Dear Colleagues,

Green and low-carbon building development is a transformative approach to architecture and urban planning that prioritizes environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, and reduced carbon emissions. It refers to the design, construction, operation, renovation, and reuse of buildings in ways that minimize environmental impact and promote sustainable development, and integrates reversible, modular, and flexible architecture; low-impact construction systems; eco-friendly and sustainable materials; and renewable energy plants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption.

The main topics of interest for this Special Issue are as follows:

Energy Efficiency: Use of insulation, passive design, LED lighting, and high-efficiency HVAC systems to reduce energy consumption, as well as tools to optimize building performance, building orientation strategies, and indoor environmental quality.

Renewable Energy Integration: Incorporation of solar and photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, and geothermal systems to sustainably power buildings; use of hybrid renewable systems; and implementation of energy-sharing systems between buildings or communities.

Sustainable Materials: Use of reused, recycled, locally sourced, bio-based, carbon-sequestering, low-impact, and highly durable materials, as well as implementation of cradle-to-cradle (C2C) design and life-cycle assessment (LCA).

Water Conservation: Installation of low-flow fixtures, rainwater harvesting systems, and greywater recycling; integration of smart irrigation systems and soil moisture sensors; and treatment of on-site wastewater as well as its reuse for non-potable applications.

Waste Reduction: Construction practices that minimize waste and promote recycling and reuse of materials, selective demolition, and a circular supply chain, as well as digital tools for material tracking and waste auditing.

Smart Technologies: Use of building automation systems, smart meters, and IoT devices to monitor and optimize energy use, as well as integration of AI-driven predictive maintenance with performance analytics, digital twins, and smart grids for demand-response management and optimized energy distribution.

Resilience and Climate Adaptation: Designing buildings to withstand extreme weather, floods, and temperature fluctuations, as well as off-grid buildings and adaptive reuse.

Dr. Giacomo Di Ruocco
Dr. Stefania De Gregorio
Dr. Marco Pepe
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. Buildings 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 2600 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 architecture
• green building
• eco-friendly construction
• low-carbon design
• climate-resilient buildings
• environmental impact
• sustainable urban development
• net-zero buildings
• carbon-neutral construction
• circular economy in construction

3 Febbraio 2026 da DI RUOCCO Giacomo