Reduction of climate-damaging gases in geotechnical engineering practice using geosynthetics

At present, the political discussions around the globe are focused on sustainable development. Demand for reduction of energy consumption and emission of climate related gases like CO2 and CH4 are big challenges for the construction industry, too. Economical and ecological advantages of construction methods with geosynthetics are already well known. Soil masses that need to be excavated, transported and installed can be dramatically reduced. The best examples are those of geosynthetic clay liners or geocomposite drains instead of clay or gravel layers. But also the avoidance of soil exchange in traffic areas and the improvement of soil at site with geogrids have to be mentioned as positive examples in this regard. This article presents a comparison between classical construction techniques and geosynthetic construction alternatives. The cumulated energy demand (CED) and climate related CO2 emission for primary, prefinished and finished products, their transport to the manufacturer and to the construction site as well as their installation are determined. For both examples a considerably smaller cumulated energy demand (CED) and CO2 emission is shown for the geosynthetic alternatives.