Concrete is the most used construction material, accounting for 8% of global CO₂ emissions. Various strategies aim to reduce concrete's embodied carbon, such as using supplementary cementitious materials, utilizing cleaner energy, and carbonation. However, a large potential lies in reusing concrete for new buildings in a Circular Economy, thereby closing material loops and avoiding CO₂ emissions.

This study focuses on the reuse of precast concrete elements. We present a digital workflow for assessing reuse by predicting the remaining service life, estimating CO₂ uptake by natural carbonation, and calculating the embodied carbon savings of concrete reuse. Both carbonation rates from EN 16757 and our investigation were applied to a case study building.

While EN 16757 rates suggest that most precast elements have reached the end of their service life, our assessment shows that these elements have a sufficient lifespan for reuse. Plaster and coverings significantly delay carbonation and extend service life. During the first service life following EN 16757, carbonation was 19,2 kg CO₂/m³, whereas our prediction was 5,4 kg CO₂/m³. Moreover, CO₂ uptake during service life, including reuse, was less than 6% of the embodied carbon. The climate benefits of reuse greatly exceeded those of carbonation.

Furthermore, carbonation did not have a decisive influence when applying Cut-Off, Distributed, and End-of-Life allocations for assessing embodied carbon of re-used elements in subsequent life cycles. The digital workflow is useful in quickly assessing lifespan, carbonation, and embodied carbon of concrete. It can be leveraged as a decision-making tool when designing for reuse.