The development of civil engineering in the course of centuries meant a constant struggle with available materials, spans, or height, active loads, and the forces of nature: water, fire, wind, and earthquakes.

While construction activities improve the quality of human live, they also have significant impact on the environment. The production of construction materials requires energy and generates greenhouse gases. Low cost or affordable construction technologies and building materials are often pushed as a magic potion in meeting the ever growing demand for rapid housing delivery in developing economies. New advanced materials offer opportunities to change the way in which we construct and retrofit buildings. They give added value in terms of increased performance and functionality. The reduction of carbon footprint for construction materials can start at the production phase, where energy efficient processes can be developed and waste or recycled materials can be employed. New materials can also help address the new challenges of durability in a changing climate.

We invite researchers to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts to understand the recent advances in building technologies and construction materials. We are particularly interested in articles describing the recent trends, developments, and applications of novel building materials, namely, nontoxic building and painting material; ecological materials; green and nanomaterials; service life prediction and durability; new construction materials and their characterization, manufacturing, and application; and so forth. Recent advances in novel building technologies, their applications, and limitations are welcome.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Building materials: characterization, manufacturing, and applications
• New construction materials
• Ecology of building materials
• Nontoxic building materials
• Painting materials
• Nanotechnology in building materials
• Service life prediction and durability
• Recent trends in building technologies
• Applications and limitations of novel building technologies