Sustainability potential of risk-informed decisions in structural design

Abstract

Structural design codes feature safety concepts that are highly generalized to make them simple and applicable to a large variety of structures at the same time. This leads to structures that are sufficiently safe but where structural material is not utilized in an optimal manner. For a sustainable future, this is not good enough. We need to unlock the potential offered by advanced risk and reliability-based methods in order to utilize our resources as efficient as possible. The paper illustrates this potential in the context of a case-study: the design of building floor structures with steel beams and hollow-core slabs. Assuming different member geometries, material properties and load scenarios, a representative set of such systems is defined and designed according to the partial factor method in the Eurocodes. The significant benefit of risk-informed decision approaches compared to these standardised design rules is demonstrated and quantified in terms of costs, material consumption and CO2 emissions.