EARTH VERSUS CONVENTIONAL MORTARS: ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT CONSIDERING THE LIFE CYCLE

• Main Authors: Lucas Rosse Caldas, Rayane de Lima Moura Paiva, Adriana Paiva de Souza Martins, Romildo Dias Toledo Filho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) 2020-08-01
• Series: Mix Sustentável
• Subjects: argamassas ecoeficientes; terra. acv; vida útil; transporte
• Online Access: https://ojs.sites.ufsc.br/index.php/mixsustentavel/article/view/4120

The potential environmental impacts of different earth mortar mixtures, with and without chemical stabilizers (hydrated lime and Portland cement), were evaluated and compared with conventional cement, lime, and sand mortars. We used the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology with a cradle-to-grave scope. Four damage categories wereassessed: Climate Change, Human Health, Ecosystem Quality, and Resource Depletion. The chemical binders were the most environmentally impactful inputs for the stabilized earth mortars’ production. The earth’s coating, service life, and transportation were important mainly for the Human Health and Ecosystem Quality categories. Earth coatings,even when stabilized, can have up to 80% environmental gains for the Climate Change category if they have the same service life as conventional mortar coatings. Therefore, these coatings, based on raw earth, can be an alternative with the great environmental potential to mitigate the impacts of conventional coatings used in buildings. For this, they must be specified and used appropriately in the projects and as long as they use, preferably, locally available earth.