Technological University of the Philippines-Cavite Campus

CQT Avenue, Brgy. Salawag, Dasmarinas City, Cavite

CIVIL ENGINEERING, SUSTAINABILITY, AND THE FUTURE

DELA CRUZ, KYLA J.

BSCE- C- 1A

Engr. Maria May Pacete

BES11 Professor

January 2021

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
II. INTRODUCTION 3
III. CONTENTS 4
A. Civil engineering 4
B. Sustainability 4
C. Future 5
D. Sustainability in Civil Engineering 5
E. Future of Civil Engineering 7
F. Civil Engineering, Sustainability, and Future 9
IV. CONCLUSION 10
V. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 11
VI. REFERENCES 12

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 INTRODUCTION
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design,
construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public
works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewerage systems, pipelines, structural
components of buildings, and railways. Sustainability is the ability to exist constantly. In the 21st
century, it refers generally to the capacity for the biosphere and human civilization to co-exist. It
is also defined as the process of people maintaining change in a homeostasis balanced
environment, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation
of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both
current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations. Future is an expectation of
advancement or progressive development of a community with the help of sustainable
development.

Engineers are increasingly expected to play leadership roles when it comes to sustainable
development, working to solve global challenges such as the depletion of resources, pollution,
ecosystem damage, and the effects of rapid population growth. Today, considering the numerous
ecological problems impacting our world, engineers are required to contribute more and more
towards building and maintaining a sustainable environment. The role engineers play in
sustainability is vital; they are the providers of options and solutions that minimize
environmental damage. This term paper aim to understand what civil engineering can help for
the sustainable development that will help the society in the future.

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 CONTENTS
Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design,
construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public
works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewerage systems, pipelines, structural
components of buildings, and railways.

Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines. It is considered

the second-oldest engineering discipline after military engineering, and it is defined to
distinguish non-military engineering from military engineering. Civil engineering can take place
in the public sector from municipal public works departments through to federal government
agencies, and in the private sector from locally based firms to global Fortune 500 companies.

Sustainability

Sustainability is the ability to exist constantly. In the 21st century, it refers generally to
the capacity for the biosphere and human civilization to co-exist. It is also defined as the process
of people maintaining change in a homeostasis balanced environment, in which the exploitation
of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and
institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet
human needs and aspirations. For many in the field, sustainability is defined through the
following interconnected domains or pillars: environment, economic and social, which according
to Fritjof Capra, is based on the principles of Systems Thinking (See also Systems theory). Sub-
domains of sustainable development have been considered also: cultural, technological and
political.

Healthy ecosystems and environments are necessary for the survival of humans and other
organisms. Ways of reducing negative human impact are environmentally-friendly chemical
engineering, environmental resources management and, environmental protection. Information is
gained from green computing, green chemistry, earth science, environmental science and,
conservation biology. Ecological economics studies the fields of academic research that aim to
address human economies and natural ecosystems.

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Future

Future is an expectation of advancement or progressive development of a community

with the help of sustainable development.

Sustainability in Civil Engineering

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) defines sustainability as a set of

economic, environmental and social conditions (aka "The Triple Bottom Line") in which all of
society has the capacity and opportunity to maintain and improve its quality of life indefinitely
without degrading the quantity, quality or the availability of economic, environmental and social
resources. Sustainable development is the application of these resources to enhance the safety,
welfare, and quality of life for all of society.

Civil engineers have a leading role in planning, designing, building, and ensuring a
sustainable future by providing the bridge between science and society. In this role, engineers
must actively promote and participate in multidisciplinary teams with other professionals, such
as ecologists, economists, and sociologists, and work with the communities served and affected
to effectively address the issues and challenges of sustainable development.

ASCE recognizes the leadership role of engineers in sustainable development, and their
responsibility to provide effective and innovative solutions in addressing the challenges of
sustainability. The ASCE Code of Ethics states that "Engineers shall hold paramount the safety,
health and welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable
development in the performance of their professional duties." ASCE works on a global scale to
promote public recognition and understanding of the needs and opportunities for sustainable
development and contribute to health communities.

Environmental, economic, social and technological development must be seen as

interdependent and complementary concepts, where economic competitiveness and ecological
sustainability are complementary aspects of the common goal of improving the quality of life.

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Principle of Sustainable Development in Civil Engineering

Principle 1 – Do the right project

A proposed project's economic, environmental and social effects on each

of the communities served and affected must be assessed and understood by all
stakeholders before there is a decision to proceed with a project. Consider non-
structural as well as structural (built) solutions to the needs being addressed.

Principle 2 – Do the project right

The civil engineer shall actively engage stakeholders and secure public
understanding and acceptance of a projects economic, environmental and social
costs and benefits. To move toward conditions of sustainability, engineers must
design and deliver projects that address sustainability holistically (from concept to
demolition or reuse) rather than adding a variety of "green" features onto a
conventional project.

Steps to achieve Sustainable Development in Civil Engineering

STEP 1: Perform Life Cycle Assessment from planning to Reuse

Project participants should use rigorous life cycle methodologies that

quantify the economic, environmental and social effects of the project.

STEP 2: Use Resources Wisely

Reducing Use of Non-Renewable Resources. Sustainable development

shall include progressive reductions in resource use for a given level of service
and resiliency. The feasibility of restoration, or return of depleted resources, shall
be evaluated by the civil engineer.

STEP 3: Plan for Resiliency

Sustainability requires planning for the impact natural and man-made

disasters and changing conditions can have on economic, environmental, and
social resources.

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 STEP 4: Validate Application of Principle

Civil engineers must guide project development and validate the

application of these principles by using metrics and rating tools such as the
EnvisionTM Rating System for sustainable infrastructure.

