sustainability Review Challenges of a Healthy Built Environment: Air Pollution in Construction Industry Antonija Ana Wieser, Marco Scherz , Alexander Passer and Helmuth Kreiner *   Citation: Wieser, A.A.; Scherz, M.; Passer, A.; Kreiner, H. Challenges of a Healthy Built Environment: Air Pollution in Construction Industry. Sustainability 2021, 13, 10469. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su131810469 Academic Editors: Weixin Yang, Guanghui Yuan and Yunpeng Yang Received: 20 July 2021 Accepted: 15 September 2021 Published: 21 September 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Working Group Sustainable Construction, Institute of Technology and Testing of Construction Materials, Graz University of Technology, Waagner-Biro-Straße 100/XI, 8020 Graz, Austria; antonija.wieser@tugraz.at (A.A.W.); marco.scherz@tugraz.at (M.S.); alexander.passer@tugraz.at(A.P.) * Correspondence: helmuth.kreiner@tugraz.at; Tel.: +43-(316)-873-7154 Abstract: Air pollution is a global concern, especially in cities and urban areas, and has many implications for human health and for the environment. In common with other industrial sectors, the construction industry emits air pollutants. In scientific literature, the contribution the construction industry makes to air pollution is underexposed. This systematic literature review (SLR) paper gives an overview of the current literature regarding air pollution within the construction industry. Air pollution is discussed focusing mainly on three levels: (i) buildings and their building life cycle stages, (ii) construction processes and components, and (iii) building material and interior. The final sample of the SLR comprises 161 scientific articles addressing different aspects of the construction industry. The results show that most articles address the use stage of a building. Particulate matter in different sizes is the most frequently examined air pollutant within the SLR. Moreover, about a third of the articles refer to indoor air pollution, which shows the relevance of the topic. The construction industry can help to develop a healthier built environment and support the achievement of cleaner air within various life cycle stages, e.g., with optimized construction processes and healthier materials. International agreements and policies such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can support the sustainable development of the construction industry. Keywords: air pollution; construction industry; sustainable development goals; sustainable construc- tion; healthy living environment 1. Introduction Urbanization is a global megatrend. According to the United Nations (UN), around 68% of the world’s population will live in cities and urban areas by 2050 [1]. Urban areas also need sustainable development, as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially in SDG11—Sustainable Cities and Communities. All UN member states have committed themselves to implement the global development agenda of the SDGs [2]. One of the issues reflected in the SDGs is air pollution. The importance of this is highlighted by its mention in the following SDG targets: 1. SDG target 3.9.: Reduce illnesses and deaths from hazardous chemicals and pollution; 2. SDG target 7.1.: Universal access to modern energy sources; 3. SDG target 11.6.: Reduce the environmental impacts of cities. In target 11.6, emission-related environmental pollution is addressed via the indicator particulate matter with the indicator 11.6.2 Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g., PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted) [1]. Particulate matter (PM) is one of the most common air pollutants globally together with nitrogen oxides (NOx), photochemical oxidants incl. ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), lead (Pb), and sulfur dioxides (SO2) [2]. Numerous people suffer from diseases such as acute respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, heart disease, and strokes due to air pollution. Others even die due to household and ambient Sustainability 2021, 13, 10469. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810469 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability