Low-Carbon Construction Materials and Structures for Circularity: CO₂ Quantification and Reduction

Call for Papers

Low-Carbon Construction Materials and Structures for Circularity: CO₂ Quantification and Reduction

JOURNAL NAME: Engineering Sustainability

PUBLISHER: ICE Publishing (Institution of Civil Engineers)

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 1 May 2026

FULL PAPER SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 31 January 2027

About This Special Issue

The construction sector accounts for a substantial share of global energy use, greenhouse-gas emissions, and raw material consumption, while generating large volumes of construction and demolition waste. At the same time, the decarbonisation potential of cementitious materials — through circular resource use and CO₂ uptake — remains underutilised. Moving from a linear model to a low-carbon, circular economy therefore requires not only new materials and structural concepts, but also transparent and comparable quantification of CO₂ reduction.

This special issue invites original research and review articles that deliver measurable, reproducible CO₂ reduction outcomes supported by clearly stated baselines, system boundaries, and inventory assumptions. Submissions are welcomed on low-carbon cementitious binders and composites, recycled concrete and aggregates, CO₂ mineralisation and curing routes, and circular structural systems — provided the work links quantified carbon outcomes with material and structural performance and durability. Studies may include experiments, modelling and multi-physics simulations, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, LCA/LCC and circularity indicators, and pilot or full-scale case studies in buildings and infrastructure.

Scope & Theme Areas

We invite submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Low-Carbon Binders and Concretes — Quantified CO₂ reduction including low-clinker cements, blended binders, alkali-activated materials, and geopolymers for structural applications

• Recycled Concrete and Aggregate Systems — Full and multi-recycling with embodied-carbon baselines and quantified CO₂ reduction

• CO₂ Mineralisation and Curing — Verified CO₂ uptake in cementitious materials, recycled aggregates and recycled fines/powders, and its contribution to net CO₂ reduction

• Inventory Data and Emission Factors — Measurement protocols for CO₂ quantification across materials production, transport, curing, mineralisation, and end-of-life scenarios

• Performance and Durability Linked to CO₂ Outcomes — Microstructure-transport-durability relationships, service-life effects, maintenance, repair, and replacement in carbon calculations

• LCA/LCC and Circularity Indicators — For materials and structures at component, building, and infrastructure scales, including uncertainty and sensitivity analysis

• Structural Performance and Design Methods — Performance-based design, optimisation, and reliability under embodied-carbon constraints with quantified CO₂ reduction targets

• Design for Deconstruction and Reuse — Multiple life cycles enabling closed-loop construction and accounting for end-of-life CO₂ uptake

• CO₂ Quantification Methods — Functional units, system boundaries, baselines, allocation, and temporal effects for materials and structures

• Verification and Reproducibility — Measurement-model integration, data quality, reporting templates, and uncertainty propagation for quantified CO₂ reduction

Guest Editors

Dianchao Wang

Shan Gao

Takafumi Noguchi

Key Deadlines & Dates

Submission Guidelines

How to submit: Abstracts and manuscripts must be submitted via the River Valley online portal, strictly following the journal's author guidelines.

Submission portal: https://ice-review.rivervalley.io/journal/jensu

Selection step: Once registered, navigate to the journal, choose article type "Special Issue" and then select the specific special issue name from the drop-down menu.

Eligibility: Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere while under review for this journal.

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