Effect of the mix design of self-compacting concrete: Reduction of the environmental impact

Advantages of concrete are freedom of shape, possibilities to integrate other functions and components, to build structures with limited maintenance costs, ease of use and very high durability. The use of sustainable building materials is important because they are used in large volumes. A significant reduction of the environmental impact can convince owners to select concrete instead of other building materials. Effective concrete production requires an adequate rate of strength development, which is especially important for prefabricated elements and ready-mix applications with a high early age strength requirement. This paper discusses the influence of the mix design on the global warming potential and the relative strength cost, the ratio between strength and environmental cost; 3 conventional vibrated concrete (CVC) mixtures and 9 self-compacting concretes (SCC’s) selected from literature are compared for the age of 24 hours and 28 days. Quantifying the trade-off between the use of Portland cement and other mixture components is important information to balance production requirements and to determine the environmental impact of concrete structures produced with SCC.