Comparing conventional concrete to high performance concrete through life cycle assessment

Abstract

In this study, conventional concrete is compared to high performance concrete in terms of environmental performance. The Open LCA software along with the Ecoinvent database 3.1 and data from a literature review were used. The ReCiPe life cycle impact assessment methodology was applied. Results show better environmental performance for high performance concrete. Regarding climate change and water depletion results, conventional concrete turned out to have almost twice the impact of high performance concrete, while for the fossil depletion and human toxicity indicators results were even higher. In addition, it must be noted that high performance concrete also results in benefits regarding dematerialization since it is needed 0.654 m3 less than in the conventional concrete case for the same function. Nevertheless, further analysis should be conducted using primary data.