New publication! Cement Environmental Benchmarks and EPD Database
2024/02/20
The cement industry plays a vital role in this transition because it is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. EPDs have managed to articulate the environmental information flow across different stakeholders, allowing them to incorporate sustainability design practices at the manufacturing, construction, and design levels. However, current EPDs are deterministically disclosed and lack benchmarks, hindering effective comparison and impeding sustainable material development. To address this challenge, the present research introduces a novel Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based probabilistic analysis to develop clinker and cement benchmarks. The proposed method incorporates data from industry reports, environmental databases, and EPDs, to generate the stochastic benchmarks. Moreover, a wide range of environmental performance indicators at a national level in Europe are covered, offering a holistic perspective beyond climate change. Additionally, an extensive open-access database is developed, providing a reference for future developments regarding sustainable cement and concrete.