Work

Life cycle assessment of reinforced concrete residential buildings designed based on the proposed National Structural Code of the Philippines 8th edition seismic provisions

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: • Investigated building base shear, cost, and GWP effects of proposed NSCP updating • Designed 4-storey RC residential buildings with proposed NSCP-8 seismic guidelines • Using NSCP-8 in Metro Manila was statistically insignificant except in GWP criteria • In Metro Cebu, higher values found for NSCP-8 base shear, cost and GWP at S E • NSCP-8 lower cost and GWP in Metro Davao at most by 18.94% and 20.33%, respectively The National Structural Code of the Philippines (NSCP), the structural code for seismic building design in the Philippines, was proposed for updating for its 8 th edition by adopting ASCE 7-05 as its reference from its current 7 th edition reference of UBC 97. This study investigated the costs and environmental impacts, specifically the global warming potential (GWP), of buildings designed using the NSCP 7 th edition and its proposed 8 th edition. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was employed to evaluate the cradle-to-gate cost and GWP impacts of a 4-storey residential reinforced concrete building. The base shears were determined to relate the structural design to the economic and environmental aspects. As a limitation, this study focused on the three metropolitan areas of the country: Manila, Cebu, and Davao. Based on the evaluations, Metro Manila structures using the NSCP 8 th edition exhibited lower base shears at S A , S B , and S D soil types, whereas higher base shears were observed at S C and S E . Moreover, lower GWP and costs were manifested only on the S C . Regarding the Metro Cebu, building base shears, GWP, and cost were lowered in the NSCP 8 th edition by an average of 21.72%, 10.19% and 9.20%, respectively, except for S E . For Metro Davao, regardless of soil profile, design using NSCP 8 th edition reduced the base shear by 7.28%, GWP by 7.42%, and costs by 7.18% at the mean value. Statistically, adopting the NSCP 8 th edition had significant impacts, except for the base shears and costs of Metro Manila structures.

Source: Results in Engineering

DOI: 10.1016/j.rineng.2026.109723