Tower cranes (TCs) as essential lifting equipment in construction engineering, play a critical role in prefabricated buildings (PBs). However, current construction scheduling primarily relies on manual observation and operator experience to execute repetitive tasks, leading to low efficiency, heavy workload, and potential safety risks. In typical PB construction projects, multiple buildings are often constructed in parallel, where each TC is assigned to serve a specific group of buildings independently. This allocation strategy is generally predetermined by the site layout plan to ensure operational safety and avoid inter-crane interference. To enhance lean construction performance and management efficiency in PBs, this study develops a scheduling optimization model that explicitly considers the initial hook position and the specific locations of prefabricated component (PC) supply and demand points. The proposed model is solved and compared using three meta-heuristic algorithms, including Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC). Numerical results indicate that PSO outperforms GA and ABC in terms of convergence speed and cost minimization performance. After optimization, the operating times of two TCs are reduced by 23.94% and 12.16%, respectively, saving ¥207.29 and ¥293.96 per day in operating costs, and reducing total construction cost by approximately 8.0%. These results demonstrate that the proposed model can effectively improve construction efficiency and support lean management under the considered planning assumptions.

Human activities have reduced hydrological connectivity in many wetlands, leading to weakening of the mediating role of water in facilitating the diffusion and exchange of materials, energy, and ecological information, resulting in ecosystem fragmentation. In this study, hydrodynamic modelling, characteristic value extraction, and spatially constrained hierarchical clustering were employed to develop a wetland partitioning method based on hydrological connectivity. The spatial variations in hydrologically connected subareas in different hydrological years and the impacts of hydraulic engineering and topography on hydrological connectivity in the Zhalong Wetland, China, were investigated. The results indicated that hydrologically connected subareas in wetlands can be delineated via this method. In wet year, the study area can be divided into 7 hydrologically connected subareas. Moreover, the number of subareas is larger in normal and dry years (11 and 12 hydrologically connected subareas, respectively) than in wet year. These subareas are the result of erosion due to reservoir discharge, obstruction of roads and ditches, and natural topography. The surface water quality parameters in wetlands vary among hydrologically connected subareas owing to differences in flow patterns, source-sink dynamics, and aquatic vegetation distributions. Compared with field sampling and statistical clustering, this method requires substantially less data, which makes it potentially applicable in data-scarce regions. This study provides technical support for hydrological and ecological monitoring and wetland management.

Antibiotics, microplastics (MPs), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are major emerging contaminants (ECs) that have posed significant risks to the aquatic ecosystem and human beings. Lately, enhanced constructed wetlands (CWs) have improved their ability to remove ECs. Aeration and tidal flow significantly increase dissolved oxygen (DO) and improve microbial activity in CWs. In addition, microbial fuel cell (MFC) and electrolysis systems are embedded into CWs, aiming to enhance their electrochemical characteristics for the removal of ECs. Furthermore, combining an advanced oxidation process with a CW increases not only ECs removal, but also ecological values. Advanced configuration and operation can create enhanced CWs systems that could provide alternative technical solutions for ECs control in water environment. However, there are still enormous issues (such as scaling up the small-scale investigation) to be solved before the developed techniques can be applied in engineering practice. Based on the updated literature, this review provides an overview of cutting-edge processes and fresh knowledge of CWs on ECs removal. We expect that the review can guide the research and development of CW towards assisting ECs solution.

The renovation of urban old residential areas (UORA) is a crucial measure in urban stock renewal for improving the quality of residents’ lives. Scientifically understanding the multidimensional vulnerability of UORA is a prerequisite for implementing stock renewal. However, existing vulnerability assessment methods for UORA suffer from limitations such as subjective weight assignment, and insufficient handling of uncertain information, leading to inadequate support for precise renewal decisions. To address these gaps, this study proposes a novel multidimensional vulnerability evaluation framework. A vulnerability evaluation index system is constructed from physical space, infrastructure, functional adaptation, ecological environment, and social governance. A comprehensive evaluation model is established by integrating the combined entropy weight method and the unascertained measure theory. This methodological innovation enhances the objectivity of weight determination while effectively addressing unstructured data and uncertain factors in vulnerability assessment. The empirical results show that the vulnerability evaluation results of the six projects are clearly polarised. High-risk clusters need to prioritise the initiation of engineering interventions and social governance reconstruction; for medium-risk projects, dynamic monitoring and adaptive management should be strengthened. This study provides a priority standard and scientific support for renewal decisions and promotes the transformation of vulnerability assessment from a single diagnosis to a systematic governance paradigm.​.

