Abstract
The balance of carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases in the life cycle of concrete is one of the important elements affecting the sustainable development of concrete technology. Modifications in the composition in the aim of minimization of so-called “carbon footprint” of concrete also affect the majority of its technical features, including primarily the mechanical properties and durability. The article presents a desirability function that would allow us to estimate the combined effect of the modification in terms of both CO2 emissions and some of the technical features of the concrete. As criterial features equivalent CO2 emission, compressive strength and susceptibility/resistance to concrete carbonation are selected. Selected features should be considered as an example for the presentation of the proposed methodology and represent the three pillars of concrete desirability in terms of sustainable development, i.e., the constructional usefulness, durability, and environmental performance.
Highlights
Concrete is one of the most commonly used building materials in the world
The main goal of the analysis shown in this paper is to develop the concrete desirability function that provides complex knowledge on both technical and environmental performance of sustainable concrete
In order to validate proposed approach, the utility function of concrete Equation (2) is formulated, which quantifies the desirability of concrete, taking into account compressive strength, carbonation resistance, CO2eq emissions, and concrete unit cost
Summary
Concrete is one of the most commonly used building materials in the world. In the EuropeanUnion, 215 million cubic meters of concrete were produced in 2015 [1]. The CO2 -equivalent emission of concrete per unit of mass is the highest, but it is only a few percent higher than the value for steel and a dozen for wood. In this context, the high consumption of concrete worldwide has caused researchers to attempt to reduce the so-called “emission” of concrete. “Emission” refers to the whole life cycle, but for concrete, this mainly includes the raw material extraction, component production, build-up phases, and represents the total greenhouse gas emissions expressed as CO2 -equivalent emissions. High-energy and chemical processes are the main cause of high greenhouse gas emissions—in the case of concrete, it is cement production
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