A Road Map and Principles for the Implementation of Built Environment Sustainability

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A Road Map and Principles for the Implementation
ofBuilt Environment Sustainability

• Presented by
• Dr. Jorge VanegasSchool of Civil and
  Environmental Engineering
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• jvanegas_at_ce.gatech.edu
• Auckland, New Zealand
• July 2004

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The Future arrives every second as todays
reality, and it does not have Pause nor Reset
buttons.
... and, whether we like it, accept it, or even
care about it, Sustainability is an integral part
of the Future, if not its only hope.
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So, the choices we have are simple

• Are we going to contribute to make the Future we
  want happen?
• Are we going to just wait and see what Future
  will happen?
• Or, when whatever Future arrives
• Are we going to ask what happened?
• Or, are we just going to say huh, something
  happened ?

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This presentation is about the reality we want
for the future that is yet to come, specifically
for the future of the Built Environment...
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a Built Environment composed of Facilities
(e.g., residential, building, and industrial
facilities), and ofCivil Infrastructure Systems
(e.g., transportation, energy, water supply,
waste management, communications)...
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that nations, public and private sector
organizations, communities, families, and
individuals need and want to exist, develop, and
survive
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So, let me start by asking two questions
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First, can you imagine a world
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without Architects, Engineers, and Constructors,
and the facilities and civil infrastructure
systems we envision, plan, design, build, and
maintain, in response to the problems, needs,
opportunities, and desires of a broad and diverse
range of stakeholders?
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Second, what if Architects, Engineers,and
Constructors could no longer do what we do, how
we do it,andwith what?
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What we do...
Characteristics and Requirements of a Specific
Facility or Civil Infrastructure System
...how we do it...
...and with what...
Processes for the Delivery and Use of a Specific
Facility or Civil Infrastructure System
Resources for the Delivery and Use of a Specific
Facility or Civil Infrastructure System
Definition of the Contextual Envelope of a
Specific Facility or Civil Infrastructure System
(Inspired by M. Vorster)
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So, lets take a quick and closer look at the
Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC)
Industry
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It is large

• Global 3.2 T
• U.S. Domestic 1.1 T
• Construction 710 B
• Renovation 282 B
• Maintenance 148 B
• Materials 353 B

Source Jack Snell, NIST
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It is diverse
Source Jack Snell, NIST
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It has many stakeholders
(Jain et al. 1994 Halliday 1994 Vanegas 1987
Hendrickson Au 1989)
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It faces many challenges

• Overpopulation, disease, and social, economic,
  and political conflicts
• Widespread infrastructure deterioration,
  pollution, and urban sprawl
• Natural resource depletion and degradation, waste
  generation and accumulation, and environmental
  impact and degradation
• Complex interrelationship between the economic
  development needs and the environmental problems
  resulting from development efforts

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It takes (in the U.S.)

• 65 of total electricity consumption
• 50 of fossil fuels consumed
• 40 of materials use
• 25 of wood harvest
• 17 of fresh water withdrawals
• 124 trillion gallons/year total water use
• 146,000 gallons/year average household use
• 42 indoors, 58 outdoors
• and much more

(Roodman Lenssen 1996 Loken et al. 1994)
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It leaves (in the U.S.)

• 136 million tons of construction and demolition
  waste annually
• 8-20 of solid waste
• 25 of CFC emissions
• 36 of CO2 emissions
• 740 million tons of CO2 from commercial buildings
  alone
• 60 Billion in medical expenses due to Sick
  Building Syndrome
• and much more

(Kibert et al. 1994 Zeiher 1996 Tchobanoglous
et al. 1994 EBN 2001)
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It continues to grow

• Total land area in U.S. 1.94 billion acres
• Developed land in U.S. (excluding Alaska) 98.2
  million acres
• Increase from 1982 to 1997 34
• Average annual increase 2.3
• Increase in urbanized land relative to population
  growth 2.65 times the rate of population growth
• and much more

(EBN 2001)
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It continues to evolve

• 170,000 commercial buildings constructed annually
• 44,000 commercial buildings demolished annually
• 1.6 million new homes built annually (1.3 million
  single family)
• 245,000 housing units demolished annually
• and much more

(EBN 2001)
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It leaves a legacy

• 4.6 million commercial buildings
• 101.5 million homes (63.8 single-family)
• 425,000 brownfield sites
• 4 million paved miles
• 35.4 million square miles total paved surfaces
  (public roadways, paved parking areas, and
  driveways)
• More than 50 of wetlands lost in the lower 48
  states between the late 1700s and the mid-1980s
• and much more

