Looking At The Future Of Civil Engineering Construction Essay

It is very important for civil engineers of this generation to understand the responsibility of their profession in the perspective of the environment and society, and in the understanding this responsibility they must try to generate changes in their action and thinking. This can be successful but everyone has to be involved needs to support and encourage the sustainable thinking, this change can come through design and construction processes.

Design sustainability is not an easy route as it must be applied in every design theory. Starting from the conception of the design and moving to the location, the structural materials, the structural methods and finally the possible demolition of the project, design sustainability have to be applied in many areas. On the other hand sustainable construction must aim to use less natural materials and materials which are dangerous to the environment, also less energy to cut the amount of the waste and reduce the environmental pollution without negotiating the quality of the project. Sustainable thinking, planning and acting must be involved in civil engineering to reduce the environmental effecting projects have over their whole design life. Only in the course of this process, and by implementing sustainable thinking at every phase in a project, can a set of ideologies to improve the quality of life be created.

The economic component of sustainability has been the main driver of projects. As civil engineering considering the sustainability issues we need to consider more than today alone. It is vital to account for cost over a whole life cycle and the impact on the future development. These costs must be considered in tandem with the social consequences and environmental impacts. The social aspect of sustainability is one that has only recently come to the forefront, but has this not been part of the civil engineer`s role for many years. [1]

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The influence of engineers of the past and present has had wide- ranging social benefits in transportation, natural and physical security, safety, resource management and heritage, all of which improve the quality of life. The social benefits of these are immeasurable but need to be considered together with the impact on the environment and the economy. [1]

All the significant factors that go into the design and construction of a project must be judged, making it hard task, but we must all try in order to achieve it. Clearly, it is going to be a long and difficult method before these ideologies are established, since all the information, the assessments and the resources available to both design and construction teams develop continuously but from project to projects it will become easier.

The civil engineering profession has an exceptional opening to create a progression of change that will progress and sustain the environment and our planet in the long term. These are the very actions that make civil engineering a distinctive and very important profession for our planet and for our lives.

There have been several projects in the UK and around the world, which are known to be the most sustainable building in the 21st century. Their design, development, use of material and the construction is processed and analysed so careful and that they have managed to come out with successful result in all of the following projects. They are known to be the environmentally friendly and economically friendly too.

IBN-DLO Wageningen, the Netherlands

This building of the IBN-DLO, the institute for forestry and nature research, sets a new standard in people friendly and environmental friendly building. The building, design by architect Stefan Behisch, behaves something like a living organism, with a self-regulation capacity for its temperature and water use, a capacity which responds to the cycles of summer and winter, day and night, heat and cold, rain and drought. This building can adapt and store energy to kick in when they climate changes and it will respond to the change very quickly, this somewhat is very environmental friendly building. The materials used to make this building can be all recycled and reused in there things or other projects. The roofing is made from glass, the frame consist of galvanised steel plus a considerable proportion of extruded alumina. The glass roof has proved to be 70% cheaper than comparable normal custom-made architectural atrium roofs. The wood-framed wall, doors and window are all made from wood which is glued on to each other rather than they being nailed. The environment advantage of this is that a much larger proportion of the tree can be utilized for quality carpentry work; secondly the amount of frame timber has been kept to a minimum. This is possible because the whole building is made of glass so there is less need of window so less wood is used. “”…an ecological issue. Every nail you don’t use goes to the benefit of the environment” Stefan Behisch said this during this project. [2]

ECOS- Millennium environmental centre BALLYMENA, NORTHERN IRELAND

This building is used to show the world that sustainable building is very much possible. It’s used as a visitor centre, parkland, environmental information library and offices. It’s not only used as museum but it’s used in everyday life. Its landscape architecture division developed the concept of a visitor centre where the building, displayed and surrounding landscape would be integrated to communicate a central theme of environmental sustainability.

These are the methods they used to make their building a sustainable and environmentally friendly building.

Heat Conservation and Efficient Heat Distribution

Heavy mass structure retention of heat within insulated fabric, low temperature under floor heating distributed trough structural floors, passive solar gains- through south facing glazing and ramp structure, elevated solar absorption of renewable, efficient low energy lighting used where possible and combined heat and power unit fuelled from short rotation willow coppice crop grown on site.

Renewable Energy- Predicted Annual Generation

Biomass combined heat and power unit, solar water collection, photovoltaic array and predicted energy generation from renewable will be 71% of total predicted energy consumption.

Materials Selection

Where possible, PVC is not used. Alternative materials were used for electrical conduits and cabling. Plumbing and roof membrane durable and potentially recyclable materials were used; copper, steel, and concrete. Where possible renewable were used, timer stud partitions external timber cladding timber structure and floor. All timber was FSC certified. Use of organic and mineral paints, sustainable landscape management- avoidance of fertiliser and pesticides etc.

