Development in Changing Climate

April 10th, 2009

The physical impacts of climate change—such as sea-level rise, worsening hurricanes, and droughts—threaten the livelihoods and safety of millions of people in the developing world. To reduce their vulnerability to these impacts, all countries will need to adapt strategically to changing environmental conditions.

Look an example: With a one-meter rise in sea level—now considered possible within our lifetimes—Egypt, already struggling with rising food prices, could lose 13 percent of its agricultural land. Vietnam could lose 28 percent of the wetlands that currently buffer coastal cities from storms and sustain the fisheries.

Global warming is another issue which is being caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide that are released into the atmosphere, primarily by burning fossil fuels and by deforestation. Global GHG emissions must be reduced in order to mitigate further warming.

Many scientists say global temperatures should not be allowed to rise by more than 2 to 2.5ºC above pre-industrial levels to prevent catastrophic harm to people through channels such as health, agricultural productivity, and ecosystem services. However, without dramatic cuts in global emissions, the world is heading toward a rise of as much as 11ºC this century.

At the same time, the primary concern of developing countries remains economic growth and poverty reduction.

The developing world is on track to achieve the first MDG to halve the poverty rate from its 1990 levels by 2015. But nearly a quarter of the world’s people – 1.6 billion – don’t have access to electricity and one in six people don’t have access to clean water. Large inequalities remain within countries: in developing countries, a poor child is typically twice or even three times as likely to die before reaching adulthood, compared to a child from a wealthy family.

WDR 2010: APPROACH AND OBJECTIVES

Looking at both the challenges and the opportunities presented by climate change, the WDR 2010 will tackle three questions:

1. What does climate change mean for development?
2. What does development mean for climate change?
3. What does all this mean for policy?

Climate change is one of many challenges facing developing countries – but unless it is tackled soon, it will reverse development gains. Developing countries simply cannot afford to ignore climate change; nor can they focus on adaptation alone. One objective of the WDR is to inform development policy: climate change does represent a changing climate for development.

Climate-smart development, which incorporates adaptation and mitigation objectives, is needed and can be achieved. A rethinking of development policy can help to meet these challenges and to exploit the new competitive landscape created by climate change. A second objective of the WDR is to take a politically realistic, how-to approach, and contribute to emerging knowledge: how should development policy be designed in a greenhouse world?

But reaching a solution to climate change that is adequate, achievable and acceptable will also require reworking climate policy, especially as it relates to finance and innovation, so as to address the substantial concerns of developing countries. Further, rich countries will need to take the lead on mitigation efforts. A third objective of the WDR is to inform climate policy: the integration of development realities into climate change agreements will be essential to their success.

Source: www.worldbank.org

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Engineering and Manufacturing in Europe and Asia

April 8th, 2009

Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying technical and scientific knowledge and utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that realize a desired objective and meet specified criteria. The American Engineers’ Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET) has defined engineering as follows:

“The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.”

One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so may have more formal designations such as Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer, or Incorporated Engineer. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of more specialized sub-disciplines, each with a more specific emphasis on certain fields of application and particular areas of technology.

The concept of engineering has existed since ancient times as humans devised fundamental inventions such as the pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting basic mechanical principles to develop useful tools and objects.

The term engineering itself has a much more recent etymology, deriving from the word engineer, which itself dates back to 1325, when an engineer (literally, one who operates an engine) originally referred to “a constructor of military engines.” In this context, now obsolete, an “engine” referred to a military machine, i. e., a mechanical contraption used in war (for example, a catapult). The word “engine” itself is of even older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin ingenium (c. 1250), meaning “innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention.”

Later, as the design of civilian structures such as bridges and buildings matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering entered the lexicon as a way to distinguish between those specializing in the construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the older discipline of military engineering (the original meaning of the word “engineering,” now largely obsolete, with notable exceptions that have survived to the present day such as military engineering corps, e. g., the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers).

