Environmental Science & Sustainable Development

Bibliometric Analysis on Digital Tools for Project Delivery in Construction Management

Shadrack Habu — 2026-06-30

In recent years, the construction industry has undergone a significant transformation, primarily driven by the adoption of digital tools to enhance project delivery and efficiency and ensure sustainability. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of literature from 2015 to 2025 on digital tools used for project delivery in construction management to discover publication trends, identify key contributors, and highlight existing research gaps. A total of 382 relevant publications were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database, and VOSviewer software was used for the network analysis. Various influential authors, institutions, journals, and countries contributing to the field were identified from the network analysis, with Building Information Modeling (BIM), artificial intelligence (AI), drones, virtual and augmented reality, and cloud computing emerging as the most prominent technologies. Furthermore, four main thematic clusters were identified: BIM and sustainability frameworks, digital tools in Education, innovations in construction management, and simulation-based design optimization. The findings reveal that while nations such as China, the United States, and Australia lead in research output, regions such as Africa, particularly Nigeria, remain underrepresented in this area. The bibliometric analysis revealed gaps in existing literature, including the need for integrated digital frameworks, enhancing digital literacy among construction professionals, and greater regional participation. These insights contribute to the ongoing dissertation on digital transformation in the construction industry and offer a basis for research and policy development in emerging economies of the future.

Trends in Postmodern Landscape Creations

Sami Kamoun — 2026-06-30

This study aims to explore the notion of landscape by analyzing its various spatial and aesthetic expressions through the lens of two postmodern architectural trends: deconstructivism and parametricism. From a theoretical standpoint, these two movements oppose the rigidity of modernism while developing fundamentally distinct conceptual approaches: one is rooted in philosophical reflection, whereas the other privileges a technological approach. However, research on this issue remains limited, particularly in the fields of landscape and garden design.

In this context, the study is based on the analysis of two emblematic projects: the Parc de la Villette, designed by Bernard Tschumi and completed in Paris in 1987, and the installation Augmented Grounds by Soomeen Hahm Design, developed in Canada in 2020. The adopted methodology relies on an in-depth literature review, complemented by a visual analysis based on photographic and video materials.

The first project, conceived at the landscape scale, implements a spatial deconstruction based on the superposition of points—the folies—, a system of lines structuring circulation, and surfaces defining green and recreational spaces. The second project, at the architectural scale, presents itself as a landscaped playground composed of an assembly of ropes, combining a craft-based weaving technique with parametric precision enabled by the use of augmented reality.

Through this comparative perspective, the study examines the notion of landscape in light of these two major yet distinct postmodern movements. It aims to identify the spatial forms, aesthetics, philosophical foundations, and technologies mobilized in these projects, as well as to highlight their similarities, differences, and respective contributions to the field of landscape and garden design.

Analysis of Kosovo's European Integration Path in Chapter 27

Zeqir Veselaj — 2026-06-30

Since its liberation in 1999 and the declaration of independence in 2008, the Republic of Kosovo has consistently expressed its aspiration to join the European Union, a goal officially endorsed by all governments. However, the EU integration process requires not only political commitment but also substantial progress in meeting economic, political, and sector-specific criteria. This study assesses developments under Chapter 27: Environment and Climate Change over the past five years by analyzing EC Progress Reports and comparing their assessments with the perceptions of students and academic staff. A mixed-methods research design was applied. The quantitative component included 243 respondents from two groups: students and academic staff, while the qualitative component comprised interviews with eight representatives from government institutions, civil society, the media, and the EU Office in Kosovo. Field work was implemented during the first part of 2025. The findings indicate very limited progress in the field of environment and climate change during the examined period. The study indicates that Kosovo lags behind other Western Balkan countries in terms of progress achieved over the past five years in the field of environment and climate change. Quantitative results reveal a high level of public trust in the assessments presented in the Progress Reports, highlighting the need for institutions to take their conclusions and recommendations seriously. Qualitative findings further confirm that the reporting process is perceived as inclusive, transparent, and consultative. Notably, a hundred percent alignment was identified in 10 out of 19 assessed areas between the Progress Report evaluations and participants’ perceptions. The study provides a solid scientific methodological framework for comparable analyses of other EU Progress Report chapters, contributing to efforts to accelerate country reforms toward EU membership.

