The built environment is facing critical changes for achieving sustainable development, remarkably, the cost, safety, energy consumption, and carbon emission issues. Innovation is the only way to win the race of sustainability transformation. A systems approach should be adopted for vitalising sustainable innovations. Specifically, innovating for sustainability should make novel changes to not only technologies such as modular integrated construction (Pan and Zhang, 2023) but also policies and regulations (Pan and Pan, 2019); and it should focus on the transformation at both micro (e.g. materials) and macro levels (e.g. sectors) of the built environment (Wang and Pan, 2024). Echoing to this systems approach, the six papers in this Issue of ICE Engineering Sustainability are very timely by sharing innovative regulations of project review and approval, novel building materials and structures, and the assessment of sustainability at district and regional levels.
Smead and Xydis (2025) in their briefing paper proposed strategies for mitigating and avoiding the regulatory turbulence for offshore wind development in the US. They concluded that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) must increase its bandwidth and accelerate the rate of offshore wind project review and approval in addressing resource constraints and streamlining its regulatory process. They also indicated the importance of transparent stakeholder engagement, proactive public outreach and developer coordination for minimising regulatory conflicts and fostering trust.
Manan et al. (2025) reported the physical properties of recycled concrete powder (RCP) and waste tyre fibre-reinforced concrete. RCP was used as cement replacement, and steel fibres were added as reinforcement to improve tensile behaviour. The change in internal structure and pozzolanic reactivity were evaluated by conducting scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction tests. Results indicated that RCP decreased concrete workability but increased setting time and fresh density.
Zhao et al. (2025) integrated energy theory, life cycle assessment, and input-output analysis to analyse the environmental performance of conventional concrete, recycled coarse aggregate concrete, recycled fine aggregate concrete, and recycled powder concrete. The entire life cycle of concrete was covered, i.e. from raw material extraction to waste disposal. The findings revealed that recycled concrete can significantly reduce energy consumption and pollutant emissions. This paper provides valuable insights for optimising and selecting sustainable building materials to promote a circular construction economy.
Negarestani et al. (2025) examined various types of steel and concrete frames to select the optimal design based on multi-criteria decision making approaches. They aimed to introduce building structures which are economically efficient and environmentally friendly, and thus built objective functions considering construction cost and time, carbon emissions, and structure weight.
Wang et al. (2025) explored the impact of urban morphology on carbon emissions of residential buildings at the district scale. Beijing, China was used as a case, with building blocks categorised into enclosed, radial, intensive, and axial types. Through conducting parametric modelling and performance analysis, they calculated the embodied and operational carbon emissions of typical districts. The results revealed that the carbon emissions of the enclosed blocks were the lowest, and those of the intensive blocks were the highest. To achieve carbon neutrality, they recommended more high-rise buildings to be built with low building density.
Ding et al. (2025) constructed an indicator system for evaluating the sustainable development of a region by integrating relevant Sustainable Development Goals. Dynamic analysis was conducted to reveal the trends in the efficiency of sustainable development. The results indicated that China has seen a slight improvement in the sustainable development of the environment and energy. They believe technological innovation is the key to achieving sustainable development. The authors remind us that it is time for everyone in the built environment to take action.
The papers in this issue together address a range of sustainability issues covering regulations, technologies and assessment, and reveal the increasing attention on engineering sustainability at various levels. The papers should be of interest to academic researchers, policymakers, and industry practitioners.
