Efficiency of a fabric formed concrete slab

Abstract

The built environment is responsible for approximately 50% of the carbon emissions on the planet. Therefore, it is of major importance to reduce the carbon footprint of our structures to better preserve our environment for future generations. Furthermore, studies demonstrate that flooring systems can be responsible for 70% of material consumption in high rise buildings, and about the same proportion of embodied carbon energy. Based on these considerations, this thesis suggests a new form of concrete slab and quantifies its efficiency in terms of material, carbon energy and cost savings compared to a traditional reinforced concrete flooring system. The proposed form of concrete slab is constructed using fabric formwork. It provides the flexibility and ease of construction needed to build such a low-volume structural shape. After establishing that this slab can be about 50% lighter than a traditional reinforced concrete slab, the thesis models and quantifies the savings in other parts of the structure and shows that the embodied carbon footprint of the entire building can be reduced by approximately 50%. Keywords: Concrete slab - Compression only - Fabric-formworks - Carbon energy