ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER STRENGTHENING SOLUTIONS OF REINFORCED CONCRETE SLABS

ABSTRACT

At the global scale, the construction sector has a significant social and economic influence over people’s daily activities. At the same time, it is well known that the built environment is responsible for a significant negative influence over the Earth’s ecosystem. Taking into account the climate change phenomena registered nowadays, as well as the expected increase in the global volume of negative effects over the natural environment, considering the ecological dimension of sustainability in the construction sector represents one of the most important tasks for the civil engineering specialist. The present paper aims at evaluating whether fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites could represent an environmental friendly solution. The main objective is to determine if reusing an old structural member is an ecological suitable answer, by evaluating and comparing the environmental performances of an unstrengthened reinforced concrete (RC) slab with those of different carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strengthening solutions. The study has been performed by considering the cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, and by using the GaBi ts software. Analyzing the resulted environmental values, the authors argue that reusing an existing RC slab which does not present a certain level of structural safety, by using CFRP strengthening solutions, represents a viable solution in the current context of sustainable development of the construction sector.

Keywords: construction sector, natural environment, sustainability, CFRP, LCA