Evaluation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions amongst Alternative Slab Systems during the Construction Phase in a Building Project

Abstract

Global warming is now considered to be one of the greatest challenges worldwide. International environmental agreements have been developed in response to climate change since the 1970s. The construction industry is considered one of the main contributors to global warming. In order to mitigate global warming effects, the construction industry has been exploring various approaches to mitigate the impacts of carbon dioxide emissions over the entire life cycle of buildings. The application of different structural systems is considered a means of reducing the carbon dioxide emissions from building construction. The purpose of this research is to assess the environmental performance of three different slab systems during the construction phase. In this study, a process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) method was applied in order to evaluate the level of performance of the three slab systems. The results showed total CO2 emissions of 3,275,712, 3,157,260, and 2,943,695 kg CO2 eq. for the ordinary reinforced concrete slab, flat plate slab, and voided slab systems, respectively. The manufacturing of building materials is by far the main contributor to CO2 emissions, which indicate 3,230,945, 3,117,203, and 2,905,564 kg CO2 eq., respectively. Comparing the building materials in the three slab systems, reinforcing bars and forms were significant building materials to reduce the CO2 emissions in the flat plate slab and voided slab systems. In this study, reinforcing bars were the main contributor to lowering the carbon dioxide emissions in the flat plate slab and voided slab systems. The results of this study show that amongst all the three different slab systems, the voided slab system shows the greatest reduction potential. Moreover, replacing the ordinary reinforced concrete slab system by alternative methods would make it possible to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions in building projects.

Study on the Carbon Emissions in the Whole Construction Process of Prefabricated Floor Slab

“…At the same time, cement is a main component of carbon emission materials, and reducing cement consumption can reduce the carbon emission of buildings in essence. In the future, optimizing the whole architectural design system based on the application of new renewable materials and nano materials is a major research topic to reduce the carbon emission of the architectural system [25,32,33].…”

“…As a comprehensive environmental impact assessment method, the LCA method is widely used to evaluate the effect of energy consumption reduction in the construction industry [23][24][25]. The specific assessment method involves evaluating the potential environmental impact by compiling an inventory of inputs and outputs related to the product system, and then the results of the inventory analysis and impact assessment are evaluated [26].…”

Addressing Global Climate Change With Big Data-Driven Urban Planning Policy

“…At the design phase, choices in structural systems can result in some economies (Zhang & Zheng, 2020). The concrete floor slab can also take a variety of forms with variable performance with regard to emissions (Paik & Na, 2019). These structural systems and the associated materials are closely related to the building forms themselves (Thanapol & Chavalparit, 2020;Limphitakphong et al, 2020), the uses of the buildings and by extension, to the arrangement of buildings.…”

Evaluation of Road Transport Pollutant Emissions from Transporting Building Materials to the Construction Site by Replacing Old Vehicles

“…Although many studies have analyzed the pollutant emissions of road transportation, there has been little research on pollutant emissions from transporting building materials in the construction industry. While Paik and Na [ 4 ], for example, dealt with the estimation of carbon dioxide emissions from a construction project, the CO 2 emissions from transportation were far smaller than those of other phases, even though they were of significance for the building construction. Similarly, Sandanayake et al [ 38 ] conducted a process-based greenhouse gas emission quantification study that showed about 14% of greenhouse gas emissions to be caused by transportation in foundation construction projects.…”

“…The construction industry is regarded as one of the main contributors to environmental damage since it consumes a large volume of energy and emits various pollutants [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. This industry accounts for about 40% of global energy consumption and approximately 35% of total greenhouse gas emissions [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. In particular, the life cycle of a building spans over a period of more than 50 years, which is much longer than the lifespans of other products or services [ 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”