Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Information Management And Bim Standards And Supports Inventory, Ryan Dempsey, Barry Mcauley, David Burke

Tools

The Digital Standards pillar consists of industry experts who champion the benefits of common rules, guidelines, and workflows that facilitate the improvement of information flow and information management across asset life cycles. Digital standards provide a common language that can be translated to technical specifications enabling clients, designers, contractors, and facilities managers, irrespective of their preferred tools, to communicate efficiently and reduce cost, rework, and disputes. Working closely with the Digital Procurement and Digital Education and Training pillars, this pillar is developing and delivering Irish Information Management/BIM (Digital Construction) guidelines for the sector.

This report summarises existing digital construction standards, …

Analysis Of Factors Affecting Construction And Demolition Waste Reduction In Egypt, Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman, Ahmed Osama Daoud, Obas John Ebohon, Ali Bayyati

Architectural Engineering

Construction projects are associated with construction and demolition waste (CDW) generated at different stages. In Egypt’s case, the CDW problem has become a significant challenge, and the need to find sustainable solutions is overwhelming. Based on recent investigations in the literature, it was found that six main factors are affecting CDW reduction (CDWR) as follows: (1) waste-efficient materials procurement measures; (2) waste-efficient materials procurement models; (3) green materials procurement approach; (4) legislation; (5) culture & behaviour; and (6) awareness. In this study, a representative sample of Egyptian construction firms was screened to (1) investigate the applicability and effectiveness of CDWR …

Residential Building Flood Risk Assessment And The Benefits Of Home Elevation, Ayat Al Assi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Evaluating flood risk is an essential component of understanding and increasing community resilience. A robust approach for quantifying flood risk in terms of average annual loss (AAL) in dollars is needed to provide valuable information for stakeholder decision-making inside and outside the special flood hazard area (SFHA, which corresponds to the 100-year floodplain). To further inform flood mitigation strategies, quantifying flood risk reduction with home elevation above an initial first-floor height (FFH₀) and the cost effectiveness of federal mitigation assistance for elevation are important steps to enhance awareness of the effect of elevation in reducing flood risk. …

Recent Developments In Timber Design & Its Impact On Carbon Emissions, Raquel Jackson

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper explores recent developments in timber building designs and its potential towards reducing carbon emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions are a growing issue worldwide as urbanization and industrialization continues to increase. The rising concentration of carbon dioxide emissions pose significant concerns towards public welfare and environmental health. Despite current methods to reduce greenhouse gasses, carbon emissions remain difficult to reduce from steel and concrete industries. Increasing timber use in building design is a possible solution. Increasing more timber in building design can help reduce carbon emissions due to the carbon-absorbing properties of the construction material. Timber as a construction material …

Using Bim To Increase The Efficiency Of Energy-Driven Retrofitting Projects, Anne Grego, Shannon Chance, Barry Mcauley

Conference Papers

The building sector is responsible for nearly 40% of global energy consumption. Many existing buildings have poor thermal insulation and low energy performance, hindering sustainability goals. Energy-driven building retrofitting could address this issue and implementing Building Information Modelling (BIM) in retrofitting can reduce process time, costs, and waste associated with such undertakings. Yet, there is a lack of research and insufficient guidance for implementing BIM in energy-driven retrofitting. A BIM framework is presented to enhance decision-making processes during retrofitting. The aims of this study were to (1) identify BIM technologies and methodologies that could address existing barriers and improve efficiency …

Integrating Steel Slag Aggregates Into Asphalt Paving By Harmonizing Availability, Quality, Economics, And The Environment, Timothy R. Murphy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides guidance on how to balance matters related to the environmental stewardship, market sources, origin and uses, material properties, performance, and economic impact of using slag materials in pavements. The literature on this topic provides numerous references on the use of slag materials for specific applications, and this thesis aims to make use of those references along with other data from the author to describe slag materials from a holistic perspective and provide some suggestions for balancing several factors that impact optimal use of this resource within pavement structures. Discussion is given to the increased importance of recycling …

