Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure

FIDIC Beijing Conference

William S. Howard, P.E., FACEC

Past Chair, ACEC
Executive Vice President, CDM

September 2005
Sustainable Infrastructure

It’s more
than built to last…

It’s:
 Livable cities
 Urban sustainability
 Green buildings
 Smart growth
Guiding Principle
Balance
infrastructure
needs with
environmental
protection to
enhance the
quality of life for
present and
future
generations.
Worldwide Sustainable Development
Milestones

1987 – Our Common Future

1992 – Agenda 21
2000 – Millennium Declaration
2002 – World Summit
National Sustainable Development
Strategies
The Case for Sustainability
1. Higher standards of living
2. World population growth:
12
Population (billions)

10
World
8
6 Developing
Countries
4 Developed
2 Countries
Source: United Nations

0
1950 2000 2050 2100 2150
Year
 The Case for Sustainability
3. Poverty Rate 4. Food Consumption
50

3400
40

Calories/Person/Day
3000
Poverty Rate (%)

30

2600
20

2200
10

1800

0
1986 1990 1991 1993 1996 2000
Sub-Sahara Africa
Sub-Sahara Africa
South Asia
South Asia
W orld Developed Countries
East Asia East Asia
Latin America
North Africa/W est Africa Latin America
Eastern Europ/Former Sovie Union
Source: FAO
Source: World Bank
Today’s Speakers

1. Althea Povey – South Africa

2. (Name TBD) – China
3. Bill Howard – United States
(end of introductory remarks)
Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure
FIDIC Beijing Conference—Morning Workshop

William S. Howard, P.E., FACEC

Past Chair, ACEC
Executive Vice President, CDM

September 2005
Elements of Sustainable Infrastructure

 Environmental protection
 Economic development
 Quality of life
This Paper—A Brief Overview of
Sustainable Development Issues

Morning Session
 Engineers and sustainability
 Water resources
 Energy generation/renewable resources
 Energy Star program

Afternoon Session
 Abandoned properties (brownfields)
 Green buildings
 Energy Star program
American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) Policy

 The role of the civil engineer in sustainable

development:
 Promote understanding
 Advance skills
 Advocate responsible economic approaches
 Promote holistic approaches
 Promote performance-based standards
Water Resources
Integrated Resource Planning
(IRP) for Water Management
Los Angeles, California

 Challenge – Meet water

resources needs for 4.5
million people by 2020
in a city with limited
water resources
 Non-integrated
utilities inefficient
and non-
sustainable
Goals of IRP

 Goal #1: Regional watershed approach

 Goal #2: Involve the public
 Maximize existing infrastructure and
minimize new construction to meet future
needs
IRP
Recommendations

 Recycling water from current and future facilities

 Building new wastewater facilities “upstream”
 Reducing rainfall-dependent inflow and infiltration
 Increasing water conservation
 Reusing more wet weather urban runoff
 Finding beneficial reuses of biosolids
STELLA—Water Resources
Modeling Software

 “Water resource systems analysis” tool

 Study tradeoffs/interdependencies between
physical, environmental, and socioeconomic
aspects
 Integrated planning tool
 Systems model, not a model of a system
 Descriptive, NOT prescriptive
STELLA

STELLA model showing an interconnected four-reservoir supply system and its

complex interdependencies (red arrows).
 Trinity River Vision
Fort Worth, Texas

 Beautification of 1,942
hectares of green space
 Revitalize 324 waterfront hectares for
residential, office, and retail use
 Result – A revitalized, attractive,
healthier downtown Fort Worth
Marina Barrage
Singapore

 Independent Water Supply

 Flood control
 Recreation
 Education
 Enhanced downtown
Marina Barrage
Singapore
Ireland’s Water
Management Plan

 Nationwide water management program

 Protect and enhance water quality
 Catchment-basin approach
 Integration of multiple stakeholders
 Success based on interrelationships of complex, real-world issues
New Bedford’s
Integrated Vision

 Merge needs for clean water and public space

 Comprehensive noise and odor control
 114-mld plant sits on 12 hectares, leaving…
 20 hectares of recreation land and 2-kilometer shoreline to public access
 Partnership among various disciplines
Cities of the Future

 Fresh, proactive, and

stakeholder-based
approaches
 Join environmental planners, treatment
experts, transportation specialists,
modelers, landscape architects, financial
planners, and other stakeholders
 Restore cities through “soft” and “hard”
approaches
Proposed “Cities of the Future”
Workshop

 National Science Foundation

 Center for Urban Environmental Studies at
Northeastern University
 Corporate, non-profit, academic sponsors
 Interdisciplinary panel of experts to develop
visionary concepts
 Urban water quality and hydrology
 Green cities and smart growth
 Address legal, social, ecological barriers
Energy Generation
Global Energy Use

