2025-07-14    176

Steel Structure News: "Green construction extends beyond basic measures like enclosed worksites, dust suppression, noise control, perimeter greening, and scheduled sprinkling. It encompasses all aspects of sustainable development: ecological and environmental protection, resource and energy utilization, and social and economic progress. True green construction requires integrating 'green methodologies' holistically into the construction process, treating the entire operation as a microsystem with scientifically designed green construction organization."

During construction, the East Tower project established green construction benchmarks for super-tall buildings:

• Dust levels ≤ 0.5m during structural work; ≤ 1.5m (visually observed) during foundation work.

• 30% reduction in wastage of main building materials.

• 30% water savings, with >20% utilization of non-traditional and recycled water sources.

• Efficient site layout minimizing unused land and dead space (>90% utilization of temporary facilities) while meeting environmental, health, safety, and civilized construction standards.

Construction sites are major energy consumers, making conservation crucial. However, controlling energy use in super-tall projects faces challenges: dispersed work areas, numerous trades (civil, structural steel, MEP, elevators, curtain walls, fit-out, lighting, etc.), making data collection difficult, and a lack of standardized energy consumption benchmarks.

To enable real-time monitoring of energy usage per floor and work area for precise digital management, the East Tower team developed and deployed an around-the-clock wireless temporary power monitoring system. Data collection base stations and smart meters installed on each floor transmit data via a self-organizing, self-routing wireless sensor network, automatically aggregating information to the 9th-floor server.

This system provides:

• Meter locations and identification details.

• Energy consumption data ("Today," "Last Week," "Last 30 Days," "Last Year," or any custom period) via bar charts.

• Peak and off-peak usage values.

• Minute-by-minute usage per work area.

• Real-time tracking per trade/subcontractor.

• Customizable reports on subcontractor power consumption for any period.

The East Tower's energy monitoring provides valuable data for future super-tall green construction. Structural "Slimming" reduces concrete usage by ~5,300 cubic meters.

While green construction methods vary in impact, the most significant gains at East Tower came from innovative design and structural optimization ("slimming"). Below the 30th floor:

• Concrete grade increased from C60 to C80.

• Wall thickness reduced from 1.8m to 1.5m.

• Result: Increased usable floor area by ~1,200 sqm.

• Reduced concrete volume by ~5,300 cubic meters.

• Structural weight reduction: ~13,300 tonnes.

• Reduced CO2 emissions: ~5,300 cubic meters (equivalent).

• Steel structure optimization: Reduced steel tonnage by 7,000 tonnes.

• Structural weight reduction: ~52,500 tonnes.

• Cost savings: ~70 million yuan (approx. $9.66 million USD).