Behavior Analysis Of Cement Concrete With Combination Of Waste Rubber And Glass, Abdulaziz Alebra

Symposium of Student Scholars

Glass and Rubber waste materials are valuable materials to use rather than throw which we have more than enough to use and recycle. Recycled glass and rubber materials can reduce and help major climate issues in our times based on the statistics reducing glass can bring down air pollution by 20% and also reduce water pollution by 50% as well as can reduce the use of landfill space. A laboratory study will be launched, and tests will be conducted following the ASTM standards, ASTM C143 for a concrete slump, and ASTM C31 for making and curing concrete specimens. Samples of …

Additive Manufacturing Of Engineered Cementitious Composites With Ultra-High Tensile Ductility, Amir Bakhshi

Civil Engineering ETDs

One of the critical factors in the development of additive manufacturing in the construction industry is designing suitable materials for 3D printing applications. 3D concrete printing (3DCP) has gained significant attention due to the abundance and availability of concrete. However, concrete is a brittle material and, without proper reinforcement, cannot meet the requirements for structural purposes. Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC), known for high ductility, and strain-hardening with low fiber contents, can potentially eliminate the need for steel reinforcement in 3D printing without any need for manual placement of reinforcement. A set of systematic tests on ECC mix designs' fresh and …

Virtual Accident Curb Risk Habituation In Workers By Restoring Sensory Responses To Real-World Warning, Namgyun Kim, Laurent Grégoire, Moein Razavi, Niya Yan, Changbum R. Ahn, Brian A. Anderson

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Faculty Publications

In high-risk work environments, workers become habituated to hazards they frequently encounter, subsequently underestimating risk and engaging in unsafe behaviors. This phenomenon has been termed "risk habituation"and identified as a vital root cause of fatalities and injuries at workplaces. Providing an effective intervention that curbs workers' risk habituation is critical in preventing occupa-tional injuries and fatalities. However, there exists no empirically supported intervention for curbing risk habituation. To this end, here we investigated how experiencing an accident in a virtual reality (VR) environment affects workers' risk habituation toward repeatedly exposed workplace hazards. We examined an underlying mechanism of risk habituation …

Survey Data: Optimising Retrofitted Insulation For Irish Residential Building Walls, Rakshit D. Muddu, Aimee Byrne, Anthony Robinson Dr.

Datasets

A survey was conducted to determine the preferred set point temperature and heating pattern among Irish households. The survey was sent to 237 people living across Ireland, out of which 32 respondents skipped the survey and 9 surveys were found to be incomplete. Amongst the counties in Ireland 71.1% respondents were from Dublin, 6.34% from Kildare, 5% from Meath, 5% from Wicklow and in all the remaining counties response rate was below 2%. Part 1: This section of the survey recorded information regarding characteristics of the building such as house type, wall type, insulation type, period the house was built. …

Hdd Dataset: Optimising Retrofitted Insulation For Irish Residential Building Walls, Rakshit D. Muddu, Aimee Byrne, Anthony James Robinson

Datasets

In this study, a thermal-economic analysis was conducted to determine the optimum insulation thickness of retrofitted insulation walls in different regions in Ireland. This was based on the Heating Degree Day method (HDD). This dataset contains optimum insulation thickness, payback period, cost savings and carbon emission for all 25 counties in the Republic of Ireland

Reduction Of Embodied Carbon In Buildings Through Use Of Low Carbon Strategies And Standardization And Enforcement Of Life Cycle Assessment, Bhargavi Sai Sudhakar

Master's Projects and Capstones

The building and construction industry is energy intensive and as of 2021, this industry is responsible for 37% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. In previous studies of conventional buildings, the operational energy of a building contributed to 80% and the embodied energy contributed to 20% of the total life cycle energy. With increase in policies and standards that focus on reducing the operational energy, low energy and certified green buildings have emerged where the operational energy has considerably reduced. The relative and absolute share of embodied energy in these energy efficient buildings have increased due to excessive use …

The Living Breakwaters Pdr Efforts Econcrete Resource Analysis, Guianina Ferrari, Shervon Stephens, Calvin O. Walters Jr.

