Sustainable design of supporting structures

Abstract

PurposeIn order to establish sustainable development, there is a need to focus on solutions effectively improving environmental performance. Effectiveness is the product of significance and improvement potential. For buildings, the supporting structure is the predominant environmental load by materials, hence significant. The purpose of the studies presented in this paper is to determine the improvement potential of the supporting structure of buildings and explore other sustainable solutions effectively enhancing environmental performance.Design/methodology/approachFor the same office layout, various combinations of structural components at different spans were studied. The environmental load of these variants was determined by means of an life cycle analysis (LCA)‐based model.FindingsThe studies presented in the paper demonstrated an environmental difference by a factor of 5 between the solutions performing worst and best. The optimal combination is the uncommon solution of TT‐slabs with timber beams and columns, expecting to establish an improvement factor of 4 with respect to common practice.Practical implicationsThe findings of the studies presented suggest another way of building, with common structural components but whose combination is not common at present.Originality/valueSo far, sustainable building has not focused enough on effective solutions and has had little means to do so. Approaching the supporting structure of buildings rather than small, ineffective adaptations will significantly improve environmental building performance. An elaborate LCA of supporting structures had never been done before. The paper, on the one hand, rationalises sustainable building and, on the other hand, supports effective sustainable design.