Sample ICT80011 Research Method Report

ICT80011 Research Method Report Sample

1. This is an individual assessment which is worthy of 60% of the total marks for this unit. Your submitted report must not have been submitted nor published elsewhere.

2. You can choose whatever topic as your wish. But, the topic must be within the disciplines of science, computing, engineering or technology.

3. Refer to Modules 6, 7 and 8 lectures on how to prepare this submission.

4. You must submit your report or proposal as a pdf file before the due date of 11:00pm Monday, September 23, 2024 to the appropriate submission system at Canvas.

5. Your submitted file must be named as FinalAssignment-YourStudentID-
YourFullName.pdf

6. Your submission must use single column, single spacing, 12 point font size on A4 papers. Your submission shall contain no more than six pages including, figures/tables/references and everything (around 2500 words).

7. On the first page of your report, you must state (a) title of your report with an indication whether it is a research proposal or a research report, (b) your full name, and (c) your student number.

8. The total mark for this assessment is 60, with the marking scheme as follows:

a. 20 marks – presentation, formatting, and compliance with the requirements as specified above

b. 20 marks – structure, organisation and consistency

c. 20 marks – readability, clarity and quality

9. Refer to the Unit Outline for late submission and plagiarism.

10. You are not allowed to use any AI (artificial intelligence) assistance or tool in this assignment.

Solution

1. Introduction

A. General Background for the Study

Concerning the efforts to mitigate climate change in the global benchmarks, the construction sector has been a challenge of addressing its carbon footprint. From the above illustration, it is clear that concrete, one of the most common construction materials, contributes to about 8% of carbon emissions.

Figure 1: Carbon emissions mitigation process for cement industry
(Source: Ige et al. 2024)

B. Purpose of the Study

The objective of this study for The Assignment helpline is to examine the possibility of using carbon negative concrete instead of normal concrete used in construction. It seeks to explore the strategies, tools and approaches used in generating such content, and impact made in addressing climate change issue. More broadly, so the career interest of the study is associated with the general advancement and utilization of the carbon negative concrete technology and its possibility to be implemented on a large scale within the construction sector in order to gain more sustainable environmental outcomes.

C. Guiding Questions

This study is guided by the following questions:

1. What are some of the necessary constancies as well as procedures necessary in the development of carbon negative concrete?

2. Which of them is more efficient in performance comparing to traditional concrete and what is the cost difference between the both types of concrete and environmental consequences of using the carbon negative concrete?

3. What are the implications and prospectus of embedding and materializing carbon negative concrete in the construction industry at macro level?

4.To what extent carbon-negative concrete can help the construction industry to deliver the concept of net zero emitters?

D. Delimitation and Limitations

Carbon negative concrete is the main area of concern in this research mainly in terms of technical and environmental impact. Although it briefly discusses the economic considerations of the material as well as its potential for expansion, this is not an exhaustive discussion of the financial viability of this material. Furthermore, the studys scope is restrained by published research and information available for carbon negative concrete, especially in advancement, trial stages, or newly emerging market areas. It also recognizes the weakness associated with long-term results since carbon negative concrete has not been employed on a large scale.

E. Importance of the Research

The implication and relevance of this study is the ability to add its weight to the struggle against climate change by encouraging the use of sustainable construction material. Carbon negative concrete is a revolutionary shift towards reduction of carbon emissions in the construction sector, and the uptake of this product might significantly contribute towards implementation of strategies such as the Paris Agreement on climate change (Estrada and Lee, 2023). This research is useful for policymakers, engineers, and construction firms in their endeavour to embrace environmentally sustainable construction practices and help in combating the enhanced global carbon emissions.

2. Methodology

A. Theoretical Framework

Figure 2: Carbon negative cement manufacturing
(Source: Palash Badjatya et al., 2022)

Life cycle assessment is employed to portray a comprehensive picture of carbon-negative concrete making from the stages of obtaining raw materials to concrete disposal. This makes it necessary to assess the energy used for the product manufacturing, transportation emissions, and use, and its CO 2 sequestration capability. LCA is necessary to check carbon-negative statements, which indicate the square material’s environmental benefit, total credit, and comparison with normal concrete.

B. Type of Design and Assumptions

The study design is both qualitative and quantitative in approach hence forming a mixed method design. This approach helps to examine all the necessary aspects to the subject due to qualitative results from interviews and questionnaires, juxtaposed with objective quantitative data from case and lab experiments.

Table 1: Carbon Absorption Capabilities of Carbon Negative Concrete (per cubic meter)

One of the most important presumptions of the study is that carbon-negative concrete can be used broadly in the construction industry if this material supplies costs compared to normal concrete and possesses similar characteristics. Another assumed premise is that carbon capturing techniques incorporated into construction materials will play a great role in the achievement of the Zero Carbon Emission regulatory standards as promulgated in the Paris accord.

C. Role of the Researcher

So as a civil engineering researcher interested in sustainability, the task of the researcher is to act as the middle-man between ideas and implementation. The role of the researcher involves undertaking of literature search and review, analysis and synthesis of the results in order to provide a bias free look at carbon negative concrete. Interviews with industry experts are also conducted by the researcher, survey data are combined and analyzed, as well as results of LCA studies, all the information is evaluated for its reliability and relevancy (Tiefenthaler, 2022). This reduces the possibility of bias in the research because the person conducting the research has the right knowledge to analyze construction materials that go into the construction of green buildings and the best practice in this area.

