The consequences of global warming are becoming increasingly disastrous. Nowadays, our society has the responsibility of reducing the energy consumed in the building sector. In order to reduce this 40% of emissions, applying sustainable development criteria is fundamental throughout the life of materials in construction. More specifically, the use of steel corrugated bars or rods as reinforcement is the most widely used product in concrete reinforcement, and it is therefore important to reduce its climate impact. Basalt Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) is a promising alternative to replace these steel reinforcements due to its high strength, low weight and high durability capabilities.This work compares different rebars in sustainable terms in an initial phase. Four different materials are studied: steel, stainless steel, glass FRP and basalt FRP. To check and verify the different geometrical and mechanical properties, four rods of each material are tested in the laboratory. Finally, an analysis and comparison of various sustainability aspects is carried out. The aim of this research is to find out which reinforcing bar is the most sustainable and whether the basalt FRP rod is as optimal as it promises to be.

Nowadays, our society has the responsibility of reducing the energy consumed in the building sector. A promising technology to achieve this goal is the implementation of thermal energy storage (TES) solutions in buildings envelopes. Phase change materials (PCM) which act as a thermal buffer, take advantage of the melting temperature of the material to change its state, improving building energy efficiency. This work explores and investigates how with a cheap PCM material, such as surf wax, high impact thermal results are obtained. To check and verify this condition, two concrete specimens were prepared with treated PCM aggregate and two without the PCM. The four test cubes were placed in an oven and using thermal sensors, the data about the temperature evolution during the process of heating and cooling was collected for further analysis. The results between the PCM concrete samples and the samples without PCM were compared, verifying the promising performance in terms of energy impact.