Environmental Assessment of Ultra-High-Performance Concrete Using Carbon, Material, and Water Footprint

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 Convent...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Husam Sameer, Viktoria Weber, Clemens Mostert, Stefan Bringezu, Ekkehard Fehling, Alexander Wetzel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-03-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/12/6/851
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:1996-1944