Over the past two decades, the application of nanostructured materials in construction, such as concrete, paint, coatings, glass, renders, plasters, thermal insulation, steel, and even sensors, has become increasingly prevalent. However, previous studies and reports have raised concerns about the ecotoxicity and long-term impact of nanomaterials on human health and the environment. National and international legislation and regulations are struggling to keep up with the rapid development of nanomaterials, taking into account their unique characteristics and essential requirements for application and commercialization. This paper, based on existing standards for conventional materials and bibliometric networks of papers focused on nanomaterials, conducts a critical review and proposes relevant indicators for the application of nanomaterials in the construction sector. These indicators should be mandatory and are divided into environmental, human health, and economic perspectives, providing a risk assessment framework for applying nanomaterial-based constructive solutions oriented to environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

The focus on sustainable construction materials has prompted research into alternatives to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of Portland cement. Several studies have attempted to minimise the use of Portland cement in structural concrete mixtures. However, traditional formulations and prediction models are not applicable to low-carbon concrete. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate low carbon concrete mortar matrices, focusing on cement replacement by supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), such as fly ash, natural pozzolans and electric arc furnace slag, increasing the compactness of the mixtures, and limiting the water-binder ratio. Different binder powder contents were studied (350 and 400 kg/m3) in two types of concrete for prefabrication: dry consistency and plastic consistency. The results showed that dry consistency mixtures with a higher fly ash content allow higher compactness. Higher compactness promotes an overall increase in Young's modulus, up to 16%, for all eco-mixtures. The analysis enabled the estimation of the Feret coefficients for each combination of cement with SCMs and their correlation with a power function, dependent on the water-cement ratio. This allows the future estimation of the strength for binder pastes of mixtures incorporating different percentages of these additions.