Development of a Process to Lower Global Warming Potential of Construction Materials

Details

• Creators:
  Cooper, Michelle A. ; Mukherjee, Amlan
• Corporate Creators:
  Michigan Technological University. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  Minnesota. Department of Transportation. Office of Research & Innovation
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Concrete Pavements Construction Environmental Impacts Life Cycle Analysis Pollutants Ready Mixed Concrete
• Publication/ Report Number:
  MN 2025-24
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Minnesota. Department of Transportation
• Abstract:
  The objective of this research was to support sustainable procurement of concrete pavements by linking materials-level global warming potential (GWP) to the project level. Infrastructure owners require reliable environmental product declarations (EPDs) and methodologies for integrating GWP into the procurement process to ensure equitable decision-making. This work provided insights into high-level GWP estimation tools and EPD development tools. A benchmarking methodology was developed and implemented to establish reference values for procuring sustainable products within Minnesota. A data collection protocol and life-cycle information model (LCIM) for concrete pavement construction were developed to facilitate GWP integration into current project procurement practices. The LCIM methodology was developed and implemented to estimate the production and construction environmental impacts of five real-world concrete pavement construction projects and a joint repair project. Applying the LCIM methodology allowed this work to map GWP to pay items and incentives in specifications and provide a pathway to extend a LCIM across the life cycle. Ultimately, this research provided a framework for integrating environmental impacts into the procurement process to facilitate sustainable project procurement for infrastructure owners.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  1036337
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ac3a632f443e12029b5c1c3ad0339d224642d7715ef58feb0b1473f7e4207091eee6b0fea5373b2912be69bc30543baadb56e7c25851df7987a00bf9b6b78a30
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/88383/dot_88383_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.20 MB ]