CIVIL ENGINEERING MATERIALS

- CIVE 2319
LEC 3 SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES

Prof Ir Dr Maisarah Ali

Department of Civil Engineering, IIUM
Reference Books
 Materials in Construction – Principles, practice and
performance by G.D. Taylor, Longman
INTRODUCTION
 Question - Whether current rates of exploitation of the
planets resources can be sustained without serious
implication for the future?
 Sustainability is the extent to which current needs can
be fulfilled without compromising the needs for future
generations
 Needs – subjective term- relates to standard of living-
 Before human needs were largely fulfilled by supply from
local environment
 Now depends upon supplies from around the globe – bulk
transportation
GREEN HIERARCHY
 The green hierarchy that can be applied to virtually
every aspect of human needs
 Reduce
 Re-use
 Recycle
 Recover- eg incineration
 Dispose – consider when all the other option has
been considered
ENERGY TYPES, IMPLICATIONS AND
POSSIBILITES
 Energy matters are often to be found at the heart of
consideration relating to sustainability from the point of
view of :
 Resource
 Emission
 Global warming

 Primary energy is the initial energy release from a

given source e.g. oil, gas coal or nuclear power.
 In conversion of primary energy into secondary energy
other losses must occur and this further decrease the
efficiency of the resource concerned
ENERGY USAGE

OVERALL IN BUILDING
AVAILABILITY OF FUEL AND IMPACT OF FUEL
SOURCE ON ENVIRONMENT PROFILE

 Coal reserve = 200 years

 Natural gas – 100 years
 Oil reserve – 100 years
CARBON FOOT PRINT AND GREENHOUSE
GAS
 A carbon footprint is defined as: The total amount of greenhouse
gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities,
usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).
 A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that
is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and
holding heat in the atmosphere. By increasing the heat in the
atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the
greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming and
climate change
 Carbon dioxide CO2
 Methane CH4
 Nitrous oxide N2O
 Fluorinated gasses
CARBON EMISSION
EFFECT OF INCREASE IN CARBON DIOXIDE

 Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels such as coal,

oil, and gas, have caused a substantial increase in the concentration
of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) in the atmosphere.
 This increase in atmospheric CO2 —from about 280 to more than
380 parts per million (ppm) over the last 250 years—is causing
measurable global warming.
 Potential adverse impacts include sea-level rise; increased
frequency and intensity of wildfires, floods, droughts, and tropical
storms; changes in the amount, timing, and distribution of rain, snow,
and runoff; and disturbance of coastal marine and other ecosystems.
 Rising atmospheric CO2 is also increasing the absorption of CO2
by seawater, causing the ocean to become more acidic, with
potentially disruptive effects on marine plankton and coral reefs.
 Technically and economically feasible strategies are needed to
mitigate the consequences of increased atmospheric CO2.
 Solar radiation
provides visible light
and heat energy: both
useful for life on Earth

UV-A (315-400nm
wavelength) and other
solar radiation are not
strongly absorbed by the
ozone layer

UV-B radiation (280-

315nm) from the Sun is
partially absorbed in this
layer. Thus, the amount of
UV-B reaching Earth’s
surface is greatly reduced.
Ozone (O3) layer resides in the
stratosphere
(15 to 50 km altitude), surrounding
Antarctic ozone hole
British Antarctic Survey (published 1985) showed ozone levels dropped to
10% below normal January levels for Antarctica – called ‘ozone hole’ if
total ozone amount is less than 220 Dobson Units. The ozone hole has
steadily grown in size (up to 27 million sq. km.) and length of existence
(from August through early December) over the past two decades.
Montreal Protocol 1987 agreed on substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer to be banned - chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, carbon
tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform.
NEWS JANUARY 18, 2017

 NASA, NOAA data

show 2016 warmest
year on record
globally
 Earth’s 2016 surface
temperatures were the
warmest since modern
recordkeeping began in
1880, according to
independent analyses
by NASA and the
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
 https://youtube/bCVXn
rQfzgA
Climate
Change
EFFECT

 India (2015):
Deadly heatwave
killed 2,500 people
 Temperatures hot
enough
(over 111°F, or 44°C)
to melt pavement in
New Delhi.
EFFECT: Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines (2013)
10,000 dead
Sea levels have already risen about 8
inches compared to pre-industrial
times. Currently, at 3mm/year.
Source: Scientific American
CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECT
2014 flood in Malaysia
 300,000 people evacuated
Flood in the UK (December 2015)
CARBON CYCLE

The release to atmosphere of living matter balances the net input to the
ocean from the atmosphere
Carbon sequestration
 Carbon sequestration means
capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the
atmosphere or capturing anthropogenic (human)
CO2 from large-scale stationary sources like power
plants before it is released to the atmosphere. Once
captured, the CO2 gas (or the carbon portion of the
CO2) is put into long-term storage.
OPERATIONAL &EMBODIED CARBON

 Embodied carbon refers to carbon dioxide emitted

during the manufacture, transport and construction
of building materials, together with end of life
emissions
EMBODIED CARBON
CARBON EMISSION OF A BUILDING LIFE
CYCLE:

Study in UK shows 83% of emission

derived from operational sources
HOW TO REDUCE EMBODIED CARBON

 Using less materials

 Your design team can use less materials in construction by
looking at:
 The overall efficiency of the building design (in terms of, for
example, rationalising the building form; avoiding over-
engineering the building structure, etc);
 Ways of reducing waste – focusing attention on a few
materials and opportunities for off-site construction4 ; and
 Planning to maximise the reuse of materials already
available on site (e.g. by reclaiming demolition and
excavation materials), and designing for ease of
reconfiguration and deconstruction of the new build.
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES – SOLAR ENERGY

 solar collectors- commonly used to heat water for domestic use

 photovoltaic cells - Photovoltaic (PV) devices generate
electricity directly from sunlight via an electronic process that
occurs naturally in certain types of material, called
semiconductors. Electrons in these materials are freed by solar
energy and can be induced to travel through an electrical
circuit, powering electrical devices or sending electricity to the
grid.
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES - Biomass

 Fuel based on upon all forms of vegetable matter such as

bacteria, plants and trees but also many forms of waste
materials.
 Their calorific value depend on their carbon and hydrogen
content
 Advantage –
 universally available so transport cost and their associated
environmental problems are reduced
 Disadvantages –
 calorific values are reduced due to their oxygen content
 They are usually cellular so the application must design to
accommodate their generally bulky nature
 Most form contain water which must be dried off before use to
avoid calorific values being further reduced
Green Building
 Green building (also known as green construction or
sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the
using of processes that are environmentally responsible
and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-
cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation,
maintenance, renovation, and demolition.
 In other words, green building design involves finding
the balance between home building and the sustainable
environment. This requires close cooperation of the
design team, the architects, the engineers, and the client
at all project stages. The Green Building practice
expands and complements the classical building design
concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.