Identifying the mechanisms and obstacles that shape urban water resilience (UWR) is essential for effective regional water governance and sustainable water use. Therefore, this study developed a UWR evaluation system based on the drive-press-state-impact-response framework. Using the criteria importance through intercriteria correlation method, exploratory spatial data analysis, the spatial Durbin model, and an obstacle diagnostic model, this study quantified UWR for 78 cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2006 to 2022 and identified its spatial and temporal evolution characteristics, driving mechanisms, and key obstacles. The main findings are as follows. Firstly, UWR rose significantly from 0.372 in 2006 to 0.484 in 2022. The drive and impact dimensions grew steadily, and their relative contributions to UWR increased. Secondly, areas with high-value UWR clustered in the north and east, whereas "high-high" agglomerations mainly occurred in the north, west, and center of the basin. Thirdly, technological innovation emerged as the strongest driver of UWR. Economic development, government intervention, and education level promoted UWR, whereas energy consumption inhibited it. Fourthly, the drive dimension and the indicator "drainage density in built-up areas" constituted the main obstacles to improving UWR. This study proposed a new research framework for UWR. It contributed to discovering the key pathways influencing water resilience from spillover effect perspective and identifying the key obstacles from heterogeneity perspective, thus providing decision-making basis for city managers in water governance and resilience construction.

Prefabricated buildings (PBs) are reshaping contemporary construction practices and provide an important pathway for improving efficiency and quality in the building industry. Using data from CNKI and Wanfang (C&W) and from Web of Science and Scopus (W&S), this paper reviews 8564 relevant articles and systematically analyzes the current research status, development trajectory, and emerging trends of PBs using the CiteSpace bibliometric method. The results show that: (1) the number of PB studies in C&W has grown steadily and appears to have entered a relatively stable stage, while W&S studies continue to increase, with China, Australia, and the United States contributing many influential publications; (2) W&S and C&W display distinct yet complementary research emphases; (3) institutional characteristics are similar in both datasets, although collaboration is generally closer in W&S, and institutional clustering in China remains limited; (4) safety, environmental protection, energy conservation, and sustainability are becoming prominent future research directions.

As an important part of empowering urban regeneration, the ability of existing industrial buildings to conserve and intensify resources and alleviate environmental problems is gradually being noted. Owing to its enormous untapped potential, embodied energy has become an important focus for improving energy efficiency. The concept of embodied energy in existing industrial buildings is examined, the integration of the Cradle-to-Cradle theory has redefined the life cycle boundary of existing industrial buildings, emphasizing the circularity and sustainability of the life cycle, and a new methodology to define the composition of their embodied energy is proposed. This method systematically analyzes the embodied energy under the three development paths of demolition, alteration, and new construction of existing industrial buildings, taking into account the changes in embodied energy at temporal, spatial, and regional scales. This study investigated the quantitative trends of embodied energy in existing industrial buildings under different decision-making objectives to help stakeholders assess their environmental performance and develop matching conservation and reuse measures to further promote the sustainable transformation of the urban built environment. This study provides a comprehensive and unified baseline scenario for detailed energy modelling. The study results constitute a consistent and standardised reference point for those seeking to reduce embodied energy emissions from existing industrial buildings.

The environmental performance of existing buildings (EPEB) is concerned with the relationship between existing buildings and the environment, with a focus on considering the environmental impact, energy performance and occupant experience of existing buildings to improve the efficiency of the built environment and promote the sustainable urban regeneration of building stock while ensuring ageing in place. Despite the large amount of research on this topic, a detailed review of the current state of the field and a forecast of future research trends have not been conducted. This paper aims to review published articles in the field, outline research trends, and dissect the challenges and opportunities associated with EPEB research. The bibliographic coupling, leading outlets, citation, co-occurrence and cocitation of the 508 obtained publications are analysed using bibliometric techniques. The paper shows that the number of studies in the field has been gradually expanding, with a dramatic increase since 2015. A comprehensive examination of the development status, research interests and frontier of the EPEB field is performed and guidelines for the direction of future research are also proposed. In addition, this study provides a roadmap to facilitate the knowledge needed for further research and application by academics and industry stakeholders to improve EPEB.

