Comparing the embodied carbon and local environmental impact of common geotechnical foundation solutions for the Australian market

In the Australian geotechnical market, foundation solutions for construction projects are commonly assessed against three key criteria; cost, program and quality. Safety and environmental aspects are often not assessed in the process until a geotechnical foundation technique has been selected based on the aforementioned criteria. As climate change has progressed to become one of the largest and most pertinent environmental issues in society today, it has in turn brought sustainability to the forefront of post construction assessments and is now a greater focus for government bodies, private developers and wider stakeholders. Using Keller’s in-house carbon calculator and a series of environmental metrics, this paper aims to inform decision makers of the carbon emission and social impacts of various geotechnical foundation solutions prior to their selection.Two theoretical projects are used to compare a range of geotechnical solutions: a 60-storey high-rise building requiring heavy foundations, and a low load warehouse building where ground improvement solutions can be used. Each geotechnical solution designed for the two Australian projects is then assessed using a standard cradle-to-gate carbon calculator. In addition, the impact on the local community is assessed according to the noise, traffic and emissions generated by each solution.