingly significant area of focus for company operations in a wide variety of economic sectors. Organisations committed to CSR go beyond regulatory ...

Construction industries are bulk generators of waste globally; improper management leads to environmental catastrophes. This paper identifies the significant factors through exploratory factor anal...

National energy standards of countries worldwide require a wide range of measures to be used in energy policies. It has become a challenge to fulfil different measures of building envelope design o...

An integrated study based on the development of road infrastructure related to transport modes is one of the main methods to reduce both social and safety and pollution impacts. In this sense, opti...

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an increasingly significant area of focus for company operations in a wide variety of economic sectors. Organisations committed to CSR go beyond regulatory compliance and meeting their legal and economic duties, to take into account their broader social and environmental responsibilities. Almost all organisations operate in, and sometimes commission, buildings

National energy standards of countries worldwide require a wide range of measures to be used in energy policies. It has become a challenge to fulfil different measures of building envelope design optimisation through enhancement of energy conservation. To overcome this challenge, this study proposes an optimisation model for determining the optimum envelope design of a reference building in four climate

Building energy efficiency (BEE) is regarded as the key sector in the world for addressing climate change and energy problems, since buildings consume around one-third of global energy and produce a substantial amount of greenhouse gas emissions. It is important to utilise BEE standards (BEESs) to ensure that cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities are incorporated into new and existing buildings

Construction industries are bulk generators of waste globally; improper management leads to environmental catastrophes. This paper identifies the significant factors through exploratory factor analysis and presents a novel approach to determining the causal relationships of various factors that lead to waste generation at construction sites by structural equation modelling. The analysis identifies

An integrated study based on the development of road infrastructure related to transport modes is one of the main methods to reduce both social and safety and pollution impacts. In this sense, optimal planning aims to reduce the use of private vehicles and reduce pollutant emissions and accidents. In general, the most successful cities have been those where different types of interventions have been

The determination of whether market size can influence industrial agglomeration or selection is an important topic in economic development. To analyse the differential economic development of the construction industry under different market sizes, this research analyses the employment density of China’s provinces and their Total factor productivity (TFP). It also analyses whether the difference in

Greenhouse gas emissions originating from the built environment play a significant role towards climate change. Carefully planning the future of the building sector is key to mitigating these emiss...

Currently, given the rapid growth and implementation of inadequate planning policies in African cities, the gap between formal and informal urbanisation is becoming increasingly evident. Spontaneou...

Sustainable buildings are regarded as one of the most effective approaches to saving resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting sustainable development. In the absence of prior res...

There are few studies analyzing whether different types of environmental regulation have differential impacts on the efficiency of the construction industry. Using 2012-2016 panel data from 30 provinces in China, the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the construction industry is measured with a global Malmquist Luenberger productivity index based on the epsilon measure (EBM-GML) model. Thereafter

It is becoming more common to partially replace cement with supplementary cementitious materials, which in turn influences the mechanical performance and environment impact of the resulting mortar ...

Sustainable buildings are regarded as one of the most effective approaches to saving resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting sustainable development. In the absence of prior research, Delphi as a group model-building approach for building a system dynamics model is appropriate for capturing the knowledge of construction professionals to identify the relationship between procurement

An evaluation system has been established for assessing carbon dioxide emissions associated with asphalt pavement construction in China. As described in this paper, the system is based on the European driving force–pressure–state–impact–response model and uses the analytic hierarchy process combined with subjective and objective weighting and the comprehensive index method. It shows that state, response

Greenhouse gas emissions originating from the built environment play a significant role towards climate change. Carefully planning the future of the building sector is key to mitigating these emissions. Addressing this problem by using a predictive approach may miss possible futures that cannot be anticipated. Using explorative scenarios to perform futures analysis helps widen the range of futures

Currently, given the rapid growth and implementation of inadequate planning policies in African cities, the gap between formal and informal urbanisation is becoming increasingly evident. Spontaneous and unplanned settlements are home to more than half the urban population in Africa, where lost and forgotten spaces within cities are claimed by the urban poor as their ‘right to the city’. This study

Businesses around the are being asked to be more open about climate-change risks by adopting the best-practice guidelines of the international Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures. ...

