Climate change and environmental damage are among the most pressing challenges facing the world today. According to the Global Status Report 2017 by UN Environment and the International Energy Agency, buildings and construction account for 39% of global carbon emissions. This stark reality underscores the urgent need for governments, industries, and communities to address these challenges. The global industry must thus innovate in its technologies, materials, and approaches to support and accelerate the transition toward a more sustainable, greener future. Governments and policymakers need to actively promote Green Infrastructure (GI) through policy support and coordination of green infrastructure practices.
In EU policies, GI is defined as ‘a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features, designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services while enhancing biodiversity’. These services include water purification, air quality improvement, recreational spaces, and aiding climate mitigation and adaptation. This network improves the environment, enhances the connectivity of natural areas, and boosts citizens’ health and quality of life. Developing GI can also support a green economy and create job opportunities.
The theme ‘Emerging Technologies and Applications for Green Infrastructure’ underscores the critical role of GI in providing natural and ecosystem solutions to alleviate the environmental, social, and economic issues caused by rapid urbanization and the climate crisis. This theme was chosen for the sixth International Conference on Geotechnics, Civil Engineering, and Structures (CIGOS 2021, held in Hanoi, Vietnam). By sharing knowledge and experiences on emerging GI technologies and policies, this event aims to encourage the adoption of GI technologies and build capacity for implementing GI practices at all scales. Ten authors of CIGOS 2021 were invited to submit a full paper, based on their papers published in the conference proceedings for this themed issue.
The themed issue compiles two papers of CIGOS 2021 and three others which had been submitted initially as standard papers. The issue focuses on some key emerging technologies and applications in Environmental Geotechnics. Collectively, these papers provide new solutions to evaluate, protect, and reinforce the resilience of GI against climate change. They also address a range of issues of interest to academic researchers, policymakers, investors, and citizens.
Highlights of the themed issue include:
Chan et al. (2024): Establishes a framework for adaptation measures against extreme rainfall-induced soil slope failures using various techniques (numerical simulation, in situ measurements, and lab experiments) across different scales.
Freitag and Reichenauer (2024): Demonstrates the feasibility of in situ chemical remediation using jet grouting at heavily contaminated industrial sites, with a novel approach to assess remediation effectiveness.
Al-Subari et al. (2024): Presents a simplified method for evaluating environmental impacts through embodied energy and carbon dioxide emissions of earth-retaining walls using a real-case scenario with four different wall types.
Okewale and Grobler (2024): Investigates the microstructure and mechanical properties of iron tailings through laboratory characterization.
To et al. (2024): Studies the influence of salinity on the efficacy of electrokinetic consolidation for ground improvement in underwater construction conditions.
The themed issue provides some examples of scientific works in the field of Environmental Geotechnics. The Guest Editors have seen various proofs of significant contributions of these scientific works in facing climate change and environmental challenges. For instance, to protect the environment from high-level radioactive waste by using deep geological disposals, numerous research projects have been undertaken since several decades to study the behaviour of clayey soils (natural rocks or bentonite-based materials) subjected to coupled thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical processes, which were not fully understood at the beginning. These works have made possible the potential construction of geological disposals in the next few decades in different countries. Besides, research projects on energy geostructures undertaken during the last two decades have contributed to the development of this green technology all over the works. We believe that upscaling this technology will significantly reduces the carbon dioxide emissions in the building sectors in the upcoming decades. Finally, environmental geotechnics professionals are playing crucial roles in developing climate change adaption measures for infrastructures sustainability.
