Sustainability is a complex concept and an endless learning
process. This presents a significant challenge to both policymakers and
industry practitioners. Construction enterprises have taken commendable
measures towards sustainability, but we still have a long way to go.
The UK government has a legally binding commitment to achieve
an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. According to the latest
Infrastructure Carbon Review, the impact of UK’s infrastructure is projected to
increase from 53 per cent of UK emissions in 2010 to over 80 per cent of the
carbon increase in 2025, rising to 90 per cent in 2050. Achieving an 80 per
cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 is extremely challenging.
This calls for an urgent review of our current norms. Why for
example, do pipelines have to be underground? Are we using efficient concrete
and if not what would be the substitute? Can we begin recycling water at the
construction sites to avoid building unnecessary assets? We need a fresh
perspective to reduce artificial light through smart architecture because studies
show lighting increases the carbon footprint. We need to find new ways of
recycling waste and in many more areas to reduce carbon.
In constructing the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s famed megatall
skyscraper, it took 22 million man-hours, 45,000m3 (110,000
tonnes) of concrete for the foundations, and a further 330, 000m3 of concrete for the structure in a
top-down construction method.
Approximately 900 kg of CO2 is
emitted for each ton of concrete produced. For this building alone, the
concrete emitted approximately 726,000,000 kg of CO2.
We need to think beyond traditional construction materials
and methods, look to utilise hempcrete, ferrock or any eco-friendly cement
instead of concrete; install geothermal piles in the foundations of a building
so as to utilise ground energy in heating systems. Recycling water at the
construction site too, makes the construction process much more sustainable
over a long-term period.
According to data from the Department of Energy and Climate
Change, UK emissions per capita decreased from 6.9 tonnes in 2013 to 6.3 tonnes
in 2014. Swansea and Middleborough accounted for the highest per capita
emissions, mainly due to the steel plants located there. London accounted for
10.6 per cent of the total UK pollution.
It figures that in high emission areas, future construction
projects methods must focus on very high levels of sustainability. It might be
that we may have to stop construction completely in these areas and think about
reusing existing assets.
To build a smart city smartly we must first begin with smart
construction where the construction materials, logistics and design are at
their most effective. Through smart construction we can reduce the cost of
constructing new assets that could be done by interlinking the latest
technological tools such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and big data
with real time logistics.
Predicting breakdown and maintenance schedules in
construction projects would also help to reduce carbon emissions. Regularly
monitoring assets would help to reduce the overall cost, increase the
efficiency of the project and increase the life of the asset.
Every construction project has a large amount of data that
can be used to determine the most efficient route to increase the production
rate of the built asset. A sudden breakdown in tunnel construction due to the
variable geology of the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine could be avoided for
example, if the soil ahead was predicted, and
pre-emptive activity such as pumping in shotcrete, injecting
bentonite, adding rock bolts or dowels, using stronger lining were taken early
on, saving time and money.
Today, it’s time to introduce social media in every
construction project, where assets act like profiles that communicate with
every stakeholder to ensure efficient and continuous process.
By analysing large data assets from previous construction
projects, we will learn and automate the construction of a new project.
Once the construction has been efficiently completed, we
study the maintenance through the lifetime of the asset. For example, the
United States government spends around $200 billion on maintenance jobs and
around 15-40 per cent of this is invested in operating costs but according to
collected data, approximately 28-35 per cent of this is unnecessary.
Implementing reliable methodologies and systems could
significantly reduce costs. Condition Based Monitoring (CBM) could be one of
the methods applied to have an efficient maintenance monitoring system of
assets as it seeks to optimise predictive, proactive and preventive maintenance
practices.
Monitoring the sentiments of commuters i.e. through social
media channels after the asset has been constructed is also an effective tool
to determine their requirements while using the built asset. It is also a
pathway to determine the faults caused during the construction of the project
so that they can be rectified for the next.
Effective action can only be achieved when all stakeholders
(government, contractors, designers, engineers, and citizens) of the eco-system
can work together responsibly. The balanced interplay between Innovation,
collaboration and transformation underpinned by sustainable practice is the
point at which we can really start to call our smart city development smart.
Ishaan Rajankar is a
graduate student of soil mechanics in the department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, Imperial College, London. He is a strong believer of leveraging
sustainability during the construction process of assets and linking the
industry with Artificial Intelligence.
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