Life cycle sustainability assessment of eco-friendly self-consolidating concretes using expert insights from the construction industry
摘要
Replacing cement with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) is widely recognized as an effective strategy to reduce the environmental footprint of cement production. However, focusing solely on technical or environmental dimensions is insufficient for drawing comprehensive sustainability conclusions. A thorough evaluation requires integrating key sustainable development indicators across all life-cycle stages. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a valuable tool that quantifies environmental impacts across all stages of a product’s life, including green concretes, which are often assessed from cradle to gate. This study examined the technical, economic, and environmental performance of self-consolidating concretes (SCCs) incorporating various SCMs, including silica fume (SF), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GS), metakaolin (MK), and pumice (PU), across 13 mix designs. The technical evaluation included measures of slump flow, compressive strength, and chloride migration, along with a service life prediction model to estimate long-term environmental impacts associated with each mix. Furthermore, an expert questionnaire was developed to prioritize the importance of these performance indicators from construction professionals’ perspectives. The results indicate that mixes containing 20% and 15% metakalolin or 15% silica fume demonstrated superior performance across combined technical, environmental, and economic criteria, as confirmed by expert evaluations. Compared to the control mixture, these mixes achieved CO₂ emission reductions of 94%, 93%, and 89% per cubic meter per service-year, respectively. Experts prioritized the highest weightage to the technical criterion (66%), followed by economic (21%) and environmental (13%) considerations.