Source: http://www.manufacturing.asia/

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Reducing C02 Emissions and the Potential for Fuel Poverty

March 26th, 2009
Thermal mass, particularly when used as part of a passive solar design strategy, is increasingly being used to reduce heating and air conditioning energy consumption and bills. Both benefits are of interest to housing associations wanting to build sustainable homes that reduce both their environmental impact and the potential for fuel poverty.
The ability of thermal mass to reduce overheating problems is increasingly recognised. Perhaps less appreciated is its ability to save heating energy when used in passive solar design (PSD). Consequently, it is possible for concrete, masonry and other heavyweight dwellings to exploit their inherent thermal mass on a year-round basis. During the summer, heat is absorbed on hot days, helping to cool the internal temperature and prevent overheating problems. The stored heat is then removed by night ventilation. During the winter, the thermal mass will absorb solar gains through south facing windows, and slowly releases the heat at night. This process is effectively the same as that which occurs on summer nights, the only difference being that during the winter the stored heat is beneficial, so windows and openings are kept shut to minimise heat loss. Shutters and blinds used to prevent overheating in the summer can also help minimise heat loss during the winter.
Useful levels of thermal mass are found in medium and heavyweight construction, which in practice is most easily provided by concrete in the form of blocks and precast or in-situ floors and panels.
The use of concrete often raises questions regarding its embodied CO2, which can be slightly higher than that associated with alternative materials, but in reality the difference is relatively small when compared to lightweight systems. And, when you evaluate this in whole-life terms, the operational CO2 savings provided by the heavyweight solution is actually much more significant over the long-term. This point can sometimes be overlooked in the drive to specify the greenest materials available, but should to some extent be redressed in the forthcoming revisions to Part L1 of the Building Regulations, which will take greater account of thermal mass in the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) calculation.
To establish the facts of embodied versus operational CO2, The Concrete Centre commissioned research to examine the embodied and operational CO2 emissions of a simple semidetached house built using a typical lightweight frame, with that of several heavyweight versions built using varying levels of thermal mass. The embodied CO2 for each option was calculated and thermal modelling was undertaken to see how each performed across the 21st century, taking account of the likely impacts of climate change. The results showed that a typical masonry house with a medium level of thermal mass, has around 4% more embodied CO2 than an equivalent lightweight frame construction, but that this could be offset in as little as 11 years due to the energy savings provided by its thermal mass. Increasing the mass through additional concrete elements, such as precast upper floors, resulted in a longer offset period, but ultimately led to the lowest whole life CO2 emissions of all the options, with a saving in CO2 over the 21st century approximately six times greater than the difference in its embodied CO2 when compared to the lightweight frame solution.
Due to the predicted increase in summer temperatures resulting from climate change, the lightweight home was found to need air-conditioning by 2021. This compared with 2041 for the medium-weight home and 2061 for the medium-heavy and heavyweight homes.
Thermal mass is of course only one of the steps needed to adapt homes to a warming climate. Effective ventilation and shading are also of great importance in all types of housing, particularly in the south of the UK where overheating is likely to be greatest. Traditionally, shading has not been a major feature of UK housing. However, this is likely to change, particularly if tougher overheating rules appear in the Building Regulations. There are many shading options, but the most effective at minimising solar gains are externally located, such as overhangs and louvered shutters. The latter has the advantage of also providing secure night time ventilation in the summer.
In addition to having a medium to high level of thermal mass the key design requirement for capturing solar gains during the winter is to locate a large proportion of the glazing on the south elevation, or within about 30° of south. This will allow the low winter sun to shine directly into the home, passing underneath any fixed external shading overhangs. There are no hard and fast rules for window size in passive solar design; the objective is to optimise solar gains during the winter without incurring summertime overheating problems. This typically leads to a glazed area that between approximately 20 and 40% of the façade area. Glazing on the north façade should be restricted to the minimum area needed for adequate daylighting, since over the course of a year this will have a net heat loss.
Incorporating these all design features can help to maximise a home’s year-round passive thermal performance thereby reducing both CO2 emissions and energy bills.
Source:   www.concretecentre.com

