This open access volume collects emerging issues in Environmental and Civil Engineering, originating from outstanding doctoral dissertations discussed at Politecnico di Milano in 2021. The advanced innovative insights provided are presented with reference to the relevant sustainable development goals (SDGs), hoping that scientists, technicians and decision makers will find them as a valid support to face future sustainability challenges. Indeed, the fast evolution of our society often falls short in properly taking into consideration its relationship with the environment, which is not only the primary source of any resource and the sink of all the wastes we generate throughout our activities, but also the cause of most of the loading and constraints applied to structures and infrastructures. The lack of a proper consideration of the relationship between the needs of both the society and the environment may lead to strong disequilibria, generating a large amount of threats for a robust, resilient and continuous development. In this perspective, the SDGs set by the United Nations represent the criteria to revise our development model, towards the ability to conjugate different needs to build a safe relation between anthropic activities and the environment. Civil and Environmental Engineering plays a relevant role in providing methods, approaches, risk and impact assessments, as well as technologies, to fulfil the SDGs. Research in these fields may in fact provide technical knowledge and tools to support decision makers and technicians in: (i) planning mitigation and adaptation actions to climate change, extreme weather, earthquakes, drought, flooding and other natural disasters; (ii) designing efficient and sustainable strategies for resources exploitation, minimizing the impact and the unequal distributions; (iii) increasing the safety of structures and infrastructures under exceptional loadings and against the deterioration due to their lifecycle; (iv) adopting a holistic risk management approach and appropriate technologies to reduce pollution and environment deterioration, which increase vulnerability; (v) providing a safe drinking water and sanitation system to protect human health.

This book gathers the latest research, innovations, and applications in the field of civil engineering, as presented by leading national and international academics, researchers, engineers, and postgraduate students at the AWAM International Conference on Civil Engineering 2019 (AICCE’19), held in Penang, Malaysia on August 21-22, 2019. The book covers highly diverse topics in the main fields of civil engineering, including structural and earthquake engineering, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, highway and transportation engineering, water resources engineering, and geomatic and construction management. In line with the conference theme, “Transforming the Nation for a Sustainable Tomorrow”, which relates to the United Nations’ 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development, it highlights important elements in the planning and development stages to establish design standards beneficial to the environment and its surroundings. The contributions introduce numerous exciting ideas that spur novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaborations between various specialists in the field of civil engineering.

It is crucial that engineers – from students to those already practising – have a deep understanding of the environmental threats facing the world, if they are to become part of the solution and not the problem. Is there a way to reconcile modern lifestyles with the compelling need for change? Could new improved technologies play a key role? If great leaps in the environmental efficiency of technologies are needed, can they be produced? Engineers are in a privileged and hugely influential position to innovate, design and build a sustainable future. But are they engaged or uninterested? Are they knowledgeable or ignorant? This book has been developed by a number of committed educators in European engineering departments under the leadership of Delft University of Technology and the Technical University of Catalunya to meet the perceived gap between what engineers know and what they should know in relation to sustainable development. The University of Delft decided as long ago as 1998 that all of its engineering graduates, working towards careers as designers, managers or researchers, should be prepared for the challenge of sustainable development and, as such, should leave university able to make sustainable development operational in their designs and daily practices. The huge amount of knowledge gathered on best-practice teaching for engineers is reflected in this book. The aim is to give engineering students a grounding in the challenge that sustainable development poses to the engineering profession, the contribution the engineer can make to attaining some of the societal and environmental goals of sustainability, and the barriers and pitfalls engineers will likely need to confront in their professional lives. Concise but comprehensive, the book examines the key tools, skills and techniques that can be used in engineering design and management to ensure that whole-life costs and impacts of engineering schemes are addressed at every stage of planning, implementation and disposal. The book also aims to demonstrate through real-life examples the tangible benefits that have already been achieved in many engineering projects, and to highlight how real improvements can be, and are being, made. Each chapter ends with a series of questions and exercises for the student to undertake. Sustainable Development for Engineers will be essential reading for all engineers and scientists concerned with sustainable development. In particular, it provides key reading and learning materials for undergraduate and postgraduate students reading environmental, chemical, civil or mechanical engineering, manufacturing and design, environmental science, green chemistry and environmental management.

Introduction to Sustainability for Engineers aims to incorporate sustainability into curricula for undergraduate engineering students. The book starts with an introduction to the concept of sustainability, outlining core principles for sustainable development to guide engineering practice and decision making, including key tools aimed at enabling, measuring and communicating sustainability. It also describes concepts as life cycle assessment, environmental economics, related institutional architecture and policy framework, business context of sustainability, and sustainable buildings and infrastructure. Appendices at the end of the book presents a summary of key concepts, strategies and tools introduced in the main text. Five Key Benefits: A comprehensive textbook for engineering students to develop competency in sustainability. Presents a framework for engineers to put sustainability into practice. Presents the link between sustainability and the design process. It shows the application of a sustainable engineering design process for putting sustainability into practice. There are well woven case studies and links to websites for learning in various engineering disciplines. Includes challenging exercises at the end of each chapter that will inspire students and stimulate discussion in the class.

