About this Research Topic

Background

Spaces and places have grown in terms of technology over the past five decades with an ever-increasing expectation from owners who demand sustainable and technologically sophisticated buildings and infrastructures. Although the construction industry has been making profound progress in meeting the client and society's expectations, it has struggled to be innovative and sustainable in delivering projects. The industry has lagged behind other major sectors like manufacturing in adopting modern technologies and sustainable processes in delivering its products. It is envisaged that the implementation of sustainability initiatives and digital technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), Industry 4.0 (augmented reality, smart sensors, and wearables, big data, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain technology), would help the construction industry to deliver better projects that could exceed owner satisfaction than expected at the beginning of the project. It is envisioned that the adoption of digital technologies and sustainability initiatives in the construction industry would enhance the livability of cities and buildings; and enhance project delivery.


The goal of this Call for Paper aims at documenting the theoretical and practical contributions of the state-of-the-art implementation of these digital technologies, automation, and sustainability in the built environment - with a specific focus on building and infrastructure projects. It also aims to advance the understanding of the implications of their implementation for the construction industry, economy, society, and the environment. Papers submitted under this Special Issue should focus on and advance research relating to applying and integrating digital technologies and/or sustainability in any of the various processes of building and infrastructure projects at the planning, design, engineering, construction, and/or management phases, including their supply chain management. Submitted articles may investigate the trend of these research themes, potential facilitating factors, and relevant future research directions.





We welcome original research papers and review papers relating to these research themes but are not limited to the followings:

1. Intelligent systems for construction management processes.
2. Construction health and safety.
3. BIM, Blockchain, big data, and Industry 4.0 technologies.
4. Offsite or modular construction / prefabricated buildings.
5. Sustainability practices, standards, and assessments.
6. Green buildings, smart cities, and buildings.
7. Ethical issues in construction automation and digitalization.
8. Construction programming and planning.
9. Construction supply chain management.
10. Digital engineering.
11. Construction education.
12. Infrastructure projects and sustainability.
13. Integrated project delivery and lean construction.
14. Circular economy.

Keywords: Built environment; construction management; digitalization; Industry 4.0; green buildings; sustainability.

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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