With 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions originating from the built environment, the construction sector has a big responsibility to reduce global warming. The impact that structural designs have, is often calculated by simply multiplying a carbon factor with the mass of the structure. As gridshell structures feature a high number of nodes, they require extensive processing. This research aims to develop a better method of assessing the global warming potential of a gridshell structure, taking processing into account, and simultaneously learning what its influence is on GWP optimization.
The research was carried out by investigating multiple gridshell node types. For each node type, the required fabrication processes were identified. Carbon data was gathered for all these processes, as well as for the materials making up the structure of the gridshell. The GWP of a gridshell structure was then calculated in Excel per node type, based on design variables. A parametric structural analysis script was made in Grasshopper using the plugin Karamba. This script provides the Excel sheet with the variables, allowing it to calculate, and optimize the GWP value. An existing gridshell made by Octatube was used as a case study throughout this research.
The research concludes that processing has a very limited impact on the GWP of a gridshell structure, with most of the GHG emissions being related to the materials. The choice for node type that is utilized, does influence the GWP significantly. The research has produced a ‘tool’ for assessing and/or optimizing the GWP of a gridshell structure. The tool consists of the Excel sheet and Grasshopper script, and has the potential to be very useful in early design stages to not only assess, but to help optimize the GWP of a gridshell structure.