The property and construction sector is known to be a laggard in the adoption of sustainability practices, possibly due to its fragmented nature. Yet there is an increasing demand from key stakeholders, such as institutional investors, as well as civil society, for greater transparency on sustainability disclosures. This paper highlights a case study conducted in a publicly listed Malaysian property

Concrete is one of the main structural materials used in the world; hence, improvement of the concrete mix design with respect to variable issues and requirements is of great importance. Moreover, environmental issues and waste materials have become major concerns these days. In this study, to move towards a more sustainable and eco-friendly construction industry, recycled waste glasses were used as

As cities work to reduce their total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the transportation sector is lagging, accounting for a growing percentage of total emissions in many cities. The provision of public transit, and specifically urban rail transit, is widely seen as a useful tool for reducing urban transportation GHG emissions. More research, however, is needed to understand the net impact of new metro

While the sustainability of civil infrastructure is critical to professionals, project owners, regulators, funding agencies and the public, little is done to link individual project sustainability to the UN’s 17 global sustainable development goals for 2030. This paper not only provides some answers, but also exposes many questions that need resolution by the infrastructure sector. Using empirical

The Considerate Constructors Scheme was introduced in 1997 to improve the image of the UK construction industry and has grown dramatically with over 6,000 construction and infrastructure projects registered valued at £43 billion. Whilst evidence exists that the industry’s image is improving, there is little research into the CCS perceptions of those tasked with the schemes delivery. It is not clear

As concerns grow over sustainable development, it is important to consider properly the environmental implications of using fibre-reinforced polymers to strengthen concrete structures. Since the lo...

While the sustainability of civil infrastructure is critical to professionals, project owners, regulators, funding agencies and the public, little is done to link individual project sustainability ...

Due to the large number of buildings, energy consumption in the university campuses of Turkey may tend to increase over time. In this context, their potential energy savings need to be explored. Th...

Thermal insulation is a significant factor in building construction. As a result, Green Star in Australia requires building envelopes to be properly insulated. Further, green buildings require at least 15% above the required R-values (m2K/W) for achieving Green Star credit points. Thermal insulation of the roof depends on various factors such as insulation material, sarking material, air films and

Success in sustainable building can help ease the adverse impact of climate change. For this reason, sustainable building is becoming a worldwide trend. While defining both critical success factors and success criteria is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable building success, very little studies have conducted to identify the factors and criteria influencing the success of sustainable building

Adapting to climate change is one of the major challenges facing the United Kingdom over the next century, including adapting to pressures on both people and the environment from increasing risk of flooding. This paper looks at a sustainable response which combines catchment wide considerations with community engagement to assess to what extent natural flood management (NFM) techniques might reduce

A new method for estimating flood hazard is developed in this study for flat and low lying areas wherein floods have low flow velocity, large depth and long duration. The hazard was computed as a function of flood depth and duration, not only depth as in the past. The study area of 624 km2 in Bangkok suburban is divided into small grids, each of 200 m by 200 m. Because flood depth and duration have

Cycling as a mode of transport avoids the negative external costs of driving such as air pollution, carbon emissions and noise and can also reduce the public health costs associated with physical inactivity. However, increased cycling may also have disadvantages such as increased exposure to air pollution and risk of traffic collisions. A number of studies have developed methods to quantify these health

Several factors, such as energy-saving methodologies and techniques and improved use of materials, need to be considered for the development of sustainable construction materials. In the present wo...

The environmental footprint of the construction industry requires the quantification of new developments to appraise their sustainable contribution. Recent developments in relation to the merging of steel fibre reinforced concrete and self-compacting concrete reveal a promising concrete technology that requires extensive experimental studies to assess its benefits. In this study, a constructive analysis

The upgrade and improvement of existing railway lines across the UK has been and still is a priority of the existing administration, as they carry 50% more passengers than they did 10 years ago. In Scotland, the latest figures estimate a total investment of around £1 billion of enhancements within Control Period 5, which includes the Edinburgh–Glasgow Improvement Programme (Egip). This paper focuses

This themed issue includes the selected papers from the proceedings of the seventh International Conference on Sustainability and Energy in Buildings 2015 (SEB15), which was successfully held in the vibrant city of Lisbon, Portugal and was organised by the Universidade Nova de Lisbon (New University of Lisbon) in partnership with KES International. Annually, the conference brings together researchers

‘Smart cities’ embrace technologically based solutions as an enabler of efficient, affordable and more sustainable urban living in times of resource scarcity, persistent austerity and high-tech inn...