IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i3p1172-d1581470.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Minimizing Rebar Consumption: A Decarbonization Strategy for the Civil and Construction Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Darma Widjaja

    (Department of Architectural Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-si 17104, Republic of Korea)

  • Titi Sari Nurul Rachmawati

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Depok 16424, Indonesia)

  • Sunkuk Kim

    (Department of R&D, Earth Turbine Co., Ltd., Daegu 41057, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

The growing demand for reinforced concrete (RC) structures, driven by population growth, significantly contributes to carbon emissions, particularly during the construction phase. Steel rebar production, a major contributor to these emissions, faces challenges due to high material consumption and waste, often stemming from market-length rebar and conventional lap splices, impeding decarbonization efforts. This study introduces a comprehensive strategy to minimize rebar consumption and waste, advancing decarbonization in the civil and construction industry. The strategy integrates a special-length-priority minimization algorithm with lap splice position adjustments or couplers to reduce rebar consumption, waste, and carbon emissions. A case study evaluates distinct scenarios regarding rebar consumption. The study demonstrates that conventional rebar practices, such as market-length rebar and lap splices, lead to excessive consumption and waste, impeding decarbonization. Couplers significantly reduce rebar requirements, though cutting waste remains when combined with market-length rebar. Special-length-priority optimization with lap splice adjustments demonstrates greater efficiency in reducing consumption while minimizing cutting waste, proving effectiveness. The combination of special-length-priority optimization and couplers achieves the greatest reductions in rebar consumption, waste, and carbon emissions, making it the most efficient strategy for future construction projects. These findings emphasize the importance of optimizing rebar consumption in advancing decarbonization and promoting sustainable practices in the civil and construction industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Darma Widjaja & Titi Sari Nurul Rachmawati & Sunkuk Kim, 2025. "Minimizing Rebar Consumption: A Decarbonization Strategy for the Civil and Construction Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-22, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:3:p:1172-:d:1581470
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/3/1172/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/3/1172/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marta Maria Sesana & Paolo Dell’Oro, 2024. "Sustainability and Resilience Assessment Methods: A Literature Review to Support the Decarbonization Target for the Construction Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-24, March.
    2. Tianyang Lei & Daoping Wang & Xiang Yu & Shijun Ma & Weichen Zhao & Can Cui & Jing Meng & Shu Tao & Dabo Guan, 2023. "Global iron and steel plant CO2 emissions and carbon-neutrality pathways," Nature, Nature, vol. 622(7983), pages 514-520, October.
    3. Daniel Darma Widjaja & Lwun Poe Khant & Sunkuk Kim & Kil Yong Kim, 2024. "Optimization of Rebar Usage and Sustainability Based on Special-Length Priority: A Case Study of Mechanical Couplers in Diaphragm Walls," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-26, January.
    4. Kukjoo Kim & Youngjoon Jeon & Young-Jun Park & Sangwoo Park, 2022. "Sustainable Anti-Tank Obstacle System Applying Civil–Military Cooperation in Highly Urbanized Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-11, October.
    5. Olurotimi Oguntola & Steven Simske, 2023. "Continuous Assessment of the Environmental Impact and Economic Viability of Decarbonization Improvements in Cement Production," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-20, August.
    6. Jasmina Locke & Jacinta Dsilva & Saniya Zarmukhambetova, 2023. "Decarbonization Strategies in the UAE Built Environment: An Evidence-Based Analysis Using COP26 and COP27 Recommendations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-21, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bashir Bashiri & Janna Cropotova & Kristine Kvangarsnes & Olga Gavrilova & Raivo Vilu, 2024. "Environmental and Economic Life Cycle Assessment of Enzymatic Hydrolysis-Based Fish Protein and Oil Extraction," Resources, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-13, April.
    2. Mao, Yuanhao & Sultan, Sayd & Fan, Huifeng & Yu, Yunsong & Wu, Xiaomei & Zhang, Zaoxiao, 2024. "Stability improvement of the advanced electrochemical CO2 capture process with high-capacity polyamine solvents," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 369(C).
    3. Bernardo Lejano & Kenneth Jae Elevado & Lorenzo Martin Chua & Simon Rohi Cuartero & Vince Philip Fabian & Alyanna Ysabel Rase, 2024. "Effects of Green Mussel Shells ( Perna viridis ) and Chitosan Extracted from Milkfish ( Chanos chanos ) Scales on the Compressive Strength of Mortar and Concrete," Resources, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Yasmin El-Hakim & Mohamed Nagib AbouZeid, 2024. "Towards Mitigating Climate Change Negative Impact: The Role of Regulations and Governance in the Construction Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-34, August.
    5. Heekyun Oh, 2024. "The Moderating Role of ESG Administration on the Relationship between Tourism Activities and Carbon Emissions: A Case Study of Basic Local Governments in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-26, June.
    6. Mustafa Naimoğlu & Andrew Adewale Alola, 2025. "Analyzing environmental delivery of industrial technology and energy use-loss in China," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Zichao Wei & Kai Xue & Guangwen Hu & Yufeng Wu & Yanfen Wang, 2024. "The Decarbonizing Strategies of China’s Iron and Steelmaking Industry: A Comprehensive Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-21, December.
    8. Yue Yin & Jing Wang & Lei Li, 2024. "An Assessment Methodology for International Hydrogen Competitiveness: Seven Case Studies Compared," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-31, June.
    9. Richard Deutsch & Norbert Kienzl & Hugo Stocker & Christoph Strasser & Gernot Krammer, 2025. "Characteristics of High-Temperature Torrefied Wood Pellets for Use in a Blast Furnace Injection System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-21, January.
    10. Husain, Zainab & El-Fouly, Tarek H.M. & Singh, Shakti & Mizouni, Rabeb & Otrok, Hadi & El-Saadany, Ehab, 2025. "BlockCharge: A blockchain-based auction framework for EV charging via mobile stations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PC).
    11. Hani Muhsen & Mohammed Al-Mahmodi & Rashed Tarawneh & Asma Alkhraibat & Ala’aldeen Al-Halhouli, 2023. "The Potential of Green Hydrogen and Power-to-X Utilization in Jordanian Industries: Opportunities and Future Prospects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Tianshu Hou & Yuxing Yuan & Hongming Na, 2024. "A Comprehensive Systematic Review of CO 2 Reduction Technologies in China’s Iron and Steel Industry: Advancing Towards Carbon Neutrality," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-25, November.
    13. Olurotimi Oguntola & Kwaku Boakye & Steve Simske, 2024. "Towards Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Cement Manufacturing: A Systematic Review of AI Applications in Electrical Energy Consumption Optimization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, June.
    14. Hörbe Emanuelsson, Anna & Rootzén, Johan & Johnsson, Filip, 2025. "Financing high-cost measures for deep emission cuts in the basic materials industry – Proposal for a value chain transition fund," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:3:p:1172-:d:1581470. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.