Abstract
As the greenhouse gas reduction goal of 37% below business-as-usual (BAU) by 2030, the construction industry is recognized as an anti-environment industry for mass consumption/mass waste; thus, members of the industry are requested to make efforts to transform it into an environment-friendly industry. Concrete, a common construction material, is known to emit large amounts of environmentally hazardous waste during the processes related to its production, construction, maintenance, and demolition. The amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the product is specified in a ready-mixed concrete report whenever concrete is sold commercially. Hence, there have been many studies addressing the quantitative evaluation and reduction of the environmental effects of concrete. This study aims to introduce a method for assessing the amount of carbon dioxide emission from the processes of producing concrete. Moreover, we measured the quantities of CO2 emission of about 10 under-construction projects, including office buildings, apartment buildings, and high-rise residential buildings in South Korea. Using the assessment result, we analyzed the CO2 reduction performance of an office building in South Korea and drew conclusions about measures for reducing CO2 emission.
Highlights
The amount of energy consumption and CO2 emission from the Korean construction industry accounts for 23% of the total industry energy consumption and 40% of the total CO2 emission
Because concrete, which is the main material used in the construction industry, emits a large amount of CO2 during the production of raw materials such as cement, aggregate, etc., research on CO2 emission emitted from concrete production is direly needed
Using the proposed concrete CO2 emission assessment method, the characteristics of construction projects in terms of area and purpose were analyzed for the causes of differences in CO2 emission based on concrete strength, structure type, and structure area
Summary
The amount of energy consumption and CO2 emission from the Korean construction industry accounts for 23% of the total industry energy consumption and 40% of the total CO2 emission. The seven major building materials accounting for more than 90% of building greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions include concrete, a reinforcing rod, and section steel. An assessment of CO2 emission and an analysis of their characteristics against the concrete used in diverse construction sites is needed. As a part of such research, there is a demand for the establishment of a quantitative assessment method of CO2 emission from concrete production to site procurement and a proposal of a CO2 reduction plan at construction sites using this [3]. This study attempts an assessment of CO2 emission against concrete among the major building materials and analyzes the characteristics on which building types (apartment, office) and regions (Seoul, Incheon, Ulsan) are dependent. The CO2 emission levels calculated as such were divided and based on material characteristics, building type, and local characteristics
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