The Potential Synergies Between the Integration of Green Concrete Materials and Natural-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal Strategies in Residential Buildings Sector

Reducing the carbon footprint of residential buildings has become increasingly crucial for decarbonizing the construction sector globally. Implementing various sustainable practices is essential for attaining carbon neutrality and addressing climate change. Therefore, integrating Green Concrete Materials (GCMs) and Nature-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal (Nb-CDR) strategies represents sustainable solutions for reducing CO₂ emissions and achieving a circular economy (CE) in residential buildings. In this regard, the study aims to investigate the potential synergies of sustainable building materials and eco-friendly building systems by utilizing Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC), Fly Ash (FA), Green Roof system (GR), and a Green Façade system (GF) as an attempt for reducing CO₂ emissions for residential building sector significantly. The Design for Integration (DFI) approach is used to develop novel sustainable solutions for future residential buildings and investigate how integrating different strategies can substantially enhance the overall benefits of reducing the sector’s carbon footprint. The system dynamics are used to create a simulation model that can estimate the synergies between GCMs and Nb-CDR to reduce CO₂ emissions and clarify the inner variables’ relations using Vensim software. Thereby, a comparative analysis between the traditional and optimized building designs is applied to the new Egyptian residential buildings. The results indicated potential integration could significantly lower a building’s CO₂ emissions during the building life cycle compared to conventional solutions. Additionally, it promotes circularity performance and decarbonization for the construction sector. The study demonstrated that incorporating eco-friendly materials and green building systems requires more attention in the early design stage of residential buildings. Public awareness should be considered, and new policies should be implemented to promote incentives and influence the effectiveness of Nb-CDR with GCMs in the future.

 Keywords:  Residential Buildings; Green concrete; Nb-CDR; System Dynamics; Design and simulation; CO₂ emissions.