Region-aware life-cycle perspective of sustainable concrete: A review

Concrete is responsible for approximately 8% of global anthropogenic carbon emissions. Efforts to reduce its carbon footprint often focus on material substitution or process efficiency but overlook regional influences, such as local availability of raw materials, transportation distance, energy grid carbon intensity, labor capacity, and policy environment, which critically shape the feasibility and effectiveness of low-carbon strategies. This review adopts a region-aware life-cycle perspective, emphasizing that viable decarbonization requires integrating material selection, mix design, manufacturing, construction practices, and policy frameworks tailored to local conditions. The paper examines stage-wise emission hotspots across concrete's lifecycle and explores region-aware pathways, including regionalized materials, manufacturing technologies, construction methods, and supply-chain optimization. This review focuses on regional variability as both a constraint and an opportunity, providing insights into how life-cycle strategies can be adapted to local resources, infrastructure, and socio-economic contexts. Key findings highlight that service-life extension, robust supply chains, and supportive policies are central to achieving meaningful and scalable reductions in the life-cycle carbon of concrete.