No. 35. Concrete Structures for Sustainable Community - 11th fib Symposium Proceedings - 11-14 June 2012 - Stockholm, Sweden PDF format
Sustainability is often described in three dimensions: environmental, economic, and societal. However, the environmental dimension is usually the primary one. Sustainability in concrete structures implies a minimum annual use of natural resources and energy, as well as minimum annual emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants. The term annual is important, as it highlights the need to consider a long-term perspective.
The construction phase becomes less dominant when we succeed in prolonging the service life of structures. Roman structures demonstrate that unreinforced concrete structures may have a lifespan exceeding 2000 years. Despite their superior behaviour in flexure and shear, reinforced concrete structures are more vulnerable to carbonation, marine environments, and de-icing salts. Consequently, durability issues are of paramount importance in achieving sustainability.
Sustainability also involves minimizing the use of natural resources, which can be achieved through the use of alternative binders, optimization of cement mixtures, and optimization of cross-sectional design. Finally, the use phase is also important for sustainability: energy savings through the thermal mass of concrete and the benefit of its bright surface for natural and artificial lighting are two examples.
“Concrete Structures for Sustainable Communities” is the theme of the fib Symposium 2012 in Stockholm. The Symposium covers all aspects of sustainability mentioned above. This proceedings volume consists of 140 papers, subdivided under twelve headings covering material, structural, and production topics.
All papers have been reviewed by experts in the Scientific Committee. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for their work, which had to be completed within a limited time frame. We are confident that the papers provide readers with a very good state-of-the-art overview in the field of concrete and sustainability.
Stockholm and Aalborg, May 2012
