Reducing the carbon footprint in the foundations structures of masonry family houses

Abstract

Nowadays, the environmental assessment becomes more and more of interest as an additional tool for the decision-makers. The researchers in civil engineering focus on building materials, structures as well as whole buildings environmental evaluation. Analysis of the environmental impact of particular structures may be helpful for selecting building materials, with regard to the environmental performance of buildings in the early project phase. The aim of this paper is presentation of an environmental evaluation of the rarely assessed particular structures – building foundations and the analysis of the share of the building foundations to the overall environmental impact of building as well. The obtained data point to the need to include the environmental impacts of foundations when assessing the buildings, because of it is a necessary part of any type of family house. One kilogram of built-in foundations materials was responsible for emissions of 0.092 kg of greenhouse gases expressed by carbon dioxide (CO₂). Embodied energy was calculated as equal to 1.14 MJ per 1kg of foundations materials and 832.2 MJ/m² per building floor area. The foundation materials of houses contributed to the total environmental impact of the whole buildings by, on average, 15.0 and 22.8 % for embodied energy and global warming potential, respectively.