Overview of Pavement Life Cycle Assessment Use Phase Research at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub

Abstract

In 2009, the US cement and concrete industries established the Concrete Sustainability Hub at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A primary thrust of MIT’s activities has been improving the Life Cycle Assessment practices to better quantify the environmental impacts over the life of a pavement. In their research, the MIT CSHub determined that the “use phase” can dominate the materials, construction and maintenance phases of a pavement LCA and that two of the important factors in the use phase are Pavement Vehicle Interaction (PVI) and Albedo. PVI describes the excess fuel emissions / energy from vehicles due to excess rolling resistance between the pavement and the vehicle. Albedo is the fraction of solar energy reflected by the Earth’s surface, with lighter color, higher albedo surfaces reflecting more energy than lower albedo, darker surfaces. This paper will summarize the CSHub Use Phase research findings to date.