04/07/2015

Introduction to
Sustainability
&
Sustainable Construction

Min An
School of Civil Engineering
College of Engineering and Sciences
University of Birmingham
Tel: 0121 414 5146
Fax: 0121 414 3675
Email: m.an@bham.ac.uk

Beijing Jiaotong University

8 July 2015

Contents

1. Self Introduction
-. Career Profile ,Teaching and Research
2. Background
-. Why sustainable development is needed?

3. Sustainability(

4. Sustainable Construction/

1. Self Introduction
Specialist in Built Environment and Sustainable Construction
with expertise in modelling and risk management (buildings,
bridges, railways, highways, undergrounds, oil and gas, nuclear etc)
- Statistical Engineering, Probabilistic Assessment, Fuzzy Reasoning
Approach, Analytical Hierarch Process(AHP), Neural Network, Multi-
criteria Decision Making.

Research Areas
Integration of risk and reliability assessment with formal
decision-making techniques so that risk and reliability aspects
can be taken into account in infrastructure engineering design,
construction and maintenance processes.
Development of the advanced procedures for minimising
risks by improved design aspects, construction and
maintenance strategies based on
risk and reliability assessment.

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Contents

1. Self Introduction
-. Career ProfileTeaching and Research
2. Background
-. Why sustainable development is needed?

3. Sustainability

4. Sustainable Construction

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this session you should:

- Understand the needs of sustainable

development,

- Understand the concepts of sustainability &

sustainable construction.

Contents

1. Self Introduction
-. Teaching and Research
2. Background
-. Why sustainable development is needed?

3. Sustainability

4. Sustainable Construction

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We have only one fragile() planet

and we are not the only inhabitants()

.

We seek development e.g. new sites, new cites,

new buildings, new transport systems etc,but at
what cost to the planet?

E.g. Picture a large demands

of wood charcoal(), it is
not just destroying
environment, but also
destroying the resources on
Source: Economic Times
the plant.

We need resources but have too often exploited other

countries and their local indigenous() people.

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Glacier/ in Iceland

noticeable changes are occurring due to recent

human activities, what impact will these have on
current and future generations?

Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

1974 2005

Volcanic vent

the environment is of great concern, but what

about the wider world in which we live?

Natural Ecosystems:

"Everyhourthreespeciesdisappear.Everydayupto150
speciesarelost.

5th 2012
BBCNews April25
p

The International Union for Conservation of Nature

(IUCN) lists 801 animal and plant species (mostly
animal) known to have gone extinct since 1500.

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Globalpopulations:

Mainly agriculture
c

industrial revolution;
two World Wars

Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th
century where major changes in agriculture ,
manufacturing, mining, transportation,
and technology had a profound effect on
the Socioeconomic () and cultural () conditions of
the times. It began in the United Kingdom (UK, ), then
subsequently spread throughout Europe, North America, and
eventually the world.

Globalpopulations:

Thepopulationoftheworldnowismorethan7billion

By2050theworldspopulationislikelytoexceed10billion

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Urbanisation( City Growth

GlobalPopulations:Source:WorldWatchInstitute

London

ChangeofPopulations:

3billionpeople(47%) currentlyliveinurbanareas

4.2billionurbandwellersby2020

GlobalPopulations:Source:WorldWatchInstitute
Global Populations:

Mumbai,India

LivingConditions:
3 billion people currently live in urban areas (47%)
Indevelopingcountries
80%urbanresidentscurrentlyliveinslums(
4.2 billion urban dwellers by 2020 )

1.4billionwillliveinslumsby2020

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Global consumption patterns:

Between 1850 and 2012 the global population was

increased to more than 300%
...BUT energy consumption was increased by
1200%.

Energy demands continue increasing at a faster rate than

population;

Currently, huge disparities() between per capita(

) consumption exist between nations:

WorldWatchInstitute

Global consumption patterns: Heating in Winter

Global consumption patterns: Cooling in Summer

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Global consumption patterns: Water

Global consumption patterns:

CitizensinNorthAmericaconsume2.4timestheamountofenergyintheir
homescomparedtoWesternEuropeans;

Lessthan5%oftheglobalpopulationliveintheUSAbutconsume
approximately25%oftheworldsfossilfuelresources;

AlthoughthenumberofpeopleineachhouseholdintheUSAisreducing,
between1975and2012thesizeofnewhousesincreasedby38%.Thismeans
AmericanhomesaretypicallylikelytobetwiceasbigasEuropeanandJapanese
homes,andtwentysixtimeslargerthanthoseinAfrica;

WorldWatchInstitute

Global consumption patterns:

AnaveragecitizenintheUSAconsumesfivetimesmoreenergythanthe
averageglobalcitizen;

AnaverageAmericanconsumestentimesmorethananaverageChinese
AnaverageAmericanconsumestentimesmorethananaverageChinese
citizenandtwentytimesmorethananaverageIndiancitizen;

AnaveragecitizenintheUSAconsumesfivetimesmoreenergythanthe
averageglobalcitizen;

WorldWatchInstitute

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Global consumption patterns:

if the average Chinese citizen consumed the same amount of energy as an

average American, China would require more oil each day than the entire(
world production.
IfeveryoneonearthconsumedandwastedtosimilarlevelsastheUK(Populationin
theUKis65millions),howmanyworldswouldwerequire?

1 2 3
WorldWatchInstitute

Global consumption patterns:

How many planets do we need

to support the USA way of life?

1 2 3
4 5
WorldWatchInstitute

Global expansion:

Fastest developing NEW economies?

what
what are their needs and wants?

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NaturalResources:

Natural Resources: Renewable vs Non Renewable

At average, an estimated 11 tonnes of raw material( is used to
produce 1 tonne of product

Paper or plastic?

