Sustainability Of Precast Structures

Sustainability is a crucial concept. Sustainability was first introduced in the fib by creating a Special Activity Group under the convenorship of Prof Sakai. This group encouraged and helped all fib commissions to create their own groups dealing with sustainability. The fib Commission 6 “Prefabrication” took up this challenge and created a Task Group called “Sustainability of Structures with Precast Elements” in 2012. The group was created as a joint group with PCI (Precast Concrete Institute of USA), with the then-active fib Commission 3 “Environmental aspects of design and construction”, and the fib’s SAG8 on Sustainability. Therefore, this Bulletin 88 is a joint publication between PCI and fib. The aim of the work was to gather and study the most recent work that has been developed regarding sustainability – and more particularly Life Cycle Assessment - of structures in which precast elements are used. The final aim of the group would be to provide recommendations for the study and assessment of structures built with precast elements. It will cover all aspects of this kind of structure, from planning, design, execution, use, maintenance and remedial activities to deconstruction, reuse, demolition and recycling. The fib holds sustainability as a high priority, which triggered the creation of a new Commission 7 “Sustainability” during the 2015 fib commissions reorganisation. This commission has been chaired since then by Prof Hájek. Sustainability concepts were already introduced in the Model Code 2010 and are a key part in the elaboration of the Model Code 2020. Experts from many parts of the world contributed to this fib Bulletin 88 which gives the document a broad overview of sustainability sensibilities across different continents. Bulletin 88 starts with a description of the importance of environmental concepts and developments in the world today and the reason why sustainability is a crucial concept that will be even more important in the future. The document then focuses on the different advances of standards and regulations that have been developed or are in the process of being implemented. ISO, European regulations, North American regulations, Brazilian implementation in real precast companies and the developments of the fib Model Codes have been considered in this bulletin. After that, the bulletin examines life cycle aspects of precast structures, taking former fib bulletins as a basis. Then, it moves on to an in-depth study of specific sustainability aspects of precast structures. Then, the bulletin deals with the special methodologies and tools that are available around the world to handle sustainability in general and with precast structures in particular. A selection of tools is described in this chapter. The Task Group also developed proposals about how to deal with the sustainability of precast structures. Some of the proposals are described conceptually in the text. The final chapter compiles several case studies or examples of sustainability applications of precast structures. The examples differ and are grouped by category: buildings, infrastructure and special works.v The task group continues to work on developing other documents that will focus on the detailed practical application of some of the sustainability models described in this document.

Concrete is by far the most common building material- accounting for twice the volume of all other such materials combined. With such a huge global economic impact, the industry has a correspondingly considerable responsibility to use it sustainably. Written by experts who pioneered research into environmental issues and concrete, Concrete and Sust

The challenges facing humanity in the 21st century includeclimate change, population growth, overconsumption of resources,overproduction of waste and increasing energy demands. Forconstruction practitioners, responding to these challenges meanscreating a built environment that provides accommodation andinfrastructure with better whole-life performance using lowervolumes of primary materials, less non-renewable energy, wastingless and causing fewer disturbances to the naturalenvironment. Concrete is ubiquitous in the built environment.It is therefore essential that it is used in the most sustainableway so practitioners must become aware of the range of sustainableconcrete solutions available for construction. While sustainabledevelopment has been embedded into engineering curricula, it can bedifficult for students and academics to be fully aware of theinnovations in sustainable construction that are developed by theindustry. Sustainable Concrete Solutions serves as an introductionto and an overview of the latest developments in sustainableconcrete construction. It provides useful guidance, withfurther references, to students, researchers, academics andpractitioners of all construction disciplines who are faced withthe challenge of designing, specifying and constructing withconcrete.

Cement-based concrete has excellent properties as a construction material, and the raw materials of cement—rocks, and limestone and clay—are bountiful. Yet its production generates high quantities of CO2, making it a potentially unsustainable material. However, there are no alternatives to concrete and steel as basic methods for development of socioeconomic infrastructure at this time. Highlighting sustainability issues in the construction industry, The Sustainable Use of Concrete presents guidelines on how to move toward sustainable concrete construction. The book begins by clarifying the historic background and meaning of sustainability, after which it outlines areas that need to be considered in connection with sustainability in the concrete and construction field. It examines environmental, social and cultural, and economic aspects, then considers an evaluation system of sustainability. The authors include various tools and ISO standards, and then explore technologies for sustainability, with case studies and examples that promote understanding of current technologies. Although the construction sector, in the broadest sense, has come to recognize that infrastructure development over the past two centuries has been unsustainable, it has been slow to adjust. Comprehensive information and relevant practical guidance are very scarce. This book lays out a roadmap for creating a human-friendly and safe environment with low environmental burden.

