Title: Environmental Impact Evaluation of a Slag/Fly Ash-Based Strain Hardening Geopolymer Composite (SHGC)

Author(s): Shizhe Zhang, Qingge Feng, Dongbo Wang, and Guang Ye

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 349

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 648-658

Keywords: embodied energy, geopolymer, global warming potential, life cycle assessment, strainhardening

DOI: 10.14359/51732779

Date: 4/22/2021

Abstract:

Strain-hardening geopolymer composite (SHGC) based on industrial wastes and by-products has emerged as a feasible alternative to strain-hardening cementitious composite (SHCC). Lately, a novel slag/fly ash-based SHGC with promising strain-hardening tensile performance and multiple cracking behavior has been successfully developed. However, its environmental impact with regards to its global warming potential and energy consumption remain to be evaluated.

This paper presents an evaluation and comparative study of the environmental impact factors of a newly developed slag/fly ash-based SHGC and three different types of conventional SHCC materials. The CO₂ equivalent global warming potential (GWP) and the embodied energy (EE) were calculated under a life cycle assessment scheme based on the product stage. SHGC has significant advantages in terms of the global warming potential (GWP) while maintaining comparable or lower embodied energy (EE) when compared with greener version of SHCC materials and typical SHCC material (ECC M45), respectively. It could be concluded that the newly developed slag/fly ash-based SHGC demonstrates a very promising LCA record while possessing excellent technical performance. Consequently, SHGC could serve as a promising alternative for SHCC materials with considerably lower environmental impact.