Cost and CO2 Emission Optimization of Steel Reinforced Concrete Columns in High-Rise Buildings

Hyo Park,Se Choi,Yousok Kim,Taehoon Hong,Bongkeun Kwon,Yunah Shin

doi:10.3390/en6115609

Abstract

The construction industry is a representative industry that consumes large amounts of energy and produces substantial pollution. The operation of a building accounts for a large portion of its total CO2 emissions. Most efforts are focused on improving the energy efficiency related to the operation of a building. The relative importance of the energy and CO2 emissions from the construction materials increases with the increasing number of low-energy buildings. To minimize the life-cycle energy use of a building, the energy consumed from both materials in the construction phase as well as the energy consumed from the operation of the building must be reduced. In this study, an optimal design method for composite columns in high-rise buildings using a genetic algorithm is proposed to reduce cost and CO2 emissions from the structural materials in the construction phase. The proposed optimal method minimizes the total cost, including the additional cost calculated based on CO2 emissions from composite columns, while satisfying the structural design criteria and constructability conditions. The proposed optimal method is applied to an actual 35-story building, and the effective use of structural materials for the sustainable design of composite columns is investigated. It is shown that using more concrete than steel section and using high-strength materials are economically and environmentally effective methods.

Highlights

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), CO2 emissions due to the energy consumed by buildings account for approximately 24% of all CO2 emissions [1], and in the United States, approximately 54% of that energy consumption is directly or indirectly linked to buildings and their construction
We present an optimization technique for Steel Reinforced Concrete (SRC) columns in a high-rise building that simultaneously considers the structural cost and CO2 emissions at the structural design phase, and we apply the technique to an actual 35-floor building to evaluate its effectiveness
The optimum design obtained from the proposed technique reduced the cost, CO2 emissions, and sum of weights of steel section and concrete used by 31.51%, 30.30% and 7.79%, respectively

Summary

Introduction

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), CO2 emissions due to the energy consumed by buildings account for approximately 24% of all CO2 emissions [1], and in the United States, approximately 54% of that energy consumption is directly or indirectly linked to buildings and their construction. Assessment (LCA) model [3], the development of environmentally friendly facilities and materials [4,5,6], and green building design [7] Most of these studies have focused on the CO2 emissions generated during building operation because the largest amount of CO2 is generated in the operation stage [8]. It has a height of 119 m, width of.

Methods

Results

Conclusion