A reasonable water price for interbasin water transfer projects (IWTPs) is vital for solving the problem of unequal water use among different water users caused by different water source supply prices, promoting external water transfer consumption, and ensuring the stable and equitable project operation. However, the formulation of the water price is influenced by many factors, and it is necessary to identify the key factors and their interactions in the water prices formulation for IWTPs. In this study, we identified 15 factors that affect it. This paper used the fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) to analyze the causal relationships and importance levels among the influencing factors. A four-level hierarchical structural model was established using an interpretive structural model (ISM), which intuitively displayed the hierarchical structure and pathways of each factor. The role of each influencing factor was determined by using MICMAC. Finally, the grey relational analysis method was used to identify the top five key factors: the socioeconomic development level, diversification of water resources, water demand of water users, cost of the project’s water supply, and national policies and regulations. Strategies to improve the formulation of water prices have also been proposed. The results show that the top five factors influencing the water price for IWTPs are the socio-economic development level, diversification of water resources, water demand of water users, cost of the project’s water supply, and national policies and regulations. The water price should be formulated based on the water resource cost, supply–demand relationships of water resources, and policy objectives to ensure scientific and reasonable cost allocation and differentiated pricing. For water-transfer projects with strong public welfare, the government may lower water prices through financial subsidies to alleviate the burden on water users.

Mine water is both wastewater and a valuable unconventional water resource, and its recycling is crucial for the sustainable development of coal-resource-based cities. In response to the complex interactions among multiple stakeholders in the process of mine water recycling, this study innovatively develops a four-party evolutionary game model involving local government, coal mining enterprises, mine water operators, and water users. For the first time, key variables—mine water pricing, water volume, water rights trading, water resource taxation, and objective utility of water resources—are systematically integrated into a multi-agent game framework, extending the analysis beyond conventional policies, such as penalties and subsidies, to explore their impact on recycling behavior. The results show the following: (1) There are 10 possible evolutionary stabilization strategies in the system. The current optimal strategy includes supply, input, use, active support, while the ideal strategy under the market mechanism includes supply, input, use, passive support. (2) Local governments play a leading role in collaborative governance. The decisions of coal mining enterprises and mine water operators are highly interdependent, and these upstream actors significantly influence the water users’ strategies. (3) Government subsidies exhibit an inverted U-shaped effect, while punitive measures are more effective than incentives. The tax differential between recycled and discharged mine water incentivizes coal enterprises to adopt proactive measures, and water rights trading significantly enhances the users’ willingness. (4) Mine water should be priced significantly lower than fresh water and reasonably balanced between stakeholders. Industries with lower objective utility of water tend to prioritize its use. This study provides theoretical support for policy optimization and a market-based resource utilization of mine water.

As a crucial component of urban renewal, Urban Existing Community Renewal (UECR) serves as a pivotal mechanism for enhancing residential environments and optimizing urban landscapes. Its decarbonization initiatives critically influence the construction industry's capacity to achieve dual-carbon objectives. This study systematically examines the carbon emissions throughout UECR processes, categorizing four key phases: renovation and demolition, main structure renovation, ancillary engineering, and greening with carbon sequestration. We developed a system dynamics model to map causal feedback mechanisms among these subsystems, complemented by scenario simulations to evaluate the UECR's carbon reduction potential. Results reveal that the main structure renovation subsystem constitutes the predominant emissions source (1.905x107kg CO2), accounting for 87.5 % of total emissions, with construction materials responsible for 99.5 % of this subsystem's footprint. Strategic adoption of green building materials demonstrated a 31.6 % emission reduction, whereas a 20 % increase in green space merely offsets 0.011 % of total emissions. This disparity suggests that exclusive reliance on greening measures exerts limited efficacy, necessitating integrated strategies incorporating green material integration, resource recycling, and equipment efficiency optimization for effectively renovation decarbonization. Through quantitatively analysis for low-carbon renovation strategies, this study establishes a micro-level decarbonization framework for urban governance, providing a scientific decision-making basis for sustainable UECR implementation.

