construction

Choosing a Low-E Window

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:24:02 +0100

In a recent post, we explained the benefits of using DIY low-emissivity coatings to insulate your current windows at the fraction of the cost of replacing them. But if you are designing a new sustainable building or home and have the opportunity to select your windows from the cutting edge options available today, these general guidelines will help you make logical decisions.
There is a true science behind low-e coatings that bares the necessity of mentioning that no two low-e coatings are created equal. However, this is not to say that some products are universally better than others, but that selecting the right window depends on the climate it is being installed in and orientation to the sun. In order to receive maximum energy efficiency, each window on a building should be analyzed independently and fitted with the appropriately insulated window.

Many superinsulated window manufacturers take these factors into consideration to offer a lineup of windows that are optimal for each application.

In general, for colder climates, it is desired to encourage long-wave solar heat gain and not let the reradiated heat out of the interior space. For this application, a low-e hard coat on the inner-most surface of the window would be optimal. A hard coat is a layer of indium tin oxide that gets floated into the glass when it is still molten. This allows for more durable surface hence the name hard coat. Compared to soft coats this allows 20-30% more light transmittance, which decreases its insulating R-Value, but encourages passive solar heat gain. This combined with its application to the inner-most window surface makes it the appropriate choice for colder climates.

For warmer climates, it would be desired to use a soft low-e coating that is typically a spattered layer of silver on the already-hardened pane of glass. This layer is less durable compared to the hard coat of indium tin oxide, but delivers less light transmittance, thus rejecting more radiant energy from the sun that will contribute to unwanted heat gain in this particular case. For optimal results this layer should be applied to the outer most surface of the window, but due to the delicate nature of the soft low-e coatings, can be applied to surface #2, just inside the air-space of the window.

For moderate climates that see a fair share of all four seasons, selecting energy efficient windows becomes more complicated. In this scenario, it is important to consider each window and its orientation to the sun. In the northern hemisphere, northern facing windows will never see too much direct sunlight. Because of this it is not as necessary to have a low light transmittance soft coating, but a well-insulated double or triple pain air-space with a hard low-e coating that will help keep the interior climate constant.

On the contrary, south facing windows might want to encourage solar heat gain for winter months and inhibit solar heat gain in warmer months. In this case, a well-insulated window is most effective in controlling interior temperatures and the use of low-e coatings is necessary to insulate but the difference in using a soft or hard coat and placement of the coating within the window will be very minimal when evaluated over the course of a year. There are other measures to be taken in order to create the most energy efficient interior spaces. Using louvered sun shades and strategically placed operable windows may help to deliver better results as the seasons change.

Commercial Warehouse Energy Retrofits

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:24:50 +0100

One type of building that does not often get mentioned in energy conservation discussion is commercial warehouses and storage facilities. In order to conserve energy in these spaces it is important to identify defficiencies. These buildings are unique in that the inhabitants do not desire typical interior temperatures, however, some products and materials held in warehouses require to be stored at a certain climate. For this reason heating and cooling loads can still be a large contributor to a warehouse's energy consumption. In most cases, however, lighting often leads to a large portion of energy consumption.

To correct these energy deficiencies in warehouses and cut back on energy consumption, several things can be done. Michael Koploy, manager of Warehouse Management Systems Guide website, recently took some time to meet with a few professionals on the topic to compile a list of energy retrofits that can help warehouse managers have a more energy efficient facility and save more money. The list of 9 Energy Retrofits to Reduce Energy Consumption provides cost effective solutions to acheive many benefits.

A few energy retrofit ideas from the article include:

Installing solar light tubes to help natural light effectively penetrate into spaces on the warehouse floor.

Replacing halogen and incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent and LED lighting. These lights are cool buring, consume less energy and last longer, while offering superior light levels.

Controlling these lights with automatic occupancy sensor switches will help save more energy by automatically turning lights on and off by detecting motion or lack of motion on a certain area of the warehouse floor.

Using a white roof membrane to help reflect light that will otherwise be absorbed by a traditional dark roof and contribute to heating loads.

Deploy destratification fans to help keep warm air down in colder climates will help cut back on heating bills.

And of course, insulating a building with spray in foam or batt insulation is a common energy retrofit for any structure with conditioned spaces.

Sustainable Facility Management Software

Sun, 27 May 2012 15:10:07 +0100

-- Recent developments in technology strive to induce an energy efficient mindset to the occupants of sustainable buildings.