Publications and Research

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy impacted 443,000 people and caused nearly $19 billion (about $58 per person in the US) worth of damage within New York City. As part of the New York City infrastructure reparation plan, the Living Breakwaters project in Tottenville addressed coastal resilience, allocating $100M of public funds to a series of artificial breakwaters by the southwest coast of Staten Island. Each breakwater is constructed and designed to mitigate water flow in storm events. ECOncrete, a primary element of the breakwater, is a specialty cast cementitious product that is marine organism-friendly that encourages biocalcification and photosynthesis. …

Data-Driven Analysis For Facility Management In Higher Education Institution, Ashish Kumar Pampana, Jungho Jeon, Soojin Yoon, Theodore J. Weidner, Makarand Hastak

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Faculty Publications

Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) and Unplanned Maintenance (UPM) are the most common types of facility maintenance. This paper analyzes current trends and status of Facility Management (FM) practice at higher education institutions by proposing a systematic data-driven methodology using Natural Language Process (NLP) approaches, statistical analysis, risk-profile analysis, and outlier analysis. This study utilizes a descriptive database entitled "Facility Management Unified Classification Database (FMUCD)" to conduct the systematic data-driven analyses. The 5-year data from 2015 to 2019 was collected from eight universities in North America. A preprocessing step included but was not limited to identifying common data attributes, cleaning noisy …

Investigation Of Mechanical Properties Of Recycled Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites Reinforcing Cement, Caleb Mull, Fnu Archie, Harry Lee, Guyuan Zhang

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

The usage of fiber-reinforced polymer composites in various fields has increased significantly due to their advantageous physical and mechanical properties. However, the sustainability of composite parts has not been fully solved for a long time. Most end-of-life (EOL) composite parts have been landfilled without recycling due to the recycling cost and lack of application of recycled composites. Mechanical composite recycling that shred the EOL composite part and reuse it for downgraded applications is one of the most commonly used recycling processes for the EOL composite part. In this research, mechanical composite recycling process was demonstrated for the construction application. The …

Optimising Existing Digital Workflow For Structural Engineering Organisations Through The Partnering Of Bim And Lean Processes, John Mclaughlin, Barry Mcauley

Conference Papers

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is now seen as one of the leading transformative processes within the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector and has the potential to assist in streamlining the structural design process. However, its practical implementation can often add another layer to the existing workflow and can result, to its detriment, in the primary objective of optimising structural workflows being hindered. This can lead to structural organisations producing 3D models in tandem with traditional drawings, a lack of human intervention regarding software interoperability, and a reluctance to move away from conventional work methods. This paper will explore how …

Evaluation Of Flood Damage On Cross Laminated Timber Wall Configurations, Mustafa Nezih Kaya

Theses and Dissertations

Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the critical factors that affect climate change, increasing flooding risk and threatening human life. The use of traditional construction materials is responsible for a higher percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions when compared to the use of sustainable materials in the construction industry. The substitution of current building materials with sustainable materials is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and positively influence climate change when the current construction demand in the world is considered. Wood is one of the primary environmentally friendly construction materials in regard to high carbon storage and low carbon emissions. …

The Living Breakwaters Pdr Efforts: Conceptual Scheduling, Calvin O. Walters Jr.

Publications and Research

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy caused nearly $19 billion in damages in New York City including 69,000 residential units across the five boroughs. This disaster precipitated a post-disaster-rebuilding (PDR) project including roughly $4.2 billion in a Community Development Block Grant allocated towards PDR projects. A portion of the grant was used to construct a living breakwater in Tottenville, Staten Island, consisting of a resiliency approach to risk reduction through erosion prevention, wave energy attenuation, and enhancement of ecosystems and social resiliency to improve resistance to storms for the community of Tottenville. The ridges of each breakwater are designed with …

Sustainability In Construction Practices As Emphasis On Environmental Investing In Esg Model Grows, Maddie Heal

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to emphasize the importance of growing investment on environmental initiatives in business ESG models in regard to sustainable practices in construction. The ESG acronym is known as the environmental, social, and governance efforts that businesses strive to incorporate in their models to increase the responsibility of operations.

