Environmental impact assessment of residential building structural systems: A case study in Saudi Arabia

The Paris Agreement and UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommend that the building sector should become a zero-carbon contributor by 2050. Concerned with Saudi Arabia, a rising population means that achievement of a decarbonized building environment is crucial to ensure environmental sustainability. This study offers an evaluation and assessment approach to compare the different embodied life cycle impacts of common structures used in the residential building sector in Saudi Arabia. The novelty of this study is that it compares the embodied life cycle carbon emissions and energy consumption of several structural systems generally used in residential buildings, with specific reference to typical hotel apartments constructed in Saudi Arabia through which a comparison can be obtained in an understandable way. To achieve this, five types of structural systems were selected for comparison: flat plate, flat slab, two-way ribbed, one-way ribbed, and two-way solid plate (base case). Each of these systems was then analyzed for its embodied carbon contribution (kgCO2e) and embodied energy contribution (MJ) in five defined life cycle stages: the production of materials, transport, construction, operation, and end-of-life stage. It is found that two-way ribbed slab system provides a reduced environmental impact of 13–15%, flat slab system reduces around 17–19% and flat plate system around 21–22% when compared with the base case. All systems had one standard member that exhibited high impact ranging from 30 to 50%. It was concluded that the most efficient system for residential buildings in terms of environmental impact is the one-way ribbed structural system, which is 28% more effective than the base case. A final recommendation was presented based on the reduction percentage when compared with the base case (two-way solid plate). The results of this study can help in devising new approaches for implementing low-carbon building designs. •Environmental effect of residential structural systems in Saudi Arabia was assessed.•Five types of structural systems were selected for comparison.•One-way ribbed structural system was most effective system in residential buildings.