Water Design Engineers’ Post

If freeways across the world are designed with nature-friendly fuels in mind, a mass transition to clean energy is achievable in a short duration. Elaboration: If freeways across the world are designed with nature-friendly fuels in mind, a mass transition to clean energy could be achievable in a short duration. Here are some key developments in eco-friendly road construction that support this: ## Sustainable Materials - **Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP)**: Reprocessing waste asphalt from old roadways reduces the need for new materials and associated environmental burden. RAP conserves natural resources and reduces landfill waste. - **Bio-asphalt**: Using renewable resources like vegetable oil or tree resin as a binder offers an eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based asphalt, aligning with efforts to reduce fossil fuel reliance. ## Innovative Techniques - **Warm-Mix Asphalt (WMA)**: Produced and applied at lower temperatures, WMA reduces fuel consumption and emissions compared to traditional hot-mix asphalt. It also improves working conditions and extends the paving season. - **Porous Asphalt**: Allows water to pass through, reducing runoff, preventing flooding, aiding groundwater recharge, and improving water quality by filtering pollutants. - **Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR) and Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR)**: Advanced techniques that reuse existing pavement materials, reducing the need for new resources. ## Enabling Technologies - **Geosynthetics**: Advanced materials used to improve the performance and sustainability of road construction. - **Photocatalytic Coatings**: Coatings that can degrade pollutants and reduce urban heat island effects. - **Phase Change Materials**: Used in asphalt to improve thermal properties and harvest energy from the pavement. While challenges remain in terms of cost, technical expertise, material availability, and regulatory frameworks, ongoing research and development are advancing eco-friendly pavement solutions. With continued innovation and adoption of these technologies, a mass transition to clean energy in road construction could be achievable in the near future.

 Occupying more than 17% physical area and housing more than 10% of total population of the country; hill areas are known and valued for housing abundance of natural resources, quality environment, diverse ecology, unique bio-diversity  and wealth of flora and fauna These  valuable resources remain crucial for balanced growth and development of any community, state and nation. Considering their criticality, role, relevance and importance,   these natural gifts need to be protected, preserved and promoted, during the process of planning, designing of human settlements and creation of built environment. With rapid increase in population, growing tourism and rapid urabanisation, hill areas are experiencing massive urban growth and large addition of built environment. Built environment is known to be large consumers of energy, resources and generators of waste. Buildings are  also known to  be responsible for promoting global warming and climate change. Undertaking designing and construction of buildings, without caring and  giving due consideration to  local resources and ecology, topography, terrain and landscape, is known to adversely impact the ecological balance of hill areas. Considering prevailing fragility,  buildings need to be designed and constructed with care and caution, in order to minimize its long-term adverse impact on environment and ecology and making buildings carbon neutral.Looking at the peculiarities of land and topography, designing & constructing  zero carbon buildings in hill areas, invariably remains  both challenging, complex and intricate, requiring different and distinct skill-sets and thorough knowledge, expertise and understanding of the basic structure/fabric of the hill areas.  In order to make buildings  carbon neutral and least consumers of energy, resources and generators of waste; options of designing buildings, based on circular economy, leveraging   nature, local climate, evaluating orientation, sourcing natural light, minimizing  building footprints; optimizing solar energy for heating and lighting the buildings, using local materials, exploring innovative technologies etc. need to be considered and embedded as integral part of planning, designing , construction and operations of built environment.

Much has been written lately about the environmental and climate-related benefits of high-rise buildings constructed mainly from wood. Too often, these articles fail to address serious risk factors associated with such structures or misrepresent their actual impacts on the environment. Let’s be clear; living trees sequester carbon from the atmosphere! Harvested and manufactured timber retains only a tiny fraction of the carbon initially stored in a tree. Most of the tree’s carbon remains behind in the forest soil or is lost in the leaves and bark, usually left to rot on the ground or burned as biofuel. Far less than half the carbon of a living tree ends up as a long-lasting building product. The rest is emitted back into the atmosphere. https://bityl.co/QyTr

Did you know today is 'World Environment Day' ❓ To celebrate this year's event, Morgan Sindall Construction have collaborated with Tales from Mother Earth and we've published a book! 📗 🙌 'Sitka Spruce the Amazing Timber Tree' tells the story about an amazing tree and how it helps to construct the world in which we live. In the managed forests throughout the land, this incredible tree provided us with a wonderful resource, the resources of timber. 🌳 Timothy Clement, Director of Social Value and Sustainability at Morgan Sindall Construction had this to say about this great publication: "The book is all about hope. It focuses on a crucial part of our future built environment: renewable materials. It makes it clear that materials like wood can't be thrown away when they're no longer needed; we need to find a way to use them again, and again, and again. And the use of renewable materials creates jobs; meaningful, worthwhile, purposeful jobs, where responsible stewardship of nature not only helps is restore our lost habitats, but also yields construction products which lock away carbon dioxide for a long time. I'm so excited that this book will be in the hands of those who will find new ways of creating the inspiring places of the future." I've popped a link in the first comment if you'd like to find out more and purchase the book. Also we'd love to see your own pictures of you reading this book with your children so please feel free to share images in the comments. #TalesfromMotherEarth #MorganSindallConstruction #SitkaSpruce #WorldEnvironmentDay #GenerationRestoration #SitkaSprucetheAmazingTimberTree

