The world is currently grappling with the two critical issues of global warming and climate change, which are primarily caused by the emission of greenhouse gases. The construction industry and buildings significantly contribute to these emissions, accounting for roughly 40% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. In response to this pressing issue, environmental organizations and governments have pushed the construction industry to adopt environmentally friendly practices to reduce their carbon footprint. This has led to a greater emphasis on designing and planning sustainable buildings that are in line with the principles of sustainable development. Hence, it is imperative to evaluate buildings in terms of their greenhouse gas emissions and explore ways to reduce them. This research examines the impact of material selection on the carbon footprint of reinforced concrete buildings, aiming to reduce embodied carbon. For this purpose, two reinforced concrete buildings are designed for their embodied carbon to quantify their environmental impact. The first building employs commonly used materials such as ceramics, clay bricks, stone, and plaster. In contrast, the second building incorporates sustainable materials such as cork, plywood, and rockwool. According to the findings, using sustainable materials in the second building leads to a 41.0% reduction in the carbon footprint of the construction process. Additionally, using sustainable materials can mitigate pollution levels in the three categories of endangerment to human health, ecosystem pollution, and resource consumption by 31.4%, 23.7%, and 33.3%, respectively.

The time-dependent rheological and green strength parameters of polymer concrete (PC) was investigated. PC flow decreased and the static yield stress and thixotropy increased as the specimen aged, while the dynamic yield stress remained unchanged. The study found that the Herschel-Bulkley model can accurately describe the PC’s rheological behavior over time. Using uniaxial unconfined compression and direct shear tests of fresh PC, the change in cohesion strength and internal friction angle over time was observed. A time-dependent Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria was established. Temperature analysis was used to determine the gel time and explain the time-dependent green strength of PC.