A Life Cycle Inventory of Structural Engineering Design Strategies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction

The paper presents the results of a life cycle inventory (LCI) for various structural engineering design strategies. The strategies focus on alternative design approaches the structural engineer can implement to minimize a building's contribution to global climate change. The approaches investi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Structural engineering international : journal of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) 2009-08, Vol.19 (3), p.283-288
Main Authors: Anderson, John E., Silman, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Applied sciences
Bioclimatic building
Buildings
Buildings. Public works
Carbon dioxide
Climate change
Climatology and bioclimatics for buildings
Construction
Design engineering
Emission analysis
Emissions control
Energy use
Exact sciences and technology
Greenhouse effect
greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gases
Inventories
life cycle
Life cycle engineering
Materials selection
Project management. Process of design
Recycling
Reduction
Stockpiling
Strategy
structural engineer
Structural engineering
Structural engineers
sustainability
Types of buildings
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Summary:The paper presents the results of a life cycle inventory (LCI) for various structural engineering design strategies. The strategies focus on alternative design approaches the structural engineer can implement to minimize a building's contribution to global climate change. The approaches investigated include material selection, recycling or reusing a structure, maximizing material efficiency, thermal mass effects, and future adaptability. Analysis including operational energy use shows thermal mass effects offer the greatest potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Excluding operational energy use from the LCI shows that material selection is the most favorable design strategy. Consequently, the structural engineer has a significant role in mitigating both short-term and long-term carbon dioxide emissions of the built environment.
ISSN:1016-8664
1683-0350
DOI:10.2749/101686609788957946