Construction Of Sustainable Development Research Articles

INCLUSION OF COCONUT COIR FIBER IN SOIL MIXED WITH COAL ASH

An experimental study is conducted on local soil i.e. silty sand (SM) mixed with varying percentage of coal ash and coconut coir fiber. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and California bearing ratio (CBR) tests are conducted on the soil mixed with coal ash/coir fiber/ both. The percentage of coal ash by dry weight of soil is taken as 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%. A significant increase in UCS and CBR value is observed for addition of 20% of coal ash in the soil.UCS value is maximum (1.81 kg/cm 2 ) for 20% coal ash mixed with soil. The unsoaked and soaked CBR values as 10.5% and 5.6% increase to 27.7% and 14.6%, respectively. Rate of increase in CBR values decreased after further addition of coal ash beyond 20%. Randomly mixed coconut coir fiber is included in optimum soil-coal ash mix (i.e. 80% soil and 20% coal ash) and varied as 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0%. UCS value increases substantially with inclusion of coconut coir fiber in soil - coal ash mix. The optimum percentage of soil-coal ash-coir fiber mix is arrived at 79.75:20:0.25 (by weight). Adding of these waste materials (coal ash + coconut coir fiber) results in the increase strength of soil and less thickness of pavement due to increased CBR of mix and hence saving of the stone aggregates in base and sub-base course for sustainable development in construction of highway.

Between full LCA and energy certification methodology—a comparison of six methodological variants of buildings environmental assessment

Construction, as a sector of the economy, is a significant source of negative environmental impacts. The development of sustainable construction and associated initiatives are meant to reduce that impact. Buildings, for many reasons, are the complex objects of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, which in this case can be particularly time-, data- and cost-consuming. Therefore, an attempt was made to explore the possibility of finding a methodological compromise between a full LCA and the compulsory energy certification. Six methodological variants, so called compromise solutions (CS) were identified and assessed. This article presents the results of the research project financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (N N309 078138) and coordinated by the Wood Technology Institute in Poznan. The proposed CS were hybrids utilising, to various degrees, the environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and energy certification. Life cycle impact assessments were carried out using IMPACT 2002+. The achieved results showed that the simplifications included in the energy certification lead to a significant drop in environmental impacts (by 77.9 % on average) in relation to the impact calculated for the full LCA. The results closest to the full LCA were achieved by the compromise solution no. 4 (CS4), where simplification included the exclusion from the life cycle of: transport processes, construction site, demolition, final disposal of waste, and the majority of elements associated with the use of the building. CS4 analysed all inventory inputs which were assessed with regard to the entire environmental profile. The following truncation levels were achieved for CS4—10.7 % (conventional masonry building), 9.9 % (passive masonry building), 8.3 % (conventional wooden building) and 7.4 % (passive wooden building), indicating that 90 % of the impact calculated for the full LCA was retained. CS4 seems to be a rational compromise between the simplicity of the methodology and the environmental significance. With the exception of the energy usage for heating, hot water and ventilation, CS4 also proposes including, in the analysis, the production of building material and additional elements associated with the use stage, e.g. energy usage for home appliances and lighting, land occupation, water use and wastewater treatment. However, if we were to find a rational minimum, which is close to the energy certification, then a good improvement of this methodology would be to include energy usage for home appliances and lighting as well as introducing conversion indicators, based not only on the depletion of energy resources, but also factoring in global warming and respiratory effects/inorganic compounds. Moreover, it seems that the LCA methodology and, specifically, characterisation factors, are refined to such a degree and scientifically proved that it would be possible to use the knowledge with regard to LCA to establish such indicators for energy certification.

Research and Application in Ecological Revetment of the Mountain River

According to the characteristics of the mountain river, we explore new methods of river ecological studies in mountain revetment application. As the existing river training measures based mainly on engineering, it makes the linear shape of the river, the rules section of the river, revetment material hardening of the river. While increasing the river's flood drainage capacity, it destroyed the river's natural ecosystem. This paper presents an ecological revetment method combine chain-typed concrete with sash concrete, achieving better results in the application of Shikui River training works, it not only meets the requirements of flood control embankment, but also reduces soil erosion, while keeping biological diversity, and sustaining use of water resources. It has a good prospect in the maintenance of ecologically sustainable development in the environment engineering construction.

