Environmental considerations 211
for the concrete, of 27% for the reinforcing steel and of 6% for the works
execution and other supporting services. This picture changes completely
for a typical vibro stone column site for which 68% of the embodied CO 2
is consumed by the stone backfill material and 32% by the works execution and transport, all this however on a much reduced overall total CO 2
emission.
Although valid European law and regulations already allow awarding
public work based upon comprehensive standard of values, that is, including the cost of CO 2 emissions, and although the Stern review proposes valuing CO 2 emission at 85 EUR/t, in reality public submissions in construction
continue to be assessed solely on the basis of traditional economical advantages of cost and time. Within the time horizon of the Stern review to 2050,
it is not yet too late to educate decision makers in construction of the advantages of CO 2 valuation in general and of the environmental benefits which
can be gained when adopting the deep vibro compaction and replacement
ground improvement methods in particular.
In 2013, the European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC)
and the Deep Foundation Institute (DFI) published the EFFC, DFI Carbon
Calculator which they had jointly developed. It is a carbon accounting
methodology and provides useful carbon footprint analyses by calculating the emissions of foundation construction projects in a consistent and
comparable way across the industry (EFFC–DFI, 2013). It gives also an
interesting and brief description of the main carbon accounting standards
developed worldwide around 2000. This tool integrates also the best practices identified in already existing carbon footprint calculators which had
previously been proposed by some members of EFFC and DFI. Vibro compaction and vibro stone columns are included in a total of 15 different deep
foundation and ground improvement methods.
We have seen that vibro compaction in its ideal form does not require
any raw material for its execution, and that vibro replacement uses only
stone aggregate as backfill material, in this way significantly reducing
greenhouse gas emission. Both ground improvement methods do not leave
behind troublesome obstructions in the ground encouraging in this way the
unhindered reuse of the building site after demolishing of the structures.
We have also seen that recycled aggregate can be used as backfill material
for the stone columns provided that their physical and chemical properties
are assessed properly for the purpose.
for the concrete, of 27% for the reinforcing steel and of 6% for the works
execution and other supporting services. This picture changes completely
for a typical vibro stone column site for which 68% of the embodied CO 2
is consumed by the stone backfill material and 32% by the works execution and transport, all this however on a much reduced overall total CO 2
emission.
Although valid European law and regulations already allow awarding
public work based upon comprehensive standard of values, that is, including the cost of CO 2 emissions, and although the Stern review proposes valuing CO 2 emission at 85 EUR/t, in reality public submissions in construction
continue to be assessed solely on the basis of traditional economical advantages of cost and time. Within the time horizon of the Stern review to 2050,
it is not yet too late to educate decision makers in construction of the advantages of CO 2 valuation in general and of the environmental benefits which
can be gained when adopting the deep vibro compaction and replacement
ground improvement methods in particular.
In 2013, the European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC)
and the Deep Foundation Institute (DFI) published the EFFC, DFI Carbon
Calculator which they had jointly developed. It is a carbon accounting
methodology and provides useful carbon footprint analyses by calculating the emissions of foundation construction projects in a consistent and
comparable way across the industry (EFFC–DFI, 2013). It gives also an
interesting and brief description of the main carbon accounting standards
developed worldwide around 2000. This tool integrates also the best practices identified in already existing carbon footprint calculators which had
previously been proposed by some members of EFFC and DFI. Vibro compaction and vibro stone columns are included in a total of 15 different deep
foundation and ground improvement methods.
We have seen that vibro compaction in its ideal form does not require
any raw material for its execution, and that vibro replacement uses only
stone aggregate as backfill material, in this way significantly reducing
greenhouse gas emission. Both ground improvement methods do not leave
behind troublesome obstructions in the ground encouraging in this way the
unhindered reuse of the building site after demolishing of the structures.
We have also seen that recycled aggregate can be used as backfill material
for the stone columns provided that their physical and chemical properties
are assessed properly for the purpose.