Since early 2010, there has been alot of discussion about net zero energy buildings on the Sustainable Construction Blog. It is evident that sustainable construction technologies have greatly advanced over the past few years; making net zero energy a viable goal for new construction projects.

However, one very important aspect is often not emphasized enough when discussing the criteria necessary to acheive superior energy efficiency goals. This aspect is the occupants' ability to operate under the energy loads established in the design phase of the project.

Simply put, if day-to-day energy loads continue to exceed the allotted "energy budget" the building cannot be considered net zero energy. This is a major concern of facility manager's whose job is to ensure the building is operating efficiently. This is difficult to do when energy demand is strongly dictated by the building occupants. So what are the facility managers to do?

In a recent article written by Ashley Halligan, she outlined five strategies to help boost occupant compliance in "green" buildings to help meet environmental performance goals. She interviewed experts involved in sustainability efforts and facility management software gurus that have created dashboards that measure and report live consumption--and with that data, created a guide for both design teams and building managers to better their performance. These ideas include: engaging occupants during the design phase through educational meetings, taking a holistic approach to sustainability campaigns, integrating software solutions that measure consumption, creating competition among occupants and creating a transparent, easy-to-understand campaign that's clear and concise.

Because this area is still so new and occupants do, in fact, account for up to 50 percent of energy consumption in a building, it's important to implement a strategy early on to optimize performance. Not only does meeting environmental performance goals provide cost-savings over a period of time, but it also demonstrates a commitment to environmental responsibility, which is a credible trait in corporate social responsibility.

5 Components of a Net Zero Energy Building

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:10:53 +0100

--Unfortunately, there is not a recipe for constructing a net zero energy building, but these guidelines provide a fundamental basis of how net zero energy is acheived through smart design and innovative technologies.

Alternative Energy Source

Alternative energy can come from a variety of sources: solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass. These renewable energy sources can be harnessed in a variety of ways to provide power, heating, and cooling to a building and lower supplemental consumption by traditional grid utilities. The most influential factor in acheiving net zero energy in a building is choosing what type and how much alternative energy will be used. Simply put, the alternative energy source should be chosen based on the natural resources offered by the particular region of the world the building site is located. A marine or coastal building site might consider wind while a tropical site might consider solar, and an inland moderate site may want to explore the local geothermal resources. These are by no means strict guidelines for choosing a source but offer a logical basis of how to choose which source a feasibility analysis should be performed on.

In addition to an alternative energy source, other sustainable construction design, technologies and components must be used in order to further lower a building's demand of traditional grid utilities.

Passive Solar Design

One aspect of building design that has been around for hundreds of years but is very underconsidered is how the building will behave according to the sun. Solar gain is responsible for heat gain that can drive the costs of cooling a building through the roof. On the other hand the sun offers valuable natural light, and solar gain in the winter can help to heat a building. Passive solar refers to a building's ability to naturally collect, store and distribute energy as needed according to a builing site's particular climate.

Paying close attention to the building's orientation on the site, and window and door placement is essential to passive solar design. In addition it is important to use components of a high performance building envelope, further reducing energy loads to create a net zero energy building.

High Performance Building Envelope

Today, many building materials and technologies are designed to contribute to a building's ability to lower heating and cooling loads. The concept of superinsulation is to make a building as air-tight as possible. This can be done by adding multiple high performance insulations to a traditional structure, or by using panelized or site casted wall systems that eliminate thermal bridging while offering sound structural performance. These non traditional wall structural systems are structural insulated panels (SIPs) and insulated concrete forms (ICFs). Unfortunately, these panels can not alone be responsible for creating a superinsulated envelope as windows and doors will likely be present on everyside of the building. The highest whole wall R-value is acheived by using SIPs and ICFs in combination with superinsulated doors and windows.

Lighting and Daylighting

In commercial buildings, only one energy load is more demanding than heating and cooling individually. That is the energy consumed by lighting. In recent years, lighting products and systems have improved significantly to contribute to lower demands. Of course, using no artificial lighting at all is the most beneficial to lowering consumption. A typical net zero energy building will effectively allow daylight to penetrate deep into highly occupied spaces, and employ a high-tech sensored lighting system that adjusts artificial lighting output based on the amount of daylight present. In addition, occupancy sensors can be used for areas that do not constantly need to be lit. Of course, the artificial light source itself can draw less power when CFL adn LED bulbs are used.