The introductory evaluation of possibility of using waste perlite powder in building polymer composites

The paper deals with possibility of use of waste perlite powder as a microfiller in the building polymer composites. The perlite powder influences the technological properties of the polymer mixes, while the mechanical properties of the hardened composite are not significantly affected. The obtained results confirm the possibility of rational use of the waste material, which is in agreement with the rules of the sustainable development in construction. Till now, 5 % (by mass) of conventional microfiller in the polyester composite have been successfully substituted by perlite powder, which means the utilization of large amounts of this waste, due to its low bulk density (< 100 kg/m3). The authors will attempt to increase the degree of substitution. However, it will require resolving some technological problems involved particularly with the deterioration of the polymer mixes workability by the addition of the perlite powder.

Problems and Countermeasures on Urban Infrastructure Construction of Shenyang

nfrastructure construction is crucial for urban development. Urban infrastructure construction varies with different development stages, city size, and city characteristics. This thesis first introduces three types of infrastructure construction, including their advantages and disadvantages. And then, four main problems are posed based on the current situation of infrastructure construction in Shenyang. After careful analysis and comparison and a reference to the advanced experience at home and abroad, countermeasures are worked out from both temporal and spatial perspectives, to provide a referential basis for the sustainable development of infrastructure construction in Shenyang.

The Study of Rural Human Settlement Environmental Constructing Situation and Countermeasures of Optimizing of Jilin Province

This article sort out and study on rural construction situation during the past five years in Jilin Province, from the energy-saving perspective, analyzed many factors constraints the sustainable development of rural countryside construction in Jilin Province, and give specific recommendations for improvement measures for future implementation of the integration of urban and rural areas of rural living environment construction.

Rational Thinking of Sustainable Development of the New Type of Rural Communities

After elaborating the connotation of construction of the new type of rural communities and their sustainable development, and according to these goals, this paper puts forward persistent requirements about sustainable development of construction of the new type of rural communities, i.e. determining the function orientation, enhancing investment, attentions to scientific rationality of planning and construction; attentions to comprehensive utilization of resources; giving full use of farmers as the main role and promotion of cultural integration in community construction.

Recycled bassanite for enhancing the stability of poor subgrades clay soil in road construction projects

This research investigates the use of recycled bassanite produced from gypsum waste plasterboards to enhance the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and CBR of weak subgrade clay soils used in roads construction. For this purpose, two types of soils which represent weak subgrade soils located at two different sites were used. This research is preliminary investigations of utilizing recycled bassanite in road construction projects. Recycled bassanite was mixed with furnace slag cement with a ratio of 1:1 to prevent the solubility of bassanite when water introduced as bassanite is a soluble material. Four different amounts of this admixture were mixed with the tested soils and then examined for compressive strength, tensile strength, CBR, volume change and capillary rise. Results showed that the use of recycled bassanite resulted in a considerable increase in CBR and compressive strength for the two types of soils used. The addition of recycled bassanite lead to a small improvement in the tensile strength compared to the improvement in compressive strength and CBR. The induced volume change in term of swelling, when stabilized soil samples soaked in water, increases with the increase of bassanite content in soil mixture. While in the case of un-soaked samples, volume change in term of settlement reduces with the increase of bassanite content in soil mixture. The induced volume changes for the different investigated cases in both soaked and un-soaked conditions are insignificant. The unit weight increased and water content decreased with the increase of bassanite content in soil mixture. The amount of bassanite in soil mixture had a significant effect on the reduction of capillary rise in the case of silt soil while it had insignificant effect in the case of clay soil. The use of recycled bassanite enhanced the performance stability of weak clay subgrade soils. The enhanced stability would result in longer service life and smaller thickness sections for road construction. Besides, the environmental and economic benefits associated with the use of wastes in construction, the use of gypsum wastes in road construction is attractive and support sustainable development in construction.

THE PRICE OF COMFORT: HOW LANDSCAPE AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN CAN REDUCE HUMAN DEPENDENCE ON CLIMATE CONTROL

INTRODUCTION In the development of modern sustainable construction there has been a focus on technological solutions. One of the most effective ways to diminish one's carbon footprint is through reducing residential energy consumption. A simple yet overlooked component of residential energy reduction is to better acclimate people to their local environments. Since the advent of engineered climate control in the mid-20th century, the majority of Americans have “forgotten” how to live with their local climate conditions. This study examines from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives how acclimation via landscape and architecture design interventions can reduce residential energy use. Within a variety of climates in California, it conducts a cost-benefit analysis of reducing enclosed residential square footage to quantify the savings in construction and energy costs. These monies could then be spent on ecologically-appropriate outdoor rooms that fulfill the functional and spatial requirements of the...