Future of Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering in 2025

The Civil Engineer is KNOWLEGEABLE, wherein they are understanding the theories,
principles, and/or fundamentals of the following.

 Mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, mechanics, and materials, which

are the foundation of engineering.
 Design of structures, facilities, and systems.
 Risk/uncertainty, such as risk identification, data-based and knowledge-based
types, and probability and statistics.
 Sustainability, including social, economic, and physical dimensions.
 Public policy and administration, including elements such as the political
process, laws and regulations, and funding mechanisms.
 Business basics, such as legal forms of ownership, profit, income statements and
balance sheets, decision or engineering economics, and marketing.
 Social sciences, including economics, history, and sociology.
 Ethical behavior, including client confidentiality, codes of ethics within and
outside of engineering societies, anticorruption and the differences between legal
requirements and ethical expectations, and the profession’s responsibility to hold
paramount public health, safety, and welfare.

The Civil Engineers are SKILLFUL, wherein they are mindful what they are about to do.

 Apply basic engineering tools, such as statistical analysis, computer models,

design codes and standards, and project monitoring methods
 Learn about, assess, and master new technology to enhance individual and
organizational effectiveness and efficiency

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  Communicate with technical and non-technical audiences, convincingly and with
passion, through listening, speaking, writing, mathematics, and visuals
 Collaborate on intra-disciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and multi-disciplinary
traditional and virtual teams.
 Manage tasks, projects, and programs to provide expected deliverables while
satisfying budget, schedule, and other constraints
 Lead by formulating and articulating environmental, infrastructure, and other
improvements and build consensus by practicing inclusiveness, empathy,
compassion, persuasiveness, patience, and critical thinking

The Civil engineers must embrace ATTITUDES conducive to effective professional

practice. They must exhibit the following.

 Creativity and entrepreneurship that leads to proactive identification of

possibilities and opportunities and taking action to develop them
 Commitment to ethics, personal and organizational goals, and worthy teams and
organizations
 Curiosity, which is a basis for continued learning, fresh approaches, development
of new technology or innovative applications of existing technology, and new
endeavors
 Honesty and integrity—telling the truth and keeping one’s word.
 Optimism in the face of challenges and setbacks, recognizing the power inherent
in vision, commitment, planning, persistence, flexibility, and teamwork
 Respect for and tolerance of the rights, values, views, property, possessions, and
sensitivities of others
 Thoroughness and self-discipline in keeping with the public health, safety, and
welfare implications for most engineering projects and the high-degree of
interdependence within project teams and between teams and their stakeholders

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Civil Engineering, Sustainability, and Future

Engineering is an important field for sustainability and environmental awareness. Those

who work in this sector typically design or operate systems that use energy and resources in a
sustainable manner, contributing to the sustainability of our environment and the human race as a
whole. Engineers are increasingly expected to play leadership roles when it comes to sustainable
development, working to solve global challenges such as the depletion of resources, pollution,
ecosystem damage, and the effects of rapid population growth.

Today, considering the numerous ecological problems impacting our world, engineers are
required to contribute more and more towards building and maintaining a sustainable
environment. The role engineers play in sustainability is vital; they are the providers of options
and solutions that minimize environmental damage. Those who already hold a bachelor’s degree
in engineering but want to become change-makers and positively impact sustainable practices, as
well as deepen (and consequently, apply) their knowledge in environmental science, should
consider taking up a Master’s degree. Many programs allow graduate students to gain practical
experience and work with scientists so they can begin their future in sustainability as soon as
possible.

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 CONCLUSION

Civil engineers have a leading role in planning, designing, building, and ensuring a
sustainable future by providing the bridge between science and society. In this part, engineers
must effectively advance and take part in multidisciplinary groups with other experts, such as
ecologists, economists, and sociologists, and work with the communities served and affected to
effectively address the issues and challenges of sustainable development. Environmental,
economic, social and technological development must be seen as interdependent and
complementary concepts, where economic competitiveness and ecological sustainability are
complementary aspects of the common goal of improving the quality of life.

Therefore, as a pillar industry of the national economy, we not only need to develop civil
engineering in order to meet the needs of economic and social development, but also pay
attention to environmental protection, resource conservation, as well as promote sustainable
development strategies. Based on the above reasons and understanding the concept of sustainable
development and connotation rightly, the paper studies sustainable development strategy of civil
engineering and discusses the sustainable development in the stage of civil engineering design
from the preliminary design stage, technical design stage and construction design stage
respectively.

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 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What is civil engineering sustainability and the future?
- Engineering is an important field for sustainability and environmental awareness.
Those who work in this sector typically design or operate systems that use energy and
resources in a sustainable manner, contributing to the sustainability of our environment
and the human race as a whole.
2. What is the relationship between civil engineering and sustainability?
- We as Civil Engineers and future Civil Engineers play a vital role in the Sustainable
Development in meeting the needs of the public. We are those designing and building
the infrastructures that support us as a society. A Civil Engineers utmost responsibility
is sustainability.
3. Why do engineers strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development?
- Engineers are encouraged to adhere to the principles of sustainable development 1 in
order to protect the environment for future generations.

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 REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_engineering#:~:text=Civil%20engineering%20is%20a
%20professional,components%20of%20buildings%2C%20and%20railways.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/future
https://www.asce.org/issues-and-advocacy/public-policy/policy-statement-418---the-role-of-the-
civil-engineer-in-sustainable-development/#:~:text=The%20American%20Society%20of
%20Civil,the%20quantity%2C%20quality%20or%20the
https://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/9780784478868.001
https://www.studyinternational.com/news/engineering-a-sustainable-future/#:~:text=Engineering
%20is%20an%20important%20field,human%20race%20as%20a%20whole.

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