Geosynthetic applications – sustainability aspects

• 18.1.

  Introduction

• 18.2.

  Economical and environmental advantages of using geosynthetics

• 18.3.

  Life-cycle assessment

• 18.4.

  Comparison of different construction methods

• 18.5.

  Summary of main points

• 18.6.

  Some common questions and their answers

• References

The global reduction of energy consumption and reduced emission of greenhouse gases are big challenges for the construction industry. To encourage consideration of sustainable development in the construction industry, sustainability components, such as energy consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases, should be determined, compared and calculated for different designs and construction choices to identify the most sustainable construction solution. Tools such as life-cycle assessment or embodied-energy calculations can help perform such comparative evaluations. This chapter presents a comparison between classical construction techniques and geosynthetic construction alternatives. The cumulated energy demand and carbon dioxide emission of primary, prefinished and finished products, their transport to the manufacturer and to the construction site, and their installation, are discussed. The cases presented in this chapter indicate that geosynthetics can provide environment-friendly and energy-efficient solutions in the construction industry.