Material quantities, embodied GHG emissions and structural drawings of 3 structural systems for a 15-storey tall building used to assess the embodied GHG emissions premium for irregularity

In mitigating the effects of climate change, life cycle assessment (LCA) has been proposed as a design tool to facilitate the choice of structural typologies, materials and floor plan layouts for tall buildings. Existing studies that use LCA to compare alternative structural systems for tall buildings adopt symmetrical and regular plans, whereby their centres of mass, stiffness and strength coincide throughout the building height. Thus, existing comparative LCA studies of structural systems exclude torsionally unbalanced tall buildings. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the detrimental influence of plan irregularity on the embodied greenhouse gas emissions (EGHGE) of structural systems for tall buildings. This influence is evaluated using three finite element models of structural systems with varying degrees of plan irregularity for a 15-storey building scenario. The eccentric placement of shear walls is amplified across the alternative structural designs for each scenario, yet the materials and typology are kept constant to isolate the influence of plan irregularity on the EGHGE of the structural systems. All three structural systems comprise reinforced concrete shear walls and a moment-resisting frame that consists of band beams, columns and one-way slabs. A hybrid life cycle inventory analysis method is used to quantify the EGHGE of the structural systems. The findings of this study provide an initial estimation of the EGHGE premium for plan irregularity and confirm the need to reduce and eliminate these irregularities in the aim of minimising the EGHGE of structural systems for tall buildings.

在缓解气候变化的影响方面，生命周期评估（LCA）被提议作为一种设计工具，以促进高层建筑结构类型、材料和平面布局的选择。现有的研究在利用LCA比较高层建筑不同结构系统时，普遍采用对称和规则的平面设计，其中其质心、刚度和强度在整个建筑高度上保持一致。因此，现有的结构系统比较性LCA研究排除了扭转载荷不平衡的高层建筑。本文旨在展示平面不规则性对高层建筑结构系统固有的温室气体排放（EGHGE）的负面影响。这种影响是通过三个具有不同平面不规则程度的结构系统有限元模型对15层建筑场景进行评估的。在每种场景的替代结构设计中，剪力墙的偏心布置被放大，而材料和类型保持不变，以隔离平面不规则性对结构系统EGHGE的影响。所有三个结构系统均由钢筋混凝土剪力墙和由带梁、柱和单向板组成的抗弯框架组成。采用混合生命周期清单分析（LCI）方法来量化结构系统的EGHGE。本研究的发现提供了平面不规则性EGHGE附加值的初步估计，并证实了减少和消除这些不规则性的必要性，以最大限度地降低高层建筑结构系统的EGHGE。