Akerele, D. D., Aguayo, F., & Wu, L. (2025). Portland Limestone Cement in Concrete Pavement and Bridge Decks: Performance Evaluation and Future Directions. Buildings, 15(5), 660. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15050660
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Abstract
With the rising demand for sustainable infrastructure, addressing the limitations of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is crucial, particularly for exposed structures such as pavements and bridge decks. Portland limestone cement (PLC) is a sustainable alternative that delivers environmental benefits and comparable performance. This study used a systematic review and meta-analysis with a random-effects model to evaluate PLC’s strength development, durability, and sustainability. The findings indicate that PLC generally matches or surpasses OPC in terms of compressive strength, freeze–thaw resistance, and sulfate durability. However, its setting time and early-age cracking require further optimization, especially in cold climates. Additionally, this study highlights the fire performance advantages of PLC and its enhanced chloride resistance. The analysis identified critical research gaps, including long-term field performance and regional adaptation to extreme environmental conditions. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of PLC’s role in sustainable construction and offer future research directions on hybrid cements and admixture compatibility.
Keywords
Portland limestone cement (PLC); type 1L cement; concrete pavement; bridge deck; sustainability; low-carbon; CO2 reduction
The 2025 Inspire Fund Awardees have been selected! See more information about their projects below. Project Title: “Enhancing Feasibility and Evaluation for the Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program in King County” Team: Vince Wang (Runstad Department of Real Estate), Zhongmin Evy Luo (PhD student, Built Environments), Kristin Pace (KCHA) Project Title: “Wildfire Smoke Readiness of Low-Income Households in Seattle” Amos Darko (Construction Management), Alvina Ekua Ntefua Saah (PhD Student, College of Built Environments) Project Title: “Equitable Public Electric Vehicle Charging…
Akerele, D. D., & Aguayo, F. (2024). Evaluating the Impact of CO2 on Calcium SulphoAluminate (CSA) Concrete. Buildings, 14(8), 2462. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14082462
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Abstract
The construction industry is a significant contributor to global CO2 emissions, primarily due to the extensive use of ordinary portland cement (OPC). In response to the urgent need for sustainable construction materials, calcium sulphoaluminate (CSA) cement has emerged as a promising alternative. CSA cement is renowned for its low carbon footprint, high early-age strength, and superior durability, making it an attractive option for reducing the environmental impact of construction activities. While CSA cement offers benefits in carbon emissions reduction, its susceptibility to carbonation presents challenges. Although the body of literature on CSA cement is rapidly expanding, its adoption rate remains low. This disparity may be attributed to several factors including the level of scientific contribution in terms of research focus and lack of comprehensive standards for various applications. As a result, the present study sets out to track the research trajectory within the CSA cement research landscape through a systematic literature review. The study employed the Prefer Reporting Item for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) framework to conduct a literature search on three prominent databases, and a thematic analysis was conducted to identify the knowledge gap for future exploration. The study revealed that while CSA concrete demonstrates superior early-age strength and environmental resistance, its susceptibility to carbonation can compromise structural integrity over time. Key mitigation strategies identified include the incorporation of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), use of corrosion inhibitors, and optimization of mix designs. The review also highlights the global distribution of research, with notable contributions from the USA, China, and Europe, emphasizing the collaborative effort in advancing CSA concrete technology. The findings are crucial for enhancing sustainability and durability in the construction sector and advancing CSA binders as a sustainable alternative to traditional cement.
Keywords
concrete; calcium sulphoaluminate cement (CSA); mechanical properties; carbonation (CO2); durability; sustainability
Dr. Fred Aguayo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Construction Management, has been awarded a Royalty Research Fund for his project entitled “Developing a Reliable, Rapid, and Robust (R3) Performance Test Method for Carbonation Induced Corrosion of Cement-Based Mixtures.” Congratulations to Dr. Aguayo!
Tetteh, M. O., Darko, A., Boateng, E. B., & Chan, A. P. C. (2024). Energy Efficiency Retrofitting of Existing Building Stock for Net Zero. In Rethinking Pathways to a Sustainable Built Environment (pp. 142–158). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003317890-9
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Abstract
Existing buildings’ retrofits improve energy efficiency and are a crucial part of global decarbonization plan. There is a need for a better understanding of public sentiment toward energy efficiency retrofitting of existing buildings (EEREB) to effectively promote its widespread adoption through policy interventions. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive studies that assess the general public's sentiments toward EEREB. This chapter utilizes social media data to assess the overall public's sentiments of EEREB. Sentiment analysis was used to analyze a total of 3,306 comments from the social media platform YouTube. The concerns and perceptions of the public were analyzed using a Latent Dirichlet Allocation model, which identified nine main themes. These themes include ventilation, energy efficiency, indoor environment quality, comfort and occupant behavior, cost considerations, community engagement, technology usage, implementation knowledge, and social impact. The public expressed stronger positive sentiments, with about 64% reporting favorable views of EEREB and acknowledging its benefits. In addition, interesting patterns of perceptions shaped by a combination of generic and local-specific factors were identified. This chapter enhances the understanding of the general public's needs, concerns, and views on EEREB. Additionally, it could provide valuable insights for policymakers to refine or develop more effective actions in support of EEREB.
