Engineering Report for site visit 1

Sustainability in Engineering Industries

Doric Engineering

Run Yan 14836260 Date: 20/09/2010

Tutor: Tasneem Sonigra

Executive Summary
This report will discuss the sustainability of the Engineering Pavilion located in Curtin University. Environment protection and sustainability is often considered as a major factor by civil engineers, in this report it will mainly discuss the environmental related sustainability issues such as water usage, electricity, wastes recycle and the structures overall impact on the surrounding environment. The severity of environmental issues in 2010 has increased compared to previous years and it is believed that this trend will continue so if no action is done and this is why designs such as this pavilion is important for a beginning of a change. The Government and large industries will continue to encourage of architecture designs with more green features therefore this will be a good opportunity for many financial or political investments. A building that can self sustain without relying on supplies from outside , the steps they took to make this possible will be explained later in this report.

Contents Page

1. Introduction. 3 2. Water Management 4 2.1. Usage . 4 2.2. Recycle and sustainability 4 3. Electricity 5 3.1. Usage 5 3.2. Generation and sustainability ... 5 4. Waste Control and General . 6 5. Conclusion 6 6. Recommendation 7 7. Reference 7

1.0 Introduction
The site visit was held on Wednesday 18th August 2010 in between the time 16:00 and 17:00, the visit lasted approximately 1 hour long. 20 members took the visit and inspected on the health & safety issues of the site as well as the sustainability issues. As this report will be constrained to the environmental sustainability, we will only be looking at the sustainability issues raised during the inspection. Doric Engineering is a construction company established in early 1989, it has a fully integrated approach to environmental management and all activities have conducted with responsibility to prevent pollution and minimizing its impact on the environment. This report is to evaluate their designs and set an example to other companies in order to increase the production of green, self sustainable architecture designs.

2.0 Water Management 2.1 Usage

Just like any other resources on Earth, Water is a type of natural resource; even though it can be classified as renewable (as it can be reproduced through evaporation and condensation process) but due to the continuing growth of population and demand, scientists say water will eventually be not enough for everyone, therefore to prevent that from occurring a convenient way would be minimizing its usage now and find smart ways of recycle and using water resources. We will now look at the water management of this building designed by Doric Engineering.

2.2 Recycle and Sustainability

To start off with there are several water tanks at the rooftop to collect rain water. At the rooftop is also a very unique design which has the ability of recycling rain waters. There are big gapes in between the tiles which can act as tunnels for water to pass through. The roof was also constructed at an angle so that water would flow to the lower end and then being collected with another water tank. Rain water will be stored in there and can be used for daily operations of the building. This will cover up about 1/3 of the water usage of this building, which is a quite remarkable outcome. If this kind of design were able to spread around normal households, the reduction on our water usage would be significant.

3.0 Electricity 3.1 Usage

Unlike Water is a nature resource, our electricity has to be generated. The way that most electricity is generated is still by burning coals and this electricity generating process brings the most Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere and speed up global warming. This is a very big concern for environmental protection and environmental Engineers and we have to come up with a solution that uses less the process of coal burning, no toxic waste and a convenient way of generating electricity power.

3.2 Generation and Sustainability

At the Engineering Pavilion, they have designed 56 solar power panels (Figure_1.0) on the rooftop which can generate 10KW of electricity in summer and makes the building fully self sustainable. Solar power is a great way of generating electricity and at the same time causing no harm to the environment. It produces no waste or pollution or dependence on any of the Earths natural resources. They generally have long life span and low maintenance which can also be very ideological for normal households.

Figure_1.0

The Australian Government provides financial support up to $10,000AU for homes that install solar panels, this helps to reduce carbon emission since for the households those who installed solar panels are theoretically producing their own electricity. Another idea Doric Engineering has implemented into Engineering Pavilions electricity generating is wind power. Due to some problem with the location not
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being the most desirable location for wind power generation this design was then removed, however this doesnt mean we cant integrate this nature friendly power generating method into other architecture designs.

4.0 Wastes Control and General

Doric Engineering has very strict and organised regulations of waste control; we have specifically asked questions about their waste control, their reply states that wastes are always being disposed properly; they have 3 separate bins for the disposal of wastes, they are recyclable, none-recyclable and chemical wastes. Theyve given many examples on how a specific chemical material would be handled so that no harm would have been done to the environment. Theyve also tested the soils under the construction site where theyve found no harmful chemical compound in the soils. At the Beginning of the construction the original land had some natural plants and they were removed due to the construction. What Doric Engineering did is they have build a garden behind the building and balanced out the previous loose of plants.

5.0 Conclusion
Doric Engineering has many innovative ideas on how to make their designs highly productive as well as sustainable; they have the potential to become one of the leading engineering teams in the world. The site visit overall was very satisfactory and their design is highly environmental protective and resource economized. The rain water recycle design, add-ons on rooftop such as wind power generator and solar panels for the generation of electricity and waste control were the key points in their success. Our society needs these kind of innovative designs in order for us to overcome the environmental problems we are facing, and this has set an example of what future buildings should include.

6.0 Recommendation
I would like to recommend Doric Engineering to cover up sharp tools or materials while having visitors or inspectors. Even though this is not related to sustainability but knowing that construction sites usually have uneven surface for the ground along with cables and other objects that can potentially trip down a person can be very dangerous. Thats all the concerns Ive got for Doric Engineering I cannot find any flaw in their sustainability and environmental within my current knowledge.

7.0 Reference

1. Sivakumar.M and Chowdhury. R.N 10-13 February 1998. Environmental management: engineering the water-environment and geo-environment : proceedings of the Second International Conference on Environmental Management (ICEM2) Australia. Retrieved from http://library.curtin.edu.au/ (accessed September 19, 2010) 2. Jentzema.J. R. M 1983. Connection systems and special disposal. Retrieved from http://library.curtin.edu.au/ (accessed September 19, 2010) 3. Mildura, Vic. 20-23 Aug.1975. Treatment, recycle and disposal of wastes: proceedings of the third National Chemical Engineering Conference. Retrieved from http://library.curtin.edu.au/ (accessed
September 19, 2010)

4. Engineer Australia. 2008. Society for Sustainability and Environmental Engineering Institution of Engineers Australia. http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au (accessed September 19, 2010) 5. a. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2010. Australia's Environment: Issues and Trends, 2010. http://www.abs.gov.au (accessed September 19, 2010)