Calculations on greenhouse gas emissions from geotechnical construction processes

No standards covering greenhouse gas (GHG) emission calculations caused by construction processes have been developed so far. This work makes a proposal for the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions originating from geotechnical works. This proposal is based on the standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. It shows a universal and flexible approach applicable for all kinds of geotechnical works and allows a reliable estimation of the greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, example calculations of two foundation methods (bored piles and vibro stone columns) of a project show the impact of the raw materials used to the total emission sum, leading to a massive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions with the vibro stone solution compared to the bored pile solution emissions.