US-Israel Workshop on Industrial Ecology in Multi-Scale Design and Construction of Sustainable Cities and Infrastructure

Lawrence Technological University, Southfield MI

Investigators

Abstract

1340206 (Grace). The design and construction of civil infrastructure that is more environmentally, socially, and economically responsible over its full life cycle from extraction of raw construction materials to end of life management is increasingly desirable worldwide. Altogether these three design goals of improved environmental, social, and economic performance are commonly known as the triple bottom line of sustainability. As a critical set of systems that support our quality of life and enable global development and progress while consuming vast amounts of material resources and energy, it is essential that civil infrastructure, in particular cities, are designed according to these comprehensive, long term design goals for the benefit of our planet and the current and future generations of humans, animals, and plants that will call it home. With the aim of discovering new ways and tools to integrate industrial ecology within the multi-scale design and construction of built environments, a three-day long workshop is being organized by the Center for Innovative Materials Research (CIMR) of Lawrence Tech University and the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Stanford University, in conjunction with Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa, Israel. This workshop will be held in Israel. NSF will provide necessary support for travel expenses and workshop registration of the 15 members of the US delegate team. As efforts are currently being planned in the US toward developing sustainable buildings and building infrastructure within sustainable built environment systems, it is planned to have participation from Israeli researchers and practitioners working on sustainable urban environments and US researchers working towards similar goals in our built environments. Participation from various research laboratories throughout Israel and the US that are engaged in the research of green building design, integration of non-fossil-based energy systems into building elements, engineering of sustainable building materials, urban planning and design, and industrial ecology systems analysis is anticipated. The bilateral exchange of ideas will be facilitated by the proposed workshop. The three-day workshop will bring together researchers to discuss topics on the methodology of industrial ecology for building and city design, multi-scale design of sustainable urban systems, and engineering of sustainable building materials. It will address environmental, economic, and social concerns in built environment design, and deliberations will be held on the impact of innovative materials using triple-bottom-line metrics. A major goal of the proposed workshop will be to increase education and awareness of sustainable built environment issues both within and outside of academia. Recommendations will be made in adoption of the most suitable technologies in the context of socio-economic and environmental considerations. One important workshop product will be a set of recommendations summarizing the best practices and acceptable methods for implementing innovative designs and materials in the construction of sustainable built environments in urban areas.The workshop will bring together researchers and thinkers to discuss topics on industrial ecology, such as probabilistic life cycle analysis (LCA) and probabilistic sustainability design approaches, and their use when creating innovative materials in green building design and sustainable infrastructure design in environmentally sensitive and resource-limited areas. Another important product of this workshop will be a catalogue of best practices and emerging industrial ecology tools and methods that can be used for the design and evaluation of new materials, structures, and systems in growing built environments. This resource is intended to facilitate the rapid adoption of new materials and technologies for green buildings, transportation systems, and urban environments that exhibit improved economic, social, and environmental performance