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Project title

Reducing Carbon Emissions in the Irish Construction Industry by Employing Soil Stabilisation Methods in Unsuitable Soils.

Primary Funding Agency

Taighde �ireann-Research Ireland

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

Lead Organisation

University of Limerick (UL)

Lead Applicant

Not listed

Project Abstract

The United Nations has called for immediate action to stop climate change in their Sustainable Development Goals. The International Energy Agency (2019) reported that the manufacturing of materials and products for the construction sector accounted for 11% of total carbon emissions in 2018. The EU has targeted to reduce these emissions through Directives such as the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy (Products and Buildings). Ireland�s Climate Action Plans now requires public bodies to specify low carbon construction methods from 2023. Traditional construction removes unsuitable soil from sites and replaces it with crushed quarried stone which has financial and environmental impacts. The EPA reported in 2021 that over 7.5 million tonnes of soil waste was generated on sites. Soil stabilisation increases the strength and stiffness of the insitu soils through the incorporation of a binder. This allows for sites deemed unsuitable for development due to weak soils to be developed using a binder, usually cement and specialist equipment that blends the soil-cement mixture. The treated ground is capable of safely supporting multi-storey structures. This technique reduces the amount of vehicle movements required to remove unsuitable soil from the site and the quantity of high-quality crushed aggregate imported into the site. Soil and crushed stone are finite resources; thus, soil�s reuse reduces carbon emissions and contributes to the circular economy. The proposed research will focus on optimizing the binder design to further minimise the carbon emissions from soil stabilisation. This will be done through laboratory testing and comparison with the data from the five sites where I have been involved in developing the stabilisation methodology. This information will be used to generate correlations between field and laboratory tests. These will be used to guide the development of large-scale field trials to validate the optimised soil-binder ratio.

Grant Approved

�93,000.00

Research Hub

Climate Change

Research Theme

2. Ireland's Future Climate, its Impacts, and Adaptation Options

Start Date

09/01/2024

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/08/2027