1. Environmental effects of using different construction codes applied to reinforced concrete beam designs based on Model Code 2010 and Spanish Standard EHE-08
- Author
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Anna Petit-Boix, A. de la Fuente, David Sanjuan-Delmás, Alejandro Josa, C. Almirall, Pablo Pujadas, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria Civil i Ambiental, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria de Projectes i de la Construcció, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. EC - Enginyeria de la Construcció, and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. MECMAT - Mecànica de Materials
- Subjects
Computer science ,media_common.quotation_subject ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,020101 civil engineering ,02 engineering and technology ,Greenhouse gas ,Structural design Environmental impact Life cycle assessment Civil engineering Resource consumption Greenhouse gas ,Construcció -- Normes -- Espanya ,0201 civil engineering ,Environmental impact ,Life cycle assessment ,Concrete--Standards--Europe ,021105 building & construction ,Sustainable design ,Code (cryptography) ,Quality (business) ,Civil engineering ,Civil and Structural Engineering ,media_common ,business.industry ,Environmental impact of concrete ,Enginyeria civil::Materials i estructures::Materials i estructures de formigó [Àrees temàtiques de la UPC] ,Structural engineering ,Resource consumption ,Compressive strength ,Structural design ,business ,Reduction (mathematics) ,Beam (structure) - Abstract
Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552 Assuming specific behavior models, the variety of design codes currently used for the design of concrete beams inevitably results in different solutions, ensuring service during the whole expected lifetime with a maximum functional quality and safety. However, from a sustainable design perspective, such differences may have remarkable environmental impacts. This paper analyses if the approach of the newest design code, i.e., the Model Code, leads to a reduction in resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) over the life-cycle of concrete beams. To do so, a comparative analysis of the environmental impact of concrete beams was carried out depending on the reference code used for its design (i.e., EHE-08 or Model Code). The results show that the reduction of reinforcing steel is a basic objective to minimize the life cycle environmental impacts of concrete beams. Every country may have its own design codes and, thus, the reinforcing steel use can vary for structures subjected to the same loads and with equivalent structural reliability. Hence, regulations play a key role in the sustainability of construction assets. Conclusions depend on the beam length (L) and height (h) and characteristic compressive strength (fck). For short beams (4 m), the greater the h, the greater the reinforcement difference between the two codes. With regard to beams of 8 m, these differences can lead to varying steel and GHG savings, e.g., up to 5.0% with MC-2010 (h = 0.6 m and fck ≤ 35 MPa), almost 40% with EHE - 08 (h = 1.0 m and 35 MPa
- Published
- 2019