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Thermal Mass Explained

March 26th, 2009

Until recently, the use of thermal was often disregarded in favour of a largely services-based solution for the heating and cooling of buildings. However, the wish to reduce the on-going energy consumption of buildings both in terms of carbon dioxide emissions and energy bills has led to a re-evaluation of the contribution that thermal mass can help to achieve a more sustainable built-environment. “Exploiting thermal mass so that it helps to reduce heating requirements in the winter and cooling requirements in the summer is not difficult. However, it does need to be considered at the outset of the design process when the building’s form, fabric and orientation requirements are being determined”, said Tom de Saulles, building physicist, at The Concrete Centre and author of the report ‘Thermal Mass Explained’. “Get it right and you can have significant energy savings and carbon savings over the life of a building with less need for expensive low carbon technologies”. Thermal mass, in the most general sense, describes the ability of a material to store heat. For a construction material to provide a useful level of thermal mass it must have a high specific heat storage capacity, be of high density and have moderate thermal conductivity so that heat conduction is roughly in synchronisation with the daily heat flow in and out of the building. Timber has a high heat capacity but a low thermal conductivity. This limits the useful heat absorption rate and so provides a low thermal mass. Steel also has a high heat storage capacity but it also has a very high rate of thermal conductivity which means that heat is absorbed and released too quickly for any meaningful thermal mass efficiency. Concrete and masonry, with their high heat capacity and density but moderate thermal conductivity offers a good balance. They steadily absorb heat and store it until the ambient temperature drops causing stored heat to migrate back to the surface from where it is released. Heat moves in a wave like motion alternatively being absorbed and released in response to the variations in day and night-time conditions. “The absorption and release of heat enables buildings with thermal mass to respond naturally to changing weather conditions, helping to stabilise the internal temperature and provide a largely self-regulating environment”, explained de Saulles. “This action helps to prevent summer overheating and reduces the need for air conditioning. It can also reduce the need for heating during the winter by capturing and later releasing solar and internal heat gains”. During warm weather, much of the heat gain in heavyweight buildings is absorbed by the thermal mass in the floors and walls thereby reducing the risk of overheating. This heat is then removed by allowing cool night-time air to ventilate the building. This daily heating and cooling of the thermal mass works relatively well in the UK as the air temperature at night is typically 10 degrees less than peak daytime temperatures during the summer. “The benefits of thermal mass, which is well understood in warmer parts of Europe, will become increasingly recognised in the UK as climate change results in hotter summer temperatures”, said de Saulles. “As well as cooler internal temperatures, these benefits also include reduced heating bills in the winter as instead of purging the day-time heat gains with night-time air, the stored heat is allowed to radiate back into the building”. For the winter, thermal mass works best when it is used as part of a passive solar design strategy (PSD). This approach seeks to maximise the benefit of solar gain in the winter, using thermal mass to absorb gains from south facing windows, as well as internal heat gains from electrical equipment, cooking and lighting. These gains are slowly released overnight as the temperature drops so helping to keep the building warm and reducing the need for supplementary heating. Applying simple passive solar design techniques can result in fuel savings of up to 10 per cent. This saving can increase to 30 per cent if more sophisticated passive solar techniques such as sunspaces are adopted. “The need to design and build for higher levels of energy efficiency and to mitigate the effects of climate change means that the performance requirements of building materials continue to increase. Meeting these challenges requires a whole-building approach where the materials, structure and systems work in unison to maximise the building’s overall performance. The thermal mass of concrete provides a useful constituent of this whole building approach”, said de Saulles. “Efficient use of thermal mass used in conjunction with orientation, solar gain, ventilation and shading can do much to reduce the whole-life carbon footprint of buildings”.

Source:  http://www.concretecentre.com/

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Concrete as a leader of sustainable construction

March 26th, 2009

Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future, has applauded the concrete industry for its initiative and commitment to become a leader for sustainable construction.

Speaking at the launch of ‘The Concrete Industry Sustainability Performance Report’, Porritt commended the industry saying that: “I am genuinely impressed at the progress that has been made and the quality of the leadership shown. The industry is to be congratulated upon the journey that it is taking”.

Forum for the Future has been working with the concrete industry to develop and implement a sustainability strategy. The launch of the first industry-wide Performance Report marks a milestone for the concrete industry. It examines the challenges being faced and provides a statement of achievement. Importantly, the report provides industry data across 14 performance indicators against which the concrete sector has committed to be benchmarked against and to improve upon.