Environmental Pressures and Policy Responses on the Lycian Way

Tutku Yazıcı — 2026-06-30

The Mediterranean and Anatolian regions serve as a crossroads for civilizations, representing a dynamic intersection of cultural, ecological, and political systems. The Lycian Way, a 540-kilometer cultural route along Türkiye’s southern coast, embodies this heritage by connecting ancient cities, rural landscapes, and coastal ecosystems. However, rapid urbanization, greenhouse expansion, and a lack of adequate protection measures increasingly threaten the route's integrity. This study aims to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of environmental pressures along the route to guide sustainable management strategies. Remote sensing and GIS were applied for supervised land-use/land-cover (LULC) classification and categorical change detection based on Landsat imagery from 1999, 2009, 2019, and 2025, focusing on a 1-km impact corridor. Furthermore, hot spot analysis identified regional clusters of greenhouse and urban transitions; major change nodes were cross-referenced with relevant protection statuses and planning decisions. The results reveal significant transformations driven by tourism-oriented urban growth and intensive greenhouse agriculture, particularly concentrated at critical gateway nodes and coastal plains. The study underlines that effective conservation requires governance-oriented and data-informed strategies. Integrating cultural heritage with spatial planning and sustainability frameworks is essential to ensure the long-term integrity of this unique Mediterranean cultural landscape.

The Effect of Natural Sounds on Stress Recovery

Xiaotong Jing — 2026-06-30

Psychological stress is widespread in urban populations, and soundscape-based interventions may offer a low-cost way to support recovery. This study presented a controlled dataset linking perceived restorativeness with cardiac autonomic responses during post-stress recovery under different natural sound exposures. Using a within-subject design, 26 participants completed four laboratory sessions in a balanced random order: silence, water sound, birdsong, and wind sound. Natural sound stimuli were author-recorded and presented as 5-min segments. The headphone-equivalent sound pressure level for natural sound conditions was standardized to 50 dB (A). Acute stress was induced using the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST), followed by a recovery phase with continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) recording. Subjective responses were assessed using the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS), and physiological recovery was evaluated using heart rate variability indicators derived from ECG (including LF/HF ratio and a stress index). Compared with silence, natural sounds were associated with improved recovery, with higher PRS ratings for water sound and birdsong and lower LF/HF ratios and stress index values, particularly under birdsong. This data provided a reproducible basis for comparing sound-type-specific recovery profiles and supports evidence-informed design of restorative acoustic environments.

Fiscal Policies for the Energy Transition of Italian Residential Heritage

Laura Magri — 2026-06-30

Among all fiscal incentives, the Italian “SuperEcobonus” has been the most polarizing in recent public debate. Several analyses have pointed out its contradictions and criticalities, both as a tool for revitalizing the national economy and as a means of combating climate change. On the one hand, early warnings helped prevent its uncritical application to residential architectures that have long been subject to widespread criticism. On the other hand, in some cases, retrospective evaluations have acknowledged applications that resulted in the alteration or loss of architectural significance. Less explored, however, are the impacts and implications of the ‘ordinary’ Ecobonus, introduced in 2007 and modified several times since, particularly regarding the conservation of residential architecture built during the second half of the 20th century. This paper aims to highlight both the risks and the potential of this incentive—scaled back by the 2025 Budget Law but still in effect—when applied to non-listed residential heritage. The analysis draws from ENEA’s annual reports on the use of tax deductions for energy efficiency upgrades and compares the outcomes of two different energy retrofit projects. In the first case, a multi-family building designed by Giancesare Battaini in Milan (1961–1968), the energy efficiency intervention led to a loss of meaning and alteration of the building, exacerbated by poor preservation and lack of awareness of its architectural value. In contrast, in the second case—a multi-family building designed by Gian Leo Salvotti in Trento (1971–1973)—the energy retrofit was combined with conservation efforts aimed at preserving the prefabricated façade elements forming the building’s second skin. This contribution seeks to provide an informed assessment of the risks tied to the specific nature of this incentive, while also outlining future development paths for a tool that could meaningfully contribute to the decarbonization targets shared within the latest European directive on Energy Performance of Buildings.

Living Edges

Margherita Meta — 2026-06-30

Urban sprawl continues to intensify ecological fragmentation, carbon emissions, infrastructure inefficiencies, and socio-spatial inequalities across metropolitan regions. Greenbelts have historically functioned as regulatory containment tools designed to limit outward expansion and preserve open land; however, their later institutionalized, boundary-based regulatory logic increasingly appears misaligned with contemporary urban resilience, climate adaptation, and social inclusion challenges.
While extensive literature examines urban sprawl metrics, housing impacts of containment policies, and green infrastructure planning, limited research integrates greenbelt regulation within adaptive ecological infrastructure and urban metabolism frameworks: in particular, the potential transformation of greenbelts from static zoning devices into multifunctional and performance-based spatial systems remains under-theorized and insufficiently structured from a methodological perspective.
This paper introduces the concept of Greenbelt 2.0 as a data-informed conceptual framework for reframing greenbelts as adaptive ecological and social infrastructures: rather than presenting original GIS modelling or a fully implemented quantitative assessment, the study combines qualitative policy analysis of the London Green Belt with a structured indicator framework derived from secondary literature, publicly available datasets, and comparative planning references. The methodological approach integrates policy review, functional decomposition across ecological, productive, social, and governance dimensions, and conceptual performance-gap analysis.
The analysis suggests that while the traditional greenbelt model remains effective in limiting direct land encroachment and preventing settlement coalescence, it appears less developed in relation to ecological connectivity management, public accessibility, governance adaptability, and metabolic integration. The proposed Greenbelt 2.0 framework identifies adaptive zoning, multifunctional landscape management, performance monitoring, and participatory governance as potential mechanisms for resilience-oriented transformation, and these elements are presented as a basis for future empirical testing rather than as completed measured outcomes.
The study advances greenbelt theory beyond preservationist containment by positioning greenbelts as dynamic metropolitan interfaces that can integrate ecological resilience, productive landscapes, and spatial justice: by bridging containment planning with resilience theory, green infrastructure, and metabolic urbanism, the paper provides a structured and transferable framework for reconfiguring greenbelt governance in the context of climate-responsive and inclusive urban development.

