Role of civil engineers, sustainable habitats

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

An estimated 75 per cent of the infrastructure that will support the human life and mobility in 2050, remains to be built yet. If conscious efforts are made to ensure a sustainable future, substantial progress can be made in cutting down emissions and bringing down resource consumption.

It is guessed that resource extraction and processing are correlated with more than 90 per cent of biodiversity loss and make up about half of the global GHG emissions. These impacts also have serious consequences on water and food security and hence, on human wellbeing. Architects and construction engineers are two key human inputs in the construction industry.

While the former envision the design and form, the latter ensure the structural stability and facility of use. They enjoy a symbiotic relationship in order to lend the structures strength, beauty, functionality and resilience against the elements.

Their education and training mainly focus on these aspects. But as we are progressing towards a future, environmental concerns are exerting pressure to integrate construction with principles of sustainability which emphasize cutting down emission. Besides consuming natural resources, the construction activity is also a major source of solid waste (debris) and other forms of solid waste besides releasing dust in the air.

It is estimated that in developed countries 40 per cent of solid waste comes from the construction, maintenance and demolition of buildings. This is an unenviable situation and calls for changes in order to protect the nature and the human health. In order to remedy the situation and reduce the stress on the environment, it is essential that efforts to mitigate the damage should be expedited.

This should happen in increasing the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency with a fundamental shift to a circular economy. Transitioning to circular economic models will require infrastructure that is fit for purpose. Infrastructure must be planned, built, and operated in a way that maximizes synergies between infrastructure systems to enable industrial symbiosis and closed loops.

Shifting towards more shared ownership models can also help reduce the resource intensity of infrastructure systems. Successful implementation of these concepts requires strategic planning during the early phases of the infrastructure lifecycle, “upstream” of the projects. In conclusion, Decarbonisation is the only way forward.