Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

An Integral Framework For Sustainable Building Design, Bushra Asfari

Masters Theses

Selection of materials for building design is a delicate process hinged of a number of factors which can be cost or environmental related, depending on the objectives of the design. This process becomes more difficult when designers are faced with several material options for each building component. This thesis presents the design and development of a framework that enables designers understand the trade-off between cost and environmental related factors when selecting materials for building design. The framework is based on the integration of Autodesk Revit, Microsoft access, and modeling modified Harmony search multi-objective optimization tool adapted to account for material …

Green Infrastructure, Sarah M. Mccormack, Roy E. Sturgill, Brian Howell, Christopher W. Van Dyke, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The transportation industry has increasingly recognized the vital role sustainability serves in promoting and protecting the transportation infrastructure of the nation. Many state Departments of Transportation have correspondingly increased efforts to incorporate concepts of sustainability into the planning, design, and construction phases of projects and congruently adopted sustainability measures into their internal standard policies and procedures. Sustainably constructed highways foster economic development, promote stewardship of the environment, and solicit citizen involvement for an integrated, comprehensive approach to project planning. As part of an effort to understand the extent to which sustainable design and construction principles are being used, this report …

Durability Studies On Native Soil-Based Controlled Low Strength Materials, Bhaskar Chittoori

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Integrated Pipeline Project (IPL) is a collaborative effort between the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) and Dallas Water Utilities (DWU), which bring additional water supplies to the Dallas / Fort Worth area. As part of a sustainability initiative, several studies were conducted to assess the reuse potential of excavated materials along the IPL project. One of these studies involved using the excavated material as an ingredient in Controlled Low Strength Material, often known as CLSM or flowable fill. This flowable fill can be used as bedding and haunch material in pipeline construction. These CLSMs meet the specifications in the …

Agenda: Natural Resource Industries And The Sustainability Challenge, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, University Of Colorado Boulder. The Colorado Law Energy Innovation Initiative

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

"An International Conference hosted by The Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment and The Colorado Law Energy Innovation Initiative."

For more than two decades, sustainability has gained currency as a broad organizing principle for efforts to develop and use energy, natural resources, and the environment in ways that allow society to meet its needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. More recently, sustainability has been embraced by businesses across multiple sectors as part of a broader movement of corporate social responsibility. Hardly a day goes by without news of another corporate initiative …

Slides: Comments Of Jeff Bingaman, Jeff Bingaman

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: Jeff Bingaman, former Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and U.S. Senator from New Mexico

6 slides

Development Of A Chemical Kinetic Model For The Combustion Of A Synthesis Gas From A Fluidized-Bed Sewage Sludge Gasifier In A Thermal Oxidizer, Luis Martinez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The need for sustainability has been on the rise. Municipalities are finding ways of reducing waste, but also finding ways to reduce energy costs. Waste-to-energy is a sustainable method that may reduce bio-solids volume while also producing energy. In this research study bio-solids enters a bubbling bed gasifier and within the gasifier a synthesis gas is produced. This synthesis gas exits through the top of the gasifier and enters a thermal oxidizer for combustion. The thermal oxidizer has an innovative method of oxidizing the synthesis gas. The thermal oxidizer has two air injection sites and the possibility for aqueous ammonia …

Laboratory Evaluation Of Asphalt Mixtures And Binders With Reclaimed Asphalt Shingle Prepared Using The Wet Process, Alejandro Jose Alvergue

LSU Master's Theses

The objective of this study is to conduct a laboratory evaluation of asphalt mixtures and binders containing RAS prepared using the newly-developed wet process. In the proposed wet process, RAS material is blended with the binder at high temperature prior to mixing with the aggregates. The proposed wet process offers the potential to better control the Superpave Performance Grade (PG) of the binder blend, to stimulate chemical and physical interactions taking place in the blend between asphalt binder in shingles and virgin asphalt binder in the mix, and to reduce maintenance issues at the plant due to the high content …

A Sustainable Remediation Approach For Complete Destruction Of Chloroethanes In Groundwater, Michael Joseph Cheatham

