The single biggest driver of concrete's environmental impact is the amount of cement in the mix, which is primarily determined by the strength class. If you cannot find the exact product you need, choose one with the same strength class as your specification. The cement type and supplementary cementitious material (SCM) content are secondary choices that can meaningfully reduce the impact for the same strength class.

In One Click LCA, concrete resources are organised under two top-level material classes: Ready-mix concrete and Precast concrete. The material filter will show these sub-categories and allow you to narrow your search further.

Ready-mix concrete datasets are available across the following strength classes, with both European (EN) and US (PSI) designations given in each dataset name:

The dataset names describe a typical use, but they do not restrict which application you can model. Use the strength class that matches your specification, regardless of the label.

For most strength classes, datasets are available at multiple SCM substitution levels. This is where you can model the impact of specifying a lower-carbon mix. Two SCM families are available:

Where you know or can influence the SCM content of the mix, select the closest available substitution level. A higher SCM content will generally give a lower GWP result for the same strength class. If the SCM content is unknown, use the 10% (typical) dataset as a conservative default.

A small number of simplified generic datasets are also available for early-stage assessments where only the broad strength category is known: low-strength generic (C12/15), normal-strength generic (C20/25 through C40/50), and high-strength generic (C45/55 and above). These are suitable for feasibility-stage work but should be replaced with the more specific SCM-differentiated datasets once the mix design is known.

Beyond standard structural mixes, the following specialty types are available:

Prestressed hollow-core slabs are available at C30/37, C40/50 and C50/60, each with recycled binder content from 0% to 50% in 10% increments, plus a 25% GGBS variant. Datasets are expressed per m² at a bulk density of 2000 kg/m³ and include reinforcement. Make sure the thickness you enter reflects the actual element thickness so that the air void fraction is correctly accounted for.

Precast solid slabs are available at C30/37, C40/50 and C50/60, each with recycled binder content from 0% to 50%, plus a 25% GGBS variant, at 2400 kg/m³ including reinforcement.

For both slab types, check whether reinforcement is included in the dataset (it is, for the generic datasets) and avoid adding rebar separately if it is already accounted for.

Rectangular precast concrete beams are available at C30/37, C40/50 and C50/60 across 0–50% recycled binder content and a 25% GGBS variant, at 2400 kg/m³.

Solid uninsulated precast wall elements are available at C30/37 and C40/50 across 0–40% recycled binder content, including reinforcement. For sandwich or insulated wall elements where you cannot find the exact manufacturer product, add the concrete and insulation layers as separate quantities. Use the wall element dataset for the concrete leaf and the appropriate insulation dataset for the core or external layer.

Precast segmental box girder segments are available at C40/50 and C45/55 across 0–50% recycled binder content and a 25% GGBS variant. Balanced-cantilever segments and span-by-span segments cover the same strength classes and SCM ranges at 2400 kg/m³.

Rectangular precast beams cover C30/37 through C50/60. For piling, see the full pile range described in the infrastructure articles, covering precast reinforced square and circular piles, prestressed spun hollow circular piles, prestressed square and octagonal piles, concrete-FRP composite piles, and tapered steel-tip piles across strength classes from C40/50 through C90/105.

Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) solid blocks are available in nine sizes from 100×75×230 mm through 200×200×400 mm at 600 kg/m³, including standard and 70% fly ash content variants.

Concrete masonry units (CMU) are available in three base concrete types: hollow-core lightweight concrete (1680 kg/m³), hollow-core normal weight concrete (2000 kg/m³) and hollow-core expanded clay concrete (644 kg/m³), all in sizes from 4×8×8 inch through 16×8×16 inch. Insulated-fill variants are available with EPS (thermal conductivity 0.035 W/mK), PUR (0.022 W/mK) and wood fibre (0.038 W/mK) cores.

Medium density solid concrete blocks are available at 1425 kg/m³ in six thicknesses from 75 mm through 215 mm.

Flat fibre cement cladding panels are available in coated and uncoated variants with glass, hemp and cellulose fibre reinforcement, in normal weight (1354 kg/m³, 8.12 kg/m²) and heavyweight (2104 kg/m³, 12.6 kg/m²) grades. Corrugated fibre cement roofing panels are available in coated and uncoated variants with glass and cellulose reinforcement (13.9 kg/m²). A fibre cement various shapes and features dataset covers other fibre cement profiles and trims at 1354 kg/m³.

Standalone cement datasets are available where projects require bottom-up mix modelling or where SCM additions are specified separately from the binder. Available types include Portland cement (CEM I), Portland-limestone (CEM II/A-L and II/B-L), Portland-fly ash (CEM II/A-V at 10% and 20%, CEM II/B-V at 25% and 30%), pozzolanic (CEM IV/B-V at 40% and 50%), Portland-slag (CEM II/A-S at 10% and 20%, CEM II/B-S at 25% and 30%), blastfurnace (CEM III/A at 40–60%, CEM III/B at 70–80%), and composite (CEM V/A with 25% GGBS and 15% fly ash). GGBS, fly ash, silica fume and cement clinker are also available as standalone SCM datasets.

Reinforcement steel (rebar) is available from 0% to 100% recycled content in nine steps (0%, 15%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 97% and 100%). Reinforcing meshes are available as welded steel mesh (8 mm bars at 200×200 mm, 5.8 kg/m²), galvanized welded mesh (A252-type, 5.95 kg/m²), polypropylene mesh (0.12 kg/m²) and alkali-resistant fibreglass mesh (0.16 kg/m²). Reinforcing fibres for concrete are available in steel (0% and 100% recycled), polypropylene (0–100% recycled), basalt, glass, flax, jute and kenaf. Basalt rebar is also available as an alternative to conventional steel reinforcement.

Choose the dataset with the closest SCM content to your specification. Interpolation between two datasets is also valid for reporting purposes, provided you document the approach. Alternatively, if you hold primary mix data, you can model the concrete from its constituent materials using the standalone cement and aggregate datasets.

Use the precast solid slab dataset instead, which can be used without prestressing strands, or contact the Customer Success team for advice on building a custom entry from constituent materials.

Use the generic datasets only at feasibility stage when the mix design has not been determined. Switch to the SCM-differentiated datasets as soon as the specification is available, as they will give a more accurate and defensible result.