The development of modularized construction of enhanced precast composite structural systems (Smart Green frame) and its embedded energy efficiency

Precast structural systems demonstrate outstanding economy compared to steel structures, but the construction speed is not as fast as steel construction, preventing precast structural systems from being widely used. This results from the difficulty in installing beams for lateral braces during erection. The structural system is proposed for the easy and simple connections of column-beam units to beam units to form lateral braces during erection. Vertical steel sections with brackets are inserted in between upper and lower precast columns at the joint level. The column-beam unit is lifted in sites to be assembled with steel sections inserted at both ends of the precast beam unit. The introduction of the steel section both in column-beam and beam units allows for precast frames to be erected as similarly as steel frames providing a proper lateral resisting frame to prevent lateral instability during erection. The hybrid construction based precast composite frames introduced in this paper adds to the economy of using precast concrete structures with steel erection speed. This paper also presents the embedded energy efficiency of the proposed precast concrete frames based on the material, structure and construction hybrid characteristics. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.