Purnell, P (2013) The carbon footprint of reinforced concrete. Advances in Cement Research, 25 (6). 362 - 368. ISSN 0951-7197
Abstract
As legislation forces significant reductions in the operational carbon dioxide emissions of the built environment, increasing attention is focused on the embodied carbon of structural materials. As the most prevalent structural material, the embodied carbon of concrete is of paramount interest. Previous direct or indirect analyses of embodied carbon in concrete have treated it either as an elemental material with a value of single embodied carbon, or calculated embodied carbon for a limited range of reinforced concrete mix designs, or returned only values for plain concrete. In this paper, the results are presented from a preliminary study into the embodied carbon of reinforced concrete as a function of: concrete strength grade; steel strength; mix design; cement replacement; and structural form. Findings are expressed both in terms of ECraw (kgCO2/kg reinforced concrete) and ECf (kgCO2 per unit of structural performance). They suggest that there is a wide range of ECraw (0·06−0·47) and that ECf is minimised by using C50 concrete. Savings in ECf achieved by adjusting mix design parameters (20–35%) generally exceed those achieved by replacing cement with pulverised fuel ash (10–25%). C50 beams of all mix designs have lower ECf than comparable timber composite or steel beams.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2013, ICE Publishing. Permission is granted by ICE Publishing to print one copy for personal use. Any other use of these PDF files is subject to reprint fees. |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) > Institute for Resilient Infrastructure (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Apr 2014 12:30 |
Last Modified: | 04 Sep 2014 18:05 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/adcr.13.00013 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Thomas Telford |
Identification Number: | 10.1680/adcr.13.00013 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:78456 |