The protection both of historical constructions and of modern infrastructure requires scientific support for the materials characterization and the assessment of environmental loads, during the development of appropriate intervention strategies. In the most recent years, the climatic change effect has pointed out the need to increase our knowledge on the behavior of both traditional and contemporary building materials, such as stones, bricks, mortars, concrete, earthen materials, and metal elements, in order to provide sustainable solutions. Conventional and new intervention materials and methods need to be evaluated and monitored in terms of effectiveness and compatibility.

This special issue aims to increase our knowledge regarding the use of scanning microscopy as a valuable analytical and versatile method in the study of building materials. All aspects of the application of scanning microscopy, such as SEM-EDX, TEM/STEM, SPM, AFM, MFMs, and 3D microscopy are to be embraced. High quality research articles addressing cutting-edge issues are particularly welcome.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Subsurface characterization of construction materials using various scanning microscopy techniques
• Degradation processes of outdoor building materials
• Novel materials and methods for the protection of built heritage
• Repair materials and methods for concrete, stone, lime and cement-based mortars, and so forth
• Assessment criteria for the evaluation of intervention techniques (cleaning, consolidation, and protection)
• In situ and noninvasive analysis
• Multiscaled methodologies and multidimensional monitoring during conservation and restoration projects