Sustainable Buildings as a Part of Efficient Urban Planning

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce the opening of a new Special Issue in Sustainability.

The main topics of the Special Issue will regard new approaches addressing sustainability in urban areas. Over half of the world’s population now live in cities. Today, cities are main sources of energy consumption, CO₂ and pollution emissions. Considering this, it is important to think carefully about the nature, operation and form of cities, particularly with respect to the challenging issue of sustainability. Buildings are essential in the creation of sustainable cities. If we want to look at cities in the context of a green and sustainable future, we need to look at the buildings they consist of.

The term sustainable building refers to both a structure and the utilization of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle: planning, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. An increasing number of researchers are developing new ecological technologies, materials, and methods that are accessible, secure, healthy and productive while minimizing any negative impacts upon society, the environment and the economy. Accordingly, some specialists such as landscape architects, architects, engineers, urban designers and planners play a significant role in achieving sustainable development in cities and countries and in creating appropriate conditions for a higher quality of life.

From this perspective, the Special Issue wants to contribute to the field, presenting the most relevant advances in this research area.

The following are some of the topics proposed for this Special Issue (but this is not exhaustive):

• Green building technology, materials and methods;
• Green building design;
• The cost-effectiveness of green buildings;
• The new trends in urban planning;
• Green certification;
• Reduction in carbon footprint;
• Air cleanliness, thermal control and noise pollution;
• New approaches addressing sustainability in urban areas.

We hope you will contribute your high-quality research and we look forward to reading your valuable results.

Prof. Dr. Edyta Plebankiewicz
Dr. Jarosław Malara
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability 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 2400 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.

• green building
• urban planning
• carbon footprint
• green building technology
• green building materials