The performance indicators are wide ranging and include the implementation of environmental management systems, reduction of waste and carbon emissions, improved energy efficiency and the provision of locally sourced materials. In addition, there are commitments to enhance the environment and create sustainable communities. The report will be followed up on an annual basis so that ongoing sustainability improvements can be measured.

To download the report, visit www.sustainableconcrete.org.uk

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Poor infrastructure driving up operating costs for India Inc

March 22nd, 2009

Infrastructure inefficiencies like poor roads and inadequate power generation are the major factors that drive up India Inc’s operating costs, a survey said Thursday.

According to the survey conducted jointly by global consulting major KPMG and Economist Intelligence Unit, around 95 percent of Indian top executives feel infrastructure investment was insufficient in the country to support the long-term growth of their organisations.

‘Respondents in India pointed out that the rapid growth the country has witnessed over the past few years has considerably strained its infrastructure. India has not adequately considered building infrastructure ahead of demand, and has typically swung into action only when the bottlenecks become fairly apparent,’ the report said.

As many as 328 top executives or board members from 21 countries, 47 percent of them being chief executives, participated in the survey.

While 66 percent of the total executives surveyed indicated that existing transportation infrastructure was driving up operating costs for their companies, 62 percent of Indian executives said the state of existing energy and power supply infrastructure was adding greatly to the cost of operating their organisations.

Another major cause of worry was the woeful state of social infrastructure – 56 percent of respondents at the global level felt that lack of this impacted their operational costs.

‘Education and health are the biggest concerns, while social infrastructure affected the ability of companies to attract qualified employees, their competitiveness and ability to expand,’ the report said.

Jai Mavani, head of infrastructure and government at KPMG India, said: ‘As it is no surprise that transportation and energy have been ranked as a high priority by corporates, the interesting observation is that social infrastructure like education and healthcare also finds place as growth imperatives.’

‘And there lies the opportunity for India,’ he added.

Source:    www.indiaenews.com

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Dubai Going Green

March 13th, 2009

Necessity is the mother of invention, apparently. As Dubai enters what is by its standards an increasingly frugal period for construction, the necessity for projects to be economically efficient increases. Even this time last year, when the credit crunch was taking hold across the US and Europe, Dubai continued to boom, with construction leading the charge.

Twelve months on, things are very different. The market conditions are such that swathes of projects have been put on hold or canceled. Those schemes that are progressing, must therefore make sure they deliver more bang for their clients’ bucks. This economic imperative is now combining with a decree from the emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

Last October he decreed that all new projects must comply with green building standards. The result is that construction techniques will save time, energy and money. All of which are common in the UK, but have just started to find a foothold in Dubai. Perhaps the best example of this is the introduction of modular construction methods.

A lot of energy is used for cooling here. The standard building technologies are very inefficient in terms of energy storing.
As well as cutting waste, modular construction also helps reduce a project’s carbon emissions. Rather than requiring multiple crane lifts of materials for in situ construction, the ready made bathroom pods were lifted, fully finished and sealed, saving on crane lifts and crane fuel. These green credentials have helped the Modulor facility to continue operating beyond the Atlantis, with orders coming from projects in Dubai and neighbouring Abu Dhabi. It has a deal to supply units to the first two phases of the latter’s Masdar project, which is aiming to become the world’s first zero carbon city.

While modular construction saves money and cuts waste on projects, clients and designers have also had to think about the long term energy efficiency of structures to meet the terms of Sheikh Mohammed’s decree. On site at the four star, 26 storey East Hotel at Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates, an insulation system is being fitted that is claimed will cut the building’s energy consumption – through air conditioning or heating – by 60%. Known as an external insulation finishing system (EIFS) it is a form of construction technology long established in the US and Europe.

“The green codes in Dubai are being held off for the moment, apparently until September, because of the economy but I’m sure they will reappear,” says White Young Green Gulf region managing director Keith Perry. “The Dubai regulations have gone backwards because at this time no one wants to do anything to upset investors.”

