title: LCA modelling of Cement and Lime-based Construction Materials Systems
Creators: name: Sambataro, Luciano
Publisher: name: UNSPECIFIED
Year: 2024

description: Lime-based construction material systems have observed the evolution of mankind throughout the last millennials. Some of them are still present today. They have witnessed humanity's ability to overcome challenges imposed by nature, allowing the development of civilizations across the globe. Today, the world's population has reached unprecedented levels, and mankind has imposed its presence in nearly every corner of the planet. We now face a new challenge. The very same technological advancements that have shaped our culture as we know it today are also threatening our existence by transforming the environment into an unknown landscape.
 
 The consequences of keeping business as usual have already been highlighted as critical by the scientific community. In this context, new methods of providing the goods and services demanded by our societies are necessary. The construction and building industry stands out as one of the most influential sectors in terms of reshaping our environmental footprint. Firstly, construction materials are used in vast quantities worldwide. Secondly, their production requires significant amounts of natural resources and energy. It is estimated that approximately two-thirds of global energy consumption can be attributed to this sector.
 
 This landscape presents new opportunities for developments in sustainable design for construction products. This thesis addresses this issue by proposing the development of technological solutions based on the utilisation of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The latter serves as a scientifically proven famework for quantifying the potential environmental impacts of products and services. This endeavour is framed within the SUBLime project, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action European Training Network—Innovative Training Network (ETN ITN).
 
 The core of this thesis lies in the computational formulation of LCA. This approach serves as a foundational contribution upon which new developments can be added or explored. Indeed, its structure comprises three primary scientific contributions in the form of peer-reviewed papers. These begin with the fundamental computational formulation of LCA and then venture into exploring new applications of LCA, specifically non-linear integration and stochastic analysis.
 
 In recent decades, LCA has been repeatedly used as a reporting tool across a growing number of studies. While this reflects the status quo, the aim of this work is to redefine the use of LCA as a key supporting tool for the design of future materials. To achieve this goal, two critical aspects are examined.
 Firstly, the integration of material performance in terms of its structural and energy responses to a defined scenario is combined with its environmental performance. This approach enables to systematically analyse and compare different design solutions and material combinations. Results demonstrate that an optimal combination can be identified and future-oriented scenarios can be easily compared, providing a powerful tool at the early stages of design.
 Secondly, a comprehensive set of environmental benchmarks and an EPD database are developed. Facilitating easy and robust comparison is crucial during product development. Therefore, LCA-based key environmental performance indicators are disclosed in this work. The results not only showed that accuracy, measured in terms of standard deviation, can be improved up to seven times but also provides a reference baseline upon which new studies can be built.
 
 In conclusion, this PhD thesis highlights the potential benefits of repositioning LCA as a design tool rather than merely a reporting one, making it possible to predict the environmental footprint of construction materials throughout their life cycle.