Aiming at energy saving and carbon reduction in the operation phase of university teaching buildings, this study analyses the operation characteristics and carbon emission sources of university teaching buildings, measures the specific carbon emissions in combination with actual cases, and predicts and evaluates the carbon reduction potential by using the STIRPAT model and scenario analysis method. The results show that the carbon emissions of the case teaching buildings increase from 1286.012t to 1538.929t in 2022-2024, showing yearly growth and seasonal fluctuations, with energy structure and energy intensity having the greatest impact on carbon emissions (elasticity coefficients of 0.352 and 0.321, respectively). The prediction of three scenarios, namely, baseline, low carbon and ultra-low carbon, shows that carbon emissions will grow rapidly and continuously under the baseline scenario, and the ultra-low carbon scenario can achieve a continuous reduction, and it is expected that the emission reduction in 2035 can reach 208.14∼259.28t. This study provides theoretical and practical references for the construction of green campuses.

With the rapid advancement of the modernization of China’s construction industry, as a complex, large-scale system engineering, the design stage of prefabricated building is crucial for the overall coordination of component production, transportation and assembly. However, the traditional design control mode is challenging to adapt to the characteristics of strong comprehensiveness and frequent dynamic feedback of prefabricated building design, which easily leads to problems such as component quality, safety and schedule delay. Therefore, this study focuses on the design management process in the design stage of prefabricated buildings, analyzes the design management process and key elements, and combines the methodological advantages of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and design structure matrix (DSM), constructs a design management model based on QFD-DSM, to optimize the design management process of prefabricated buildings, reduce resource waste, reduce construction costs, improve design efficiency, and provide theoretical support and practical reference for the optimization of design management of prefabricated buildings.

In arid and semi-arid regions, where water scarcity and fragile ecosystems are critical challenges, the sustainable use of wind and solar energy resources is vital for regional water management and ecological resilience. This study, focusing on the Yellow River's Crooked Bend Area, analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of wind and solar resources (1965-2019) using radiation and wind energy density models. The wind-solar complementarity rate was quantified across multiple scales, and its impact on watershed water yield availability in check dam-controlled areas was assessed constructing conditional probability and linear regression models. Key drivers of wind-solar complementarity rate and factors influencing water yield dynamic risks were identified through geographic detector analysis. The results reveals that the Yellow River's Crooked Bend Area exhibits significant spatiotemporal variation in renewable resources, with mean annual solar radiation of 66,937.65 Wm(-2) and wind energy density of 6,191.59 Wm(-2) (p < 0.05). Wind energy is consistently lower than solar radiation across multiple time scales, and the area experiencing a significant decline in wind energy far exceeds that of solar radiation (p < 0.05). The wind-solar complementarity rate, ranging from 0.08 to 0.24 with a mean of 0.17, shows a declining trend, indicating long-term impacts of climate change. Water yield demonstrates nonlinear sensitivity to wind-solar complementarity rate with a threshold, particularly in low-yield regions such as Yan'an area, Ordos eastern area, and Yulin area. Geographic detector analysis identifies cloud cover (q = 0.71), NDVI (q = 0.59), temperature difference (q = 0.44), relative landscape deviation (q = 0.41), and vapor pressure (q = 0.40) as primary factors driving spatial variability of the wind-solar complementarity rate across the entire region on the mean annual scale, while sliding window analysis highlights the roles of precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and temperature difference in influencing risk between water yield and wind-solar complementarity rate. Conditional return period analysis shows that possibility of higher water yields is decreasing, while increasing the complementarity reduces return periods and enhances resilience. These findings provide a risk assessment framework for integrating wind and solar energy with water resources, offering scientific support for ecological conservation and sustainable development in the Yellow River bend region.