LSU Master's Theses

An up-flow column study was operated in a greenhouse composed of a sand/peat mixed media to investigate the effectiveness of an aerobic zone on the disappearances of chloroethane. The oxygen was supplied by mean of porous Silastic tubing under pressure with a breathing air gas cylinder. Chloroethane was generated via reductive dechlorination of 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA) and 1,1-dichloroethane (DCA) in anaerobic bioreactors (ABRs). The columns study was conducted with two duplicate reactors (operated in parallel) that underwent separate perturbations of breathing air introduction. Aqueous samples were collected in 160 mL microcosm bottles and analyzed on a GC equipped with a Flame …

Integrated Sustainability Decision-Making Framework, Michael Paul Cole

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Integrated Sustainability Decision-Making Framework (ISDMF) is an 'ideal case' framework developed at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) from 2012 to present to provide the most comprehensive and concise sustainability strategy and decision-making template available.

Sustainable decision-making improves community Quality of Life, but is often beyond the reach of the majority. A framework that is most approachable, actionable, and adoptable can accelerate convergence on and continued operation of a sustainable solution. Research confirms that published frameworks continuously emerge, and are infinite in number. Iterations benefit from prior work, and contribution occurs when an 'ideal case' is envisioned, best …

Phytotechnologies - Preventing Exposures, Improving Public Health, Heather F. Henry, Joel Gerard Burken, Raina M. Maier, Lee A. Newman, Steven Rock, Jerald L. Schnoor, William A. Suk

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Phytotechnologies Have Potential to Reduce the Amount or Toxicity of Deleterious Chemicals and Agents, and Thereby, Can Reduce Human Exposures to Hazardous Substances. as Such, Phytotechnologies Are Tools for Primary Prevention in Public Health. Recent Research Demonstrates Phytotechnologies Can Be Uniquely Tailored for Effective Exposure Prevention in a Variety of Applications. in Addition to Exposure Prevention, Plants Can Be Used as Sensors to Identify Environmental Contamination and Potential Exposures. in This Paper, We Have Presented Applications and Research Developments in a Framework to Illustrate How Phytotechnologies Can Meet Basic Public Health Needs for Access to Clean Water, Air, and Food. …

An Experiment In Sustainability: The Olympic Transportation Plan Of Beijing, China, Gregory Macfarlane, Dr. G Grant Schultz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper reports on transportation planning and engineering research sponsored by the Office of Research and Creative Activities (ORCA) at Brigham Young University (BYU). The subject of this research is the Transportation Plan for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, specifically the sustainable development strategies employed in this plan. Using foreign investment and expertise, Beijing used the Olympics to meet its current transportation needs as well as prepare for future economic expansion.

Sustainability Assessment Of Wind Energy For Buildings, Mehdi Noori

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to increasing concerns for global climate change, onshore and offshore wind energy technologies have stimulated a tremendous interest worldwide, and are considered as a viable solution to mitigate the environmental impacts related to electricity generation. Although wind energy technologies have been considered as one of the cleanest energy sources, they have a wide range of direct and indirect environmental impacts when the whole supply chain is considered. This study aims to quantify the direct and indirect environmental impacts of onshore and offshore wind power technologies by tracing all of the economy-wide supply chain requirements. To accomplish this goal, we …

Simulating Land Use Land Cover Change Using Data Mining And Machine Learning Algorithms, Amin Tayyebi

Open Access Dissertations

The objectives of this dissertation are to: (1) review the breadth and depth of land use land cover (LUCC) issues that are being addressed by the land change science community by discussing how an existing model, Purdue's Land Transformation Model (LTM), has been used to better understand these very important issues; (2) summarize the current state-of-the-art in LUCC modeling in an attempt to provide a context for the advances in LUCC modeling presented here; (3) use a variety of statistical, data mining and machine learning algorithms to model single LUCC transitions in diverse regions of the world (e.g. United States …

A Systems Approach To Sustainable Energy Portfolio Development, Saeed Hadian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adequate energy supply has become one of the vital components of human development and economic growth of nations. In fact, major components of the global economy such as transportation services, communications, industrial processes, and construction activities are dependent on adequate energy resources. Even mining and extraction of energy resources, including harnessing the forces of nature to produce energy, are dependent on accessibility of sufficient energy in the appropriate form at the desired location. Therefore, energy resource planning and management to provide appropriate energy in terms of both quantity and quality has become a priority at the global level. The increasing …

