Ecology and Energy Dimension in Infrastructural Designs

Abstract

With urbanization becoming the core of societal migration, infrastructural needs like transportation, power, water and communication are on the rise. Infrastructural development in recent years call for consideration of new and complex aspects relating to impacts on environment, energy and life cycle performance in any new construction and it is preferable that these are addressed at the planning and design stage itself so that negative effects could be minimized. The present study focuses attention on ecology and energy dimensions at the planning stage so that the resulting system is eco-friendly and at the same time sustainable. Consideration of embodied energy and CO₂ emission in the design and planning stages of two systems are demonstrated for Indian conditions with quantification of the impact on environment. The case studies reveal that new dimensions like energy and emission are to be added to existing cost and weight considerations—normally used in designs—so that one can get a design which is competitive, energy-intensive and eco-friendly to make it sustainable.