In the global context of environmental degradation and energy crises, projects to reuse abandoned industrial buildings (AIBs) have become a more effective way to achieve energy efficiency goals because of their sustainability and environmental benefits. However, its societal acceptance is still a topic that deserves further research. We collected discrete energy and resource information on AIBs during the reuse phase taking a bottom-up approach. Seven environmental impact categories were screened in terms of ecosystem damage, resource and energy depletion, and human health damage to evaluate the actual environmental impacts of AIB reuse. The Willingness to Pay (WTP) and distance-to-target coupling methods were used to determine the willingness of Chinese society to accept AIB reuse projects. The results show that there is a significant difference in WTP between different environmental impact categories, with fossil fuel depletion having the lowest WTP (577.082 RMB/m2) and ozone depletion potential having the highest WTP (3.542 * 10-3 RMB /m2). Additionally, comparative analyses of building components and materials found that reinforced concrete had a significantly lower WTP than steel structures and floor slabs had a lower environmental benefit than other components. This study innovatively explores the feasibility and appropriateness of promoting AIB reuse in China from an environmental impact perspective. These findings can help to consider the extent to which different life cycle indicators in AIB reuse support decision-making and help to streamline the application of life cycle assessment in the field of renovation of existing buildings.

PurposeConstruction dust poses a serious occupational health problem worldwide. When quantifying dust exposure, the level of construction dust from new buildings is usually considered. However, the greening and organic regeneration of cities have led to the significant reuse of industrial buildings. In this context, contaminated industrial buildings are more likely to be a source of exposure. This study aims to investigate the spatial and temporal distributions, exposure characteristics and occupational health risks of construction dust at a typical contaminated industrial building site in Xi'an.Design/methodology/approachBy setting up the control group and the experimental group to carry out the field measurement of construction dust data, a total of 425 dust samples were obtained after 6 months. Secondly, the dust concentration data of single and double processes are numerically simulated to form the spatio-temporal distribution curve. Finally, the probability of occupational health risk was evaluated.FindingsThe results show that there are significant differences in the statistical and spatiotemporal distributions of construction dust under different work combinations; the exceedance rate of construction dust concentration under specific processing operations is 96.43%, and the exceedance rate of construction dust concentration under cross-processing operations is 74.29%. Dust transport under cross-processing operations can be regarded as a multidimensional coupling of dust under two single-processing operations of the same type.Originality/valueOccupational health risk evaluations for construction workers should pay more attention to the use of contaminated industrial buildings as a source of dust exposure, and the health impacts of industrial pollutants such as heavy metals in construction dust deserve further attention. These findings will contribute to a better understanding of construction dust exposure and associated health risks.

In order to help reservoir-type water sources accurately identify construction shortcomings and optimize management strategies, the AHP-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was applied to construct an evaluation model of green water construction in reservoir-type water sources, and the green water construction in S Reservoir was evaluated. The results of the study are as follows: (1) Based on a comprehensive analysis of the factors influencing green water construction, an evaluation index system for green water construction in reservoir-type water sources was developed, encompassing 24 secondary indicators across six dimensions; (2) The study utilized hierarchical analysis and fuzzy mathematical theory to create a fuzzy evaluation mathematical model for assessing green water construction in reservoir-type water sources. (3) the level of green water construction in S Reservoir is generally good, and the cultural value and landscape function dimensions are comparable to those of S Reservoir. And landscape function dimensions are slightly insufficient compared to the results of the remaining dimensions. This study offers valuable insights and guidance for the construction of green water sources in reservoir-type water sources in China, making a contribution to the advancement of sustainable water resource development in the country.

Prefabricated buildings (PBs) contribute significantly to improved construction efficiency, resource savings, and lower environmental impact. They have emerged as a pivotal pathway for the transformation of the global construction industry. However, the high construction costs have severely restricted their large-scale adoption. To systematically investigate the key influencing factors and mechanism of the construction cost of PBs, this study uses the method of combining interpretative structural model (ISM) and structural equation model (SEM), identifies the main influencing factors by synthesizing literature and data analysis, analyze hierarchical relationships between these factors via ISM, and quantifies the influence intensity and mechanism of the construction cost by SEM method. The findings demonstrate that the driving factors of the construction cost of PBs fall into several levels. The core factors, such as the assembly rate, the production scale of prefabricated components, the integration of design management, the technical level of designers, and the specialization of prefabricated components in the factory, play a crucial role in cost optimization. In conclusion, this study deeply reveals the impact mechanism of the construction cost of PBs, offering practical guidance for cost reduction and resource allocation optimization, while also providing a scientific basis for government policy-making and enterprise strategic decisions.