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Optimization Formulations for the Design of Low Embodied Energy Structures Made from Reused Elements

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Advanced Computing Strategies for Engineering (EG-ICE 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10863))

Abstract

The building sector is one of the major contributors to material resource consumption, greenhouse gas emission and waste production. Load-bearing systems have a particularly large environmental impact because of their material and energy intensive manufacturing process. This paper aims to address the reduction of building structures environmental impacts through reusing structural elements for multiple service lives. Reuse avoids sourcing raw materials and requires little energy for reprocessing. However, to design a new structure reusing elements available from a stock is a challenging problem of combinatorial nature. This is because the structural system layout is a result of the available elements’ mechanical and geometric properties. In this paper, structural optimization formulations are proposed to design truss systems from available stock elements. Minimization of weight, cut-off waste and embodied energy are the objective functions subject to ultimate and serviceability constraints. Case studies focusing on embodied energy minimization are presented for: (1) three roof systems with predefined geometry and topology; (2) a bridge structure whose topology is optimized using the ground structure approach; (3) a geometry optimization to better match the optimal topology from 2 and available stock element lengths. In order to benchmark the energy savings through reuse, the optimal layouts obtained with the proposed methods are compared to weight-optimized solutions made of new material. For these case studies, the methods proposed in this work enable reusing stock elements to design structures embodying up to 71% less energy and hence having a significantly lower environmental impact with respect to structures made of new material.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SXL, Structural Xploration Lab, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Fribourg, Switzerland

    Jan Brütting & Corentin Fivet

  2. IMAC, Applied Computing and Mechanics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

    Gennaro Senatore

Authors
  1. Jan Brütting
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  2. Gennaro Senatore
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  3. Corentin Fivet
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Brütting .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Computing and Mechanics Laboratory (IMAC), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

    Ian F. C. Smith

  2. Institute for Landscape, Architecture, Construction and Territory (inPact) Construction and Environment Department (CED), University of Applied Sciences, Geneva (HEPIA), Geneva, Switzerland

    Bernd Domer

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Brütting, J., Senatore, G., Fivet, C. (2018). Optimization Formulations for the Design of Low Embodied Energy Structures Made from Reused Elements. In: Smith, I., Domer, B. (eds) Advanced Computing Strategies for Engineering. EG-ICE 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10863. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91635-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91635-4_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91634-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91635-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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