Role of Civil Engg in Sustainable Development of India_21Oct2016.pdf

This is a presentation for the technical paper selected for presentation by the Institute of Engineers India for the seminar held at Goa in 2016. It brings out the importnce of sustainable development and what role Civil Engineers need to play in this regard.

1. Role of Civil Engineering in
Sustainable Development of
India
Author:
Harsimran Singh, IRSE
Deputy General Manager (General)
South EasternRailway
21
st
Oct,2016

2. We can’t burn half the world’s
Oil
,
Coal
and
Gas
. So how do we
Quit?
... Mike Berners-LEE& Duncan
Clark : The Burning Question, Profile
Books
Background

3. Facts

So far we have raised average temperature of
the earth by 0.8 degree Celsius and that has
caused far more damage than most scientists
expected. The increase upto2 degree Celsius is
said to be devastating.

CO2 emissions increased to 35.7 GT in 2014.
Scientists believe that we can pump in 565 more
gigatonnesof CO
2
by mid century and andstill
have some reasonable hope (about 4 chances in
5) of staying below 2 degree celcius.
????????

4. Sustainabledevelopmentas“meeting
theneedsofpresentwithout
compromisingtheabilityoffuture
generationtomeettheirownneeds”.
…Brundtlandreport(1987)
RoleofCivilEngineerhaschangedfrom“The
onewhodirectsnature’sgreatpowersourceto
convenienceanduseofman”to“theguardians
ofbuiltandnaturalenvironment”
Sustainability

5. Global Statistics
The top 4 emitting countries/regions accountigfor 61% of
the total global CO2 emissions :

China (30%),

United States (15%),

European Union (EU-28) (10%)

India (6.5%)

China as well as US increased CO2 emissions by only
0.9% in 2014 compared to 2013.

Rate of reduction in emissions in the EU-28 increased
in 2014 to 5.4%.

Per capita emissions of US are twice as high as those of
China and EU.

Emissions increased in India by 7.8% to 2.3GT in 2014 vis-
à-vis 2013

6. 
TheincreaseinCO2emissionsin2014wasmainlycaused
byan11.1%increaseincoalconsumption,which
accountedfor56.5%ofitstotalprimaryenergy
consumption.

InherINDCcontributiontotheUNFCCC,India’spower
generationtargetfor2030istohave40%energyfrom
renewablesources(Solar&wind)andotherlow-carbon
sources,comparedtothecurrent19%,3%ofwhichisnow
innuclearpower(UNFCCC,2015).

Indiahasplannedtorampuptheproductionofsolar
energyfrom20GWcurrentlyto100GWby2022.Indian
Railwaywillprocure1000MWofsolarpowerovera5year
peroid.

Indiawouldcreateanadditionalcarbonsinkof2.5to3
billiontonnesofcarbon-dioxidethroughextraforestand
treecoverby2030.
INDIAN SCENARIO

7. 
CO
2
emissionsaregeneratedbyCarbonateoxidationinthe
cementclinkerproductionprocess,themainconstituentof
cement,andcontributingtoabout4.1%oftheglobal
emissions.

FuelcombustionemissionsofCO
2
relatedtocement
productionareofapproximatelythesamelevel,so,intotal,
cementproductionaccountsforroughly8%ofglobalCO
2
emissions.

Chinaaccountedfor59%ofglobalcementproductionin
2014followedbyIndia(7%).
•Insteelproduction,mostCO
2
isgeneratedinironand
steelmakingprocessesthatusecokeovens,blast
furnaces&basicoxygensteelfurnaces.
•Indiaaccountsfor5%ofglobalcrudesteelproduction
afterChina(49%),EU(10%),Japan(7%),theUS(5%).
IMPACT : CEMENT & STEEL

8. 
Features of Sustainable Building:

Reducing embodied energy, i.e., the energy required in production of a
material including raw material. Natural materials have less embodied
energy, hence civil engineer must explore alternatives in natural
materials. For example Straw bale construction, consisting of straw, a
plant fragment is non-living and left over after harvesting. It is an epitome
of sustainable construction.

Construction Waste Reduction. This saves land filling space apart from
cost.

Use of renewable energy system. Designing and constructing building in
such a way that it eliminates or compensate the traditionally used
methods for cooling, heating etc.

Longer Life -durability of material, reusability, recyclability.

Water conservation, i.e. use of waste water or water harvested from rain
and use of renewable energy systems.

Use of pollution free measures in construction so as to lead to
environment sustainability.

Reducing waste production to lead to increasing resource efficiency
of building materials.
SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

9. 
USGreenBuildingCouncil

Ithasdocumenteditsowncertificateprocessinform
ofLeadershipinEnergyandEnvironmentalDesign
(LEED).

LEEDhasitsratingsystemwhichjudgesbuildingin
followingareas.

SustainableSites

WaterEfficiency

Energyandatmosphere

Materialandresources

Indoorenvironmentalquality

Innovationanddesignprocess

10. 
Urgentrequirementofintegratingtheconceptofgreen
constructionandtoaimtodevelopzerocarboncitiesto
theextentpossible.

TheGovthavethereforetojumpintothisfieldandissue
mandatoryguidelinesbecauseenvironmental
sustainabilitycannotbeignored.

