Evaluation of Key Indicators Influencing the Social and Environmental Performance of Green Concrete and the Impact of Training on Its Improvement

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The improvement of sustainable development performance in the construction industry is guided by two factors: regulatory oversight and market demand, in which the improvement of sustainable development performance can be financially beneficial for companies. This article examines the influential indicators on the social and environmental aspects of green concretes containing steel slag in several industrialized countries. To conduct a more accurate assessment, the social and environmental life cycle analysis (LCA) was utilized. Among more than forty evaluated indicators, the data quality assessment results identified reliable social indicators, including: general education expenses, fair wages, goods produced by forced labor, health costs, human trafficking, weekly working hours per employee, respect for indigenous rights, and public sector corruption. The evaluated green concrete not only demonstrates geographical representation diversity but also reveals product design variations (with three different steel slag content levels) and potential differences resulting from company efforts, presented in four introduced categories. The examination of key social and environmental indicators of green concrete showed differences in the relationship between sustainability performance and steel slag content. While an increase in slag content led to worsened social performance, it improved environmental performance in all examined countries. The balance between social and environmental performance indicates constraints in sustainable product design and highlights the effectiveness of supply chain management in improving sustainability performance for green concrete.

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References

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Journals of Environmental Education and Sustainable Development
Volume 13, Issue 2
2025
Pages 135-149

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