Abstract

Reducing the carbon footprint of concrete has become a central objective in sustainable construction. Low-carbon concrete (LCC), developed primarily through clinker reduction, supplementary cementitious materials, and alternative binder strategies, offers a promising route for lowering embodied emissions while maintaining the performance requirements of structural concrete. This comprehensive review consolidates the current state of knowledge on LCC, identifies critical research and implementation gaps, and examines its material composition, mixture-design methodologies, performance characteristics, structural applications, implementation challenges, and decarbonization pathways. Single-SCM systems have been reported at clinker-replacement levels approaching 50%, although durability at these replacement levels, particularly carbonation resistance, remains system- and exposure-dependent. Replacement levels above 50% usually require ternary or quaternary SCM and filler blends to maintain balanced performance. Compared with conventional concrete, the fresh-state, shrinkage, and durability performance of LCC are strongly dependent on mixture design, SCM type, and replacement level. In particular, carbonation resistance may decrease at high SCM replacement levels, especially in fly-ash- and slag-rich systems. Major barriers to broader implementation include SCM source variability, limited long-term field validation, incomplete performance-based design frameworks, and uneven industry readiness for high-volume clinker replacement. Addressing these challenges requires robust material characterization, mixture designs resilient to SCM variability, reliable durability assessment protocols, pilot-scale validation studies, and clear performance-based qualification pathways. LCC represents a credible decarbonization strategy for concrete construction, but its broader adoption depends on translating laboratory-scale advances into validated, standardized, and practically implementable engineering frameworks.

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Publication Status

Full Text Access

Keywords and Phrases

CO2 emissions; Durability; Low-carbon concrete (LCC); Supplementary cementitious materials (SCM)

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2352-7102

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2026 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

15 Jun 2026

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