Conceptual structural design strategies for reducing energy consumption in buildings

Raising the level of sustainability in construction refers to reduction of negative environmental impact and resource consumption throughout the life-cycle of built facilities, with a simultaneous increase in life quality. The aim is to optimize the performances of buildings, in accordance with the indicators of ecological quality. The load-bearing structure, together with other elements of architectural space, determines the performances of the building. The load-bearing structure should be designed and evaluated as a sub-system of the building, whose behaviour is directed towards the aim of system-building – ecological quality. This paper analyses the conceptual structural design according to the criteria of environmental protection, with the aim of reducing the requirement for total primary energy. The subject of analysis is design interventions at the level of structural form and applied structural materials, which reduce total energy consumption, including embodied and operational energy, throughout the lifecycle of the building. The present analysis pointed to the necessity of applying a complex and systemic approach to the structural design, in function of achieving the ecological quality of buildings