About the author  ⁄ Nicole Wang, P.E.

Nicole Wang is a Project Engineer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP in San Francisco and is chair of the SEAONC Sustainability Committee. (nicole.wang@som.com)

Considerations over a Building’s Service Life

The structural engineering design profession needs to carefully reconsider design approaches. Embodied carbon of structural systems in buildings has been established to be a considerable influence on the detrimental environmental impact of structures. Embodied carbon is defined as the CO2-equivalent emissions into the atmosphere caused by the production of a material, product, or system. Embodied carbon impacts of a building’s structural system are primarily associated with the different life cycle stages: material extraction, manufacturing and production, construction, damage and repair during service life, and end-of-life considerations.

Read More →
STRUCTURE magazine