This book provides a foundation to understand the development of sustainability in civil engineering, and tools to address the three pillars of sustainability: economics, environment, and society. It includes case studies in the five major areas of civil engineering: environmental, structural, geotechnical, transportation, and construction management. This second edition is updated throughout and adds new chapters on construction engineering as well as an overview of the most common certification programs that revolve around environmental sustainability. Features: Updated throughout and adds two entirely new chapters Presents a review of the most common certification programs in sustainability Offers a blend of numerical and writing-based problems, as well as numerous application-based examples that utilize concepts found on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam Includes several practical case studies Offers a solution manual for instructors Fundamentals of Sustainability in Civil Engineering is intended for upper-level civil engineering sustainability courses. A unique feature is that concepts found in the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam were targeted to help senior-level students refresh and prepare.

The report highlights the crucial role of engineering in achieving each of the 17 SDGs. It shows how equal opportunities for all is key to ensuring an inclusive and gender balanced profession that can better respond to the shortage of engineers for implementing the SDGs. It provides a snapshot of the engineering innovations that are shaping our world, especially emerging technologies such as big data and AI, which are crucial for addressing the pressing challenges facing humankind and the planet. It analyses the transformation of engineering education and capacity-building at the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that will enable engineers to tackle the challenges ahead. It highlights the global effort needed to address the specific regional disparities, while summarizing the trends of engineering across the different regions of the world.

Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design presents civil engineers with an introduction to chemistry and biology, through a mass and energy balance approach. ABET required topics of emerging importance, such as sustainable and global engineering are also covered. Problems, similar to those on the FE and PE exams, are integrated at the end of each chapter. Aligned with the National Academy of Engineering’s focus on managing carbon and nitrogen, the 2nd edition now includes a section on advanced technologies to more effectively reclaim nitrogen and phosphorous. Additionally, readers have immediate access to web modules, which address a specific topic, such as water and wastewater treatment. These modules include media rich content such as animations, audio, video and interactive problem solving, as well as links to explorations. Civil engineers will gain a global perspective, developing into innovative leaders in sustainable development.

Water, the Environment and the Sustainable Development Goals details the availability of water resources on Earth in the context of sustainable resource management, how these water resources are utilized and the latest sustainable techniques in water resource management. Along with the latest techniques, each chapter discusses future challenges and opportunities in sustainability and provides detailed case studies. Sections cover water quality, water pollution, water borne diseases, water purification, transboundary waters, water and energy, water and the green economy, water cooperation, water scarcity, and the relationship between water environments and sustainable development goals. - Comprehensively covers water resources on Earth and their relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals - Covers a wide range of promising approaches for water resource management - Provides case studies to further elucidate the progress made towards the SDGs and the latest developments in sustainable techniques

This compilation on sustainability issues in civil engineering comprises contributions from international experts who have been working in the area of sustainability in civil engineering. Many of the contributions have been presented as keynote lectures at the International Conference on Sustainable Civil Infrastructure (ICSCI) held in Hyderabad, India. The book has been divided into core themes of Sustainable Transportation Systems, Sustainable Geosystems, Sustainable Environmental and Water Resources and Sustainable Structural Systems. Use of sustainability principles in engineering has become an important component of the process of design and in this context, design and analysis approaches in civil engineering are being reexamined to incorporate the principles of sustainable designs and construction in practice. Developing economies are on the threshold of rapid infrastructure growth and there is a need to compile the developments in various branches of civil engineering and highlight the issues. It is this need that prompted the composition of this book. The contents of this book will be useful to students, professionals, and researchers working on sustainability related problems in civil engineering. The book also provides a perspective on sustainability for practicing civil engineers who are not directly researching the problems but are affected by the concerns in the course of their profession. The book can also serve to highlight to policy makers and governing bodies the need to have a mandate for sustainable infrastructural development.

The edited book comprises invited book chapter contributions from global experts in the field of sustainable materials and resilient infrastructure. The book covers the most critical and emerging topics for creating sustainable solutions for the construction industry, promoting the technologies and monitoring methods for resilient infrastructure. It focuses on sustainable solutions and offers techniques and methodologies to deliver high-quality end solutions in civil engineering. In addition, the content provides knowledge-based information for the readers to assess, monitor, measure, and practice sustainability for resilient infrastructure. The contents of the volume are a blend of academic research work and industrial case studies. It covers the use of sustainable materials like Lime-Pozzolona Binders, biopolymers, lignosulphonate, lightweight aggregates made from fly ash, calcinated clay, paper ash, and limestone as amendments/ameliorators for soil remediation, development of neo-construction materials and composites for civil engineering applications. Design of innovative pavements using alkali activation and pervious concrete for sustainable infrastructure is also discussed. The chapters also highlight the role of civil engineers in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals, promoting climate change design for urban landscapes, and modelling building energy demand. This book is framed to address the principles and practice from the corners of geoenvironment, sustainable construction materials, low carbon materials, energy efficiency, and waste management. It is a valuable reference for faculty, researchers, field experts, scientists, and practicing engineers.