1.
Mathern, Alexandre, 1986
(författare)
Addressing the complexity of sustainability-driven structural design: Computational design, optimization, and decision making
2021
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Being one of the sectors with the largest environmental burden and high socio-economic impacts sets high requirements on the construction industry. At the same time, this provides the sector with great opportunities to contribute to the globally pursued sustainability transition. To cope with the increasing need for infrastructure and, at the same time, limit their sustainability impacts, changes and innovation in the construction sector are required. The greatest possibility to limit the sustainability impact of construction works is at the early design phase of construction projects, as many of the choices influencing sustainability are made at that point. Traditionally, an early choice of a preferred design is often made based on limited knowledge and past experience, considering only a handful of options. This preferred design is then taken on to the successive stages in the stepwise design process, leading to suboptimization. Alternatively, many different design choices could be considered and evaluated in a more holistic approach in order to find the most sustainable design for a particular application. However, finding design solutions that offer the best sustainability performance and fulfil all structural, performance and buildability requirements, require methods that allow considering different design options, analysing them, and assessing their sustainability. The aim of this thesis is to explore and develop methods enabling structural engineers to take sustainability objectives into account in the design of structures. Throughout this thesis, a number of methods have been explored to take sustainability aspects into account in the structural design process. As a first step, highly parameterized computer codes for sustainability-driven design have been developed. These codes interoperate with FE analysis software to automatically model and analyse design concepts over the whole design space and verify compliance with structural design standards. The codes were complemented with a harmonized method for life cycle sustainability performance assessment, in line with the state-of-the-art standards. Here, sustainability criteria were defined covering environmental, social, economic, buildability and structural performance for multi-criteria assessment of design concepts. To identify the most sustainable designs within the set, multi-objective optimization algorithms were used. Algorithms that address the high expense of constraint function evaluations of structural design problems were developed and integrated in the parameterized computer codes for sustainability-driven design. To ensure the applicability and validity of these methods, case studies based on real-world projects and common structural engineering problems were used in this thesis. Case studies for bridges and wind turbine foundations as well as a benchmark case of a reinforced concrete beam were investigated. The case studies highlight the potential of the methods explored to support the design of more sustainable structures, as well as the applicability of the methods in structural engineering practice. It is concluded that it is possible and beneficial to combine computational design, life cycle sustainability assessment, and multi-objective design optimization as a basis for decision making in the design phase of civil engineering projects. A wide adoption of such a sustainability-driven design optimization approach in structural engineering practice can directly improve the sustainability of the construction sector.
2.
Rempling, Rasmus, 1976, et al.
(författare)
Performance requirements for Swedish transport infrastructure - A pre-study of challenges and possibilities
2022
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
In recent years, significant worldwide research has been conducted regarding the performance assessment of bridges and the concept of performance indicator has been introduced However, there are still significant discrepancies in how these indicators are obtained and used. Simultaneously, it is desirable to achieve processes and methods that are direct, i.e. that measured values are directly compared with projected values over time. This project concerns methods for verification of technical performance requirements. The feasibility study brought together interdisciplinary researchers, consultants, and entrepreneurs to gather knowledge, anchor the research agenda, and implement performance requirements. The project concludes that there is a need for a “Holistic multi-parameter verification/validation system” that relies on the knowledge gained in structural health monitoring research.
3.
Säwén, Toivo, 1993
(författare)
Early Stage Architectural Design Practice Perspectives on Life Cycle Building Performance Assessment
2023
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Architectural practitioners can avoid negative social and environmental impacts of new construction by making decisions supported by impact quantification during design processes. However, most software tools developed for such quantification see little use in practice, especially in early design stages when decisions have the greatest influence. To identify ways for software developers to overcome this situation, a thorough literature meta-review of previously performed tool reviews was combined with interviews applying a practice lens. The first key finding is that a possible explanation for the low tool uptake in practice could be a missing practice perspective in previous tool development efforts. In a literature meta-review of publications on life cycle building performance tools identifying previously applied perspectives, most previous tool reviews were found to support tool development and selection, while disregarding how tools can be integrated in existing practices and design processes. As a proposed solution, a framework for defining software requirements using a practice perspective was developed. The second key finding is that a practice perspective could be applied during software development by implementing qualitative methodologies. Nine architectural practitioners in Sweden, Norway and France were interviewed using the interview to the double, a projective technique in which the interviewee is asked to describe their next workday in detail so that their tasks can be assumed by an imagined body double. The design activities described by the respondents were sequenced into user narratives which could serve as starting points for participatory software development processes within the architectural practice. The outcomes - a proposed framework for practice-centric software requirements, and a proposed methodology for collecting these requirements using a practice lens - indicate a research direction toward software development efforts which aligns with design process, architectural practice, and tool user needs. In the next stage of the research this direction will be pursued through application of the developed methodologies in participatory development case studies in early-stage architectural design practice.