Theimmediateproblemisthatitisgreenbuildingis
expensiveoverashorttime,thoughitmaynotbe
expensiveoverthelongrun.Thedevelopersand
investorswhoareconcernedaboutmakinglessprofit,
trytoavoidgreenbuilding.

GRIHA(GreenRatingforIntegratedHabitatAsessment)
developedbyTERI(TataEnvironmentResearch
Institute)hasbeenadoptedbyGovernmentofIndiaas
nationalratingsystem.
MACRO PLANNING

11. 
Engineershavetoaimforandleadtothesustainable
developmentbymeetingtheneedsofthesocietywhich
areequitablesothatthereareliveableconditionsand
ecologicalefficiencyasdescribedinthediagram:“The
DimensionsofSustainability”
BALANCING
REQUIREMENTS

12. 
CivilEngineersmustbeencouragedtothinkoutofthebox,
developcriticalthinkingandgoodjudgment.Thiscanbe
donebygreaterexposuretopracticalfieldbasedproblems
andallowingthemtocomeupwithinnovativesolutions
ratherthanconventionalones,andthenanalyzingsolutions
forfeasibility.

Itisnecessarybecause,sustainableconstructionincludes
manylayersofdecisionsthatimpacttheenvironment
duringtheconstructionandbeyond.
Out of Box Thinking

13. 
Whenorderingwoodorbricks/concreteblocksfora
constructionproject,lookforForestcertifiedwoodand
usingwoodthatisgeneratedlocally,andfor
bricks/concreteblocks,decideaboutusingfly-ash
bricksifthermalpowerplantisinvicinityorusing
autoclaveaeratedconcreteblocksifavailablein
market.

Thisreduceswasteinshippingcostsandcutsdown
onoverallcarbonemissions

14. 
RequirementOfComprehensiveApproachInIndiafora
lifetimeanalysis.

Needtohaveatotalapproachthanamerepatchwork
pointsystem.

Forcomprehensiveplanforsustainableconstruction,
everystructureshouldbeconsideredbasedonthe
followingparameters:

Plan,DesignandPrepareSpecificationsbasedon
PerformanceandServiceLife

ConstructionMethods

MaterialConservationandSelection

DemolitionandRecycling

EnergyConservation
COMPREHENSIVE
APPROACH

15. 
Structures in India are designed well however so
far in most specifications, there is no reference
to any service life or calculations thereof.

Deeper study of various service life prediction
models and calculations is essential.

Specifications must be performance based as
opposed to their present form of being
prescription based.
PLANNING, DESIGN &
SPECIFICATIONS

16. 
Wastageintheconstructionindustryisashighas
30%.Wastagesareactivitiesthatabsorbresources,
manhoursandmaterialsbutcreatenovalue.

Mostdevelopedcountrieshavedifferentforums/
institutes/academicinstitutionsforseeking
solutionstomitigatethesewastagesandlean
constructionpracticesthatemergedhaveyielded
encouragingresults.

Leanconstruction:Waytodesignproduction
systemstominimizewastageofmaterials,timeand
effortsinordertogeneratethemaximumpossible
value.

Itissaidthatyoucanbeleanwithoutbeingexplicitly
green,butitisnearlyimpossibletobeasgreenasis
possiblewithoutbeinglean.
CONSTRUCTION
METHODS

17. 
Minimization of Resource Depletion

Minimization of Pollution

Achieving Business And Environmental
Excellence (SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY)

InIndia,Initiativesarebeingtakenonlybysomelarge
privatecompaniestoadoptleanerconstruction
practices,thoughmainlywithobjectiveofmaximising
profit.

Needtonothaveafullyfocusedleanconstruction
forumtogoaheadinacomprehensivewaytoreduce
wastageandhavesustainablestructures.
LEAN CONSTRUCTION

22. MINERAL FIBRE FALSE CEILINGBAMBOO MAT FALSE CEILING
SOLAR PANELS ON ROOF TOP
ONLINE GRID FEEDING SYSTEM
OF SOLAR POWER PLANT

23. 
TheAmericanSocietyofCivilEngineers(ASCE)

Encouragingvariouspolitical,social,economicand
technicalaspectsrelatedtosustainabledevelopment.

Improvingskills,knowledgeandinformationto
facilitatesustainablefuture.

Preferringeconomicmethodsthatusenatural
resources

Encouragingmultidisciplinary,integratedandmulti-
objectivegoalsineverystepofdesignand
construction.

Promotingperformancebasedstandardand
guidelines.

24. 
GovernmentofKeralahastakenleadinformulating
policyforgreenbuildings.Thegoalsofthepolicyare

Constructingself-sustainablebuildingconsuming
minimumenergy.

Popularizingandincorporatinggreenbuildingconcept.

Issuingguidelinestovariousorganizationsinbuilding
sectortoadoptthepolicy.

Implementationofgreenconservationcode.

Enhancingoccupantshealthandcomfort

Maximizingreuseandreducingdamageto
environment