2 tonnes of crude(
Paper bag from trees )oil (non renewable) to
(renewable) produce 1 tonne of
plastic bags

Natural Resources: Construction materials

Theconstructionindustryisthemajorconsumerofnatural
resourcesofallindustriesintheworld.Itaccountsfor90%of
allnonfuelmineraluse,andalargeproportion()
oftimberuse;
Manyofthenatural
resourcesusedintheUK
nowcomefromabroad,
sometimesfrom
countrieswherewithless
environmentalcontrolor
labourjustice;

Deforestation in Bolivia(), illegal rosewood((

))logging in Madagascar

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NaturalResources:Oil
Itisestimatedthatglobaloilproductionistopeakin2014andby2050allbut
10%oftheworldsoilwillhavebeenextracted.

Planning - Lack Integration

Social needs

Mineral Resources
Planning People demands
Water Resources
Planning

Landscape
Planning

Transportation Planning

Urban Planning

Economical needs Environmental

needs

Choices Before Us

Stay in Lane - Try Harder, Truly Different

Business as Spend More for Approach
Usual Traditional Sys
What You What You
What You
Know.. Dont Know..
K
Know..

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Social needs

Sustainable Development

Economical needs Environmental needs

So, what is Sustainable Development (SD)?

There are two basic concepts:

What is Sustainability?

What is Sustainable construction?

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Contents

1. Self Introduction
-. Teaching and Research
2. Background
-. Why sustainable development is needed?

3. Sustainability

4. Sustainable Construction

What is Sustainability?

Definition:

1987 the Brundtland Report, also known as Our

Common Future, alerted the world to the
urgency of making progress toward
economic development that could be
sustained without depleting() natural
resources or harming the environment.

Brundtland Report (1987)

What is Sustainable Development?

In the UK, sustainable development is defined as

Sustainable development is a process which

enables all people to realise their potential
and impro
improve e their q
quality
alit of life in ways
a s that in
the meanwhile protect and enhance the
Earths life support system

Forum of the Future, UKs Sustainable Development

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What is Sustainable Development?

It is not surprising that > 200 definitions can be found
within the literature.

Classic definition:
Development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising() the
ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.

-. Economic
-. Environmental
-. Social
Brundtland Report (1987)

What are relationships among these three?

The Triple Bottom Line

Economic:
Balance financial objectives on a
construction project life cycle basis. Good
sustainability practices often result in Sustainable
measurable life cycle financial savings.

Social:
Address community and stakeholder
values including g health and safetyy of
construction workers, clients/owners, and
users of facilities, and all people working
on the construction project.

Environmental:
Reduced impact to and consumption of
natural resources.

The question is:

what does it have to do with construction

Contents

1. Self Introduction
-. Teaching and Research
2. Background
-. Why sustainable development is needed?

3. Sustainability

4. Sustainable Construction

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Construction Industry
Theconstructionindustryisdefinedasallwho:

produce,develop,plan,design,build,alter,or
maintainthebuiltenvironment

andthereforeincludes:

Builders
Buildingmaterialsuppliers
Manufacturers
Aswellasclients,endusersandoccupiers.

Position of Construction in Sustainable

Development

Therefore,sustainableconstructioncouldbebest
describedasasubsetofsustainabledevelopment,
whichencircles() matterssuchas:

Siteplanningandorganisationdesign
,
Materialselection,
Recycling,and
Wasteminimisation

What is Sustainable Construction?

thecreationandresponsiblemanagementofa
healthybuiltenvironmentbasedonresource
efficientandecological(principles

g y
Sustainableconstructionisgenerallyusedto
describetheapplicationofsustainable
developmenttotheconstructionindustry
).

Kilbert,C.(1994)

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Sohowcanconstructioncontributeto
sustainabledevelopment?

Sustainability&CivilEngineering

Sustainable development and sustainable construction

will not be possible without a contribution from
professional civil engineers in a range of areas, including:

delivering positive environmental improvements, for example

through the provision of clean water and sanitation(), and
the remediation of contaminated land ();

Preserving( and enhancing appropriate biodiversity(

);

providing and maintaining the infrastructure, including power

and transport networks, on which a modern economy depends;

providing a safe, well-designed and accessible built

environment in which people are happy to live out their lives;

UK Sustainable Construction Strategy

BuildingaBetterQualityofLife,AStrategyformoresustainableconstruction,
(www.dti.gov.uk/construction/sustain/bql)establishedkeythemesforactionby
theconstructionindustry.

Theseinclude:

Designforminimumwaste
Leanconstruction&minimisewaste
Minimiseenergyinconstruction&use
Donotpollute
Preserve&enhancebiodiversity
Conservewaterresources
Respectpeople&localenvironment
Monitor&report,(i.e.usebenchmarks)

Mostofthesepointssimplymakegoodbusinesssensee.g.minimisingwaste
increasingefficiency.Sustainabilityisofincreasingimportancetotheefficient,
effectiveandresponsibleoperationofbusiness.

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Sustainability is thinking about Systems

Energy

Water Waste

Employees Community

Recycle Construction

2010 2050 Use

Sustainability is integrating key principles:

Safety & Health

Invest in your employees through Move toward renewable rather

training and wellness programs than non-renewable resources

Become more energy efficient Supply Chain Management

Eliminate toxic/hazardous Restore ecosystems

substances from products
Brand and investor relationships
Invest in your communities
Corporate governance, code of
through participation in volunteer
conduct and risk management
events and corporate philanthropy
More equitable distribution of
Reuse materials
resources

Do you know the answers now?

What is sustainability?
Why is sustainability important?
Why sustainability is important in construction?

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Any questions?

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