{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:39:58Z","timestamp":1760060398307,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,21]],"date-time":"2025-08-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1755734400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Universidade Lus\u00f3fona","award":["ILIND\/F+\/EI\/01\/2021","UIDB\/04625\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ILIND\/F+\/EI\/01\/2021","UIDB\/04625\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Civil Engineering Laboratory at Lus\u00f3fona University, Lisbon","award":["ILIND\/F+\/EI\/01\/2021","UIDB\/04625\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ILIND\/F+\/EI\/01\/2021","UIDB\/04625\/2020"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100019370","name":"Foundation for Science and Technology","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ILIND\/F+\/EI\/01\/2021","UIDB\/04625\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ILIND\/F+\/EI\/01\/2021","UIDB\/04625\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100019370","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Buildings represent approximately 40% of the total energy consumption. Net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) have lower energy demands than conventional buildings due to improved thermal insulation combined with other passive design strategies. Thermal mortars, used in insulating plasters, help improve buildings\u2019 energy efficiency in a cost-effective manner, with minimal added thickness, even on irregular surfaces. Brewer\u2019s spent grain (BSG) accounts for 85% of the total by-products of the brewing industry. It is a cellulosic wood material, with a composition rich in protein (20%) and fiber (70%). Considering these properties, it has potential for use as a natural aggregate in mortars and as a sustainable material for buildings aligned with circular economy principles. This work aims to characterize BSG as a natural by-product for use in thermal mortars and identify different incorporation percentages. First, BSG was characterized in terms of its water content, particle size and volume mass. Then, mortars with BSG and fine sand, with different water contents, were produced and compared to a reference mortar and two commercially available thermal mortars. The performance of the mixtures was evaluated in terms of water absorption, mechanical behavior (namely, compressive and flexural strength) and thermal behavior. BSG mortars with a 0.25 w\/c ratio presented a water absorption coefficient similar to that of the reference mortar. Overall, BSG mortars presented a mechanical strength profile similar to that of conventional thermal mortars. In the thermal test, the best BSG mortar (BSG75-w\/c-0.25) achieved a stationary temperature difference between surfaces that was 8% lower than that of a commercial thermal mortar and 110% higher than that of the reference mortar. In sum, the best BSG mortars had a lower w\/c ratio.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su17167557","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,22]],"date-time":"2025-08-22T07:41:45Z","timestamp":1755848505000},"page":"7557","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Potential Use of Brewer\u2019s Spent Grain By-Product as a Component for Sustainable Thermal Mortars"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9989-8938","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Manso","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CERIS), Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Joaquim","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Bioengineering and Sustainability Research Group (BioRG), Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4901-7618","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"V\u00edtor","family":"Antunes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC), Avenida do Brasil 101, 1700-066 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-1290-4925","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isabel","family":"Ivo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9423-4948","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Canto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Bioengineering and Sustainability Research Group (BioRG), Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Cognitive and People-Centric Computing (COPELABS), Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1709-2226","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristina","family":"Guerra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Bioengineering and Sustainability Research Group (BioRG), Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"United Nations Environment Programme (2024). 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