Environmental sustainability in the conservation of cultural heritage: life cycle assessment of stone consolidants

Cultural heritage artifacts and structures are subjected to a wide range of weathering processes that may result in their decay and destruction. To slow weathering rates and/or mitigate their effects, several protective and consolidant materials have been developed for conservation interventions. In this regard, the formulation of effective stone consolidants for restoration of weathered carbonate substrates is currently an active area of research in the field of conservation science. Moreover, the concept of sustainability is increasingly considered when choosing the most suitable material or, in this specific case, the conservation operation. This study is focused on the exploring the potential of Life Cycle Assessment as a decision-support tool for helping material scientists and conservation practitioners choose the most convenient alternatives on the environmental point of view and to identify environmental hotspots early on in the design of novel solutions. In particular, the main objective of this work is to understand whether a proposed novel material for stone consolidation (a product based on a diammonium phosphate solution) can be advantageous from an environmental point of view, as well as in terms of use, compared to three consolidating materials already commercially available and of widespread use in restoration works. The potential environmental impacts characterizing the four supply chains of materials have been studied and analysed in all the relevant phases of the relative life cycles.