Photocatalytic Degradation Of Nox By Concrete Pavement Containing Tio₂, Joel K. Sikkema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Emissions from motor vehicles cause the concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOX) in the immediate vicinity of highways to be 30-100% higher than background concentrations. Photocatalytic pavements have been proposed to address this localized pollution problem. Bench-scale evaluation of environmental variables confirmed that nitric oxide (NO) oxidation rate positively correlated with influent NO concentration and irradiance and negatively correlated with relative humidity. However, comparison of the slope of these correlations found significant differences between this study and other published work. Slab water loss, a variable not investigated in prior work, positively correlated with NO oxidation rate at water losses of 0-2% …

Estimation Of Performance Indices For The Planning Of Sustainable Transportation Systems, Alexander Paz, Pankaj Maheshwari, Pushkin Kachroo, Sajjad Ahmad

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

In the context of sustainable transportation systems, previous studies have either focused only on the transportation system or have not used a methodology that enables the treatment of incomplete, vague, and qualitative information associated with the available data. This study proposes a system of systems (SOS) and a fuzzy logic modeling approach. The SOS includes the Transportation, Activity, and Environment systems. The fuzzy logic modeling approach enables the treatment of the vagueness associated with some of the relevant data. Performance Indices (PIs) are computed for each system using a number of performance measures. The PIs illustrate the aggregated performance of …

Durability Of Reinforced Concrete Incorporating Crushed Waste Brick As Coarse Aggregate, Matthew Adamson

All Theses

Using crushed bricks as aggregates in concrete is of particular interest to preserve natural aggregate sources as well as to reduce waste, as it has been estimated that 10% to 30% of all waste in landfills in the united States comes from construction and demolition wastes. By recycling some of these wastes, the sustainability of a project can be improved. However, it is important concrete incorporating these wastes is as durable or more durable then conventional concrete, or will it have a shorter service life. Durability of concrete is its ability to resist deterioration from its external environment such as …

The Impact Of Advanced Wastewater Treatment Technologies And Wastewater Strength On The Energy Consumption Of Large Wastewater Treatment Plants, Timothy Stephen Newell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Wastewater treatment is an energy intensive process often requiring the use of advanced treatment technologies. Stricter effluent standards have resulted in an increase in the number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with advanced treatment over time. Accordingly, associated energy consumption has also increased. Concerns about lowering operating costs for WWTPs and reducing associated greenhouse gas generation present an incentive to investigate energy use in WWTPs. This research investigated the impact of wastewater strength and the introduction of advanced treatment technologies, to replace traditional technologies on energy use to treat wastewater in WWTPs. Major unit processes were designed for a 100 …

Slides: Routes To Sustainability: Natural Gas Development And Air And Water Resources In The Rocky Mountain Region, Mark Williams

Monitoring and Protecting Groundwater During Oil and Gas Development (November 26)

Presenter: Mark Williams, University of Colorado Boulder

14 slides

Slides: Sources Of Electrical Energy For Those Who Are Remote And Poor, Frank Barnes

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Frank Barnes, Distinguished Professor, Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, University of Colorado

24 slides

Use Of Building Information Modelling In Responding To Low Carbon Construction Innovations: An Irish Perspective., Barry Mcauley, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

At present the Irish construction industry is facing one of its most uncertain and challenging periods and will see major cuts in all areas of the economy in 2012. Despite this, Ireland pushes forward in sustainability initiatives with the Government ruling that environmentally-friendly policies are to get priority in competing for State contracts worth up to €16 billion a year. This and further initiatives are in place, so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20% by the year 2020.By the end of 2018 the public sector must own or rent only buildings with high energy-saving standards and …

Implementing Building Information Modeling In Public Works Projects In Ireland, Barry Mcauley, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

The Irish State in recent years has suffered huge financial losses in the public works sector, which has now pushed the Irish Government to explore new ways of controlling cost. This background lead to the introduction of the Capital Works Management Framework in 2007 which aimed to support the certainty of outcome in terms of cost and quality, as well as improved risk management, through the implementation of fixed price contracts. In order to successfully compete within this framework it is recommended by the authors, that Irish Government moves towards the legal mandating of BIM. This can ensure a greater …

High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete For Sustainable Construction, Jeffery S. Volz