(EBN 2001)
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In other words, we face an unsustainable linear
approach to development
(Inspired by D. Roberts)
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So, what can we do to address and overcome these
challenges?
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A wide range of constituencies, not only in the
AEC industry but in other industries as well,
have been attempting for many years the
implementation of possible mechanisms to slow,
reduce, and eliminate these impacts, and even
restore conditions to a better state
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In other words, they have been striving to
implement sustainability
(Inspired by D. Roberts)
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However, one problem is that when you start to
discuss sustainability

• Some people strive to use tactics to leave you
• Scared (the possible outcomes)
• Bad (the statistics and blame)
• Guilty (the greater good)
• Confused ( the intellectual base)
• Relieved (the technological fix)
• Although any discussion on Built Environment
  Sustainability (BES) needs to address all these
  points of view, this presentation will strive to
  avoid the polarization they inevitably cause

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and instead of debating any of these points of
view, focus onwhat could the A/E/C Industry do
to effectively implementBuilt Environment
Sustainability(BES)?
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The first thing that we can do to implement BES
in the A/E/C Industry is toEstablish, as a
point of departure, the dimensions, influences,
and scales of BES
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So, from various perspectives...
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...and at various levels of complexity...
(Inspired by P. Anastas)
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we need to establish that what we need/want to
sustain are...
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People
Individuals
Body
Mind
Organizations
Families
Heart
Soul
Communities
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The Built Environment
Civil Infrastructure Systems
Residential Facilities
Non- Residential Facilities
Industrial Facilities
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Production Systems
Goods

Products
Services
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The Natural Environment
Air
Water
Local
Global
Soil
Biota (Plant and Animal Species)
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The Resource Base
ResourceBase
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The Resource Base
BuiltCapital(Facilities andInfrastructure)
IndustrialCapital(Products, Goods,Services)
SocialCapital(Professional andNon-professional
Workforce)
NaturalCapital(Renewable andNon-renewableResou
rces)
EconomicCapital
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Dimensions, Influences, and Scales of BES
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The Spatial Scale of BES
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Dimensions, Influences, and Scales of BES
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The Temporal Scale of BES
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Dimensions, Influences, and Scales of BES
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However,There is nothing more tragic than the
death of a beautiful theory at the hands of a
brutal gang of irrefutable facts.
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and the irrefutable facts are that the AEC
industry

• operates with a Horizontal Tunnel Vision
  within Vertical Stovepipes
• follows a Cradle to Grave path of development
  combined with a Turf Mentality at an industry
  level
• is full of Conventional Enterprises that
  operate with Institutional Amnesia...
• lives in the Jail of the Status Quofurther
  hampered by the Shackles of Quality, Cost, and
  Time within a Commodity and Service Trap

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and the irrefutable facts are that the AEC
industry (cont.)

• executes AEC projects as an Obstacle Course
  Race with a Herd of Cats who are constantly
  Thumb Wrestling and who suffer from Spatial
  and Temporal Myopia
• needs to overcome its Piece Meal and Rice
  Bowls mentalities, and to avoid all the Islands
  of Execution and Automation

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In fact, compared to other industries
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So, in this brutal context, very few theories
have a chance to survive
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So the second thing that we can do to implement
BES in the A/E/C Industry is toApply a roadmap
and a set of principles for the implementation of
BES that will enable the AEC industry to move
from its current inhibitors to a new set of
enablers
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From A/E/C industry fragmentation
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to A/E/C industry collaboration
Sustainable Facilities (F)
Sustainable Civil Infrastructure Systems (CIS)
Collaboration
Sustainable Technologies, Systems, Products,
Materials, Equipment for FCIS
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From a limited and narrow view of A/E/C project
scope
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to an expanded A/E/C project scope
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From the Jail of the Status Quo
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to continuous improvement

• Research Development
• Education Training
• Best Practices
• Lessons Learned
• Creativity Innovation

