Green Housing Initiative from the Structural Engineering Perspective Low-

Income Housing

One of the commonly used direct involvement green initiative from structural engineering is
recycling material. One of the real-life implementations of this is specifying SCM
(supplemental cementitious materials) like fly ash and blast furnace slag to replace a part of
cement content in concrete. Recycling material initiative is also used when manufacturing steel.
Steel made by the electric arc process contains more than 90% recycled content and is usually
used for making steel plates, reinforcement, and wide flange shapes. Steel manufactured by
recycled content has been proven to have no structural issues.

As such, to address these challenges, structural engineers could use low-cost construction
material such as bamboo and use recycled material such as recycled steel and partly recycled
concrete. These materials are durable, cost-effective, and sustainable thus making them the
perfect choice for low-income housing.

Another solution for structural engineers to implement green housing initiative is lowering
energy consumption and promote energy efficiency. One of the ways is to incorporate many
windows and ventilation shaft while ensuring structural integrity to improve natural light and
airflow. In addition to that, structural engineers have to ensure the building is well insulated
and thus preventing wasteful energy usage. All of these is directed at lowered energy cost.

Lastly, structural engineers must ensure the structure is able to withstand all kinds of stress and
loads thus making the building durable against all kinds of weather conditions. This approach
is to make minimal repairs in the future against all kinds of weather conditions/natural disasters.
A poorly designed and built house requires much more maintenance during its lifespan
compared to those with proper designed and built. A properly designed and built house
consequently spent much less resources than its poorly built peers during its lifespan.

In conclusion, green housing initiatives from structural engineering perspective for low-income
housing require a delicate balance of various factors, such as using cost effective and
sustainable building materials, lowering energy consumption by ventilations and windows,
usage of material with proper insulation, and ensuring quality of design and materials used. By
incorporating these initiatives, structural engineers can in fact contribute to promote
environmental sustainability by designing sustainable and affordable housing to low-income
families.