Sustainability of Transportation and Other Infrastructure Systems

Abstract

This is the second of two special issues we have organized on the broadly defined concept of sustainability of infrastructure. Our view of infrastructure ~and the resulting call for papers! is instinctively broad, including buildings, transportation, energy, information and communication technologies, and various utilities. The first issue ~September 2004! focused on sustainable energy systems. The current issue is centered on the sustainability of building and transportation infrastructure, discussing highways, bridges, stormwater facilities, as well as buildings in terms of environmental implications and energy use. Jonsson’s forum article leads the issue with a discussion on sociotechnical infrasystem services. Infrasystems are large technical systems with a public character. His discussion considers social innovations and a framework for managing infrasystems based on needs and conveniences. Zapata and Gambatese perform an abbreviated life-cycle energy assessment of asphalt and concrete pavements. They note some sources of life-cycle energy use, as well as differences in the leading life-cycle stages. Jeon and Amekudzi summarize sustainability initiatives for transportation systems. They note the shortcomings in existing measures and propose frameworks consistent with sustainability as potentially useful for transportation agencies to adopt. Keoleian et al. compare bridge deck systems using conventional and alternative ~engineered cementitious composites! materials. They find that the new material yields significant environmental and energy benefits over the life cycle. Matthews and Williams broadly consider the energy implications of telecommuting in the United States and Japan. Beyond the usual focus on transportation system impacts, they include net energy use of residential and commercial buildings. They conclude that when these categories are considered, total energy benefits are small.