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to continuous improvement
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to continuous improvement
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From a very fragmented life cycle execution of an
A/E/C project
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to an integrated project life cycle
End-of- Service Life Decision
Contract Documents
Bid or Negotiate, Award
Pre-project Planning Funding
Project Definition Package
Conceptual/ Schematic Design
Characterization Performance Goals Setting
Operation/ Maintenance/ Management
Design Development
Construction Planning
Construction Operations
StartUp
Commissioning Phase
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From a conventional performance paradigm
Safety
Quality
Capital Project Performance
Time
Cost
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to an enhanced performance paradigm
1. Physical and Nonphysical Contextual Compatibili
ty and Response
Product Performance Parameters
Life Cycle Performance Parameters
12. Sustainability Performance
2. Short-Term and Long-Term Functional Performance
11. Health Performance
10. Operability, Maintainability, and
Security Performance
3. Short-Term and Long-Term Formal/Physical Perfor
mance
CAPITAL PROJECT PERFORMANCE
4. Short-Term and Long-Term Quality and
Reliability Performance
9. Procurability, Constructability, and
Commissionability Performance
5. Short-Term and Long-Term Cost Performance
8. Short-Term and Long-Term Safety Performance
6. Short-Term and Long-Term Time Performance
7. Short-Term and Long-Term Risk Performance
Conventional Performance Parameters
Delivery Performance Parameters
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From Islands of Project Definition
(1) PROGRAM DEFINITION PACKAGE (PDP)
(3) PROJECT EXECUTION PLAN (PEP)
(2) PHYSICAL AND NON-PHYSICAL CONTEXTS
(4) PROJECT TEAM(PT)
(6) PRODUCTION PROCESS PLAN (PPP) Process
Definition
(5) INTEGRATED DESIGN PACKAGE (IDP) Product
Definition
(7) WORK BREAKDOWNSTRUCTURE (WBS) Integrated
Product/Process Definition
(13) PRODUCTION PROCESS MODEL
(8) PROJECTCOMMISSIONING PLAN (PCP)
(9) PROJECTPROCUREMENT PLAN (PProcP)
(10) 3-D MODEL
(11) FINANCIAL/COST MODEL
(12) TIME MODEL
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to integrated project definition

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and many, many more
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The challenge, though, is that all these enablers
require various degrees of change
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So the third thing that we can do to implement
BES in the A/E/C Industry is toAcknowledge,
address, and manage change, and then just do it!
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What will be the trigger of change?
Regardless of the trigger, changes toward
sustainability are inevitable, and how
organizations respond to these changes will make
them
end with a Pile of CASH
or end as a Pile of ASH
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...stated in another way...
...You really-shoulda...
...You really-oughta-wanna...
...You really-gonna-hafta...
...You really-gonna-wanna...
(Inspired by P. Melhus)
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So in closing, let me leave you with the
following thoughtWhat if the A/E/C Industry
had?
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Reliable Data and Analyses of the Economic Impact
of Achieving and Not Achieving BES
A Solid Conceptual Framework and Implementation
Roadmap for BES
A Coordinated Public and Private Sectors National
Agenda for BES
Industry and Multi-stakeholder Alignment and
Partnering toward BES
Reliable Data and Analyses of the Benefits of BES
Public and Private Investment in BES
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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... and in addition, we were able to overthrow
the Tyranny of the OR
and embrace the Genius of the AND
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It would not have to beGREEN OR GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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It could beGREEN AND GREEN ()...
(Inspired by R. Jackson)
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and by eliminating the high levels of waste in
the industry, we could pay for all of this and
more
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Is all this hard to imagine?
Impossible to achieve?
Not really, but it will require some level of
change in In our Paradigms In our Decisions In
our Choices In our Actions
Not really, but it will require some level of
change in In our Paradigms In our
Decisions In our Choices In our Actions
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• Remember, Sustainability can be implemented
• ... one decision, one choice, or one action at a
  time
• ... one paradigm at a time
• ... one product or one process at a time
• ... phase by phase in a products or a projects
  life cycle
• ... one project or one program at a time
• ... one enterprise at a time
• ... one industry at a time
• ... in a gradual shift to a sustainable future

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So are we there yet, and if not, how far along
are we?

• It depends on who you ask...

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A Pessimist sees a glass filled to the middle
with beer as half empty...
An Optimist sees the glass as half full...
An Engineer sees the glass as twice the size it
needs to be...
A Visionary sees the glass as half way until the
next one...
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But, in my case I want to believe that there is
not only a next one
But, but many more
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So let me finish by asking you, what if we do not
strive to achieve BES?
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THANK YOU!Email Addressjvanegas_at_ce.gatech.ed
uJust send me an email or give me your business
card,if you would like a copy of, or additional
information on, this presentation.