 Global energy use will increase 1.7%

annually to 2030
 Fossil fuels will supply 90% of energy
sources
 Carbon dioxide emissions will increase
1.8% annually to 2030
CO2 Capture
Project

 International effort
 Reduce CO2 emissions
by sequestration
 Scotland to capture greenhouse gases in
North Sea oil field
 Injections may help recover oil
“…The longer we wait—and the more infrastructure
we build without regard to its affect on emissions—
the more daunting the task of keeping CO2 levels
from increasing beyond dangerous levels.”
Elizabeth Kolbert
The New Yorker
May 9, 2005
North American Energy Use
 Fossil fuel consumption and emissions are 10 times
higher per capita in North America
 1.4% average annual increase in energy demand
 Since 1973, U.S. foreign oil dependence increased
from 35% to 53% and natural gas imports rose from
less than 5% to more than 15%
 86% of U.S. energy consumption from coal, oil, and
natural gas.
 Oil reserves could be exhausted within next century
Renewable Energy
 Environmentally sound option to reduce
dependence
 Solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal, tidal, wind
 In 2001, renewable energy resources supplied 6 to
7 percent of U.S. energy:
 42% - hydroelectric
 50% - biomass/biofuels
 5.5% - geothermal
 1% - solar energy
 1% - wind
Solar
Photovoltaic
Systems

Photo © 2005 PowerLight Corporation

 Convert sunlight directly into electricity

 Reliable, predictable electricity for peak power
grid capacity
Solar
Photovoltaic
Systems

Photo © 2005 PowerLight Corporation

 World’s largest solar power generation facility in

Germany
 Three German installations total 10 peak MW of
generating capacity
Renewable Energy

 Wind power gaining ground in U.S.

 Land-based wind parks in California, Hawaii,
Iowa, and Texas
 Offshore wind parks relatively new, but being
considered
World’s Biggest
Wind Turbine
 Started in Germany in
February by RE Power
 120-meters tall
 5 MW maximum
production capacity
 Energy for 5,000 homes © REPower

 Plans for installation offshore near

Scotland
Cape Cod
Wind Farm

© Photo and digital turbines by Environmental Design and Research

 130 wind turbines will produce 420 MW

of power for more than 231,000 homes
 Replace 113 million gallons of oil/year
 Eliminate emissions, reduce greenhouse
gases
 Save more than $800 million in energy
costs
GeoThermal Energy

 50,000 times the

energy of all oil and
gas resources
 Clean, reliable, and homegrown
 $1.5-billion-per-year enterprise in United States
 2,000 MW of electricity generation; 650 MW of non-
electric applications; 3,700 MW of thermal energy
 Geothermal power development could exceed $25
billion in 10 – 15 years
Energy Star Program
Energy Star Program

 Established in 1992 for

energy-efficient computers
 Identify products to save energy and reduce
greenhouse emissions
 28,000 products in 40 categories
 $10 billion in energy and cost savings (2004)
 Prevented emissions equivalent to 18 million
vehicles
 he r s
as Refrig Fur
e s W er ators nac
t h es
Clo
ons ut ers
i p

W
levis Com

at
Te

er
Co
ol
e rs
Traffi
c Signa s
ls r i n ter
P
VC
Rs
m ps
t o r s e a t Pu
i H
Mon t her m a l
Exit Signs Ge o

o ors
u l a t i on & D
Ins ows
i n d Fluorescent Light Bulbs
W
Sustainable Development for the
Future

 Complex and long-term challenges will

take sustained effort for generations
 No one approach, no one single formula
 A “blueprint” for sustainable development
is neither possible nor desirable
 Every country, community, environmental
steward, and municipality must take a
proactive role in shaping the future
(end of morning workshop)
Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure
FIDIC Beijing Conference—Afternoon Workshop

William S. Howard, P.E., FACEC

Past Chair, ACEC
Executive Vice President, CDM

September 2005
This Paper—A Brief Overview of
Sustainable Development Issues

Morning Session
 Engineers and sustainability
 Water resources
 Energy generation/renewable resources
 Energy Star program

Afternoon Session
 Abandoned properties (brownfields)
 Green buildings
 Energy Star program
American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) Policy

 The role of the civil engineer in sustainable

development:
 Promote understanding
 Advance skills
 Advocate responsible economic approaches
 Promote holistic approaches
 Promote performance-based standards
Abandoned Properties
(Brownfields)
Brownfields – Mitigating the Developed
Country Disaster

