Evaluación del impacto ambiental generado por la toma de decisiones en la concepción estructural de un edificio tipo de la Ciudad De Quito.

Abstract

The world today is facing a crisis due to climate change, generated by the emission of Greenhouse Gases (GHG). The construction industry accounts for a large part of global GHG emissions and energy consumption. The present study evaluated the impact generated in the adoption of three structural systems, Optimized Framed System (OFS), Optimized Dual System (ODS) and Equivalent Framed System (EFS), the first two systems were conceived based on the optimization of sections and the last one based on structural equivalence, taking floor drift as the basic criteria; all this was developed in a typical building; that is, a building that contained the most representative architectural qualities of the buildings built in the financial area of Quito. The LCA methodology, from the "cradle to the gate", allowed the evaluation of CO2 emissions and energy consumption in the structural systems. The results showed that OFS, ODS and EFS have 844, 887 and 1366 [t CO2 eq.] and 10.3, 10.9 and 16.3 [MJ*106 ], respectively. Thus, the least polluting system is OFS; however, beyond the environmental results, the ODS is the most suitable system; since, by reducing the floor drift, it prevents possible damage to non-structural elements, safeguarding the safety of the occupants; furthermore, the impact generated is only 5% greater than the OFS. In this way, a harmony between structural and environmental variables would be achieved within the structural conception.