Abstract: With the world's population growing at an exponential rate, extreme attention has to be paid on how environment and resources are treated. For the building industry the result will be: New laws having direct consequences for the choice of materials and building techniquesSets of standards dealing with environmental mattersCustomers will prefer products that can document sound environmental "behaviour" Based on this background it was in fib Commission 3, Environmental Aspects of Design and Construction, that a task group was created in order to draft. a state of the art report that would make a sort of inventory of all environmental issues in prefabrication, identify areas for improvement and collecting available documentation expected to be required for the activities in the future. The work aimed at documenting existing environmental properties of precast structures, identifying future possibilities, and to collecting data required for life cycle assessment of precast structures. In the pursuit of this aim the following issues have been investigated: Demountable structures, re-use of components, systems for utilizing the thermal mass of concrete, production, recirculation in the production process, transport, erection, supplementary materials and the environment in the plants. During the process of preparing the document it became evident that the environmental issue does not have the worldwide attention that was expected. Although a lot is written about environmental matters all over the world, much of it is philosophical considerations with very little facts. Many countries in Europe as well as Japan have done a lot of excellent scientific work, but it seems that the implementation on the practical level varies considerably. Thus it became difficult to collect data from all over the world, and as a result the examples presented are dominated by results from the Nordic countries, which - together with the Netherlands - seem to be most advanced on the practical level. It also became evident that there are large differences in the systems used for data collection. Tables etc. containing "facts" are not always comparable - the assumptions may be different. Wherever possible this has been pointed out in the text. List of contents: Introduction - 1 Scope - 2 Production - 3 Transport and erection - 4 The structure - 5 References - Annexes dealing with: Life cycle analysis - Environmental product declarations - How to utilize the thermal mass - Example of comparison of structural systems

Production of Portland cement is responsible for about seven percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The pressure to make the production of concrete more sustainable, or "greener", is considerable and increasing. This requires a wholesale shift in processes, materials and methods in the concrete industry. Pure Portland cement will need to be replaced by more complex binary, tertiary or even quaternary binders, including other types of cementitious materials. We can expect an increasing use of high performance concrete, primarily because of its high sustainability and durability. Much more attention will have to be paid to the proper curing of the concrete if we want to improve its life expectancy. Presenting the latest advances in the science of concrete this book focuses particularly on sustainability, durability, and economy. It explores the potential for increased sustainability in concrete from the initial mixing right through to its behaviour in complex structures exposed to different types of loads and aggressive environments.

Building is a system of energy and environment, which needs to accommodate diverse needs and demands at individual and societal levels. Nearly 40% of global energy use derives from construction. In fact, a house consumes a significant amount of energy before and after occupancy, and the associated CO2 emissions are contributing to climate change. Prefabrication is a means to mass-produce buildings or parts and components. Thus, in theory, production costs can be reduced through economies of scale. In the 1920s, the significance of mass-produced houses was widely propagated by Le Corbusier who saw standardization as fundamental to mass production. Nonetheless, today, in response to growing global warming issues and the constant increase in energy prices, the construction industry is becoming more responsive to the delivery of sustainable architecture than ever. Within this context, sustainability may embrace not only building economy but also the adequacy beyond the legitimacy in which the quality barely coincides with individuals’ various dynamic needs, desires, and expectations today. In this respect, mass-produced prefabs alone fail to realize total sustainability. In 1987, a paradoxical concept of mass customization was introduced by Stanley Davis. Nonetheless, the idea applied to housing dates back to the 1950s. The essence of mass customizable architecture was speculated by Walter Gropius, as he emphasized the need for standardizing and mass-producing not only entire buildings but also their components. The combination of standard building components, which can be prefabricated, results in mass producing various types of constructions through economies of scope, where the quality can be defined by user choices of the components given in consideration of economic constraints and needs and demands. This book is an initial attempt to integrate the two notions of sustainability and mass customization by reviewing the potential capacities of prefabricated construction.