Low Consumption Technology/Appliances

Other than lighting, additional electrical consumption comes from appliances and office equipment. Fortunately, many manufacturers accross many industries have sustainability initiatives that focus on lowering the power consumed by their products. Many rating systems such as the U.S. Government's Energy Star program make it simple for consumers to choose the right products that will help to acheive a net zero energy goal.

Tendril Connect Energy Management

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 03:23:24 +0100

--New energy management technology helps connect smart, sustainable buildings to utility companies; the Tendril Connect offers energy savings on a whole new level.

The Tendril Connect platform utilizes the Tendril Smart Grid at a residential level to bring successful energy management to property owners. This aspect is the cornerstone of Tendril’s attempt to develop the “Energy Internet.” The Energy Internet gathers knowledge on energy consumption and trends from the local grid to help utilities, ecosystem partners, and consumers work together in an effort to lower peak demands and overall consumption. This is the fundamental advantage that Tendril Connect has over other software platforms. Tendril Connect allows property owners to manage their energy usage, not only based on their consumption, but others as well, making the entire network of consumers more efficient. The Tendril Connect works with a variety of supplemental technologies that are compatible with its Home Area Network (HAN).

Regardless of the details of what makes Tendril so comprehensive and useful, is a user friendly operating system with all of the bells and whistles that make it attractive and fun for today’s users. The Tendril Energize application is available for use on your iPhone and home computer making the overall management of your utilities that much easier. It also tracks the performance of your home and shares energy efficiency statistics over time with the energy internet community. This makes energy management competitive and helps to spread interest in energy management.

The Tendril Setpoint is one of the most useful and powerful components of the energy management system. This networked thermostat shares vital information as to how much of each utility a property owner is using at anytime, and consequently how much the user is spending. While providing this feedback to in home monitors or your iPhone or iPod touch, the user can respond by wirelessly changing HVAC settings or developing their own automated price plan. In the automated price rules, the owner can tell its system how much it wants to pay and find out its optimal energy consumption schedule that saves money without compromising comfort.

Similarly, the Tendril Volt manages electrical utilities in the same manner as the Setpoint thermostat handles HVAC. The Volt is a three-pronged device that plugs into the standard wall outlet and provides the user with information regarding each appliances energy consumption and allows the owner to turn these devices on or off using an in home monitor or the energize iPhone app. This device will also report statistics back to the energy internet so utilities can view specifically which type of appliances are consuming energy and when.

How R-Values are Measured

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:36:09 +0100

In sustainable construction, one of the most proven and sought after energy reducing techniques is superinsulating in new construction or retrofitting an old building with more efficient or additional insulation. When installed correctly, insulation is very effective in reducing energy loads on HVAC systems by keeping a more regulated and constant indoor temperature. There are many types of insulation ranging from spray foam, to loose-fill batt, to rigid EPS, and choosing which one to use can be based on many factors. However, the R-value of insulation takes precedent over all other factors when choosing insulation.

An R-value is defined as a measure of a material’s ability to resist heat transfer.
Because consumers buy insulation based on its R-value, companies who manufacture insulation must have the R-value of their product regulated by ASTM standards. While several technical standards have been written due to specific applications of what materials are tested, a general process is common in all ASTM tests.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has state of the art technologies for testing insulation and has been conducting R-value testing for over two decades. All of their tests are now done using a hot box apparatus. On a large scale, a hot box apparatus can fit entire mock-up wall sections into its clam shell-like chamber. After running a test, an average rating per square foot can be assigned to any given wall section. A Rotatable Guarded Hot Box has the ability to provide the thermal conductivity measurement in a vertical or horizontal application or any angle in between that a pitched roof may be. On a smaller scale a hotbox apparatus can be built to test the R-value over a given square foot of insulation or sheathing material.

How a Hotbox Apparatus Works

Two clam shell chambers hold the material to be tested in an airtight and locked position. This creates two climate chambers, one on each side of the material, which can be regulated to steady-state conditions. One side is designated as the metering (hot) chamber, while the other is the climate (cold) chamber. Air is sent into each chamber and regulated by velocity and temperature of the air at the source. The air is blown parallel to the surface of the material to prevent any convection that could occur. Once the hot and cold side has reached a steady state the temperature of the material is measured on each side and the test begins. The average temperature is recorded on each side of the material until the temperatures and heat flows are equilibrated. Using the data collected the R-value is calculated using energy output of heating and cooling components, the energy exchange between the two chambers, the area of the chamber and average surface temperatures on each side. The formula for R-value is, R= A[t1-t2]/(Qk +Qf + Qmb). At Oak Ridge National Library, arriving at a final R-value means that two successive four hour tests have produced values within 1% of variance.

Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Recycled Aggregate for Carbon Neutral Concrete

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:30:00 +0100

With the development of environmentally conscious construction projects across the world, there are still many demands of building materials that today’s technologies have not yet satisfied. Looking at the two main structural building materials, steel and concrete, one in particular lacks characteristics of carbon neutrality. While steel is nearing full recycled production, concrete remains a very carbon intensive process. The main contributor to this trait is portland cement. Portland cement exhausts sulfates, soot and nitrogen oxides when it is created (Chandra 518). In addition, natural aggregate from raw mined material contributes to concrete’s carbon consumption. These two aspects of concrete are in need of sustainable remediation in order for carbon neutral projects to allow its use in generous quantities.

    With increased industrial activity and improvements in society, exists the ironic counteraction that these industrial buildings produce waste and consume natural resources during construction and the lifetime of their production. Advancements in concrete technology have been oriented to correct this deficiency in several ways. Through developments in alternative aggregates from recycled material and recycled admixtures that address the usage of portland cement, ready-mix concrete can be composed to be used in commercial and industrial infrastructure projects. First, this new technology must undergo substantial empirical testing and analysis before it can be qualified by building codes.

    Construction and demolition waste programs have been established throughout the world to allow the use of recycled concrete as an alternative aggregate and 40% of all construction demolition is concrete (Ridzuan). Other recovered concrete can come from sources such as site waste and old slump tests, as well as prefabricated concrete factory waste. The Netherlands is the most responsible nation in this practice with nearly all of its concrete recovered. Sadly, Europe in total only manages to recover 30% of concrete.   The United States recovers 82% of concrete in construction and demolition waste (CSI 9). A common misconception is that recycled concrete can have cement extracted out of it but the process in which the clunker is formed is irreversible (Chandra 518). The remaining use for recycled concrete is replacement of natural coarse aggregate in concrete mixes.

    Because recycled concrete does not relieve the use of Portland cement in concrete mix it does not necessarily produce many carbon credits in its function. However, research shows that concrete does carbonate over time, and in particular, crushed concrete does so more efficiently because it has more surface area exposed to air. An article in the Journal of Life Cycle Assessment shares that during its secondary life, all particles of crushed concrete can achieve full carbonation (Collins 552). As a common application indicated by many sources it is most effective when used as a road sub base as 1.5-2 inch aggregate (PCA). While others say it is best used as road sub base because its structural properties are undetermined, Frank Collins’s research indicates that recycled concrete in road sub base application can carbonate up to 41% compared to the carbon emissions produced when the Portland cement used is created (Collins 556). In this respect, it is understood that depending on application of the recycled concrete, the carbon neutral credits could be assigned. Nevertheless, crushed recycled concrete does carbonate to some extent when recovered and stored and thus consumes CO2.

    In addition to road construction, structural concrete applications of recycled concrete pertain to aggregate substitution in various proportions. As mentioned before, cutting back on raw mined material used as aggregate in concrete is beneficial to the environment. However, this mostly pertains to reductions in green-house gas emissions, not carbon emissions. In one study, the use of recycled concrete aggregate matched the structural properties attained using natural concrete aggregate. The recycled concrete aggregate even produced concrete that was capable of exceeding standard compressive strengths by 2-20%. This data alone is not enough to consider its value as structural concrete. The recycled aggregate size used in the study was slightly smaller and lighter than natural aggregate. The 20 mm nominal aggregate diameter had a loose bulk density of 1255 kg/m3 while the natural aggregate attained a loose bulk density of 1390 kg/m3. This difference allows almost 30% more water to infiltrate between the aggregate and increase workability of the recycled aggregate concrete; however this leaves the shrinkage of the mix when cured to suspect. The common trend in most recycled concrete aggregate studies was that 3000 psi concrete could be developed for structural purposes. The most common succeeding proportion of mix included 50% of 20mm recycled coarse aggregate, 30% fine granite aggregate (10mm) and 20% coarse granite aggregate (Ridzuan).

