Saleh To What Extent is Green Building Design Involved in UAE Projects for Avoiding Construction Waste?

1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-96067-573-0
Verlag: Diplomica Verlag
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Wasserzeichen (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 80 Seiten

Types of construction waste can be divided into two principal groups, material waste and time waste, which are generated through direct and indirect processes. The future of construction is minimizing construction and time costs by reducing the project defects and eliminating waste. With this in view, green building design and sustainability is to be adopted into designing projects which are useful for overcoming the negative impact of construction waste by increasing energy efficiency, water conservation, material and resource management and construction waste management.
The United Arab Emirates’ construction industry is about 40 years old and is one of the most significant sectors in the world. By ensuring the implementation of green building and sustainability concepts, principles and techniques - such as the “Designing Out Waste” tool - it will assist the reduction in construction waste in UAE, as many other countries have done, such as the UK, USA and Australia.
Here, the quantitative research method of utilizing an online questionnaire survey was used to answer ten questions, including the main topic question, presented to engineers working in the UAE construction industry.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Saleh, Yazen

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Umwelttechnik | Umwelttechnologie Abfallwirtschaft, Abfallentsorgung
• Technische Wissenschaften Bauingenieurwesen Baukonstruktion, Baufachmaterialien
• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Nachhaltigkeit, Grüne Technologien

Leseproben

Text sample:

Chapter: 2. Sustainability and Green Building Design:

2.1 Original Concept of Sustainability:

To overcome any deficiency in the natural system and/or the techniques and artistry applied, innovative solutions are the best practical key to resolving the troubles and problems currently being faced in making a better future life. At the time of the origins of the earth, consisting of the main elements of air, water and soil that serviced the creatures of life, from prokaryotes to humans and animals, there was no interference from mankind. Due to the need, desire and ambition to develop easier lifestyles, in which it was possible to cope with some of the difficulties of life, human abilities were employed in the utilizing of the earth’s resources; therefore, the natural planet, the earth, suffered affects as a result of human activities, as these activities have failed to take into consideration and/or be fitted to suit with the surrounding environment. However, these developments have gone under the names of industrialization and globalization, which have accompanying permutations in nature that are immediately felt, and the outcome of these changes has brought negative results that are hazardous and that threaten the ecosystem, and even human beings and creatures generally.
The earth’s ecosystem is a self-regulating series of processes that proceeds without the need for any intervention by any external organism. The mechanisms of the ecosystem are complex and comprise of mutually-affecting interactions between systems; mobility between ecosystems and creatures is essential for the self-coexistence of the biological system (Mebratu, 1998). This sustains life on earth, maintaining a healthy ecological environment, so long as there is no continuous interfering in and/or destroying of the natural behaviours; this guarantees to mankind millions, or even billions of years.
The earth’s population is increasing rapidly, reaching over 7.3 billion in 2015, according to the United Nations Organisation (United Nations Organisation; Department of Economic and Social Affairs - Population Division, 2015). This increase in population is huge, whereas the natural resources are very limited; and then conflict and fighting between humankind also exist, driven by the mania to seize and possess the biggest number of resources, in order to impose control and power, on the basis of ownership of natural resources. Historically speaking, the first thing human beings started fighting in order to own, was food and, due to the limited resources of food as compared with the huge numbers of the population, mankind started to develop the tools and utilities that would overcome the food shortages, thus prospering and advancing the agricultural revolution (Mebratu, 1998). After this, the industrial revolution took place, due to the availability of large amounts of coal that was produced from the remains of trees and plants that lived and died millions of years ago. The using of coal affects the ecosystem directly. (The NEED Project, 2015). Burning coal produces a lot of emissions, such as carbon dioxide gas, which is considered one of the main gases that destroy the ecosystem, when the amount of carbon dioxide is increases to more than is required in the natural environment; moreover, the chemical component sulfur, produced when coal is burned, can mix with the available oxygen in the air to form sulfur dioxide, which affects the air, soil and water that are the main needs for human existence on earth (The NEED Project, 2015). Immediately, changes to the earth began, and the practical problems were observed, such as the hazards of air and water pollution, land degradation and deforestation, and chemical food contamination. At the beginning of the eighteenth century changes in the ecosystem started to occur and they were noticed in connection with coal exploration and the human activities of the inventing of industrial machinery (The NEED Project, 2015) (Kuhlman & Farrington, 2010). Thus, the main concept of preserving the earth’s natural resources was presented in the science of planting trees and forests, which focuses on the idea that human beings should never cut down more trees or plants than the rate at which nature is able to produce them, worldwide. In 1713, this was the first time the German word Nachhaltigkeit (in English: sustainability) was used and introduced into German by Hans Carl von Carlowitz, as the concept of preserving natural resources. Von Carlowitz was a German forestry scientist, who noticed the amount of cutting down of trees which was done, for use as wood supports in coal mining, the building of ships, and for other projects, to an extent that was much greater than the rate at which new trees could grow (Kuhlman & Farrington, 2010) (Wilderer, P.A., 2007).
The concept of sustainability had been developed during the period of 1713 to 1971, based on religious beliefs and traditions, economics and political economy; all theistic religions, traditions and beliefs among different religious communities, though they may have rulings that are different and inconsistent with one another, all of them agree on the idea that humankind should preserve its land and its earth, to achieve the universal goal of mankind’s existence (Mebratu, 1998). In 1798, Thomas Robert Malthus was the first economist to observe that the reason there were limits to expansion, is because natural resources are limited. His theory of limits and population was introduced because of the difficulties of the mass famine being faced during that period, caused by shortages of agricultural land in the face of the spread of industrial factories. Malthus’s theory focuses on keeping the number of farming lands servicing the current population at the same level, in order to guarantee linear population growth; however, the theory has shortcomings in keeping the growth linear, whereas the innovation techniques can increase food production to an amount greater than the population numbers (Kuhlman & Farrington, 2010). In 1959, Schumacher published his book „The Crucial Problems of Modern Living”, which focuses on utilizing the useful technology for enhancing our lives, by maintaining the environment without side effects on the social, economic or ecological sides (Mebratu, 1998).
By end of the twentieth century, during the period 1972 to 1986, many international conferences and research papers were conducted, to focus on non-renewable, natural resources. In 1972, the UN held a conference on the Human Environment, in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, as the first international assembly to discuss sustainability on the universal level; the conference considered the preservation of natural resources and the „importance of environmental management and the use of environmental assessment as a management tool.” (Mebratu, 1998). At the same time, a group of scientists and interested citizens established the Club of Rome, during a period of world crisis, which prepared a comprehensive report regarding the focusing on the environment and on development, in view of the very limited availability of resources, thus sounding the alarm on real problems, all over the world (Kuhlman & Farrington, 2010).

Über Autor(innen)

The author holds a Master’s degree in civil engineering and construction management from Heriot Watt University. He has more than three years of practical experience in Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners) which is one of the world’s biggest engineering consulting companies.