Given the rising popularity of foam concrete (FC) for both structural and insulating purposes, evaluating the feasibility of recycling after its lifespan is crucial in the context of the growing emphasis on sustainable building practices. One approach to recycling FC incorporating microencapsulated phase change material (MPCM) involves utilizing recycled foam concrete powder (RFCP) as an additive in cement composites. This article aims to investigate the impact of RFCP without and with MPCM when employed as a partial replacement for cement in mortars. Furthermore, the study verifies various processing methods such as crushing, grinding, and heat treatment for RFCP. The results reveal that introducing RFCP, regardless of the MPCM presence and processing method, significantly affects the properties of both cement and mortar. The presence of MPCM in RFCP negatively influences the flowability of fresh mortars, delays the setting time, and reduces the hydration heat within the first 48 h. However, the presence of MPCM does not significantly affect mortars' strength and water absorption but simultaneously it increases shrinkage and decreases thermal conductivity. Grinding RFCP mitigates the adverse effects of MPCM, while thermal processing removes MPCM from RFCP, albeit with an associated increase in water demand. A noteworthy finding is that mortars having 20 % RFCP, with or without MPCM, exhibit compressive strengths exceeding 16 MPa and 42.5 MPa after 2 and 28 days, respectively. These results meet the requirements outlined in EN-196-1 for cement of class 42.5, highlighting the potential to produce CEM II/A-F 42.5 using RFCP with MPCM.

This study presents an early-stage design exploration of NRG-Foam, an innovative insulation material composed of cementitious foam doped with microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs). The study comprises the static part that utilizes life cycle assessment and life cycle costing assessment for getting insight into the impacts of the NRG-Foam production process and the dynamic part that identifies the trade-offs between performance characteristics of NRG-Foam using multi-objective optimization. The production of MPCMs was found to be a major contributor to environmental impacts while the addition of small amounts of reduced graphene oxide amplifies the impacts even further. The hot spot analysis pinpointed high electricity consumption as the main driver of environmental impacts. A multi-objective optimization analysis revealed trade-offs between performance characteristics, emphasizing the necessity of compromises during material development. The selection of the MPCM type was shown to be determinative of the final properties of NRG-Foam.