Thermal Inertia and Seasonal Energy Performance of CLT Office Buildings in Japan

Yaqin Cao — 2026-06-30

Improving building energy flexibility and reducing peak demand are critical challenges in energy systems, particularly in regions experiencing supply constraints. Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) buildings, due to their thermal inertia, offer potential for enhancing energy efficiency and supporting demand response strategies.

This study investigates the dynamic thermal behavior of a CLT office building in Japan using in-situ monitoring under both winter and humid summer conditions. Key thermal inertia indicators, including attenuation coefficient and time delay, were derived from measured temperature data to assess transient thermal response and interaction with HVAC operation. The results show that the CLT building exhibits strong thermal buffering capacity, with clear attenuation and time-delay effects observed under both seasonal conditions. The observed time-delay behavior and gradual temperature decay indicate reduced HVAC cycling and improved operational stability under both heating and cooling conditions. These findings demonstrate that CLT buildings can support energy-efficient HVAC operation and flexible demand response strategies. The study provides empirical evidence for integrating CLT into climate-responsive and low-carbon building design, with implications for grid-interactive energy management.

Circularity in Concrete Construction

Zaheer Doomah — 2026-06-30

The construction industry accounts for 33% of the global emissions of greenhouse gases and makes use of a whopping 40% of global resources. In addition, statistics reveal that over 10 billion tons of construction waste are produced yearly worldwide. It is therefore essential to promote circular economy principles in this sector to ensure lower wastage of resources and greater sustainability. Along these lines, this study aimed to investigate the possibility of reducing the demand for formwork by studying the effects of reusing pine formwork with differing concrete workability on the properties of hardened concrete. For this purpose, concrete cubes of Grade 35 were cast into four formwork categories, namely steel (control for this study), new pine softwood formwork, pine softwood formwork used once on site, and pine softwood formwork used thrice on site, utilising concrete mixes with varying water-to-cement ratios. Three tests were conducted to investigate the strength and durability of the concrete, namely compressive strength, water absorption, and chloride content penetration. The findings of this study demonstrated that pine softwood formwork has the potential to be reused up to a maximum of three times if utilised with a water-reducing admixture. The results of this study can help to promote circular economy principles in the construction sector by informing engineers and other construction professionals of the potential scenarios for reuse of the softwood formwork and adapting the mix design accordingly, while also developing good site management principles for reducing waste from formwork.

Life Cycle Impact Assessment for Steel Slag Aggregates Production in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Mohammed H. Alzard — 2026-06-30

Steel slag aggregates (SSA) offer a potential route for reducing reliance on natural aggregates (NA) and diverting steelmaking by-products from landfill. However, facility-specific life cycle data for SSA production in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, remain limited. This study quantifies the cradle-to-gate greenhouse gas footprint of SSA produced at two recycling facilities in Abu Dhabi. The assessment follows ISO 14040/14044 and uses a functional unit of 1 tonne of SSA. Primary 2024 operational data were combined with emission factors from the UK Government 2024 dataset, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default values, and published literature. The combined emissions for 500,000 tonnes of SSA were 3,270.22 t CO₂eq, corresponding to an average intensity of 6.54 kg CO₂eq/tonne SSA. Al Fayah emitted 2,007.88 t CO₂eq for 250,000 tonnes of output, equivalent to 8.03 kg CO₂eq/tonne SSA, while KEZAD B emitted 1,262.33 t CO₂eq for 250,000 tonnes of output, equivalent to 5.05 kg CO₂eq/tonne SSA. Inbound material transportation dominated the footprint at both plants, particularly last-mile road transport. Compared with the NA benchmark of 7.75 kg CO₂eq/tonne, the average SSA intensity was approximately 16% lower. Under the stated boundary and assumptions, SSA showed lower cradle-to-gate emissions than NA. The way forward should prioritize primary metering, carrier data, and the development of a third-party-verified Environmental Product Declaration to strengthen comparability and market uptake.