Decision-making case study for retrofit of high-rise concrete buildings based on life cycle assessment scenarios

Author(s): S. Erzsébet Horváth, Zsuzsa Szalay
Paper category: symposium
Book title: International Symposium on Life Cycle Assessment and Construction – Civil engineering and buildings
Editor(s): A. Ventura and C. de la Roche
Print ISBN: 978-2-35158-127-8
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-128-5
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Pages: 116 – 124
Total Pages: 9
Language: English

Abstract: The prefabricated reinforced concrete panel construction method was spreading throughout Europe during the reconstruction wave following the World War II in order to decrease the general housing shortage. Nowadays approximately 13.5% of the Hungarian people live in these high-rise buildings, therefore their refurbishment is inevitable. The problem this building stock presents is that the operational energy use is extremely high, due to design, constructional and structural errors.
During the research a methodology was developed for the analysis of the refurbishment possibilities of prefabricated concrete buildings in order to reduce the impact on the environment. The method is based on Life Cycle Assessment and in case of an existing building more scenarios proposed for the refurbishment are to be compared, providing a decision support tool for the architectural design process by identifying the largest environmental impacts and optimizing the design.
The methodology is demonstrated on a case study: the 10-storey high apartment building including 360 flats was built in 1968 according to the original Soviet technology, and it was one of the first prefabricated concrete buildings in Hungary.
The paper deals with the question ’What makes an existing high-rise reinforced concrete building sustainable throughout its remaining life-span?’

Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA),

Online publication: 2012
Publication Type: full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00