Life Cycle Assessment of Sustainable Concrete Systems

Life cycle assessment (LCA) provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating the environmental impacts of concrete across its entire life span, from raw material extraction through production, use and end-of-life management. Sustainable concrete systems integrate low-carbon binders, recycled aggregates and optimised mix designs to reduce embodied carbon, conserve resources and enhance durability. Key strategies include replacing a proportion of traditional cement with supplementary cementitious materials, using recycled concrete aggregates derived from demolition waste and implementing closed-loop recycling processes that feed used concrete back into new production. LCA studies assess multiple impact categories—global warming potential, energy consumption, resource depletion, acidification and eutrophication—to inform design choices and industrial practices. Recent methodological advances combine LCA with life cycle costing and multi-criteria decision analysis to balance environmental performance against technical and economic criteria. Emerging research highlights the importance of harmonised inventory data, region-specific assessments and high-grade recycling technologies. These developments underpin policy measures, green procurement guidelines and circular economy initiatives aimed at transforming concrete structures into low-emission, resource-efficient infrastructures with global applicability.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Life Cycle Assessment of Sustainable Concrete Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in life cycle assessment of sustainable concrete systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Life cycle assessment (LCA): A systematic methodology for quantifying environmental burdens and resource use of a product or system throughout its life cycle, from raw material acquisition to disposal or recycling.

Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs): Industrial by-products or natural materials (e.g., fly ash, slag, limestone) used to replace a portion of Portland cement in concrete, reducing carbon emissions and enhancing durability.

Recycled concrete aggregates (RCA): Coarse aggregates obtained by crushing and processing concrete demolition waste, employed in new concrete mixes to decrease reliance on virgin materials and reduce environmental impacts.

Circular economy: An economic paradigm that emphasises resource efficiency, waste prevention and closed-loop material cycles to minimise environmental impacts and foster sustainable production and consumption.

References

1. Environmental impact evaluation of low-carbon concrete incorporating fly ash and limestone. Cleaner Materials (2024).
2. Life Cycle Assessment of Completely Recyclable Concrete. Materials (2014).
3. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Different Kinds of Concrete Containing Waste for Sustainable Construction. Buildings (2018).
4. Comparing environmental impacts of natural inert and recycled construction and demolition waste processing using LCA. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management (2013).
5. Eco-efficiency assessment of technological innovations in high-grade concrete recycling. Resources Conservation and Recycling (2019).
6. Use of Recycled Concrete Aggregates in Production of Green Cement-Based Concrete Composites: A Review. Crystals (2021).
7. Environmental Impact Analysis of Acidification and Eutrophication Due to Emissions from the Production of Concrete. Sustainability (2016).
8. Sustainability in Building and Construction within the Framework of Circular Cities and European New Green Deal. The Contribution of Concrete Recycling. Sustainability (2021).
9. Analysis of Environmental Impact for Concrete Using LCA by Varying the Recycling Components, the Compressive Strength and the Admixture Material Mixing. Sustainability (2016).