Environmental Improvements and Town Connections

Construction of new pedestrian and cycle path from existing housing and estate to town centre which is increasing bio-diversity through sustainable park management. Creation of habitats through new planting. Retention of existing trees and new lake construction. [3]

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd Information and Communication Center, Japan, Tokyo

The unusually shaped building represents exceptional design in many respects. The trapezoidal structure encloses a huge, 9 story high atrium. Their intension was to blending technology, people and natural ventilation, a waterfall and pond, roughly cut stone walls and rocks, a floor with pebbled surface and stepping stones and some greenery.

Matsushita wanted a highly intelligent large scale building, design in amity with nature. They wanted a holistic architecture that would reflect their own technological and environmental concerns. Three most important design solution that were required were

The ‘Ireko’ (or shell space concept)

The creation of a heterogeneous indoor environment

The use of natural energy systems throughout the building

Ireko is the classical concept in Japanese architecture whereby space is approached by considering the layering of one environment within the other and how they and influence one another. The theory behind this classical Japanese architecture concept is to bring nature indoor and integrated into the building as an important interstice. [4]

60L, Australia

60 is the premier green commercial building in Australia, unique in its approach to energy and water consumption, and the use of recycled and re-used materials during construction. It achieved a commercially feasible, healthy, low energy, resource-efficient workplace with minimal impact on the environment.

The design of the building and their motive to make this building the most sustainable they used wide range of materials which were new, recycled or re-used in the construction of the 60L. The original building was not demolished but was partially taken apart so that existing resources could be re-used. The bricks, timber glazed partition and the old building structure was re-used. The concrete poured was 60% recycled aggregate, in this situation crushed concrete reclaimed from other buildings. Timber windows and door frames were fabricated from recycled materials, as are the other items such as reinforcing steel and carpet. Most glues, adhesives, sealants and fillers frequently used in building giving off vastly toxic gases. Used of these was minimised wherever feasible. This building is using 50% less PVC than a typical commercial building of the same size and use. Where they used new material they where advised to use renewable materials such as timber, steel, bricks and copper. They used appropriate technology, rather than leading edge technology.

In 60L case, it has changed the way water consumption in commercial building use to happen and they take a further step in being more environmentally friendly. They minimised the demand for water by providing water efficient fixtures & fittings, including water-less urinals and low flush volume toilets pans. They collected rainwater to replace 100% of normal mains water consumption whenever possible. They installed 100% on site treatment and re-use of grey- water and black-water stream to produce reclaimed water for flushing toilets pans and irrigating the roof garden and landscape. Rainfall from the roof is harvested, and then transferred into the holding tanks by the use of a Syfonic system, which uses gravity to produce a siphon effect, which means water transfer is quicker and pipe diameter can be significantly reduced. [5]

Finally, through research and understand of this essay I think sustainability and environmental friendly building is not impossible with this economic condition but it’s a long term program because sustainability and consideration of the environment has come on top of our agenda for past 10 to 15 years while there was major damage down in the past. There is a solution to the problem but this can take lot of time.

We are all observers and assistants to the frequent degradation of our local and global environment. Issues such as deforestation, global warming, waste and rising sea levels are all indication to the fact. The management of sustainable construction must integrate the four dimensions: cost, time, quality and the environment. Each of which has local, national, international and global implications. In order to do this communication is required between personal, projects and companies to ensure that lesson learned and the information gathered is passed in and used to address the issue of sustainability. Sustainability is every person`s responsibility and as engineers we have the fundamental role of ensuring projects are intertwined with the reality of sustainability. In doing so we enable the sustainability agenda to be brought to the forefront of the design and delivery of all infrastructure projects in which we are involved. This needs to be from conception to implementation as the future of our planet depends on addressing the current issues, ensuring that sustainable agenda is approached and that in all areas it is implemented.

The construction industry is traditionally and by its very nature a high usage sector of resources. As an engineer the first introduction to the concept of sustainability was during civil engineering design. As a concept sustainability was easy to define but when it came to the actual application to the project it became more difficult. In achieving sustainable infrastructure we have the chance to use lessons learned over time from innovative high profile sustainable construction projects and to implement new and improved systems of construction to schemes in which we are involved.

In the long term everyone is aware that adopting a more mature and active approach to the sustainability agenda is really the only sensible option. I do believe that it is essential that civil engineers address this issue from now and in the future to make our society, economy and environment better and stronger. We are the designers and constructors of the future infrastructure and as such have a greater responsibility to the population and indeed the environment.