ABSTRACT
With increasing urbanization, designers must consider the environmental impact of their decisions. Researchers are thus proposing new technologically advanced and potentially economical construction techniques to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions without reducing structural integrity. Concrete floors have been the focus of recent structural optimization studies for multi-tenant buildings because they substantially influence the total embodied carbon in a building. However, structural optimization of concrete elements can have consequences for secondary design considerations such as acoustic and thermal performance, potentially causing negative health impacts on tenants. In response, this paper presents a holistic study of structurally optimized concrete floor systems. Diverse solutions are generated and evaluated for secondary design considerations, showing trade-offs between material efficiency and acoustic transmission loss and revealing effective ribbed shapes for improved thermal factor and insulation. This research lays the foundation for future integration of secondary design considerations in early building design while working to reduce embodied carbon.