4.
Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(författare)
Crossing dichotomies and breaking mental patterns: Green business development when all else fails?
2017
Ingår i: 8th International Scientific Conference “Rural Development 2017: Bioeconomy Challenges”, 23–24 November, 2017 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Obtaining sustainable and inclusive societal organization is not merely a simple matter of ‘doing it’ by subscribing to some winning formula. Given that conceptual frameworks always guide our thoughts, judgments and actions (Latour, 2013; Harvey, 1996; Dennett, 1993), the ways in which we relate to concepts chosen to serve as guiding forces for future development will eventually determine its outcome. As scholarly evidence continuously suggests the concepts ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ are increasingly recognized as artificial barriers for conducting sound and integrated development endeavors in a globalized reality of interconnectedness. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to eradicate poverty, shield the planet and safeguard prosperity for all, commitment to universal access to healthy food year round has become an important agenda point. This, however, has been exacerbated by binary thinking and separate ways of doing policy. This paper aims to share experiences from a unique project launched in the northern parts of Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city. While the area offers ample resources and immense opportunities for areal economies, it at the same time remains one of Gothenburg’s most segregated, with high levels of unemployment, ill health and crime. The uniqueness of the project lies not only in its way of abridging the rural-urban divide, but also by consciously deferring from the debilitating rhetoric of previous ‘immigrant policies’, and instead focusing on agricultural productivity, small-scale food producers and sustainable food strategies. Such exhortations to bridge between philosophical and material polarities, however, have not come without conceptual and practical challenges, something this paper aims to subsume and open up to debate.
5.
Dyrssen, Catharina, 1949, et al.
(författare)
Key urban projects: Local-regional planning tools for fragile urban landscapes
2014
Ingår i: World in Denmark 2014: Nordic encounters. Travelling ideas about open space design and planning.
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat) abstract
In Sweden, cities are promoted as drivers of economic growth and solutions for decreased climatic influence, resulting in a dominant focus on development of large cities in the planning debate and sustainability discourse. As discussed by Harvey (2006), Massey (2007) and Tietjen (2011), this increases differences between growing and declining cities and regions, and escalates uneven geographic development. The process produces fragile urban landscapes, i.e. local situations short of resources, skills and mandates to handle change and deal with in-lock of sense-making structures, thereby concealing actual site specific possibilities and the potential of development of small towns and rural areas. This renders the need for new relevant planning tools with onset in a relational perspective on space (Harvey 2006, Massey 2007), urban ecologies (Guattari 1989, Banham 1971) and design-based, proformative approaches (Solà Morales 2008, Bunschoten 2001, Cuff & Sherman 2011). This article argues for key urban projects as a relational, place-specific, operative planning tool that can open and lock urban transformation, secure and guide implementation and reveal strategies to develop fragile urban landscapes, with ability to: handle centre-periphery and urban-rural as dynamic contingencies; combine the capacity of different urban ecologies; relate the formation of urban landscapes to different scales; optimise combinatory potentials of local-regional resources; secure forms of operative collaboration; trigger critical negotiations; and integrate spatial implementation to the planning process.These abilities are tested through design-based research-methodology with onset from works in progress in five Swedish contexts of practice that outline a spectrum of important characteristics of fragile urban landscapes.Key Urban Projects are identified and developed through a mapping process iterating between identification of specific issues and the outline of their relevant contours, a process that both visualize and establish assemblages (DeLanda 2006). Key Projects gain their potential through stepwise change of the existing material landscape and its urban ecologies.
6.
Silfwerbrand, Johan, et al.
(författare)
Performance-based requirements in design-build contracting for highway construction and maintenance
2019
Ingår i: FIB 2018 - Proceedings for the 2018 fib Congress. - : Federation Internationale du Beton (fib). ; , s. 470-478, s. 470-478
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat) abstract
Design-build contracts with performance-based specifications are believed to raise productivity and the innovation rate. However, performance-based requirements used in specifications for highway and bridge contracts may suffer from being too detailed or too difficult to verify. A Swedish research project has been devoted to this issue. The aims were (i) to develop a definition of performance-based requirements and (ii) to evaluate performance-based requirements used in Swedish design-build contracts. The project consisted of three parts: (i) literature survey, (ii) investigation of current documents produced and used by the Swedish Transport Administration for design-build contracts, and (iii) case studies of six design-build contracts with performance-based requirements, including an analysis of specification documents and interviews with both client and contractor project managers. Current performance-based specifications show different degrees of detail. Measurable requirements are more frequently used on roads, and in particular on road surfaces, than on bridges. Further development is needed to promote technical innovations. Less detailed specifications and a shift to design-build-operate contracts with prolonged maintenance responsibility would also encourage the choice of more durable and long-lasting (=sustainable) solutions. The emphasis on Life Cycle Cost (LCC) in the reformulated contract award criteria in the EU public procurement directive might be insufficient to strengthen the competitive power of concrete pavements as compared to asphalt pavements, unless specifications are supported by Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and the choice of contract type is reconsidered.
