Considering the current state of global environmental issues, the construction industry is expected to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society by establishing environmental design systems for concrete structures and by developing the necessary technologies.

The goal of sustainable environmental design is to reduce impacts on nature, society and humans by evaluating and verifying the environmental performance of the design. Environmental performance can be evaluated using indices such as resources, waste, energy, emission, etc. The necessary performance requirements for the verification of environmental performance are determined based on legislative regulations or on the particular objectives of specifiers, designers or owners.

The purpose of fib Bulletin 47 is to provide the principles and procedures for designing concrete structures that integrate environmental aspects. It establishes general principles concerning the integration of environmental impacts in the design, construction, use, maintenance/ management, demolition, disposal and reuse after demolition of a concrete structure.

Although the operation of buildings consumes the greatest energy through heating and cooling equipment, this is not covered in Bulletin 47, nor are the environmental impacts related to land use and general ecological systems. This report is applicable to both new and existing concrete structures.