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

With worldwide production of fly ash approaching 800 million tons annually, increasing the amount of fly ash used in concrete will remove more material from the solid waste stream and reduce the amount ending up in landfills. However, most specifications limit the amount of cement replacement with fly ash to less than 25 or 30%. Concrete with fly ash replacement levels of at least 50% - referred to as high-volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete - offers a potential green solution. the following study investigated the structural performance of HVFA concrete compared to conventional Portland-cement concrete. Specifically, the research examined both …

Legal Issues In Green Construction, Namrata Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The most recent "green construction movement", made a significant impact on the design and construction industry in the United States. Organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) have lobbied governmental entities to provide financial incentives to promote green construction. The green construction community also promotes the notion that a healthier working and living environment is achieved. Due to finical incentives coupled with projected long-term energy cost savings, many owners of new construction are considering green construction as an option. Accompanying the "green construction movement", new kinds of legal issues, particularly relating to green aspects such as certification, energy …

Rainwater Harvesting Storage Methods And Self Supply In Uganda, Jonathan Peter Blanchard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self supply is an emerging approach to water supply which focuses on fostering household investment in incremental improvements to their water sources. When successful, it can lower costs and increase sustainability by offering users a larger share

of ownership in their own supply, and harnessing the already existing strengths of a community rather than trying to impose an external perspective. In addition to well upgrading and source protection, one of the key self supply areas is rainwater harvesting.

Uganda has a diverse selection of rainwater storage options, but many of them are scattered and disparate.

The objective of this study …

Agenda: Drawing The Blueprint For A Sustainable Natural Gas Future, University Of Colorado At Denver. Wirth Chair In Environmental And Community Development Policy, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center. Intermountain Oil And Gas Bmp Project

Drawing the Blueprint for a Sustainable Natural Gas Future (January 18)

A stakeholder-led forum discussing the key topics affecting natural gas as a safe and sustainable energy resource. Participants learned about the current research and related resources at Colorado’s three research universities and participated in designing future research needs.

Use Of Building Information Modelling In Responding To Low Carbon Construction Innovations: An Irish Perspective, Alan V. Hore

Conference papers

At present the Irish construction industry is facing one of its most uncertain and challenging periods and will see major cuts in all areas of the economy in 2012. Despite this, Ireland pushes forward in sustainability initiatives with the Government ruling that environmentally-friendly policies are to get priority in competing for State contracts worth up to €16 billion a year. This and further initiatives are in place, so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20% by the year 2020. By the end of 2018 the public sector must own or rent only buildings with high energy-saving standards …

Led Traffic Signal Replacement Schedules: Facilitating Smooth Freight Flows, Suzanna Long Ph.D., Ruwen Qin Ph.D., Abhijit Gosavi Ph.D., C. H. Wu Ph.D, Tom Ryan P.E., Casey Noll

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This research details a field study of LED traffic signals in Missouri and develops a replacement schedule based on key findings. Rates of degradation were statistically analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results of this research will provide a methodology for engineering managers in state departments of transportation and local communities in identifying best practices and replacement standards for LED traffic signal technology. These findings will facilitate smooth freight flows through the use of more efficient technologies

Recycling Concrete For Sustainable Construction, Joseph M. Dardis

ETD Archive

The demolition of concrete structures has made concrete debris the largest portion of the waste stream in the U.S. With landfills becoming scarcer, the need to recycle demolition debris is becoming increasingly relevant. An effective way to recycle this material is to produce recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and use this material in the reconstruction of buildings and roads. Producing and re-using RCA will reduce landfill waste and save energy by minimizing the production and transport of natural aggregates. The focus of this thesis is to quantify how much energy can be saved by producing and re-using RCA instead of landfilling …

Life Cycle Cost Analysis Under Ireland's Capital Works Management Framework, Dermot Kehily, Alan Hore

Conference papers

The Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF) is a structure that has been developed to deliver the Irish government’s objectives in relation to public sector construction procurement reform. This research provides practical guidance and assistance for construction cost professionals in carrying out Whole Life Cycle Cost Analysis (WLCCA) and producing Life Cycle Cost Models(LCCMs) under the CWMF. The research outlines how LCCA calculations can be carried out for cost planning purposes and recommends a standard methodology for presenting LCCMs under the CWMF. The CWMF states that Whole Life Costs (WLC) are an important consideration throughout the design process and should be …