🌱 Building With Containers for a Better Future! 🌱 After the Glasgow Conference, it became clear that the construction industry must change to preserve the environment and our planet. The impact of global warming and the urgent need to reduce pollution demand innovative and sustainable solutions in construction. One of the green solutions is building with repurposed shipping containers. This method offers numerous advantages: * Saving raw materials and transportation costs * Faster construction * Strength and durability against fire and earthquakes * Reduction of construction waste * Flexibility in planning and design * Potential for lower construction costs Gadot Ecology is a prime example of implementing sustainable construction practices. Their "Ecology Services" plant utilizes repurposed containers, solar roofs, and greywater systems, showcasing the benefits of green building. By reusing existing materials and integrating advanced environmental technologies, Gadot Ecology is leading the way toward a more sustainable future. #GadotGroup #GadotEcologyServices #GreenConstruction #Innovation

🔍 Exploring the Environmental Impact of Adaptive Reuse of Historic Buildings 🌿🏛️ Jakub Świerzawski https://lnkd.in/g4UbkKmS We excited to share our latest investigation into the environmental benefits of adaptive reuse of historic buildings compared to traditional demolition and new construction methods. Through a comprehensive life cycle analysis (LCA), our study focuses on a historical building in Zabrze, Poland, revealing significant environmental conservation: 🌍 82% reduction in global warming potential 🌫️ 51% decrease in smog formation 🌧️ 27% less acidification 🌊 21% lower eutrophication potential Our research underscores the immense value of adaptive reuse as a key strategy for reducing environmental impacts in the construction sector, while also preserving the historical, cultural, and social significance of old buildings. Join us in advocating for more sustainable and impactful construction practices! #Sustainability #EnvironmentalImpact #AdaptiveReuse #LifeCycleAnalysis #ConstructionInnovation #GreenBuilding

🏙️🌿 Did you know that architecture can be a key factor in the fight against air pollution? The modern world shows that we must approach ecological solutions in a more creative way. Engineers, architects and scientists around the world are working together on projects that not only improve the aesthetics of cities, but also their air quality! One of the most interesting solutions is the use of special mushroom in architecture and environmental protection. Called Myco-Hex, these are modular, hexagonal tiles that are integrated like honeycomb cells. The main component of the tiles is the fungal mycelium, which has explosive growth ability and other properties. Firstly, it can absorb up to 80% of the carbon dioxide contained in the air. Secondly, it captures a large number of suspended hydrocarbon particles, as has already been proven in the cleanup of oil spills in the Niger Delta. You can read more about this innovative solution in the article ⬇️ #SustainableArchitecture #FightAgainstPollution #FutureCities

Week 125: Summary 20 Weeks 99-101 In honor of two years worth of weekly environmental and sustainability posts, we’re spending some time summarizing previous posts, but if any topics come up that you’re interested in don’t hesitate to reach out! Week 99: Garage Sale If you’re looking to go shopping for fun, and there isn’t anything specific that you need, take advantage of the local/city garage sales/thrift stores/buy-nothing groups! You never know what you’ll find for yourself, your house, or as a gift for a friend. It’s like a sustainable treasure hunt! Week 100: Rain - Lots and Lotsa’ Rain We’ve talked about collecting rainwater to water plants, let’s talk about some of the reasons why collecting rainwater for other uses is an even better idea than it already seems: The more that land is developed with homes and roads (impervious space), the fewer green spaces rainwater has to drain naturally (pervious space). If you collect rainwater in areas that are impermeable (think concrete/asphalt/patios) you are keeping some of the water that would have nowhere to naturally drain from going into the municipal water drainage system. Most of these water systems weren’t built for the storm events that we have today. These systems were built for x amount of rain, but given the change in climate and more extreme weather events, sometimes the rain that comes our way is too much for the systems to handle well. Ie collecting rainwater on your impermeable surfaces is helpful to you, and your city’s infrastructure! Week 101: Invasive Species - Spotted Lanternflies (squish'em) KILL ANY SPOTTED LANTERNFLY YOU SEE - always good to have another reminder, even when it’s off season. Also make sure to keep an eye out for them at early stages to get 'em before they're an even bigger problem! Best, Madison Fischman Civil and Environmental Engineer

Everything can be within an economic value chaine... turning invasive seaweed into a valuable construction material... clean your environment through indigent mining...

The concrete industry, masquerading as the 'Building Resilience Coalition' in North America, are increasingly unsettled by the rise of timber buildings. Why? Because more and more politicians and decision makers are waking up to the fact that concrete is responsible for 8 per cent of global carbon emissions, that's more than the whole of the EU, see: https://lnkd.in/e_BT9uYc It's why in Europe 'Heidelberg Cement' have changed their name to 'Heidelberg Materials'. Engineered timbers, also known as mass timber, mean that we can now build big, tall timber buildings ie 20 plus storeys. Timber is a climate solution, concrete is a climate problem. Professor Michael Ramage of the University of Cambridge calculated that erecting a 300-square-metre, four-storey student residence in wood generated only 126 tonnes of CO2 emissions. If it had been made with concrete the tally would have risen to 310 tonnes. If steel had been used emissions would have topped 498 tonnes. Indeed, the building can be viewed as “carbon negative” as there is the equivalent of 540 tonnes of CO2 stored in the wood, resulting in a long-term subtraction of CO2 from the atmosphere. So don't be surprised when you see the concrete industry paying people to write 'knocking copy' on the wood industry as per below.