SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF SUSTAINABLE CIVIL ENGINEERING PRACTICES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON INFRASTRUCTURE COMPETITIVENESS

Abstract

This systematic review examines how sustainable civil engineering practices influence infrastructure competitiveness across the full project life cycle, integrating environmental performance with decision-relevant outcomes in cost, schedule, productivity, quality, resilience, finance, and user benefits. Following a PRISMA-aligned protocol, we searched multidisciplinary databases, screened records with dual independent reviewers, and extracted standardized data on sector, life-cycle stage, intervention type, comparators, metrics, and study quality. The final synthesis encompasses 115 peer-reviewed studies covering materials and low-carbon mix strategies, circular economy and end-of-life pathways, BIM and digital twins with IoT sensing, low-impact and off-site construction, green procurement and performance-based contracting, and risk-informed operations and maintenance. Across the corpus, sustainable practices were most consistently associated with life-cycle cost advantages and schedule reliability when boundaries extended beyond first cost, when QA and performance specifications were enforced, and when digital coordination reduced rework and variance. Modularization and lean logistics yielded notable on-site duration and waste reductions, while condition-based maintenance and resilience-aware planning improved availability and recovery. Financing signals, though smaller in volume, aligned with asset-level results, indicating modest cost-of-capital benefits where transparency and verification were strong. Neutral or mixed effects clustered where sustainability was specified late, supply chains lacked maturity, or digital adoption was not paired with clear roles and data governance. Overall, the evidence supports treating sustainability as a performance discipline that, when embedded early and measured on whole-life terms, reliably co-delivers competitiveness outcomes alongside environmental goals.