Debrah, C., Chan, A. P. C., Darko, A., Owusu-Manu, D.-G., & Ohene, E. (2024). Green Finance. In Rethinking Pathways to a Sustainable Built Environment (pp. 277–302). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003317890-18
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Abstract
Green building is an “unheralded hero” in the global emissions fight. Its business case has raised demand from several stakeholders. It is seen as a multitrillion-dollar business opportunity of the next decade, leading to increased green finance (GF) investment for green building. GF is accepted as a tool to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation actions, including buildings and construction. To promote GF for green building, collaboration efforts between governments, businesses, investors, and the public are key. This chapter presents the evolution of GF for green building, an overview of the implementation and its potentials, with a focus on the role of stakeholders, policies, regulations, and incentives. Typologies of GF for green building and some examples of success stories are discussed. Other related issues such as green standards, green certifications, and green indices are examined. This chapter facilitates a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the subject. Overall, it summarises the development of GF in this field and the consequent impact on climate action.
Xiao, B., Wang, Y., Zhang, Y., Chen, C., & Darko, A. (2024). Automated daily report generation from construction videos using ChatGPT and computer vision. Automation in Construction, 168, 105874-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2024.105874
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Abstract
Daily reports are important in construction management, informing project teams about status, enabling timely resolutions of delays and budget issues, and serving as official records for disputes and litigation. However, current practices are manual and time-consuming, requiring engineers to physically visit sites for observations. To fill this gap, this paper proposes an automated framework to generate daily construction reports from on-site videos by integrating ChatGPT and computer vision (CV)-based methods. The framework utilizes CV methods to analyze video footage and extract relevant productivity and activity information, which is then fed into ChatGPT using proper prompts to generate daily reports. A web application is developed to implement and validate the framework on a real construction site in Hong Kong, generating daily reports over a month. This research enhances construction management by significantly reducing documentation efforts through generative artificial intelligence, with potential applications in jobsite safety management, quality reporting, and stakeholder communication.
Keywords
Construction daily report generation; Computer vision; ChatGPT; Construction management; Project documentation
The American Institute of Architects is hosting a webinar on their online learning platform AIAU, about the Building Owners Assessment Tool (BOAT) developed by Carrie Sturts Dossick along with her project team members. Other course instructors are Markku Allison, AIA; Greg Gidez, AIA, FDBIA; and Laura F. Stagner, FAIA, DBIA, PMP. The course was recorded live in October 2024 and is available as a resource on the AIAU website until 2027. View the course on the AIAU website here.
Professor Carrie Sturts Dossick, Associate Dean for Research, and Assistant Professor Lingzi Wu both from the department of Construction Management, presented at the 2024 Northwest Construction Consumer Council (NWCCC) Conference, “AI and Digital Technology in Construction” and Distinguished Project Awards. Their presentations are linked below. Assistant Professor Wu gave a presentation entitled “AI-Powered Solutions for Next-Generation Construction Management.” Professor Sturts Dossick presented on Cybersecurity Planning.
Mousavinezhad, S., Toledo, W. K., Newtson, C. M., & Aguayo, F. (2024). Rapid Assessment of Sulfate Resistance in Mortar and Concrete. Materials, 17(19), 4678-. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17194678
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Abstract
Extensive research has been conducted on the sulfate attack of concrete structures; however, the need to adopt the use of more sustainable materials is driving a need for a quicker test method to assess sulfate resistance. This work presents accelerated methods that can reduce the time required for assessing the sulfate resistance of mixtures by 70%. Class F fly ash has historically been used in concrete mixtures to improve sulfate resistance. However, environmental considerations and the evolving energy industry have decreased its availability, requiring the identification of economically viable and environmentally friendly alternatives to fly ash. Another challenge in addressing sulfate attack durability issues in concrete is that the standard sulfate attack test (ASTM C1012) is time-consuming and designed for only standard mortars (not concrete mixtures). To expedite the testing process, accelerated testing methods for both mortar and concrete mixtures were adopted from previous work to further the development of the accelerated tests and to assess the feasibility of testing the sulfate resistance of mortar and concrete mixtures rapidly. This study also established criteria for interpreting sulfate resistance for each of the test methods used in this work. A total of 14 mortar mixtures and four concrete mixtures using two types of Portland cement (Type I and Type I/II) and various supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) were evaluated in this study. The accelerated testing methods significantly reduced the evaluation time from 12 months to 21 days for mortar mixtures and from 6 months to 56 days for concrete mixtures. The proposed interpretation method for mortar accelerated test results showed acceptable consistency with the ACI 318-19 interpretations for ASTM C1012 results. The interpretation methods proposed for the two concrete sulfate attack tests demonstrated excellent consistency with the ASTM C1012 results from mortar mixtures with the same cementitious materials combinations. Metakaolin was shown to improve sulfate resistance for both mortar and concrete mixtures, while silica fume and natural pozzolan had a limited impact. Using 15% metakaolin in mortar or concrete mixtures with Type I/II cement provided the best sulfate resistance.
Keywords
accelerated test method; concrete; metakaolin; mortar; natural pozzolan; sulfate attack