    In a further study on the qualities of recycled concrete aggregate, the pore size and distribution of pores is analyzed. Variations in water absorption of previous studies discussed were due to variation in pore sizes. Pore sizes are contingent on what type of cement was used in its primary application. As discussed before different admixtures are being used to achieve carbon cutting ready-mix cement. These chemicals range from by-products of industrial production such as fly ash, silica fume, or slag (Ngab). These chemicals, among others, will affect the porous properties of the aggregate and thus the water absorption ratio. Results of this study revealed that the pore volume of concrete with silica fume was reduced by 30% compared to a 50 nanometer to 2 micrometer standard Portland cement pore volume due to the dense properties of the adhered mortar (Moon). In order to make a consistently accurate mix, it is important to know what the primary concrete mix was composed of and thus the porous volume in the aggregate.

    With water absorption ratios and compressive strengths confirmed viable by several experiments, one must consider the resultant concrete’s seismic performance. In one study in China, researchers built three types of portal frames to perform seismic tests on. One was constructed using concrete comprising of natural aggregate while the other was 50/50 recycled aggregate to natural aggregate and the final mix was 100% recycled concrete aggregate. The results of the study revealed no evident difference in the cyclic lateral loading and the bearing strength of the recycled concrete aggregate compared to normal coarse aggregate. Further conclusions of the study reported that additional studies needed to be performed in order to test the durability and serviceability of using recycled aggregate (Sun). Through research studies it seems feasible to replace natural aggregate with recycled concrete aggregate, but a major factor to its use in construction is practicality.

In fact, due to several aspects of the necessary process, recycled concrete aggregate may not be very practical on large scale construction projects or as a component of ready-mix concrete. In addition, at this time, the economic disadvantages are enough to outweigh any environmental contributions that recycled concrete may add to any project. Sorting through construction demolition and waste is not an easy process (Chandra 514). Not to mention, once the steel, glass, wood and concrete is separated there is still various granulated material mixed in to each batch. These unknown constituent materials can cause impurities in the aggregate that could affect how the concrete cures (Limbachiya 129). Once the concrete is separated it must be crushed into 10mm- 20mm pieces for fine and coarse aggregate. This process is often cost deficient and could be considered more harm than good as units of recovered concrete are relocated several times from the demolition site to its secondary use as recycled aggregate. This is not to say that this applies to all measures of use of recycled concrete aggregate. An example of proficient recycled aggregate recovery is demolition of bridges and highways as well as airport pavement. In these instances, the aggregate needs only to be separated from steel reinforcement and has no unknown constituent material (Limbachiya).

While the concrete industry has made advances to develop mixes using recycled concrete as aggregate, it has made no tremendous gains in replacing carbon intensive Portland cement with an environmentally friendly alternative. Through research of recent studies, it can be concluded that recycled concrete aggregate is an acceptable replacement to natural coarse aggregate in bearing and compressive strength. The variation in pore size has led coarse aggregate to have a lower bulk density and thus higher water absorption, but the increased slump and workability does not affect its strength after it cures for 28 days (Ridzuan). The practicality of using recycled concrete aggregate on large scale projects seems to be its limiting factor. Nevertheless, structural properties achieved in a mix using recycled concrete aggregate are sufficient in complying to specifications and could be used.

Works Cited

Chandra, Satish. Waste Materials Used in Concrete Manufacturing. 3rd ed. pg 513-537. Noyes Publications, 1996. Print.

Collins, Frank. "Inclusion of carbonation during the life cycle of built and recycled concrete: influence on their carbon         footprint." International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 15 (2010): 549-556. Print.

"Concrete Technology: Recycled Aggregate." The Portland Cement Association. PCA, 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 10 Dec.         2010. <http://www.cement.org/tech/cct_aggregates_recycled.asp>.

"CSI: Recycling Concrete." Cement Sustainibility Initiative. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development,         Web. 6 Dec. 2010. <http://www.wbcsdcement.org/pdf/CSI-RecyclingConcrete-FullReport.pdf>.

Limbachiya, M.C., et al. Performance of Recycled Aggregate Concrete. RILEM Publications, 2004. Print.

Moon, Joong Dae. "Effect of Pore Size Distribution on the Qualities of Recycled Aggregate Concrete." KSCE Journal of     Civil Engineering 6.3 (2002): 289-295. Print.

Ngab, Ali S. "Structural Engineering and Concrete Technologies in Developing Countries: An Overview." Structural             Engineering, Mechanics and Computation 2 (2001): Print.

