Comparing different strategies of minimising embodied carbon in concrete floors

dc.contributor.authorJayasinghe, Amila
dc.contributor.authorOrr, John
dc.contributor.authorHawkins, Will
dc.contributor.authorIbell, Tim
dc.contributor.authorBoshoff, W.P. (Billy)
dc.contributor.emailbilly.boshoff@up.ac.zaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-17T07:57:05Z
dc.date.available2023-05-17T07:57:05Z
dc.date.issued2022-04
dc.description.abstractThe present climate emergency demands the construction industry to minimise the carbon footprint of concrete buildings. In this paper, the potential different optimisation strategies to reduce ‘cradle-to-gate’ embodied carbon of concrete floors which require different levels of modifications to the conventional design and construction practice were compared. The embodied carbon savings possible from parametrically optimising slab depth and grade of concrete, post-tensioning, considering alternative conventional slab types, and adopting novel thin shell floor systems were quantified for a range of spans. Compared to reinforced concrete flat slabs designed for conventional span/depth ratios, minimising slab depths and considering lower grades of concrete can reduce embodied carbon of flat slabs up to 12%, only with changes to the design methods. By adopting other conventional alternatives available in the present market, post-tensioning can save embodied carbon up to 23% but two-way slabs on beams and hollow-core slabs can save up to 36%. Much higher carbon reductions up to 65% are possible with novel construction methods of thin shell floors that transfer loads through membrane action rather than bending. Hence, the construction industry should approach shape optimised floor construction forms in future while adopting parametric design and considering conventional alternatives in the present to minimise carbon emissions.en_US
dc.description.departmentCivil Engineeringen_US
dc.description.librarianhj2023en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Churchill Jafar Studentship for PhD study at the University of Cambridge.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcleproen_US
dc.identifier.citationJayasinghe, A., Orr, J., Hawkins, W. et al. 2022, 'Comparing different strategies of minimising embodied carbon in concrete floors', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 345, art. 131177, pp. 1-9, doi : 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131177.en_US
dc.identifier.issn0959-6526 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1879-1786 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131177
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/90718
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherElsevieren_US
dc.rights© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).en_US
dc.subjectConcrete floorsen_US
dc.subjectEmbodied carbonen_US
dc.subjectParametric designen_US
dc.subjectOptimisation strategiesen_US
dc.subjectAlternative construction formsen_US
dc.titleComparing different strategies of minimising embodied carbon in concrete floorsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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