Green Construction in Civil Engineering Instruction Kenneth R. Leitch, Christopher Koop, Miles Messer, and Andrew Payne West Texas A&M University, kleitch@wtamu.edu, cdkoop1@buffs.wtamu.edu, mcmesser1@buffs.wtamu.edu, arpayne1@buffs.wtamu.edu, Abstract Teaching sustainability in civil engineering curriculum fulfills ABET 2000 Outcome 3c and the codes of ethics of NSPE and ASCE. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) has published the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria since 1998. LEED is an optional criteria in private construction and is mandated or encouraged by many federal, state, and local governments for public construction projects. Learning about LEED criteria will help to prepare civil engineers to understand how civil systems interact with and operate in a more complementary manner with the natural world as well as to reduce water, energy, and material usage. The authors describe the process of learning about the LEED v3 (2009) criteria to apply it to two existing buildings to build a scorecard. In the process of building the scorecard, the authors learned about sustainable construction techniques. Future guidance on applications of the LEED criteria across the undergraduate civil engineering curriculum is discussed. Index Terms Civil Engineering, Sustainability, LEED, USGBC, ASCE, ABET, Ethics, Environment, Construction INTRODUCTION Incorporating sustainability into the civil engineering curriculum is consistent with ABET Outcome 3c as well as ASCE, NSPE, and ASME codes of ethics [1, 2, 3, 4]. The primary roadblock to implementation is that many of today s current engineering educators have not studied or been trained in sustainable engineering practices. The term sustainability refers to the ability of the people of the present to maintain a high quality of living while ensuring that future generations will have access to the resources that they need to also maintain a high quality of life. This means that the people, businesses, and governmental organizations of today need to examine their actions in regard to production and consumption of goods and services, infrastructure, water and energy usage, and endof-service life such that those actions maximize the quality of life and economic growth while minimizing degradation to the natural environment. The common refrain of reuse, reduce, and recycle summarizes the goal of sustainability initiatives. A great source of information on sustainability in construction is the multidisciplinary US Green Building Council (USGBC). Engineers (civil, mechanical, and electrical), architects, contractors, and other stakeholders have come together with the market-driven approach of the USGBC to create the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) family of specifications to incorporate sustainability into construction projects. USGBC has specifications for homes, neighborhoods, new and existing construction, and schools that give guidance on how to make projects more sustainable by reducing environmental degradation, water, energy, and material usage while also making the project more conducive to human health and well-being. Work at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) began in May 2012 to learn about the LEED criteria. Work began by studying the LEED Green Associate (lower-level) certification materials, published by the USGBC [4]. Examinations are administered by the independent Green Building Construction Institute (GBCI). Dr. Leitch successfully passed the LEED Green Associate examination in August 2012. The upper-level certification for LEED is specific to individual specialties in construction. For example, one specialty is in neighborhood development while another is in new building construction. Each specialty has a set of LEED criteria prerequisites that must be met before certification and scorecard values related to water, energy, materials, indoor air quality, and site location plus bonus points related to regional priorities and innovations in design. Certified buildings have 40 49 points, silver certified 50 59 points, gold certified 60 79 points, and platinum certified are 80 or more points. PREVIOUS WORK Many civil engineering programs in the United States are incorporating elements of sustainability across their 978-1-4673-5261-1/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE
curriculum, with a few examples noted here. A review by Ahn, et. al (2008) and Cottrell and Cho (2009) [6, 7] provided a list of universities incorporating elements of sustainability into civil engineering curriculum such as Pennsylvania State, the University of Florida, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, the University of Colorado, and Virginia Tech. Instructors at Lamar University [8] write about using the Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, Texas (the first Platinum certified project in Texas) as a teaching tool. Since 2000, the Oregon Institute of Technology [9] has implemented a three-term sequence in senior civil engineering design that emphasizes sustainability by using the LEED criteria. George Mason University [10] uses the LEED Neighborhood Development criteria for its senior design project to address all major subareas of civil engineering. In 2012, Sattler et. al at the University of Texas at Arlington addressed integrating sustainability across the civil, mechanical, and industrial engineering curriculum including a multi-disciplinary senior design experience to design a biodiesel production facility [11]. SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE FOR THE CIVIL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM The civil engineering program began at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) officially in the Fall 2010 semester. WTAMU is a member of the Texas A&M system, serving the Texas Panhandle and surrounding region. The university has approximately 8,000 students with over 500 in the School of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS). The civil engineering program currently has about 50 declared majors, with the first graduates in 2013. The sustainability initiative consists of three distinct parts. The first part was completed in Summer 2012 when Dr. Leitch and an undergraduate student developed a series of 50-min sustainability modules for several civil engineering courses which include the introductory engineering course, civil construction materials, transportation engineering, and senior design. This phase also included study of the LEED Green Associate material. The second phase will be discussed in depth in the next section. Three students learned the LEED Green Associate Material as well as the LEED AP (Accredited Professional) specific material necessary to evaluate one remodeled and one new building on the WTAMU campus. The third phase incorporated elements of the LEED and sustainability criteria into civil engineering senior design in 2013. Civil engineering senior design addresses multiple subdisciplines such as structural, transportation, environmental, hydrology and water resources, and construction in a group project within a 3- credit semester course. Additionally, elements of engineering finance, technical communication, ethics, and sustainability are addressed within the project. LEED CRITERIA The LEED scorecard is comprised of five primary categories with prerequisites and credits (up to 100 points total) and two bonus categories (up to 10 points). A brief overview is given here, but readers are urged to consult each LEED AP specific category for prerequisites and credit values. The first major category is for Sustainable Sites and promotes responsible, innovative, and practical site design strategies that are sensitive to plants, wildlife, water, and air quality. LEED rating systems address project location and site design and maintenance by the following five main subtopics: location and linkages, neighborhood pattern and design, transportation facilities, storm water management, and heat island effects. Credits are earned for redevelopment efforts located near major transit services that allow for ease of walking and for mitigation of environmental damage. The second major category is Water Efficiency. Efficient fixtures save potable water and reduce wastewater treatment demands. Water reuse can also result in credits. For example, a rainwater capture system can channel nonpotable water (greywater) for use in irrigation of native or adapted plants (xeriscaping) and for toilet facilities. The third major category is Energy Efficiency. Rising fossil fuel costs have made efficient heating/cooling systems, appliances, and low-energy electric devices important to reduce energy costs and environmental effects. An integrated process helps to identify synergy-promoting strategies in the following areas: energy demand, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and operational performance. The fourth major category, Indoor Environmental Quality, focuses on building air quality, lighting, thermal conditions, ergonomics, and the effects it has on the occupants of the building. Indoor air quality can be more polluted than outdoor air, and yet, people spend about 90% of their day indoors. Indoor contaminants are generated by smoking, cleaning materials, HVAC equipment, and building materials that emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are defined as substances that vaporize at room temperature, and have the ability to cause health problems. Ventilation is vital in removing pollutants that enter a building. But the best way to improve indoor air quality is to reduce pollutants at the source of production. The final major category is Materials and Resources. When deciding on materials for a project, the production, transportation, consumption, and eventual disposal must be taken into account. Three main points to remember in regard to materials and resources: conservation of materials, selection of environmentally preferable materials, and for waste management and reduction. There are two bonus categories. Innovations in Design credits are awarded to projects that go above and beyond what is required of the LEED scorecard. Innovative strategies expand the scope of green building practice by
putting new techniques, processes and products into place. Regional Priority credits recognize environmental issues that are unique to a locale, outside the scope of the five main categories. CURRENT STUDY A team of three senior-level civil engineering students was tasked with learning about the LEED criteria in the Fall 2012 semester and applying it to two structures on the WTAMU campus. The students were also tasked with studying the LEED Green Associate examination study materials and taking a mock 100-question exam. The mock exam is similar to the actual Green Associate examination, and is intended to prepare the students to take the certification examination. The two structures evaluated were a remodeled facility (ECS Building opened in 2012) and the recently constructed Centennial Hall dormitory (opened in 2010), both located on the WTAMU campus. Construction documents and specifications were graciously provided by the WTAMU Physical Plant. The team of students reviewed several hundred pages of documents to determine scorecard values for both buildings. These scorecards are given for reference in Figures 1 and 2, respectively. As can be seen in the scorecards, the renovated Engineering and Computer Science Building scored 32 points, eight points shy of Certified status. The new Centennial Hall dormitory scored 45 points, indicating Certified LEED status, if the university had chosen to submit the required documentation. