Name: FELIPE ZANELLATO COELHO
Type: MSc dissertation
Publication date: 05/09/2016
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| JOÃO LUIZ CALMON NOGUEIRA DA GAMA | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| GEILMA LIMA VIEIRA | Internal Examiner * |
| JOÃO LUIZ CALMON NOGUEIRA DA GAMA | Advisor * |
Summary: Several studies evaluate the technical performance of incorporating wastes and
industrial by-products into concrete mixtures (eco-concrete, green concrete, ecological
concrete). However, to decide which mixture has the lowest environmental load is
necessary to make a complete analysis of its entire life cycle. The life cycle assessment
(LCA) is a methodology for assessing the potential environmental impacts and
resources used throughout a product's life cycle. Thus, the management of
environmental impacts is approached from the extraction of raw materials to stages of
production, use, disposal and recycling. Therefore, the aim of this work is to associate
the production of self-compacting concrete (SCC) with the incorporation of wastes and
industrial by-products with the concept of life cycle, using the LCA methodology to
make comparisons of mixtures in a specific scenario. For such, this research used
green SCC's mixtures, with technical performances proved in scientific articles, in
which the environmental performance was not analyzed. To evaluate the
environmental performance, the mixtures were divided into 3 strength classes (1A, 1B
and 2) and analyzed with the software SIMAPRO, IMPACT 2002+ impact assessment
method, Ecoinvent database and functional unit of 1 m3, with the cradle-to-gate system
boundaries. The results show that in the three strength classes analyzed the damage
categories most affected were Human Health, Climate Change and Energy Resources,
as a result of high emissions of inorganic particles that affect human health,
greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of non-renewable energy, respectively.
In summary, the green SCCs have significant environmental gains that can help
minimize the problems of waste management, reduce the depletion of natural
resources and promote green consumption.
Keywords: Self-compacting concrete (SCC). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Wastes.
Industrial byproducts. SimaPro. Environmental impact.
