Bio-concretes and GHG emissions reduction: what the scientific literature says?

Abstract

Bio-concretes incorporates several types of biomaterials, and they emerge as a sustainable alternative to traditional concrete. In this context, the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental performance of these materials becomes fundamental in order to identify the main points for improvement. Therefore, this study performed a Systematic Literature Review, analysing the published works about LCA of the different types of bio-concretes, identifying the limitations and possible improvements for future studies. Because bio-concrete is a relatively new material, only 16 articles were found about this topic; however, it was observed a trend towards awareness of the relevance of performing LCA to evaluate the material’s performance. Furthermore, there is no standardisation about the functional unit studied and the possibilities of bio-concretes end-of-life, showing the need of evaluating these variables in future studies. The hempcrete was the type of bio-concrete most evaluated. Moreover, the Global warming potential was the most studied impact category, and binder production was the main contributor for the CO2 emissions. When compared with conventional building materials, bio-concretes can have great GHG emissions reduction. It was verified that the biogenic carbon has a big influence in the GWP results of bio-concretes and must be addressed correctly.