 Abandoned landfills, industries, military

bases, etc.
 Impact to property values, health, and a city’s
economic viability
 Revitalization through responsible
sustainable investment
Danehy Park
Cambridge, Massachusetts

 First major landfill to

be redeveloped for
active recreational use
 Nine sports fields, lighted artificial turf field and track
 Recreational opportunities realized on existing city-owned property
 20 percent of Cambridge park land is now on former landfills/dumps
Gilbert & Mosley
Wichita, Kansas

 Once a liability
(1,558-hectare hazardous waste site)
 Posed human health, environment, and
economic risks
Gilbert & Mosley
Wichita, Kansas

 Now an asset – WATER

(Wichita Area Treatment Education and
Remediation) Center
Playa Vista
Southern California

 405-hectare
property near
Los Angeles
 243 hectares contaminated
from aircraft industry
 Home to Howard Hughes
and his “Spruce Goose”
 Site recently used for movies industry
 Soil & groundwater remediation on more than 12 source areas
Playa Vista
Southern California

 Health-based
remediation goals
 243 hectares developed
for residential, commercial,
and retail
 162 hectares used as
open space and reclaimed
wetlands
Brownfields Successes

 Since 1995, U.S. EPA has awarded $382 million in

grants and loans for brownfields redevelopment
 This has led to more than $7 billion in public and
private redevelopment investments in more than
5,100 properties
Buildings
Sustainable Building Development
 76 million residential and 5 million commercial
buildings use:
 39% of all energy consumed in U.S.
 70% of all electricity
 12.2%(15 trillion gallons/year) of potable water used
in commercial buildings
 Buildings are major source of emissions:
 49% of sulfur dioxide
 25% of nitrous oxide
 10% of particulate
 18% of carbon dioxide
Green Building Practices
 Environmentally sound, resource efficient
 Integrated approach to design, energy
efficiency, renewable energy, water
conservation
 Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED)
 National standard for high-performance,
sustainable buildings
 2% investment in LEED result in 20% life-
cycle savings
Bank of America Tower
 World's most environmentally
responsible high-rise
office building
 First to strive for the
U.S. Green Building Council's
LEED Platinum designation
 Innovative, high-performance
technologies
 Uses dramatically less energy,
consumes less potable water,
provides a healthy and productive
indoor environment All Building Renderings: dbok for
Cook+Fox Architects.
Bank of America Tower
 Emphasis on sustainability,
water efficiency, indoor
air quality, energy
 Constructed of recycled/
recyclable materials
 Filtered air, insulating glass,
cogeneration plant
 Capture and reuse rainwater
 Planted roofs reduce urban heat
All Building Renderings: dbok for
 Evening ice production to reduce peak loads Cook+Fox Architects.
The Future of Buildings

 More than 2,000 LEED registered/certified

projects in 50 states and 12 countries
 Membership in Green Building Council grown
by 1,000% in past 4 years
 21 million square meters of LEED registered
commercial building space
 2003 annual market for green building product
and services is $5.8 billion – 34% growth from
2002
Sustainable Building Approaches
 Carefully evaluate facility location and site selection
 Preserve natural habitats and protect wetlands
 Use natural shading, maximize daylight access
 Employ xeriscaping (slow-growing, drought-tolerant
plants)
 Avoid over watering
 Use rainwater collection systems
 Design small building footprints to create large open
space
Sustainable Building Approaches
 Install automatic light sensors
 Use window coverings to reduce solar heating
 Seal heating & cooling ducts
 Use carpets that can be recycled
 Install high-efficiency lighting
 Reduce hot water settings
 Use light-colored roofing materials
 Turn off computers & monitors each night
 Develop “best practices” programs
Energy Star Program
Energy Star Program

 Established in 1992 for

energy-efficient computers
 Identify products to save energy and reduce
greenhouse emissions
 28,000 products in 40 categories
 $10 billion in energy and cost savings (2004)
 Prevented emissions equivalent to 18 million
vehicles
 he r s
as Refrig Fur
e s W er ators nac
t h es
Clo
ons ut ers
i p

W
levis Com

at
Te

er
Co
ol
e rs
Traffi
c Signa s
ls r i n ter
P
VC
Rs
m ps
t o r s e a t Pu
i H
Mon t her m a l
Exit Signs Ge o

o ors
u l a t i on & D
Ins ows
i n d Fluorescent Light Bulbs
W
Sustainable Development for the
Future

 Complex and long-term challenges will

take sustained effort for generations
 No one approach, no one single formula
 A “blueprint” for sustainable development
is neither possible nor desirable
 Every country, community, environmental
steward, and municipality must take a
proactive role in shaping the future
Thank You!
(end of afternoon workshop)