Abstract
There is a common understanding that the environmental impacts of construction materials should be significantly reduced. This article provides a comprehensive environmental assessment within Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) boundaries for Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) in comparison with Conventional Concrete (CC), in terms of carbon, material, and water footprint. Environmental impacts are determined for the cradle-to-grave life cycle of the UHPC, considering precast and ready-mix concrete. The LCA shows that UHPC has higher environmental impacts per m3. When the functionality of UHPC is considered, at case study level, two design options of a bridge are tested, which use either totally CC (CC design) or CC enhanced with UHPC (UHPC design). The results show that the UHPC design could provide a reduction of 14%, 27%, and 43% of carbon, material, and water footprint, respectively.
Highlights
The construction industry is recognized as an issue of the global environmental impact [1].Cement production is responsible for up to 8% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [2]
The results show a higher quantity of GHG
Thethe sensitivity analysis indicates that a potential saving of of Regarding material footprint, the sensitivity analysis indicates thatisamainly potential saving ofof could be done within the mixtures as shown in
Summary
The construction industry is recognized as an issue of the global environmental impact [1]. Cement production is responsible for up to 8% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [2]. This is because of intensive use of energy for heating requirement of raw materials during manufacturing processes of cement [3,4]. Water use in the construction industry has received considerable critical attention [7] due to its intensive consumption within, for instance, cement manufacturing [8]. Investigating alternative concrete technologies is a continuing concern for defining the contribution to the environmental impact mitigation [9,10]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