Investors continue to seek out responsible businesses when choosing which ventures to pursue. The analysis of the current construction crisis, current investments in the right direction of Eco-friendly design regarding construction, and the threats and benefits incentivizing those investments elucidates the need to emphasize socially responsible investment …

Mathematical Modeling And Optimization Of Water Efficiency In Residential Buildings, Mahmoud Amin

Theses and Dissertations

Water scarcity is a global issue that is rapidly worsening. The domestic sector is one of the fastest-growing segments of world water usage. Many researchers have explored various approaches to promote sustainable uses of water, with Greywater (GW) recycling and utilization of innovative plumbing fixtures among the methods presented to reduce freshwater consumption for domestic usage. Nonetheless, previous studies have dealt with both means independently, with limited analysis of the integrated effect of utilizing GW recycling with innovative plumbing fixtures, both on quality of supplied water, as well as on cost of the integrated system. Accordingly, this research aims at …

Causes Influencing Construction Waste Generation During The Design Process: An Analytical Study, Aya Saad, Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman

Architectural Engineering

Despite the social and economic contributions of the construction industry towards achieving sustainable development objectives, it has an adverse effect on the environment such as the generation of waste, water, and energy consumption. Construction waste (CW) is the loss of materials that are produced during or after the construction process and has no remaining value. Several countries promote waste elimination plans at early stages to reduce CW at its source. The Egyptian government is expanding its investments in new mega projects and infrastructure facilities like new administrative capital, bridges, roads, energy projects which resulted in increasing the rate and amount …

Arise (Certcoin)- Inspiring Demand For Sustainable Energy Skills, Barry Mcauley, Paul Mccormack, Andrew Hamilton, Eduardo Rebelo

Conference papers

The European AEC Sector now faces impending challenges over the next decade concerning escalating climate targets. To reach these targets, it vital that the green economy deliver a better-skilled workforce and develops new competencies and methods of working. Training in the domain of digital construction technologies and processes, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), are now seen as essential upskilling vehicles that must be embraced if the sector is to transition towards a greener agenda. To assist in meeting these training needs a selection of partners from the BIM EPA will partake in the Horizon 2020 ARISE project, aiming to …

An Exploration Of Lean And Bim Synergies With A Focus On Smes In Construction, Barry Mcauley, Marina Andreou, Alan V. Hore, Avril Behan

Conference papers

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) account for 99.7% of the Irish Construction Industry and contribute to 68% of all employment in the sector. These organisations now find themselves facing the challenge of returning to productive business post the Covid 19 shutdown. More than ever, SMEs must modernise and adapt their business models to embrace new ways of working, such as Lean Construction and Building Information Modelling (BIM), in the absence of clear business incentives. It has proved difficult to persuade SMEs to change their ways of working due to limited finances, internal resources and above all, the cultural shift required …

Digital Construction And Bim Research In Ireland 2016-2020, Barry Mcauley, Roger P. West, Alan V. Hore

Conference papers

As the construction industry opens up post pandemic, new and significant challenges will demand considerable expertise, not least in financial viability, solving the housing crisis and facing the very significant climate change pressures to make the industry less wasteful and less carbon intensive. This presents an excellent opportunity to further inculcate aspects of lean construction, particularly BIM into many aspects of construction not traditionally associated with digital construction, provided the necessary expertise is available and known to exist. Following a well-received recent conference paper summarising BIM-related research published by academics in Ireland’s higher education institutions in 2020, this paper will …