Sustainable Construction: Challenges, Contribution of Polymers, Research Arena

Sustainable development is one of the leading civilization ideas. This term means such a development that satisfies the present needs without a limitation of the possibility of satisfying the needs in the future. Sustainable development in construction is particularly important, as this branch of the industry is consuming enormous amounts of mass and energy. A new research area has been created by this idea. The new fields of investigation are involved with material, energetic, and environmental conditions, but also with such topics as protection against noise and the methods of the evaluation of the efficiency of waste materials storage. Merging the worlds of cement concrete and concrete-polymer composites opens ways to synergetic effects that support sustainable material development. Implementation of the idea of sustainable development in the construction industry will be a source of scientific and engineering inspiration for many years to come. 1. Sustainable development – a challenge for civilisation The notion of sustainable development aspires to the role of a leading civilisational idea. Sustainable development “implies meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [UN, 1987]. The term is the most frequently found expression in forecasts and similar studies. It follows from philosophical premises and – in Poland – it is a constitutional prerequisite: ”The Republic of Poland shall safeguard the independence and integrity of its territory and ensure the freedoms and rights of persons and citizens, security of citizens, safeguarding of Poland‟s national heritage, and ensure the protection of the natural environment pursuant to the principles of sustainable development.” Therefore, sustainable development constitutes a principle that is to be followed by the Republic of Poland, in turn safeguarding fundamental values. In the Environmental Protection Laws, the definition of sustainable development is expanded further: such socio-economic development, in which – in order to equalise the opportunities to access the environment by individual communities or their members – both of contemporary generations and those still to come – a process of the integration of

Conceptual Maturity Model for Sustainable Construction

The construction industry has contributed substantially to not only the growth of the economy, but also the development of the environment and society. In past decades, an increasing public awareness on the environmental and social growth has promoted the application of sustainable development in construction. The triple bottom line—economy, society, and environment—has been widely recognized as a significant dimension for measuring the performance of sustainability. Although a number of performance indicator systems are available in the current market, few of them have considered soft systems—culture and human aspects—in measuring the performance of sustainable construction. This paper therefore aims to develop a conceptual maturity model for sustainable construction to gain a deeper and richer understanding of the actual practices on sustainable construction. Five key domains are outlined in the proposed model as the metrics with the description and subfactors of each metric. Apart from contributing to increasing competitive advantage, the proposed model can steer the construction community to improve performance in attaining the goals of sustainable construction. Nonetheless, this conceptual maturity model is still at an early development stage, and it is subject to more empirical testing and research for its practicability and further refinement.

A Brief Discussion on Energy-Saving Technology of the Single Residential Building

The energy crisis and environmental degradation bring increasingly apparent threat to human civilization development. As a producer of energy consumption, construction has attracted people's attention. It would advance the building to move in the direction of sustainable development and curb the negative impact of energy consumption on global ecology just by taking action to improve once construction's way and complying with the design concept of energy-saving. By applying a variety of energy-saving technologies on a single residential building design, the paper illustrates the design principles and method of green architecture. We try to use creative and technical means to achieve sustainable development of construction.

Synergies between Polymers and Cement Concrete Providing Opportunities for Sustainable Construction

Synergetic actions between cement and polymer provide performance improvement and a wide range of new and innovative properties and applications. Polymers can reduce the impact of construction industry on environment, by decreasing the carbon footprint of cement production. In such a way construction industry will be able to meet increasing demands of a growing world population. Renovation and restoration, largely figuring in the concept of sustainable construction development, thank their growing share in construction activity to the input of polymers in repair materials and rehabilitation procedures.

The Investigation of the Barriers in Developing Green Building in Malaysia

Green building is the foundation of the sustainable construction development. Construction industry with the high contributes with gross domestic product, has undeniable impacts on the economy. Although Green buildings provide a wide range of benefits for the society, green building development suffers from different kinds of market barriers in developing countries including Malaysia. In order to meet green building development in Malaysia, this study aims to investigate the level of developing green building in the current situation, to find important key players and to identify, and to eliminate the important obstacles to green building development. In this research, the respondents were randomly selected from the professionals of Malaysian construction industry across the country and the method applied for collecting data is questionnaire survey. All the questionnaires were sent out to the respondents manually or through e-mail. A total of 673 sets of questionnaire were sent out and 167 (24.81%) questionnaires were received. The quantitative method was used for analysing data through SPSS version 19. Based on the results, the level of developing green building in Malaysia is not satisfied and government has a key role in the development of green buildings in Malaysia. The main barriers can be listed as: lack of credit resources to cover up front cost, risk of investment, lack of demand as well as higher final price.

