Influence of building geometry on the environmental impact of building structures

Abstract

In France, embodied carbon represents 35% of the total green house gases emissions from the construction sector. This proportion can reach up to 70% when considering recent buildings. In particular, structural elements for a large portion of the material quantities hence environmental impacts. There is a large panel of options for designing structure and the early stage choices have the biggest impact on the final product. In order to help designers, understanding the influence of structure parameters such as material, span, grid choices or the number of level is essential. To do so, the article uses a methodology coupling structural analysis and environmental assesment. Wood, steel and concrete structures are considered with various span based on a 3 meters by 3 meters grid. The life cycle analysis uses french based scenarios and indicators from the european norm EN15804+A2. Results show that there is no material which is better on every indicators. Also the increase of span or the decrease of the number of level leads to higher impacts no matter the indicator. Finally slabs and beams represent the largest part of the impacts.