An Enhanced Framework To Compute Road User Costs Associated With Construction Zones, Jeremiah Adebiyi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The monetary quantification of inconveniences caused to the road users by ongoing construction activities is known as the Road Users Costs (RUCs). While the importance of RUCs is widely known, some highway agencies lack an appropriate methodology to compute RUCs. Thus, there is a need to develop a framework to compute RUCs that can be adopted quickly by highway agencies. This study reviewed existing literature and conducted a nationwide survey to identify and summarize the current practices of computing RUCs. It developed an enhanced framework and tool to compute RUCs that balances the effort required to calculate RUCs and the …

‘Serene Classroom’ Minimizes Noise For More Conducive Learning, Zaiton Haron, Khairulzan Yahya, Nadirah Darus, Rafidah Mohd Yussup, Abdullah Zawawi Awang, Norelyza Hussien, Ain Naadia Mazlan, Rozana Zakaria, Mohammad Ismail, Noramera Nabila Amir Nizam, Ahmad Syakir Farhan A Kassim, Nur Syalyana Malek, Rifa Rafida Rifki, Helmi Kamaludin, Syamsul Hafiz Yaakob, Zaliza Haron, Sheikh Izat Azhar Sheikh Ahmad

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

Noise pollution can be categorized as a danger in silence. In school, noise pollution inhibits the focus of learning, impairs learning and cognitive development, for example, students' skills to think and understand both oral and written comprehension may be hampered by noise. Many schools in Malaysia experience excessive noise pollution as their locations are very near busy roads. This will be one factor that hinders the implementation of the education system in producing holistic students in order to prepare for the 4IR era. Knowing the importance of this problem, a group of researchers from UTM GREENPrompt, School of Civil Engineering, …

Properties Of Concrete Containing Crushed Limestone As Total Replacement Of Natural Sand And Recycled Engine Oil, Mohammad El Bast M. El Bast, Jamal Khatib, Oussama Baalbaki, Adel Elkordi

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

The rapid growth in the construction industry at the global level has made concrete the most widely used construction material throughout the world. Accordingly, the consumption of natural sand which is one the main raw material constituent of concrete is continuously growing. The demand for river sand is highly increasing due to its scarcity in the market. Manufactured sand produced by crushed rock is being considered as an appropriate alternative to replace river sand in concrete. In recent years, there is a growing interest in the use of crushed sand obtained from limestone quarries in some countries where river sand …

Assessment Of Carbon Dioxide Emission And Its Impact On High-Rise Mixed-Use Buildings In Egypt, Ahmed Salah Hamza

Theses and Dissertations

With Egypt's vision of 2030 focusing on sustainable development with a true emphasis on Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emission reduction in the newly built cities and high-rise buildings, efforts are exerted on various levels towards accomplishing the vision’s goals. This is achieved through multiple tools and models associated with aiding the reduction of carbon emissions, yet not a clear one was introduced for the mixed-use buildings in Egypt.

Through this work, a significant gap was identified with respect to high-rise buildings carbon emission assessment in Egypt. This was a main driving force for this work in an attempt to …

Error Prevention In Sensors And Sensor Systems, Pedro J. Chacon Dominguez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Achievements in all fields of engineering and fabrication methods have led towards optimization and integration of multiple sensing devices into a concise system. These advances have caused significant innovation in various commercial, industrial, and research efforts. Integrations of subsystems have important applications for sensor systems in particular. The need for reporting and real time awareness of a device’s condition and surroundings have led to sensor systems being implemented in a wide variety of fields. From environmental sensors for agriculture, to object characterization and biomedical sensing, the application for sensor systems has impacted all modern facets of innovation. With these innovations, …

Exploration Of The Sludge Biodiesel Pathway, Zachary Christman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wastewater sludge is an overlooked source of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) that could be converted into biodiesel. The United States produces about 8 million tons of sludge per year. The disposal cost for this amount of sludge is about 2 billion US dollars. The widespread availability and low cost of sludge compared to other biodiesel raw materials make it an economical choice for a renewable fuel. Using sludge as a raw material can produce 25 to 30 mg per gram of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME); the main component of biodiesel. Sludge biodiesel has the potential of transforming a …