Reduced-temperature warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies are increasingly being explored as practical solutions for reducing energy consumption and emissions during asphalt paving operations. This webinar presents findings from a full-scale field study conducted in Oklahoma comparing reduced-temperature chemical WMA and conventional hot mix asphalt (HMA) under real-world construction conditions. The study evaluated temperature trends, heat loss behavior, thermal segregation, in-place compaction, fuel consumption, particulate matter emissions, and environmental impacts during plant production and paving operations.

Results from the study demonstrated that reduced-temperature WMA achieved comparable in-place density while reducing plant fuel consumption, thermal segregation, particulate matter emissions, and cradle-to-laid environmental impacts relative to conventional HMA. Practical lessons learned from field implementation, instrumentation, and life cycle assessment (LCA) will be discussed, with emphasis on how sustainability-focused asphalt technologies can be evaluated using both construction and environmental performance metrics.

Key learning objectives from the presentation include the following:

• Understand how reduced-temperature WMA compares to conventional HMA in terms of temperature trends, heat loss behavior, and in-place compaction.
• Learn how field instrumentation and thermal profiling technologies can be used to monitor asphalt production and paving operations.
• Understand the effects of reduced production temperatures on plant fuel consumption, particulate matter emissions, and environmental impacts.
• Learn how thermal segregation analyses can be incorporated into field evaluations of asphalt paving operations.
• Understand how life cycle assessment (LCA) can be integrated with field data to evaluate the sustainability impacts of asphalt paving technologies.