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
Higher standards of living
2. World population growth:
1.
Population (billions)
12
10
World
8
Developing
Countries
Developed
Countries
6
4
2
Source: United Nations
0
1950
2000
2050
Year
2100
2150
The Case for Sustainability
3.
Poverty Rate
Food Consumption
4.
50
3400
Calories/Person/Day
30
20
3000
2600
2200
10
1800
0
1986 1990 1991 1993 1996 2000
Sub-Sahara Africa
South Asia
World
East Asia
Latin America
North Africa/West Africa
Eastern Europ/Former Sovie Union
Source: World Bank
19
65
19
70
19
75
19
80
19
85
19
90
20
00
20
10
20
20
20
30
Poverty Rate (%)
40
Sub-Sahara Africa
South Asia
Developed Countries
East Asia
Latin America
Source: FAO
Today’s Speakers
1.
2.
3.
Althea Povey – South Africa
(Name TBD) – China
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
 Economic
 Quality
protection
development
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
– Meet water
resources needs for 4.5
million people by 2020
in a city with limited
water resources
 Challenge
 Non-integrated
utilities inefficient
and nonsustainable
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
 Flood
Water Supply
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
 Plans
for 5,000 homes
for installation offshore near
Scotland
© REPower
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
costs
more than $800 million in energy
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
 $10
products in 40 categories
billion in energy and cost savings (2004)
 Prevented
vehicles
emissions equivalent to 18 million
Exit Signs
Fluorescent Light Bulbs
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
an asset – WATER
(Wichita Area Treatment Education and
Remediation) Center
 Now
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% lifecycle 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

Evening ice production to reduce peak loads
All Building Renderings: dbok for
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
 $10
products in 40 categories
billion in energy and cost savings (2004)
 Prevented
vehicles
emissions equivalent to 18 million
Exit Signs
Fluorescent Light Bulbs
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)