Sustainability in construction: The urgent need for a new ethics

Abstract

This paper introduces the key concepts of sustainability in the construction industry, together with a call for an urgent action to change the culture of all implied agents. The work presents an objective framework to evaluate sustainability through the analysis of the stages of the Integrated Life Cycle Assessment (ILCA). Such approach is applied to the global warming emissions indicator, and different aspects are investigated to support designers toward more sustainable designs. First, the principles for ILCA are introduced and sound values for the emissions of different structural materials are critically discussed and filtered taking into account the recently increased sensitivity to environmental aspects. On that basis, objective comparisons are presented for practical examples related to buildings and bridges. Specific design alternatives, based on the use of different materials and structural typologies, are also illustrated and compared to the original solution. The conclusions help the designer to identify which are the critical decisions leading to projects respectful of sustainability considerations. Specifically, material selection, structural efficiency, and a sound conceptual design are identified as the key aspects of sustainability.

Macrosynthetic fibers as replacement of conventional steel reinforcement for concrete of partition walls

“…Tables 4 and 5 show a comparison of a traditional reinforced concrete wall in terms of cost and carbon footprint (according to the values suggested in Reference 43), respectively. Four cases are investigated aimed at representing two scenarios: a reinforced concrete wall and a MSFRC wall of 250 mm, complying with typical acoustic insulation requirements; a reinforced concrete wall (cast in CEM II) of 180 mm thickness and a MSFRC wall (cast with CEM III) of 140 mm thickness selected as minimum constructive dimensions complying with fire requirements (values in brackets in Tables 4 and 5).…”

Reliability‐ and sustainability‐driven strategies for the maintenance of existing structures

“…If the structure requires an intervention, this limit is set to Δβ 0,in = 0.5 (see Figure 4a) in an effort to estimate the level of efficient interventions. 10,11 Lower reductions are however proposed according to other proposals previously discussed in References 14,23.…”

“…Following this approach, various proposals for suitable values of the reduction of the reliability index for standing structures (refer to Δ β 0,tr in Equation ()) and retrofitted ones (Δ β 0,in ) are available in the literature. For instance, as previously introduced, a value Δ β 0,tr = 1.5 is suggested in References 5,10, according to economic considerations. If the structure requires an intervention, this limit is set to Δ β 0,in = 0.5 (see Figure 4a) in an effort to estimate the level of efficient interventions 10,11 .…”

“…For instance, as previously introduced, a value Δ β 0,tr = 1.5 is suggested in References 5,10, according to economic considerations. If the structure requires an intervention, this limit is set to Δ β 0,in = 0.5 (see Figure 4a) in an effort to estimate the level of efficient interventions 10,11 . Lower reductions are however proposed according to other proposals previously discussed in References 14,23.…”

“…In recent years, the need to design, build, maintain, and deconstruct in a sustainable manner 8 has become a critical issue 9,10 and most of the current standards for structures are evolving and being reorganized to include such considerations 11 . This has, in particular, management implications and strategies on environmental aspects (such as CO 2 ‐eq production) in addition to social and economic aspects and safety considerations.…”