Source www.nce.co.uk

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Abu Dhabi slowdown forces Laing O’Rourke to cut 200 jobs

January 30th, 2009

Credit Crunch have direct effect on Asian Engineers especially those who are working in United Arab Emirate. A news published in nce uk (civil engineering magazine) reveals the situation as follows:

Aldar Laing O’Rourke – a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based developer Aldar and Anglo-Irish contractor Laing O’Rourke – shed around 200 jobs, about 10% of its staff. Numbers were unavailable for NDY job cuts. “Following the significant downturn in the Dubai property and construction markets in the last quarter of 2008 we have reduced staff numbers in our Dubai office,” said an NDY spokesman.

“NDY remains committed to maintaining a strong operating presence in Dubai as our base for provision of services to Dubai itself and the broader Middle East region.” A Laing O’Rourke spokesman said: “From time to time, there will be changes in the overall numbers employed on particular projects, and this is indeed the case here. All Aldar Laing O’Rourke projects are continuing on programme.”

The outlook for construction is looking bleak in Dubai as the number of construction contracts awarded across the United Arab Emirates as a whole fell by 85% in 2008, according to research by MEED Projects (NCE 8 January 2009). A range of factors including the shortage of credit, fears of a property oversupply and materials price inflation, have created a downturn in the Dubai real estate market.

Despite the Dubai downturn, markets in other Middle Eastern countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia are expected to remain buoyant and several large infrastructure projects are progressing.

http://www.nce.co.uk/international/news/2009/01/dubai_slowdown_forces_laing_orourke_to_cut_200_jobs.html

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Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering

January 23rd, 2009

Journal of Asian Architecture & Building Engineering is a refereed international journal both in print and on line, serving researchers in academic and research organizations and all practitioners in the building sector. The journal is jointly-edited by the Architectural Institute of Japan ( AIJ ), the Architectural Institute of Korea ( AIK ), and the Architectural Society of China ( ASC ) and published biannually in May and November.

Asian academics and professions have made efforts to find solutions to the themes derived from natural, geographical, socio-economical and cultural conditions in Asia. Their achievements have contributed to the evolution of research in the field of architecture and building engineering.

For instance, achievements in structural engineering have contributed to the world by developing technology to assure safety of buildings in earthquake-prone areas. Asia has the largest share of the world’s population with high densities in urban areas. It is a growing and the most energetic region in terms of building activities, which produces valuable empirical knowledge and lessons to architects and building engineers in Asia.

It is quite significant to contribute to global architecture and building engineering by presenting the knowledge and lessons beyond linguistic barriers. The three architectural institutions have decided to publish our achievements in English because we recognize a large number of potential achievements could contribute to the world. By publishing the journal in English, it is expected that Asian wisdom and experience will be disseminated to the world.

In the countries where these institutions are based, building professions can enjoy the collaborative and holistic approach because the three institutions distinctively possess the whole range of expertise relating to architecture and building engineering.

In virtue of these, the scope of the journal involves the aspects of science, technology and art. Namely, the global environment, architectural planning and design, project management, structural engineering, structural mechanics, building materials, environmental engineering, information technology, and other fields related to built environment should be included in this journal. Global and local problems relating to built environment require holistic approach.

The journal aims to contribute to resolve or mitigate these global and local problems by bringing together new ideas and developments from Asian countries as well as European, American and African countries. The editors welcome good quality contributions from all over the world.

Copied for the benefit of our readers from http://www.aij.or.jp/eng/jaabe/

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The century ahead poses challenges as formidable as any from millennia past.

January 23rd, 2009

Here are the Grand Challenges for engineering as determined by a committe of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Engineering, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, mentioned on their website http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx

Engineering’s Grand Challenges

Find out more about any of these Grand Challenges:

Make solar energy economical

Provide energy from fusion

Develop carbon sequestration methods

Manage the nitrogen cycle

Provide access to clean water

Restore and improve urban infrastructure

Advance health informatics

Engineer better medicines

Reverse-engineer the brain

Prevent nuclear terror

Secure cyberspace

Enhance virtual reality

Advance personalized learning

Engineer the tools of scientific discovery

What you think, are they right?

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