Evolution of structural design of concrete framed buildings for net zero in the UK

A seminar by Professor Costas Georgopoulos from Kingston University
Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA)

  • Room 410, Babbage Building, University of Plymouth

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A practical manifesto for structural engineers to design and detail low carbon concrete framed buildings was set out by the author almost ten years ago using latest thinking and research on engineering design practices and materials science available at the time (Sustainable Concrete Solutions by Wiley, 2014).  
Since then, exacerbated climate change, with human activities proven to be the main cause, combined with continuing population growth, over-consumption of resources, overproduction of waste and increasing energy demands have created the need for a speedy evolution of sustainable solutions for the design and construction of concrete framed buildings.   
This presentation reviews, critically evaluates, and attempts to predict the future of structural design of sustainable concrete framed buildings by examining ten evolution drivers (ranked for applicability at the end of the paper), as follows:
  1. Offsite Construction (innovative solutions and products)
  2. Standardisation, Optimisation and Digital Transformation (standard and non-standard design solutions using visualisation and analytics)
  3. Low Carbon Materials (SCMs, AACMs and LC3 and integrating specification with design)
  4. Embodied Carbon Assessments (reducing uncertainties)
  5. Low Energy Solutions (optimising thermal mass potential, new products on mechanical air or water cooling and heating of slabs)
  6. Circular Economy (total recyclability by either disassemble and reuse or demolish and reuse)
  7. Reuse of Existing Buildings (retrofitting, strengthening, and extending the design life of existing buildings as the preferred option)
  8. Efficient Design (revisiting the choice of the structural framing for flat slabs to improve efficiency and imposed loads to reduce conservatism)
  9. Procurement, Standards and Regulations (structural engineer’s early involvement, EPDs)
  10. Resilience (climate change risks plus natural hazards such as E/Qs).
In conclusion, structural design of concrete framed buildings in the UK is evolving fast to meet the challenges of a future net zero built environment.
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Speaker biography

Professor Costas Georgopoulos CEng FHEA FCS FICE FIStructE is an academically and professionally qualified Senior Academic and Chartered Civil/Structural Engineer with many years of unique multi-sector national/international, technical/managerial, and industrial/academic experience working for higher education institutions (Edinburgh Napier University, University of Portsmouth and Kingston University); consulting engineering companies (Cussons Imperial Leather in Nigeria, Blyth & Blyth in Edinburgh and state-of-the-art project highlights, Nuclear Design Associates for the seismic design of the Fuel Building of Sizewell B Nuclear Power station in England and Halcrow, now CH2M, for the seismic design of the Trident Nuclear Submarine Refitting Facility in Scotland) and trade bodies (The Concrete Centre in the UK and the Greek Association of  Insurers).  
Professor Georgopoulos's industry-driven research-founded expertise includes Seismic Design of Structures to EC8 (author of Extracts and Commentary Online by BSI, Design Worked Examples by IStructE, CPD for ICE and IStructE delivered nationally and internationally, etc.) and Sustainable Concrete Structures (book on Sustainable Concrete Solutions by Wiley, presentations to ICE and IStructE. 
His latest paper was delivered on 21 March 2024 on the Evolution of Structural Design of Concrete Framed Buildings for Net Zero that was presented at the fib Symposium on Concrete Resilience, Istanbul, Turkey, 5–7 June 2023).

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