Investigation of the potential of repurposing waste disposals into concretes: mechanical properties, reduction in cooling/heating energy costs, and carbon exudation mitigation prospective

The significant global energy consumption strongly emphasizes the crucial role of net-zero or green structures in ensuring a sustainable future. Considering this aspect, incorporating thermal insulation materials into building components is a well-accepted method that helps to enhance thermal comfort in buildings. Furthermore, integrating architectural components made from solid refuse materials retrieved from the environment can have significant environmental benefits. This study explores the feasibility of incorporating waste materials, such as Plaster of Paris, tire, plastic, and cloth, into concrete as partial replacements for fine aggregate. The investigation involves substituting these materials in varying proportions—10%, 20%, and 30%—to evaluate their impact on the concrete’s properties and overall thermal performance. The study aims to investigate their effectiveness in reducing air conditioning costs, mitigating carbon emissions, and determining the duration required to recoup the capital investment in buildings located in Sholapur/Bhopal, India. The thermo-economic study was conducted using the cooling and heating degree-hours to ascertain the building’s annual energy consumption. Among all admixture based concrete roofs studied, the addition of Plaster of Paris, (POPCR-30) by weight percentage of 30 as a partial replacement of fine aggregate displayed higher thermal performance with appropriate compressive strength (35.8 MPa). In hot-dry(Sholapur)/composite(Bhopal) climates, the most favorable economic benefits demonstrated by admixture-based concrete roof (POPCR-30), having time delay (8.31 h), decrement factor (0.343), total cost savings (0.68/0.58$/m²), reduction of carbon emissions (13.1/11 kg/kWh), and reasonable payback periods (6.28/7.37 years). This research assists architects and engineers in the selection of waste derived concrete roofs that optimise carbon exudation reduction, energy cost savings, and mechanical strength. Also, this approach aims to address waste management challenges while promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly construction practices.