An ecodesign method application at the experimental stage of construction materials development: A case study in the production of mortar made with ornamental rock wastes

Abstract This paper proposed and tested a method to support the early stages of construction materials ecodesign, with an application focus on the production of mortar made with ornamental rock waste. The method was organized in four phases. In Phase 1, materials (sand and cement) and waste for mortar production were characterized. In Phase 2, a cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was developed to compare the environmental performance of mortars made with sand and cement replacements, in different proportions (0, 10, 20 and 30% by weight), by cutting (CW) and polishing (PW) wastes. In Phase 3, mortars were produced for the best environmental benign configurations of CW and PW applications, and their physical (consistency index, bulk density, open porosity, dried mass, saturated mass and capillarity) and mechanical (flexural and compressive strength) properties were evaluated. In Phase 4, eco-efficiency indicators were calculated to select the best ecodesign scenarios. Results indicated that only the sand replacement can considerably reduce environmental impacts in mortar production. The greatest impact reduction was for the Fossil Depletion category, which was up to 25% reduced by including 30% of CW (CW-30% scenario). The physical–mechanical analysis reveals that most of mortars properties were not significantly modified with the different incorporation levels of the wastes, but CW-20% showed the best overall performance. Finally, CW-20% and CW-30% were considered the most eco-efficient scenarios for the development of mortars on experimental scale since they showed satisfactory properties while keeping a low level of environmental burdens in a life cycle approach. This agile ecodesign approach could be used by companies that understand the importance of evaluating environmental impacts during experimental stages of tests of construction materials development.