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Title: Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete Containing Fly Ash

Author(s): Z. Li, Y. Yamamoto, and M. Sagisaka

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 221

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 573-588

Keywords: concrete; eco-efficiency; environmental life cycle assessment, environmental performance indicator; fly ash

DOI: 10.14359/13278

Date: 5/1/2004

Abstract:
In this study, environmental performance indicator is proposed for comprehensively evaluating the environmental burdens of concrete. Also an environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) is done to comprehensively estimate and to quantitatively compare the environmental burden of concrete containing fly ash over plain concrete, associated with the stages from resource acquisition to concrete's production process. The considered environmental impacts include COY SOx, NO., emissions, energy consumption, waste discharge and land use. The LCA results show quantitatively a fact that concrete containing fly ash is a kind of environment-friendly material relative to plain concrete, whether cement or fine aggregate is replaced. Replacing portland cement than using for fine aggregate will bring a greater reduction in environmental burden of concrete. The evaluation, only relying on the reductions in energy consumption and CO2 emission, will underestimate the eco-balance performance of fly ash concrete. When cement is replaced, all the land use area, air emissions and energy consumption decrease obviously. However, only is the land use area clearly reduced in case of replacing fine aggregate. Moreover, the eco-efficiency of fly ash concrete is greater than that of plain concrete.