7.
Jockwer, Robert, 1984, et al.
(författare)
Design for adaption - making timber buildings ready for circular use and extended service life
2021
Ingår i: World Conference on Timber Engineering 2021, WCTE 2021.
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat) abstract
The use of timber and the implementation of the concept of circularity in the process of the construction of buildings potentially has a high sustainability impact, both from the perspective of material and construction technique. The three most effective ways to ensure the benefit of the circularity in the building sector in general are (1) maintain the service life of structures and buildings materials as long as possible to avoid unnecessary emissions and costs for demolition and reconstruction (2) conserve the quality of materials as long as possible to avoid unnecessary emissions and costs for the replacement and processing of new materials and (3) recycle and repurpose only the parts and materials which cannot function any more for technical and/or socio-cultural reasons. In this paper an approach is discussed towards a more sustainable built environment by making buildings adaptable to the changes of demands and requirements to building functions and thus leading to an extended use of buildings in a maximum of life cycles. This design for adaption may enhance economic, social and environmental benefits to various stakeholders and key players related to the building process, i.e. developers, building owners, users, municipality and others.
8.
Täljsten, Björn, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
Assessment of prestressed concrete bridges - challenges
2020
Ingår i: IABSE Symposium, Wroclaw 2020. - Zürich : International Association For Bridge And Structural Engineering (IABSE). ; , s. 487-494
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat) abstract
Prestressed concrete bridges are important parts of our infrastructure. They are susceptible to different kinds of deterioration processes. Examples of damages and deficiencies are cracking, corrosion, voids, bond loss, reduction of cover layer, delamination, fatigue and loss of stiffness and strength. This necessitates methods to continuously assess their condition in order to avoid problems that might lead to shorter service life or reduction of structural integrity. Many of the existing prestressed bridges in Europe are now approaching their design life length. However, with proper and continuous inspection, monitoring and assessment, we may plan proactive maintenance and the structural safety can be assured or – if necessary - increased. This will save both money and decrease the environmental impact of the structure.
9.
Armesto Barros, Jesús, et al.
(författare)
Recent and future trends of onshore wind turbine foundations
2022
Ingår i: Proceedings of the IABSE Symposium Prague 2022: Challenges for Existing and Oncoming Structures. - 9783857481819
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat) abstract
The decarbonization of the economy and the growing need for electricity are two trends that call for greener energy sources. Wind is a growing renewable energy source, which is expected to become the first source of power in the European Union in the next decade. In particular, onshore wind energy is expected to double by then. Fundamental structural components of wind turbines are their foundations, which are large structures associated with important material consumption and many construction challenges. The dimensions of these foundations are continuously increasing as turbines with taller towers and larger rotor diameters are being built. Designing cost- and material-efficient foundations is crucial to reduce the economic and environmental impact of wind energy. An important factor to successfully address these evolving requirements in the planning and design process is to build on the experience from previous projects. The aim of this work is to investigate the evolution of onshore wind turbines and its consequences on the design and climate impact of gravity foundations by analysing data from Swedish wind farms set in operation between 2013 and 2022. The evolution of turbine size, and foundation dimensions, reinforcement layout, material types and quantities, and embodied carbon are analysed in this paper.
10.
Bergenram, Felicia, et al.
(författare)
Parametric Optimization of Slab Frame Bridges Considering Investment Cost, Environmental Impact and Buildability
2023
Ingår i: Procedia Computer Science. - 1877-0509.
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat) abstract
This paper presents research performed on set-based multi-criteria optimization for the preliminary design of slab frame bridges. As a result of immense CO2 emissions emerging from concrete production, there is a need for optimization methods decreasing the volume of concrete without affecting the function of the structure. Previous research suggests a general correlation between CO2 footprint- and cost reduction, due to minimized material use. However, the aspect of buildability may conflict with lessened material, as optimized designs might simultaneously be less buildable. This research aimed to develop an optimization method with respect to the investment cost and environmental impact while also considering buildability cost aspects. The optimization algorithm shows the possibilities of reducing the environmental impact by up to 13.7% for a slightly increased cost of 2.3%. Thus, by implementing optimization procedures in the early stages of the planning process the holistic cost effects related to green solutions can be presented, favoring the choice of sustainable designs amongst clients during tendering procedures.