Sustainable Construction — An International Comparison of Civil Engineering Students

Sustainable construction in the future will be influenced significantly by the beliefs and actions of civil engineering students studying at university today. A comparative investigation of the appreciation and attitudes regarding sustainable construction of civil engineering students at The NUCE (National University of Civil Engineering) in Vietnam, and the Universities of Loughborough and Liverpool in the UK were therefore conducted. Results indicate that students at all three universities appreciate the importance of the development of sustainable construction and have positive attitudes with regards to sustainability. Construction design and appropriate use of materials were two issues generally considered the most important with regards to sustainability, but were also thought to be adequately covered on the courses in all three institutions.

The perceived value of green professional credentials to credential holders in the US building design and construction community

The popularity of green construction professional credentials has increased dramatically in recent years in the United States and abroad, due in part to the mainstream development of sustainable construction in the building design and construction community. The aim was to compare the perceived value of three broad-spectrum green building professional credentials currently available in the North American construction market: Green Globes Professional, LEED Green Associate and Green Advantage Certified Practitioner. Perceived professional and personal value derived from holding credentials, including but not limited to impacts on compensation, promotion, education, industry recognition and self-confidence, were evaluated for a sample of credential holders using an online survey instrument. Invitations were successfully delivered to 6670 certified and non-certified design and construction professionals. Of those surveyed, 730 responded to the Qualtrics survey. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to detect significant differences between the reported perceptions of different credential holders. The results revealed that Green Globes Professionals and LEED Green Associates agree more strongly than Green Advantage Certified Practitioners that earning their credentials resulted in positive professional and personal impacts. No significant differences between the perceptions of Green Globes Professionals and LEED Green Associates were identified.

Sustainable Development of Engineering Construction in China

The problems, the need for sustainable development, measures and recommendations

A Study on Road Planning in the Process of Socialist Countryside Construction

With the comprehensive implementation of construction of new socialist countryside, a large number of studies and researches relating to new rural construction planning have been emerged. How to build the program of road network with local characteristics, which are based on reality of the situation and adapted to the future development, the author probed into this issue with the example of road planning of Shengying Village, Yaodian Town, Dengzhou City, Henan Province. And the author has worked out a number of road planning experiences for sustainable development of countryside construction.

Sustainable Development & Construction Industry

One of the key policies of many governments the world over is sustainable development in construction. This is due to the fact that the construction industry alone has a tremendous impact in the way the natural environment is affected by human activities whenever construction takes place, the surrounding environment will get affected. Due to this, the emphasis has been placed on sustainable development and both the need and responsibility of citizens and companies alike to do their utmost to reduce or minimize the impact human activities can have on the surrounding environment . The idea of sustainable development grew from numerous environmental movements in earlier decades and was defined in 1987 by the world Commission on Environment movements in earlier decades and was defined in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (BrundtlandCommsission1987) as: This contributed to the understanding that sustainable development encompasses a number of areas and highlights sustainability as the idea of environmental, economic and social progress and equity, all within the limits of the world’s natural resources . In short sustainability means meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Objective of the research are: 1. To critically analyze impact of construction projects 2. To study the doctrine of sustainable development in the light of judicial perspective 3. To frame construction environmental policy

The design strategy of green rural housing of Tibetan areas in Yunnan, China

Abstract In order to improve living environment for the villages in Tibetan areas of Yunnan, this paper takes Shangri-La’s wooden architecture as research objects, analyses the site selection, plane layout, facade design, building materials and fabric detail of traditional rural housing by investigation. The paper also extracts the local inherent eco-technologies, and identifies the shortcomings of rural housing. Aimed at the flawed characteristics of Tibetan building such as the scattered building location, high Shape coefficient, less–story, poor insulation, massive energy consumption and redundant land occupation, this paper researches adaptable design strategies of green rural housing which is suitable to local condition, so as to boost the sustainable development of rural construction of Tibetan areas in Yunnan.