Comparative numerical analysis for cost and embodied carbon optimisation of steel building structures

The study investigates an area of sustainable structural design that is often overlooked in practical engineering applications. Specifically, a novel method to optimise the cost and embodied carbon performance of steel building structures simultaneously is explored in this paper. To achieve this, a parametric design model was developed to rapidly analyse code compliant structural configurations based on project specific constraints and rigorous testing of multiple steel beams (UB sections), floor construction typologies (precast or composite) and column layouts that could not be performed manually by engineering practitioners. Detailed objective functions are embedded in the model to compute the cost and life cycle carbon emissions of different material types used in the structure. Results from a comparative numerical analysis of a real case study illustrate that the proposed optimisation approach could guide structural engineers towards areas of the solution space with realistic design configurations, enabling them to effectively evaluate cost and carbon trade-offs. This significant contribution implies that the optimisation model could reduce the time required for the design and analysis of multiple structural configurations especially during the early stages of a project. Overall, the paper suggests that the deployment of automated design procedures can enhance the quality as well as the efficiency of the optimisation analysis.The research described in this paper was financially supported by Innovate UK through the ‘Innovative engineering approach for material, carbon and cost efficiency of steel buildings’ project with reference number 10247

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

A computational paradigm for the optimisation of steel building structures based on cost and carbon indexes in early design stages

The study explores a practical engineering paradigm that aims to augment the cost and carbon analysis of steel building structures. Cost and carbon functions were developed specifically for this purpose including raw material, fabrication, design, fire protection, and erection components. A customised computational model for the analysis of structural alternatives is investigated. The proposed model is tested in an actual building case where several benchmark designs are computed. The outputs from the model are compared with a small number of actual design alternatives which were developed by engineering practitioners. The proposed method can significantly increase the understanding of the design space's boundaries whilst the computed solutions have exhibited enhanced cost and carbon performance compared to actual designs

A computational paradigm for the optimisation of steel building structures based on cost and carbon indexes in early design stages

The study explores a practical engineering paradigm that aims to augment the cost and carbon analysis of steel building structures. Cost and carbon functions were developed specifically for this purpose including raw material, fabrication, design, fire protection, and erection components. A customised computational model for the analysis of structural alternatives is investigated. The proposed model is tested in an actual building case where several benchmark designs are computed. The outputs from the model are compared with a small number of actual design alternatives which were developed by engineering practitioners. The proposed method can significantly increase the understanding of the design space's boundaries whilst the computed solutions have exhibited enhanced cost and carbon performance compared to actual designs

Comparative numerical analysis for cost and embodied carbon optimisation of steel building structures

The study investigated an area of sustainable structural design that is often overlooked in practical engineering applications. Specifically, a novel method to simultaneously optimise the cost and embodied carbon performance of steel building structures was explored in this paper. To achieve this, a parametric design model was developed to rapidly analyse code compliant structural configurations based on project specific constraints and rigorous testing of various steel beam sections, floor construction typologies (precast or composite) and column layouts that could not be performed manually by engineering practitioners. Detailed objective functions were embedded in the model to compute the cost and life cycle carbon emissions of different material types used in the structure. Results from a comparative numerical analysis of a real case study illustrated that the proposed optimisation approach could guide structural engineers towards areas of the solution space with realistic design configurations, enabling them to effectively evaluate trade-offs between cost and carbon performance. This significant contribution implied that the optimisation model could reduce the time required for the design and analysis of multiple structural configurations especially during the early stages of a project. Overall, the paper suggested that the deployment of automated design procedures can enhance the quality as well as the efficiency of the optimisation analysis

Comparative numerical analysis for cost and embodied carbon optimisation of steel building structures

The study investigated an area of sustainable structural design that is often overlooked in practical engineering applications. Specifically, a novel method to simultaneously optimise the cost and embodied carbon performance of steel building structures was explored in this paper. To achieve this, a parametric design model was developed to analyse code compliant structural configurations based on project specific constraints and rigorous testing of various steel beam sections, floor construction typologies (precast or composite) and column layouts that could not be performed manually by engineering practitioners. Detailed objective functions were embedded in the model to compute the cost and life cycle carbon emissions of the different material types used in the structure. Results from a comparative numerical analysis of a real case study illustrated that the proposed optimisation approach could guide structural engineers towards areas of the solution space with realistic design configurations, enabling them to effectively evaluate trade-offs between cost and carbon performance. This significant contribution implied that the optimisation model could reduce the time required for the design and analysis of multiple structural configurations especially during the early stages of a project. Overall, the paper suggested that the deployment of automated design procedures can enhance the quality as well as the efficiency of the optimisation analysis

Self-esteem: a behavioural genetic perspective

Self-esteem, the affective or evaluative appraisal of one's self, is linked with adaptive personality functioning: high self-esteem is associated with psychological health benefits (e.g. subjective well-being, absence of depression and anxiety), effective coping with illness, and satisfactory social relationships. Although several pathways have been hypothesized to effect within-family transmission of self-esteem (e.g. parenting style, family relationship patterns), we focus in this article on genetic influences. Genetic studies on both global and domain-specific self-esteem and on both level and stability of self-esteem converge in showing that (i) genetic influences on self-esteem are substantial, (ii) shared environmental influences are minimal, and (iii) non-shared environmental influences explain the largest amount of variance in self-esteem. We advocate that understanding of current issues in self-esteem research will be enriched by including behavioural genetic approache