Life cycle assessment (LCA) considers all life-cycle phases from initial construction to demolition. For pavements, this includes the operation, maintenance, and end of life phases, and factors such as traffic delay, lighting demand, and future maintenance. CSHub models quantify environmental impacts across a pavements life cycle from manufacturing to disposal and offer detailed analysis of the use phase.

Topic Summaries & Info Sheets

• Life Cycle Thinking: Pavements (March 2018)

Related Research Briefs

• Impact of Use Phase in Pavement Life Cycle Assessment: A Case Study of Alternative Designs in Different Contexts (April 2014)
• Key Drivers of Uncertainty in Pavement LCA (November 2012)
• Comparative Pavement LCAs With Uncertainty (June 2012)
• Network, Pavements and Fuel Consumption (April 2012)
• Adopting a Life Cycle Perspective (April 2011)
• Designing for Sustainable Pavements (March 2011)

Reports

• Supplementary Information for Comparative Pavement Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (April 2014)
• Pavements: Methods, Impacts, and Opportunities in the Concrete Industry (August 2011)
• Life Cycle Assessment of Highway Pavements (Interim Report, December 2010)

Resources

• Life Cycle Thinking, Pavements - Information Sheet

Related Peer-Reviewed Publications

• Kirchain, R., Gregory, J., Olivetti, E. Environmental life-cycle assessment. Nature Materials, 16 693–697 (2017)
• J. Gregory, A. Noshadravan, O. Swei, X. Xu, R. Kirchain, “The importance of incorporating uncertainty into pavement life cycle cost and environmental impact analyses”, Proceedings of the Pavement Life-Cycle Assessment Symposium 2017, Champaign, IL, April 12-13, 2017
• Gregory, J., Noshadravan, A., Olivetti, E.A., Kirchain, R., A Methodology for Robust Comparative Life Cycle Assessments Incorporating Uncertainty. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 50: Issue. 12: Pages. 6397-6405. 
• Louhghalam A., Akbarian, M., Ulm F-J. Carbon management of infrastructure performance: Integrated big data analytics and pavement-vehicle-interactions. Journal of Cleaner Production. Volume 142, Part 2, 20 January 2017, Pages 956-964. 2016
• J. Mack, J. Gregory, R. Kirchain, “Accounting for Rehabilitation Activity Uncertainty in a Pavement Life Cycle Assessment using Probability and Decision Tree Analysis,” Proceedings of the International Concrete Sustainability Conference, Miami, FL, May 11-13, 2015.
• Xu, X., Gregory J., Kirchain R., "Role of the Use Phase and Pavement-Vehicle Interaction in Comparative Pavement Life Cycle Assessment" Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting. No. 15-4011. 2015.
• Noshadravan A., Xu X., Gregory J., Kirchain R., “Uncertainty management in comparative life-cycle assessment of pavements”, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Concrete Roads, Prague, Czech Republic, September 23-26, 2014.
• Xu X., Noshadravan A., J. Gregory, R. Kirchain, “Scenario analysis of comparative pavement life cycle assessment using a probabilistic approach,” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Pavement LCA, Davis, CA, October 14-16, 2014.  
• J. Mack, X. Xu, J. Gregory, R. Kirchain, “Developing robust rehabilitation scenario profiles for life cycle assessment using decision tree analysis,” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Pavement LCA, Davis, CA, October 14-16, 2014.
• Santero N., Loijos A., Ochsendorf J., Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Opportunities for Concrete Pavements, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Volume 17, Issue 6, Pages 859–868, 2013
• Loijos A., Santero N., Ochsendorf J. Life cycle climate impacts of the US concrete pavement network. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Volume 72, March 2013, Pages 76-83, 2013.
• Noshadravan A., Wildnauer M., Gregory J., Kirchain R., Comparative Pavement Life Cycle Assessment with Parameter Uncertainty, Transportation Research Part D, 25, Pages 135-138, 2013
• Akbarian M., Moeini-Ardakani S.S., Ulm F.-J., Nazzal M., Mechanistic Approach to Pavement-Vehicle Interaction and Its Impact on Life-Cycle Assessment, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2306, Pages 171-179, 2012
• Mack J., Ulm F.-J., Gregory J., Kirchain R., Akbarian M., Swei O., Wildnauer M., Designing Sustainable Concrete Pavements using the Pavement-ME Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design and Life Cycle Analysis, International Conference on Long-Life Concrete Pavement, 2012
• Loijos A., Akbarian M., Sahni S., Ochsendorf J., Sensitivity Analysis of the Life Cycle Environmental Performance of Asphalt and Concrete Pavements, Concrete Sustainability Conference, 2010

Webinar Video

This webinar was presented on September 21, 2017. Click here for a list of upcoming webinars and additional webinar videos.

Also see: Pavement Vehicle Interaction (PVI)