D. Site and participants selection

The research includes three test sites, Europe, and North America, that have incorporated carbon-negative concrete within their development projects. These site are chosen depending on the applicability of carbon negative concrete, size of the project and geographical location. Some of these buildings are a commercial office building in Norway, a housing project in Canada and a government building in the United Kingdom (Niveditha et al. 2020).

E. Data Collection Strategies

Data collection involves multiple strategies to ensure a comprehensive understanding of carbon negative concrete’s potential:

1. Interviews: Face to face interviews are carried out with 10 construction industry insiders: five who have used carbon negative concrete, five who have not, but have experienced similar low-carbon solutions.

2. Surveys: Questionnaire was given to more than 50 Construction professionals for collecting quantitative data about awareness level, challenges and preparations to take up the carbon negative concrete. Information collected from these surveys is utilized to recognize trends concerning use of specific material and expected performance.

Table 2: Comparison of Carbon Emissions for Different Types of Concrete

4. Lab Testing: Quantitative information is collected from the experiments performed on carbon negative concrete including its Compressive strength, Tensile strength &

Absorption capability. The preliminary investigations show that the material has the potential for comparable or better performance as typical current concrete with 35 MPa compressive strength or typical average strength of concrete used in building foundation.

F. Reliability of the study

Another method of increasing the reliability of the study is the method of triangulation-this is the use of multiple data sources to enhance validity of the study. Interviews conducted, survey results, laboratory results and case studies are compared to prevent findings from being made from one particular source. This is helpful to come up with a balanced vision on what is expected out of the material and what it cannot offer.

3. Findings

A. Relationship to Literature

C. Relationship to Practice

In use, the research establishes that carbon negativity of concrete offers performance characteristics that are similar to normal concrete in strength, durability, and flexism. But still, there is an issue on cost, on supply chain management, and on the acceptance of the industry. Nevertheless, several pilot projects have shown the possibility of using carbon negative concrete in large construction works and hence opening up the possibility of using such concretes in other big constructions.

4. Management Plan, Timeline, and Feasibility

A. Management Plan

The management plan has to have structure since carbon-negative concrete cannot be constructed through an unstructured approach. It entails stakeholder management; acquisition of licenses and permits, procurement of materials and management of transport and other services. It also demands the material scientist, engineers, and construction practitioners close working in order to deliver performance standards with the carbon negative concrete.

B. Timeline

The use of carbon negative concrete can be phased over a period of 3 to 5 years where the initial step is to undertake the pilot projects followed by notice projects, then the major projects. The first stage is that of experimentation and then construction starts on a small scale in order to assess its capacity. Often, the time line moves to the overall tests with material being used in pilot scale and in commercial and home constructions.

C. Feasibility

Success of carbon negative concrete is, however, predator on several factors which are cost of implementation, availability of the materials, level of support from the authorities and the customers or the construction industry. The material is now still more costly as compared to conventional concrete although the future trends towards the development of efficient technologies enhancing production to meet growing demand should help contain the costs. Also, adoption might be sparked by existing or expected financial incentives by federal authorities toward sustainable construction. In a nut shell, the study reveals that carbon negative concrete can be used effectively in the construction industry.

1. The problem of the study and its setting

Literature also covers the lifecycle assessment (LCA) of the proposed carbon-negative concrete and evaluates the impact differences between the even traditional concrete. Research indicates that carbon negative concrete has a lesser carbon inclusion from the life cycle of manufacturing Concrete through its disposal (Padnani, 2022). Nevertheless, with current knowledge, certain barriers persist, such as the issues of applicability of carbon capture technologies, incorporation of such materials into current building codes, and the feasibility of using such systems in larger-scale constructions at reasonable cost.

Also, current literature examines the possibility of an economic alternative by also highlighting how carbon negative concrete can provide an edge to traditional mediums. It can be further explained by the support of governmental policies and carbon credits; for instances, the policy briefs for Europe and US Green Building Council underline that low carbon materials are crucial for stepping up building activity in the future.

This is due to the fact that the data analyzed is qualitative and it is usually presented in the form of narratives or qualitative information The treatment of the data is as follows.

The study also uses lifecycle assessment (LCA) models to evaluate carbon negative concrete’s overall environmental impact. This data is critical for understanding how carbon negative concrete performs over time and across its full lifecycle, including factors such as transportation emissions and energy usage during production.

The researcher is a civil engineer with specialty in construction materials and life cycle assessment. This background will help to achieve an adequate understanding of both the technological processes of concrete production and environmental concerns of construction materials. Experimental research on low carbon building materials has been conducted by the same researcher in the past accompanied by work on the role of green technologies in minimizing carbon emissions.

Further, the researcher has practical experience in carbon capture technologies and has interacted with professionals from various construction companies and material science laboratory. This present study does not require the use of research assistants; however, engagement of construction engineers and sustainability professionals guarantees external benchmarking of the study’s data collection process.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, carbon-negative concrete is one of the solutions of environmental protection in constructional industry that may potentially decrease the global amount of carbon emissions. Indeed, there are some challenges that are still present but it seems that a great focus in green building materials and climate change make the next generation carbon negative concrete crucial in the future construction process.

References