Reduce, Reuse, Resilient? Life-Cycle Seismic and Environmental Performance of Buildings with Alternative Concretes
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 26, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper investigates the impacts of alternative structural concretes on the life-cycle sustainability and resilience of a reinforced concrete building in a high seismic region. To do so, we conduct a life-cycle environmental impact assessment, quantifying greenhouse gas emissions associated with building construction and seismic performance, accounting for potential earthquake damage and subsequent repairs. The unit of analysis is a modern code-designed reinforced concrete frame building, designed with seven different types of concrete: a conventional concrete mix, 3 concrete mixes in which varying quantities of fly ash replace cement, and 3 concrete mixes in which varying quantities of recycled concrete replace virgin coarse aggregate. The findings suggest that replacing cement with fly ash can be an effective tool to improve building sustainability over the entire life cycle, reducing greenhouse gas emissions during both construction and service life (seismic) life-cycle stages, without compromising seismic performance (i.e., resilience). However, replacing virgin coarse aggregate with recycled concrete aggregate can have unintended consequences in terms of worsening seismic performance and hence making the overall life-cycle sustainability calculus unfavorable in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. This paper is one of the first to link life-cycle seismic and environmental performance of buildings designed with alternative (and potentially green) concretes and to demonstrate the importance of considering tradeoffs between resilience and sustainability in design and selection of alternative structural materials. In addition, this study illustrates a framework that can be applied for life-cycle assessment and evaluation of structural concrete material choices.
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Acknowledgments
This research is made possible through the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Grant No. 1234503. Any opinions, findings, and recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Haselton Baker Risk Group for providing access to the SP3 software. Wil Srubar III and Joseph Kasprzyk, and two anonymous reviewers, were helpful in developing the ideas herein.
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Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 26 • Issue 1 • March 2020
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©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jun 15, 2018
Accepted: May 24, 2019
Published online: Dec 14, 2019
Published in print: Mar 1, 2020
Discussion open until: May 14, 2020
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