Abstract
This study applies the life cycle assessment methodology to evaluate the environmental impacts of shock-absorbing pavements fabricated with recycled materials (crumb rubber and a colored pigment called ferrotone), employing the “cradle-to-grave” approach, in which the impacts of all life cycle phases (from materials’ acquisition to the end-of-life of the pavement) are included. The analysis compares the impacts of standard and innovative asphalt materials, considering cold and hot production processes. In addition, three different lifespans are simulated for the pavement structures: the reference service life until the first intervention is considered to be 5 years, and the following scenarios consider that the alternative asphalt materials may last 20% less (4 years) or 20% longer (6 years) than the reference service life. The analysis uses non-renewable cumulative energy demand (nr-CED) and global warming potential (GWP) as main indicators to determine the environmental impacts over a 45-year analysis period. The results show that adopting the “dry process” (consisting of adding the rubber as a partial substitution for aggregates) increases the overall impacts due to the need for higher contents of binder. However, if the alternative pavement structures last 20% longer than the reference, they would generate lower impacts in terms of nr-CED and GWP.
Funder
European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program
Subject
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment,Geography, Planning and Development,Building and Construction
Cited by
4 articles.
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