Purpose: Climate change, environmental concerns, and economic problems pose challenges to the construction sector in Iran, which must provide affordable solutions while addressing environmental issues. Hence, natural earthen building materials are critically needed to reduce energy-intensive and costly construction practices dramatically. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for comparing life cycle assessments (LCA) and life cycle costs (LCC), for load-bearing walls of an single-family affordable housing unit in a desert part of Iran, Ardakan City. Methods: To do so, both LCA and LCC for the unit were performed, considering a cradle-to-site perspective. For this purpose, 22 load bearing wall systems are assessed, including 18 stabilized and unstabilized earthen construction techniques, such as adobe, rammed earth (RE), and compressed earth block (CEB), in addition to four conventional wall assemblies of fired brick (FB), autoclaved aerated concrete block (AAC), ceramic block (CB), and concrete masonry unit (CMU). As well as assessing the environmental impact and life cycle costs associated with the life cycle of each wall, the optimal assembly of the wall is also examined. Results: Results show that unstabilized earthen walling alternatives have significantly lower environmental impacts than conventional materials. Conclusions: Sensitivity analysis indicates that by utilizing local materials to the maximum extent possible, impacts can be further minimized. Considering the results, transportation may even account for a greater proportion of EI than wall components.

Purpose: Additive construction or concrete 3D printing provides a fully digitalized solution to conventional construction while enabling smart and sustainable construction practices. Growing demand for cost-effective construction solutions has driven the development of this technology as a potential approach to realizing Industry 4.0 principles in construction. In this context, studies suggest that the integration of additive construction and Construction 4.0 can potentially address problems such as, for example, cost overruns, labor costs and waste of construction materials. However, this is a new and constantly evolving field that lacks a comprehensive understanding of its potential advantages and limitations. To evaluate the integration potential of additive construction and Construction 4.0, this article presents a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of relevant, verifiable and recurring issues. Design/methodology/approach: The research is based on a mixed approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The first stage employs bibliometric analysis to assess publication trends and conceptual relationships, while the second stage conducts a systematic review to identify gaps in literature and conceptual interactions. Finally, an additional bibliometric study is carried out to identify conceptual connections and technological trends. The methodology is complemented by data collection and mapping and analysis using the PRISMA methodology, which is based on a five-stage process: preliminary, identification, screening, eligibility and inclusion. Findings: The results show how additive construction aims for optimization and sustainability in a construction project and drives some of the potential benefits of Construction 4.0 through intelligent management, also finding gaps in the literature to explore the main connections. between 3D concrete printing and the latest emerging Construction 4.0 technologies to promote the development of smart buildings. Finally, a theoretical framework of Additive Construction 4.0 is proposed that is based on the interconnection of Additive Construction and Construction 4.0 through horizontal integration (integrates the demands of interested parties by applying methodologies and strategies throughout the entire 3D construction process) and vertical integration (connects actors and instances throughout the project life cycle and interconnects physical and digital components). Research limitations/implications: The study recognizes the following limitations that could hinder the integration of concrete 3D printing with construction 4.0 technologies: (1) traditional design approaches are not suitable for concrete 3D printing, requiring new design methods that consider the features and limitations of this technology; (2) the integration of Construction 4.0 and concrete 3D printing is still in its early stages of development, creating uncertainty about its effective implementation and (3) there is a lack of studies that analyze the impact of the integration of Construction 4.0 technologies and the building information modeling (BIM) methodology in additive construction, which limits the understanding of its potential benefits and challenges. In addition, there is a lack of technical discussions on structural aspects that should also be studied in greater depth. Originality/value: This study contributes by identifying the main interactions of additive construction, concrete 3D printing and Construction 4.0 tools and technologies through the generation and analysis of co-occurrence maps of keywords, connections and their networks in the literature. In this sense, this research identifies the current state and future trends for the integration of additive construction based on concrete and Construction 4.0 and how these concepts are interrelated from a perspective of sustainable, intelligent, digitalized and industrialized construction, closing gaps in existing review articles.

Ensuring access to quality social housing is a major challenge for developing countries. The problems of standardized mass housing are well-known. However, this type of provision is ubiquitously used for its advantages when addressing pressing shortages, often resulting in significant mismatches between the attributes of the housing and the requirements of the dwellers. This multidisciplinary study explores linkages between personalized development and residential satisfaction towards informing a mass personalization approach to social housing. In specific, it presents a model that formalizes this relationship using expectancy disconfirmation theory and field information. A housing survey was conducted in four estates located in Concepción, southern Chile, and complemented with environmental performance data generated with simulation software. The analysis of the results suggests that the relationship between occupants and providers (i.e., personalization as a service) can influence the build-up of expectations, while the capacity of the dwellings to meet the requirements of different households (i.e., personalization as a product) can have a significant impact on satisfaction. These outcomes are formalized with a model that acknowledges these links at different stages of occupancy and, therefore, can be used to inform the personalized development of mass social housing.

Global increases in the demand for energy are imposing strong pressures over the environment while compromising the capacity of emerging economies to achieve sustainable development. In this context, implementation of effective strategies to reduce consumption in residential buildings has become a priority concern for policy makers as minor changes at the household scale can result in major energy savings. This study aims to contribute to ongoing research on energy consumer profiling by exploring the forecasting capabilities of discrete socio-economic factors that are accessible through social housing allocation systems. Accordingly, survey data gathered by the Chilean Ministry of Social Development was used identify key characteristics that may predict firewood usage for space heating purposes among potential beneficiaries of the Chilean social housing program. The analyzed data evidences strong correlations between general household characteristics and space heating behavior in certain climatic zones, suggesting that personalized delivery of energy efficiency measures can potentially increase the effectiveness of initiatives aimed towards the reduction of current patterns of consumption.