COMPUTATION OF CARBON FOOTPRINT ON DIFFERENT STRUCTURES

The construction industry is one of the major contributors to global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions due to the extensive use of cement, steel, and natural aggregates.With increasing concerns over climate change and sustainable development, it has become essential to quantify and reduce the carbon footprint of structural systems.This study evaluates the embodied carbon emissions of three commonly used structural systems-Reinforced Concrete (RC), Steel, and Composite frames for a G+11 storey building.Various sustainable material alternatives such as fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), bagasse ash, manufactured sand, and steel slag are incorporated in different proportions to assess their influence on total carbon emissions.Carbon footprint is computed using standard emission factors based on material quantities.Further, Grey Relational Analysis (GRA), Desirability Function Approach (DFA), and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are employed to rank structural systems and material combinations based on minimum carbon emission criteria.The results demonstrate that composite frames incorporating supplementary cementitious materials exhibit the lowest carbon footprint, followed by steel frames and conventional RC frames.The study highlights the effectiveness of MCDM techniques in identifying environmentally efficient structural alternatives and supports sustainable decision-making in structural design.