Towards a more sustainable construction industry: Bridging the gap between technical progress and commercialization of self-healing concrete

Abstract

The construction sector has a large impact on the environment due to greenhouse gas emissions and the large use of natural resources. For this reason, several initiatives and action plans are developed and implemented in Europe, under the impulse of the European Commission, to foster the market of sustainable construction. The goal is to use smarter and more durable materials in order to decrease CO2 emissions in the production stage and prolong the service life of infrastructure. In this regard, significant research has been performed into the development of self-healing technologies for concrete. By improving concrete durability and, therefore, increasing the service life of construction structures, self-healing concrete can have a positive impact on the environment and the economy. Despite a growth of research interest, the focus has so far mostly been on the technical aspects of self-healing concrete. More holistic approaches, which consider the process from technical progress to commercialization have been relatively neglected. To fulfil this need, this study examines the commercialization of self-healing concrete, identifying the hurdles and facilitators along its value chain through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders. The value chain has four stages: (1) R&D, (2) technology manufacturing, (3) distribution and (4) use in construction. We identify the lack of real scale demonstration projects as one of the most important hurdles. This hurdle is relevant in the R&D stage, as such also affecting the other stages. At the same time, there is a consensus that the greatest facilitator to draw the market’s attention to the commercialization of self-healing concrete is the increasing demand towards more sustainable materials. Our study includes an overview of the actions that can be undertaken to reduce the impact of the hurdles and enhance the deployment of self-healing concrete in the construction industry.