Special Issue on Sustainable Building Structures

摘要

This month's Journal of Structural Engineering contains a collection of 10 papers focused on sustainable building structures. Topics covered include energy-efficient wood and bamboo structures, sustainable design of reinforced concrete (RC) through CO_2 emission optimization, replacement of portland cement with industrial byproducts, and replacement of natural aggregates in concrete with recycled materials. A series of papers investigate the sustainable use of concrete in structural systems. While concrete is one of the most versatile building materials and has enabled industrial growth, it is also one of the biggest in terms of environmental impact. In a paper entitled "Sustainable design of reinforced concrete structures through CO_2 emission optimization," Yeo and Potra present an optimization approach to balance economic objectives with sustainability objectives that consider the energy embodied within a structure. The approach is illustrated using a RC frame under gravity and lateral loads, showing that the CO_2 footprint of the structure may be lower if the objective function used in the design optimization is the carbon footprint rather than the cost.