|
By Terry D. Bennett, PLS, LLS, LPF, LEED AP
Waste is a symptom of a non-optimized and non-collaborative approach to the design, construction, and operations/management process. Any unwanted byproduct increases expenses—and the cost of goods—but does nothing to increase the project’s overall value, whether it’s a building, a road, or infrastructure. Civil engineers can participate in the zero-waste movement by carefully considering how much waste, both direct and indirect, their designs create. The best possible practice—and the most cost-effective—is to eliminate waste altogether by improving process efficiency and sustainability. However, when unable to eliminate waste, you may also recycle it by transferring it to another party who can repurpose it.
Some ways BIM helps civil engineers optimize design process and reduce generated waste include:
• Providing better and more accurate takeoff estimates of material quantities and required components.
• Finding a productive (and ideally profitable) use for industrial outputs and leftover material.
• Enabling new project delivery methods, such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) where engineers, architects, contractors, and owners share project risks and rewards and exchange dynamic, real time project information from project outset.
Conclusion
If you take away one concept from this article, let it be this: advances in model-based technology that leverage consistent, coordinated information have made sustainable design practices both practical and economically feasible—for civil engineers, their clients, and all members of the extended design team.
As a result, more and more public/private partnerships are forming throughout the country and around the world to develop or renew a more sustainable infrastructure. Developers are participating with owner clients, taking advantage of sustainable practices to offset rising fuel costs and better communicate design intent when seeking support for large-scale projects. They also reap the benefits of lower long-term infrastructure costs. Local, state, and federal agencies see potential benefit as well. Not only will sustainably designed infrastructure and communities attract new commercial businesses, but they will also have undeniable health benefits for their constituents. Finally, many private individuals will be attracted to efficient buildings, low impact developments, and neighborhoods for philosophical and personal reasons.
In the final installment of this series, I will look at how to leverage sustainable design as a business opportunity and focus on the triple bottom line—one that puts the Earth and green back into the civil engineering business balance sheet.
Want to learn more? Visit http://usa.autodesk.com/company/sustainable-design for more information.
About the Author
Terry D. Bennett, PLS, LLS, LPF, LEED AP, is the senior industry manager for civil engineering and construction at Autodesk, responsible worldwide for the company’s industry strategy and relations in the areas of land/environmental planning, land surveying, civil engineering and construction. He holds multistate registration in both land surveying and natural resource forest management, and is a LEED-accredited professional. Bennett has also been a practicing professional consultant for the last 26 years.
|
