In this paper, the sustainability of induced healing asphalt pavement is demonstrated by comparing the impact of asphalt pavement maintained by induced healing asphalt pavement technology and traditional maintenance methods (such as milling and overlaying). The functional unit selected is a 1-km lane with an analysis period of 20 years. The stages to be considered are material manufacturing, paving, maintenance, milling and demolition. Two case studies were analyzed to assess the impact of different technologies on the energy consumption and environmental performance of each maintenance alternative. By comparing the energy consumption and environmental emissions of the whole life cycle of pavement under the two technical conditions, the results show that the total energy consumption of traditional asphalt pavement is about 2.5 times that of induction-healed asphalt pavement, and the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the former are twice as much as that of the latter.
Keywords: LCA; energy consumption; greenhouse gas emissions; induced healing.