FLO:RE – A new floor system made of reused reinforced concrete and steel elements

Carefully extracting reinforced concrete (RC) elements from soon-to-be demolished structures and reusing them as load-bearing components is an emerging circular low-carbon alternative to building new structures. As floor construction typically accounts for the most upfront carbon footprint of buildings, this paper presents the design, structural verifications and construction process of FLO:RE, a new floor system built with reused saw-cut RC slab elements and steel beams. To value all preexisting properties, the new system reuses the RC elements in bending, taking advantage of the existing steel reinforcement. The life-cycle assessment (LCA) shows that the upfront carbon footprint of the reused system can be as low as 5 kgCO2,eq/m2, reducing by up to 94 % compared to conventional RC flat slabs. The construction and monitoring of a 30-m2 mock-up demonstrate the new-system construction ease and structural performance. This study proves the technical feasibility of reusing old RC slab elements in new floor systems.