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Sustainability of Constructions - Integrated Approach to Life-time Structural Engineering

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2010) | Viewed by 94603

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Prof. Dr. Luís Bragança

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Civil Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: circular economy in construction; sustainability assessment; LCA; sustainable building and rehabilitation technologies; energy in buildings
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Dear Colleagues,

The action COST-C25 aims to promote a scientific understanding of life-time engineering and to boost science-based advancement of sustainable construction in Europe. The action is focused on an integrated approach to deal with the end-products of construction, clearly targeted at the development of R&D and engineering methods from structural point of view. It aims at providing the construction sector with a new framework and ideas based on the integration of approaches and results of ongoing research and development projects. The Action will establish a broad network of European universities and other research centers in the field of structural engineering in order to transfer the state-of-art of technologies, design methods and practices through the existing and new links of members of the Action in several international organizations. The Action involves collaborative analysis of results concerning design and assessment methods and tools, advanced materials and technologies as well as construction processes, both for new constructions and the rehabilitation of the existing ones.

Prof. Dr. Luís Bragança
Guest Editor

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COST-C25

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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257 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Aluminium Systems

by Evangelos Efthymiou, Öget N. Cöcen and Sergio R. Ermolli

Sustainability 2010, 2(9), 3100-3109; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su2093100 - 17 Sep 2010

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 9670

Abstract

In the present paper, an analytical presentation of some popular aluminium systems that contribute to sustainability of structures is presented. Special emphasis has been given to the properties of aluminium, while the influence of these systems in the overall performance of the structure regarding environment and economy is described. In particular, characteristics of aluminium elements such as high reflectivity and recyclability and their role in life cycle analysis (LCA) are analyzed. The connections between energy efficiency and conservation of buildings and aluminium application are also discussed. Building applications such as curtain walls, window frames and facade sheets are presented and thoroughly investigated, considering their environmental and economic aspects. Furthermore, many innovative techniques that use aluminium elements in collaboration with other systems in order to produce renewable energy, such as solar panels and photovoltaics, are introduced. Finally, environmental innovations such as optimized ventilation mechanisms and light and shade management systems based on aluminium members are presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Constructions - Integrated Approach to Life-time Structural Engineering)

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370 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling of Metal Structure Corrosion Damage: A State of the Art Report

by Raffaele Landolfo, Lucrezia Cascini and Francesco Portioli

Sustainability 2010, 2(7), 2163-2175; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su2072163 - 15 Jul 2010

Cited by 67 | Viewed by 15547

Abstract

The durability of metal structures is strongly influenced by damage due to atmospheric corrosion, whose control is a key aspect for design and maintenance of both new constructions and historical buildings. Nevertheless, only general provisions are given in European codes to prevent the effects of corrosion during the lifetime of metal structures. In particular, design guidelines such as Eurocode 3 do not provide models for the evaluation of corrosion depth that are able to predict the rate of thickness loss as a function of different influencing parameters. In this paper, the modeling approaches of atmospheric corrosion damage of metal structures, which are available in both ISO standards and the literature, are presented. A comparison among selected degradation models is shown in order to evaluate the possibility of developing a general approach to the evaluation of thickness loss due to corrosion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Constructions - Integrated Approach to Life-time Structural Engineering)

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122 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Building Sustainability Assessment

by Luís Bragança, Ricardo Mateus and Heli Koukkari

Sustainability 2010, 2(7), 2010-2023; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su2072010 - 05 Jul 2010

Cited by 200 | Viewed by 21668

Abstract

Although social, economic, and cultural indicators are of substantial importance to the concept of sustainable building, this concept is usually related to environmental characteristics. Any building level assessment method is complex and involves contradictory aspects. Moreover, emphasizing qualitative criteria only increases confusion. R&D and standardization are thus concentrated to transparency and usability of the environmental methods. Other directions of research aim at performance-based design and methods to take regional and cultural aspects into account. In this paper, the perspectives of the sustainability assessment of a whole building are presented, based on a state of the art, feasibility study on performance analysis and the development of an extended life-cycle assessment for buildings. Using various tools, and based on the case studies of building sustainability assessment, environmental indicators were often shown to be of lesser importance than the other, soft ones. The first steps in the development of a building sustainability assessment method for Portuguese residential buildings will be presented and discussed in the end. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Constructions - Integrated Approach to Life-time Structural Engineering)

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733 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Recycled Concrete as Aggregate for Structural Concrete Production

by Mirjana Malešev, Vlastimir Radonjanin and Snežana Marinković

Sustainability 2010, 2(5), 1204-1225; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su2051204 - 30 Apr 2010

Cited by 366 | Viewed by 23939

Abstract

A comparative analysis of the experimental results of the properties of fresh and hardened concrete with different replacement ratios of natural with recycled coarse aggregate is presented in the paper. Recycled aggregate was made by crushing the waste concrete of laboratory test cubes and precast concrete columns. Three types of concrete mixtures were tested: concrete made entirely with natural aggregate (NAC) as a control concrete and two types of concrete made with natural fine and recycled coarse aggregate (50% and 100% replacement of coarse recycled aggregate). Ninety-nine specimens were made for the testing of the basic properties of hardened concrete. Load testing of reinforced concrete beams made of the investigated concrete types is also presented in the paper. Regardless of the replacement ratio, recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) had a satisfactory performance, which did not differ significantly from the performance of control concrete in this experimental research. However, for this to be fulfilled, it is necessary to use quality recycled concrete coarse aggregate and to follow the specific rules for design and production of this new concrete type. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Constructions - Integrated Approach to Life-time Structural Engineering)

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Review

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183 KiB

Open AccessReview

National and International Standardization (International Organization for Standardization and European Committee for Standardization) Relevant for Sustainability in Construction

by Guri Krigsvoll, Marina Fumo and Renata Morbiducci

Sustainability 2010, 2(12), 3777-3791; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su2123777 - 20 Dec 2010

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 11011

Abstract

Sustainability in construction has a short history in terms of principles, standardizations and applications. From the Brundtland Report “Our Common Future”, a new vision of the resource deficits, climate impacts and the social responsibility gave growth to the idea of sustainability also in design and construction. Consequently, in around 2000, the international and national organizations for standardization started to develop standards for the application of sustainable principles. This paper gives an overview of existing and planned standards, and examples on how to use them as a framework for the development of methods and tools for assessment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Constructions - Integrated Approach to Life-time Structural Engineering)

514 KiB

Open AccessReview

Sustainability of Urban Infrastructures

by Marjana Šijanec Zavrl and Mine Tanac Zeren

Sustainability 2010, 2(9), 2950-2964; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su2092950 - 14 Sep 2010

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 11783

Abstract

The scope of the paper is to overview the different approaches for evaluation of urban infrastructure sustainability. In this context, urban infrastructure covers transportation, energy, water, sewage and information networks as well as waste management and blue-green infrastructure, in terms of both the supply and demand side. A common effort of partners in the European project “C8—Best Practice in Sustainable Urban Infrastructure”, developed under the Cooperation in Science and Technology program (COST), in brief COST C8, was focused on defining the methods, indicators and criteria for evaluation of sustainability, and resulted in a guidebook for decision-makers in local authorities. Here, the COST C8 matrix for simple sustainability assessment of urban infrastructure is applied to The Path (POT) case—a circular memorial and recreational park around the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The applicability and acceptance of the matrix in 43 other cases of sustainable urban infrastructure, collected in the COST C8 project, is presented and discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Constructions - Integrated Approach to Life-time Structural Engineering)

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