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Properties of Cement Based Low-Carbon Concrete for Sustainable Construction

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1466

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 5, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Interests: concrete technology; cement technology; sustainable concrete; cementitious materials
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Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland
Interests: cement; concrete technology; low-carbon concrete; admixtures; additives; rheology; durability; sustainable building materials; sustainable constructions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Concrete buildings and infrastructure are durable, robust, safe, and have the potential to provide high comfort of use without CO2 emissions during use. On the other hand, the production of concrete—especially cement—is energy-intensive and contributes significantly to anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The solution to this is to develop low-carbon concrete (LCC) technology, i.e., concrete that has a lower carbon footprint and lower energy consumption than traditional concrete, and which, at the same time, has properties that reduce CO2 emissions during use. However, this topic requires intensive research, especially in the area of identifying the impact of alternative and new components on the properties of concrete mixes and concrete, with a view to standardizing the requirements and modeling, as well as predicting the long-term properties of LCC.

It is, therefore, a pleasure to invite the research community to submit review or regular research papers on, but not limited to, the following topics related to the design, optimization, and modeling of LCC properties:

  • Use of alternative materials that reduce clinker and/or cement consumption;
  • Alternative materials for natural aggregates;
  • Optimizing concrete composition in terms of CO2 emissions;
  • Possibility of obtaining additional concrete functionalities (smart concrete: self-diagnosis, self-healing, self-cleaning, energy storage, and CO2 capture);
  • Use of energy-efficient and effective concrete production technologies;
  • Optimization of the properties and quantity of concrete in a structure in relation to its expected functionality and durability;
  • LCC recycling.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jacek Gołaszewski
Dr. Małgorzata Gołaszewska
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable building materials
  • sustainable constructions
  • cement
  • concrete
  • technology
  • low-carbon concrete
  • admixtures
  • additives
  • nanomaterials
  • phase change materials
  • rheology
  • durability
  • high-performance concrete
  • self-compacting concrete

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 5488 KB  
Article
Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete Containing Crushed Concrete Paving Blocks as a Sustainable Replacement for Natural Aggregates
by Jan Pizoń, Nikolina Poranek and Marie Horňáková
Sustainability 2026, 18(6), 2703; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18062703 - 10 Mar 2026
Viewed by 472
Abstract
This LCA study addresses the research gap concerning the comprehensive environmental implications of using paving block aggregates (PBA), derived from crushed waste concrete paving blocks (CPB), as a sustainable replacement for natural aggregates in cementitious materials. While the concrete industry faces twin challenges—high [...] Read more.
This LCA study addresses the research gap concerning the comprehensive environmental implications of using paving block aggregates (PBA), derived from crushed waste concrete paving blocks (CPB), as a sustainable replacement for natural aggregates in cementitious materials. While the concrete industry faces twin challenges—high CO2 emissions from cement and the massive ecological toll of extracting 20 Gt/year of natural aggregates—a systematic life cycle assessment of this specific waste stream was necessary, especially one that considered potential material interaction trade-offs. The study’s conclusions offer critical insight into achieving genuine sustainability. Consistently, cement production was identified as the overwhelming environmental hotspot, contributing over 90% of the global warming potential (GWP) across all scenarios. This finding indicates that even substantial changes in aggregate sourcing can only deliver limited GWP reductions unless accompanied by strategies targeting cement-related emissions. While substituting natural aggregates with PBA generally provided environmental benefits, a crucial trade-off was identified: the significantly higher dosage of superplasticizer required to maintain the workability of the PBA mixes. For mortar, the burden from the increased plasticizer became a major secondary hotspot, occasionally offsetting the gains from aggregate replacement. In these scenarios, the contribution of admixtures to the total GWP was sufficiently high to reduce or negate the environmental benefits achieved through aggregate substitution. In contrast, aggregate replacement proved more favorable in concrete than in mortar, as the concrete scenarios showed a weaker correlation between environmental impact and plasticizer use. The authors conclude that future strategies must prioritize reducing cement content and, critically, systematically consider the necessary use of admixtures to ensure that the intended environmental improvements are genuine and not counteracted by the side effects of material substitution. The quantified LCA results demonstrate that cement reduction offers the highest mitigation potential, while admixture optimization is essential to prevent secondary environmental hotspots, particularly in mortar applications. Full article
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35 pages, 9379 KB  
Article
Utilization of Recycled Foam Concrete Powder with Phase-Change Material as a Cement or Sand Replacement: Impact on Mortar Properties and Superplasticizer Performance
by Jacek Gołaszewski, Grzegorz Cygan, Małgorzata Gołaszewska, Barbara Klemczak, Henk Jonkers, Dmitry Zhilyaev and Eduardus A. B. Koenders
Sustainability 2026, 18(2), 1004; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18021004 - 19 Jan 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 507
Abstract
The recycling of ultralight foam concrete (ULFC), both with and without phase-change material (PCM), involves crushing it and using the resulting recycled foam concrete powder (RFCP) as a partial substitute for cement or sand in cement composites. These recycling paths remain insufficiently explored [...] Read more.
The recycling of ultralight foam concrete (ULFC), both with and without phase-change material (PCM), involves crushing it and using the resulting recycled foam concrete powder (RFCP) as a partial substitute for cement or sand in cement composites. These recycling paths remain insufficiently explored in the literature regarding practical feasibility. Since both RFCP and PCM reduce the flowability of fresh mortars, incorporating RFCP with PCM is, in practice, only feasible with the addition of a superplasticizer (SP). The primary objectives of this study were to determine: (1) the effect of RFCP with PCM, when used to replace cement or sand, on mortar properties, and (2) its influence on the performance of the superplasticizer (SP), to assess the feasibility of using RFCP with PCM in cement composites. The addition of RFCP, both without PCM (RFCP_0) and with PCM (RFCP_PCM), deteriorates the properties of fresh and hardened mortars compared to reference mortars. The negative impact of RFCP is less pronounced when it replaces sand rather than cement. Compared to RFCP_0 mortars, RFCP_PCM mortars exhibit reduced flowability. PCM delays setting and reduces heat evolution during the first 48 h of hardening. PCM does not significantly affect strength or water absorption but increases shrinkage and lowers thermal conductivity. While RFCP_PCM does not impair SP efficiency, PCM causes SP to significantly retard setting and hardening. Full article
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