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, most points were awarded for sustainable sites and for indoor air quality, due to the use of low VOC emitting materials. The new dormitory building was awarded significant points for its greywater system that can use rainwater for flushing toilets, saving potable water usage. Both structures also received points for reused and locally sourced materials. Some examples of sustainable features for these two buildings are given in Figures 3 through 7. With this group of students trained in sustainable development techniques, these concepts were applied to their senior design project. This project involved the creation of a new outdoor engineering lab facility with structural, transportation, geotechnical, water resources, and environmental elements that adapt ideas from the LEED sustainability criteria. FIGURE 1 LEED Scorecard for ECS Building (Building Renovation) FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS The immediate near term goal is to incorporate sustainability into the civil engineering curriculum, in the spirit of ABET Outcome 3c and the ASCE and NSPE codes of ethics. The authors plan to share their findings with other faculty at WTAMU. The concepts of sustainability are readily adapted in related fields such as for FIGURE 2 LEED Scorecard for Centennial Hall (New Construction)
FIGURE 3 Recycled Terrazzo Flooring FIGURE 6 Motion Sensing Lighting and Room-Adjustable Thermostat FIGURE 7 Recycling Receptacle FIGURE 4 Low VOC Carpet, Paint, and Furniture FIGURE 5 Reclaimed Water for Irrigation of Xeriscape Vegetation (Centennial Hall only) mechanical engineering and engineering technology. Sustainability is important for all engineers, but especially for civil engineers, as they are responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of infrastructure necessarily for a high standard of living and for the economic growth of nations, such as the United States. Major engineering societies and accreditation bodies recognize the importance of sustainability. As such, civil engineering programs are beginning to incorporate elements of sustainability across the curriculum. The LEED criteria provide a market-driven mechanism for recognizing construction innovations that promote sustainable practices. Since 1998, over 43,000 projects in the USA have been certified (more than 50,000 total worldwide), according to the USGBC database (2012) [12]. The US General Services Administration (GSA) has been directed by Presidential Executive Orders in 2007 and 2009 to utilize LEED criteria for federal construction projects [13]. Many states and cities are also implementing incentives for applying LEED strategies in public projects. The LEED project database reflects that corporations and private citizens seeking certification as well.
Incorporation of LEED criteria and concepts of sustainability across the curriculum are essential in preparing engineers of 21 st century so that the engineers of the 22 nd century and beyond can continue to provide a high quality of life for future citizens. REFERENCES [1] ABET. General Criteria: Student Outcomes, http://www.abet.org/displaytemplates/docshandbook.aspx?id=314 3, 09 Jan 2013. [2] ASCE. Code of Ethics, http://www.asce.org/leadership-and- Management/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/, 09 Jan 2013. [3] NSPE. Code of Ethics, http://www.nspe.org/ethics/codeofethics/index.html, 09 Jan 2013. AUTHOR INFORMATION Kenneth R. Leitch, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, West Texas A&M University, PhD, PE, MBA, kleitch@wtamu.edu. Christopher Koop, Civil Engineering Student, West Texas A&M University, cdkoop1@buffs.wtamu.edu. Miles Messer, Civil Engineering Student, West Texas A&M University, mcmesser1@buffs.wtamu.edu. Andrew Payne, Civil Engineering Student, West Texas A&M University, arpayne1@buffs.wtamu.edu. [4] ASME. Code of Ethics of Engineers, http://www.asme.org/groups/educational-resources/engineers-solveproblems/code-of-ethics-of-engineers, 09 Jan 2013. [5] USGBC. LEED Green Associate Study Guide, 2009. [6] Ahn, Y. et al. Integrated Sustainable Construction: A Course in Construction for Students in the USA, Proceedings of the 2008 Education, 2008. [7] Cottrell, D. and Cho, C-S. A Preliminary Survey of Engineering Ethics Courses Nationwide, Proceedings of the 2009 Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, 2009. [8] Koehn, E. et al. Shangri La: A LEED Platinum Project, Proceedings of the 2010 annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, 2010. [9] Callaway, E. and St. Clair, S. Sustainable Research and Design in a Civil Engineering Senior Design Course, Proceedings of the 2008 Education, 2008. [10] demonsabert, S. and Miller, L. Greening the Capstone, Proceedings of the 2009 Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, 2009. [11] Sattler, M. et al. Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum: Engineering Sustainable Engineers, Proceedings of the 2012 Education, 2012. [12] USGBC. LEED Projects and Case Studies Directory, http://www.usgbc.org/leed/project/certifiedprojectlist.aspx, 09 Jan 2013 [13] GSA. Sustainable Design, http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104462, 09 Jan 2013