ABSTRACT

Low-carbon buildings and construction products can play a key role in creating a low-carbon society. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is proposed as a prime example of innovative building products, revolutionising the use of timber in multi-storey construction. Therefore, an understanding of the synergy between structural engineering design solutions and climate impact of CLT is essential. In this study, the carbon footprint of a CLT multi-storey building is analysed in a life cycle perspective and strategies to optimise this are explored through a synergy approach, which integrates knowledge from optimised CLT utilisation, connections in CLT assemblies, risk management in building service-life and life cycle analysis. The study is based on emerging results in a multi-disciplinary research project to improve the competitiveness of CLT-based building systems through optimised structural engineering design and reduced climate impact. The impacts associated with material production, construction, service-life and end-of-life stages are analysed using a process-based life cycle analysis approach. The consequences of CLT panels and connection configurations are explored in the production and construction stages, the implications of plausible replacement scenarios are analysed during the service-life stage, and in the end-of-life stage the impacts of connection configuration for post-use material recovery and carbon footprint are analysed. The analyses show that a reduction of up to 43% in the life cycle carbon footprint can be achieved when employing the synergy approach. This study demonstrates the significance of the synergy between structural engineering design solutions and carbon footprint in CLT buildings.

摘要

低碳建筑和建筑产品可以在创建低碳社会中发挥关键作用。交叉层压木材（CLT）被提议作为创新建筑产品的一个典型例子，彻底改变了木材在多层建筑中的使用。因此，了解结构工程设计解决方案与 CLT 的气候影响之间的协同作用至关重要。在这项研究中，从生命周期的角度分析了 CLT 多层建筑的碳足迹，并通过协同方法探索了优化碳足迹的策略，该方法整合了来自优化 CLT 使用、CLT 组件连接、建筑风险管理的知识使用寿命和生命周期分析。该研究基于一个多学科研究项目的新兴成果，旨在通过优化结构工程设计和减少气候影响来提高基于 CLT 的建筑系统的竞争力。使用基于过程的生命周期分析方法分析与材料生产、施工、使用寿命和报废阶段相关的影响。在生产和施工阶段探讨 CLT 面板和连接配置的后果，在使用寿命阶段分析合理更换方案的影响，并在使用寿命结束阶段分析连接配置对后期使用的影响分析了材料回收和碳足迹。分析表明，采用协同方法可将生命周期碳足迹减少多达 43%。这项研究证明了结构工程设计解决方案与 CLT 建筑中碳足迹之间协同作用的重要性。