Ridzuan, A.R.M, A.B.M Diah, R Hamir, and K.B. Kamarulzaman. " Influence of Recycled Aggregate on the Early                 Compressive Strength and Drying Shrinkage in Concrete." (2003): Print.

Sun, Yuedong. "Experimental research on seismic behavior of recycled concrete frame under vary cyclic loading." Tóngjì     dàxué xuébào 35.8 (2007): 1013. Print.

A Sustainable Construction Outlook for 2011

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:42:14 +0100

2011 buzzwords: net-zero energy, passive house, and photovoltaic.

As we bring in the New Year, there are several trends that will define the construction industry in 2011. As in recent years, the industry is undoubtedly headed in a sustainable direction focusing on environmentally friendly materials, energy efficiency, and alternative energy sources. The outlook for the industry in 2011 considers these same principles, but we will see a stronger more informed focus in several areas.

Achieving net-zero energy has become the driving force behind many sustainable projects both commercially and residentially. Net-zero energy is a term that defines the outcome of a buildings performance due to its energy efficiency based on super-insulation properties combined with alternative energy sources.

Sustainable construction developments over the past few years have brought us new innovations and technologies that have prepared the industry to take a more feasible approach to redefining building standards. While the USGBC’s LEED certification standards have been a strong notion to spark the green building revolution, they have also faced a fair share of adversity in 2010. Adopting energy efficiency and alternative energy guidelines from the LEED standards, and then taking these standards one step higher, leaves us with a new industry wide focus that becomes more budget friendly in an otherwise economically suffering industry.

Since net-zero energy is merely a concept; it fundamentally defines an achievable goal that allows architects and engineers to decide how this goal will be reached without being bound by a scorecard of standards. One set of standards that can be used as a general guideline for super insulation is Passive House. The Passive House standards are not as complex or demanding as LEED but provide a more beneficial result; one which is crucial in achieving net-zero energy. Its main goal is to decrease energy loads in the building and meet the new alternative energy technologies halfway for a net-zero energy building performance.

Looking back on 2010, this outlook can be justified by recalling what the majority of investment and research activity focused on. The U.S. government, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA projects), invested in energy reducing electrical and mechanical systems, window and wall insulation research and development, and many photovoltaic products and projects. As ARRA funding runs out this year, the construction of new bridges and highways will slow down; however, residential and commercial projects are expected to increase. It will be an exciting year for the construction industry to see these new technologies implemented into state of the art, net-zero projects that will set a new precedent for years to come.

AECOM: A Leader in Sustainable Planning

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 02:38:23 +0100

Sustainability in construction is a concept that can be accepted into a project to various extents. In addition, the sustainability of a building can only be taken as far as the site and surround area allow. This means a building can have all of the right energy efficient systems, building envelopes, and green materials but still may not provide a sustainable lifestyle or community to the people living, working, or visiting these buildings.

This is where AECOM makes a difference in the sustainable construction industry. This international corporation has a design and planning division that completes urban renewal and revitalization projects all over the world. This division of the company was initiated in 2005 when AECOM’s program and construction management capabilities merged with the planning expertise of EDAW. Recently, their focus on sustainability has landed them the job of creating Legacy Masterplan Framework in East London for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Their responsibilities include designing an urban renewal plan that will support a sustainable infrastructure for the buildings in the Lower Leah Valley of London. The plan for a legacy of the Olympics includes planning that extends years beyond the games to turn the land into a sustainable and economically revitalized community.

AECOM expects their masterplan will deliver a final product or end result by 2040. Perhaps this is the epitome of sustainability, when a project goes to the extent of rebuilding a five boroughs using interdisciplinary collaboration of several teams focusing on sustainability.

Other AECOM planning projects include developing solutions for infrastructure deficiencies, economic regeneration projects, and renewing city centers to meet cultural needs. All of these projects require multidisciplinary teams and decades of scheduled work. AECOM assesses the sustainable return on investment when designing a plan and sees that it is achieved with the final product.

Sustainable Construction Photos at the 2012 Olympics

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:54:53 +0100

As London prepares to host the Summer Olympic Games of 2012, recent construction photos share the progress being made in this sustainable project. This sustainable planning and construction project will develop an area that is economically depressed to provide for the community for many decades after the 2012 Olympic Games are over. Photos courtesy of london2012.co.uk

Velo Park

Aquatic Center

Olympic Village