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1. Introduction
Sustainable development has become a critical issue in long-term global development due to fossil fuel depletion, climate change and the increasing costs of energy and water. In this context, sustainable development aims in the first place to achieve economic development, social development and environmental protection.
Buildings have a huge impact on the environment, resource use, human health and productivity. For example, buildings account for 32 per cent of total energy consumption (Hassan, 2016a). When designing building constructions, it is necessary to consider economic development, social development and environmental development when aiming for sustainability. One of the key issues in this context is the choice of construction materials. This article considers two construction materials that are commonly used in building constructions, namely, wood and steel. It compares beams that are made of glued laminated timber (glulam beams) with steel beams, with respect to structural design, manufacturing costs, assembly costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
The construction and building sector accounted for 19 per cent of Sweden’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2014, which corresponds to approximately 11.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (Boverket, 2017). The figure becomes 20.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide when imported products are included. These figures show how important environmental engineering of building constructions is, to reduce its negative impact on the environment. The EU Commission and the Swedish Parliament have set a goal of climate neutrality by 2050, and to achieve this, it will be necessary to examine the construction sector.
It is important to consider also economic factors in construction, where the economic consequences of choice of materials can be critical.
Furthermore, the design properties of different construction materials differ due to the requirements made and safety criteria set for each type of building structure. The design must be able to carry safely the loads to which it is exposed. In addition, choice of material must ensure that the dimensions of each component are proportional to the final design.
Glulam (glued laminated timber) is a construction material that is composed a number of individual wood laminates bonded together with durable, moisture-resistant adhesives. The grain of all laminations runs parallel to the length of the member. In straight glulam products, the laminates are 45 mm thick. Glulam can be used in...