CO2 Emission in the Construction Process of Buildings with Steel-FRP Deck System Compared to Common Building Systems

Regarding the sustainable development goals and devastating consequences of climate change, considering the environmental impacts of products have found everyday increasing importance. One of the major sources of greenhouse gas emission is building industry. In the current research, life cycle assessment (LCA) of buildings has been done at the production and processing stages, and corresponding impacts are estimated. To reach this aim, effect of replacing common decking systems with new decking system of steel-FRP are estimated on the rate of CO2 emission. Steel frame buildings with 3, 5, 7, and 10 storeys with different structural systems (including intermediate moment frame, special moment frame, special concentrically braced frame, and dual system) and different decking systems (concrete joist, steel joist, and composite steel concrete) are chosen and designed by considering all details. The results demonstrate the significant decrease in the weight of structural components in case of using steel-FRP decking system which will directly correlate with substantial decline in the CO2 emission. Moreover, precise emission functions are provided for different structural systems which exhibit excellent coefficient of determination with the provided calculation data, and can be implemented to estimate the environmental costs of buildings in terms of CO2 emission.