Impact of concrete structures durability on its sustainability and climate resiliency

Abstract

Durability property is a critical performance indicator of concrete in different environments and locations. However, durability also plays a key role in the sustainability and climate resiliency of concrete structures which is mostly ignored in the context of ways to improve the sustainability of concrete materials and structures. Hence, this paper aims to bring focus to this area by presenting an overview of the critical role of concrete properties especially durability on the sustainability and climate resiliency of concrete structures. This paper first presents a general overview of concrete materials followed by the connection of concrete to sustainability and climate resiliency. Discussions from this paper indicate that to improve concrete sustainability, there is a need to use materials with lower environmental impacts upfront in addition to producing concrete with improved durability to ensure long-term performance. In other words, merely reducing the upfront embodied carbon of materials is not sufficient to achieve sustainable concrete if the impact of such alternative low-carbon materials used to replace the traditional materials in concrete is not considered. On the other hand, the climate resiliency of concrete structures is mostly dependent on improved durability which would sustain their adaptation over time to the impacts of the changing climate conditions. Overall, to achieve sustainability and climate resilience of concrete structures; lower environmental impact, higher durability performance and resilience to applicable climatic conditions must be achieved.