Description
This guide offers a clear, evidence-based foundation for understanding the materials and mixture decisions that influence the carbon footprint of concrete. Focusing on the upstream stages of production, where specification choices most affect embodied carbon, it aims to help engineers, designers, contractors, and policymakers evaluate low-carbon options while maintaining the safety, strength, and durability of traditional concrete.
The guide examines concrete’s role in global carbon emissions, life-cycle thinking and carbon quantification tools, and a full spectrum of binder-level strategies, including SCMs, mineral fillers, blended cements, low-carbon portland cements, and alternative cements. It also introduces aggregate, reinforcement, and water-level pathways, along with supporting concepts such as mixture optimization and durability, and advanced concrete technologies to illustrate how material choices interact with long-term performance.
Designed to be accessible to newcomers yet valuable to experienced practitioners, this guide provides the context, background, and technical framework needed to understand low-carbon concrete materials and their implications for performance and sustainability.
Keywords:
low-carbon concrete; mixture design; carbon footprint of concrete; portland cement; global warming potential (GWP);embodied carbon; life cycle thinking, environmental product declaration (EPD); life cycle analysis (LCA); product category rule (PCR); sustainable material selection; supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs); mineral fillers; plant-level cement innovations; blended cement; carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS); mineralization; alternative cements; aggregates; reinforcement;; concrete mixture optimization; chemical admixtures; water; high-performance concrete; advanced concretes; durability.
Table of Contents
PART I: Understanding the Carbon Footprint of Concrete
Chapter 1: The Role of Concrete in Global Carbon Emissions
Chapter 2: Traditionally Produced Portland Cement Concrete
Chapter 3: Life Cycle Carbon: Frameworks, Metrics, and Benchmarks
Chapter 4: Balanced Material Selection Considerations
PART II: Exploring Low-Carbon Alternatives to Portland Cement
Chapter 5: Strategies for Reducing the Carbon Footprint of the Binder
Chapter 6: Supplementary Cementitious Materials
Chapter 7: Mineral Fillers
Chapter 8: Plant-Level Innovations in Producing Lower-Carbon Cements
Chapter 9: Alternative Cements
PART III: Exploring Low-Carbon Alternatives to Non-Binder Concrete Materials
Chapter 10: Aggregates
Chapter 11: Reinforcement
Chapter 12: Water in Concrete
PART IV: Advanced Design Strategies for Low-Carbon Concrete
Chapter 13: Advanced Mixture Optimization for Low-Carbon Concrete
Chapter 14: Advanced Concretes and Their Role in Low-Carbon Construction