31 March 2020 : Special Issue of Recent Research in the Design of New Sustainable Building Materials

Dear Colleagues,

The Construction Sector has not been indifferent to of both scientific and technological progress in our society, incorporating new materials in constructions that are designed with raw materials from the reuse of industrial waste. Researchers are directing their efforts towards the reuse of waste products that have in the past been left to accumulate in dumping sites with no specific applications, but with potential value as raw materials for use in new building materials.

There are various reasons that have justified this social change and the commitment towards sustainable development, working towards equitable societies that can achieve a delicate balance between both the natural and the built environment.

On the one hand, the significant impact of industrial waste on the natural environment affects people’s quality of life and compromises the future of humanity. Today, the commitment is to achieve a built environment in harmony with human development, in which human and ecological values are respected. In that sense, balancing environmental concerns and ecological construction methods is a key factor for the built environment that can be addressed through the reuse of waste products.

On the other hand, the scarcity of natural resources is also forcing a change in industrial strategy, increasingly in favor of exploiting the waste products from industry and valuing their reuse, in the context of new economic trends linked to the circular economy.

Finally, the scarcity of energetic resources also justifies the exploitation of industrial waste, thereby avoiding the consumption of significant amounts of energy for the production of conventional raw materials, which are replaced by recycled waste.

It has all implied significant investigative activity, to which the Construction Sector is an active contributor. These lines of investigation aim to design new, innovative, and ecological construction materials, using industrial waste products as raw materials that would otherwise be dumped in landfill sites. This investigative strategy implies a competitive advantage when new technologies and new materials, respectful of the environment, show equivalent performance levels to the conventional materials that are currently in use.

The purpose of this call for papers is to communicate new investigative areas that study the reuse of industrial waste products as raw materials for the Design of Sustainable and Ecological Construction Materials.

Researchers are therefore invited to share their proposals for the design of new, sustainable, and ecological construction materials that can be integrated in the circular economy.

Dr. Ángel Rodríguez Saiz
Dr. Sara Gutiérrez González
Dr. Verónica Calderón Carpintero
Guest Editors

Submission steps:

1. Register via our system https://susy.mdpi.com/ and login;

2. Click "Submit to Special Issue" at:
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/special_issues/Sustainable_Building_Materials_Design;

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forward to hearing from you. Have a nice day!