Concrete Construction: How to Explore Environmental and Economic Sustainability in Cold Climates

Shiwei Chen, Weizhuo Lu, Thomas Olofsson, Mohammad Dehghanimohammadabadi, Mats Emborg, Jonny Nilimaa, Yaowu Wang and Kailun Feng
Additional contact information
Shiwei Chen: Department of Construction Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 13, Fayuan Street, Harbin 150001, China
Weizhuo Lu: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden
Thomas Olofsson: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden
Mohammad Dehghanimohammadabadi: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Mats Emborg: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden
Jonny Nilimaa: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden
Yaowu Wang: Department of Construction Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 13, Fayuan Street, Harbin 150001, China
Kailun Feng: Department of Construction Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 13, Fayuan Street, Harbin 150001, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: In many cold regions around the world, such as northern China and the Nordic countries, on-site concrete is often cured in cold weather conditions. To protect the concrete from freezing or excessively long maturation during the hardening process, contractors use curing measures. Different types of curing measures have different effects on construction duration, cost, and greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, to maximize their sustainability and financial benefits, contractors need to select the appropriate curing measures against different weather conditions. However, there is still a lack of efficient decision support tools for selecting the optimal curing measures, considering the temperature conditions and effects on construction performance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a Modeling-Automation-Decision Support (MADS) framework and tool to help contractors select curing measures to optimize performance in terms of duration, cost, and CO 2 emissions under prevailing temperatures. The developed framework combines a concrete maturity analysis (CMA) tool, a discrete event simulation (DES), and a decision support module to select the best curing measures. The CMA tool calculates the duration of concrete curing needed to reach the required strength, based on the chosen curing measures and anticipated weather conditions. The DES simulates all construction activities to provide input for the CMA and uses the CMA results to evaluate construction performance. To analyze the effectiveness of the proposed framework, a software prototype was developed and tested on a case study in Sweden. The results show that the developed framework can efficiently propose solutions that significantly reduce curing duration and CO 2 emissions.

Keywords: cold climate; discrete event simulation; concrete maturity analysis; curing measures; decision support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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