Sustainability for architects, engineers

‘Nature can still surprise us’. This was the catch phrase used at a conference on sustainable development and the built environment as part of the 53rd meeting of the European Council of Civil Engineers in Malta held earlier this month.

Speaking on changes in the engineering degree, the dean of the University’s Faculty for the Built Environment, Alex Torpiano, noted that architects and engineers are getting interested in sustainability and disciplines which marry spatial planning with infrastructure.

“Traditionally planners came from the architectural sector,” he pointed out, adding that architects tend to look more at spaces and volumes.

Torpiano urged that the role of the structural or civil engineer had to change in order to meet new challenges related to our energy and water resources.

University lecturer Ruben Paul Borg spoke on the need to promote science-based developments in sustainable construction and proper choice of materials and construction techniques to produce durability and energy-efficiency in buildings.

Following on from the dean’s reference to “talking across the architect/engineer divide”, Borg stressed the importance of networking across institutes to adopt a sustainable approach.

Urban designer and architect Sarah Anastasi, based in Amsterdam, looked at local possibilities for a network of connected, high quality, open public spaces in an urban environment that has become increasingly dominated by cars. It is now recognised that isolated transport solutions which separate the pedestrian zone can sometimes lead to isolation, safety issues and left-over spaces.

A spatial strategy integrating transport and open spaces can create an ‘infrascape’, addressing the under-use of spaces in built-up areas, generally left derelict, inaccessible or turned over to parking and traffic.

‘Place-making’ is the aim, and there is no shortage of examples across Europe for creating new spaces and streets as destinations in themselves.

Meeting energy efficiency targets for buildings presents an opportunity for drastic modernisation of the building sector.

“We can save really big amounts of energy in buildings. The costs are lower and returns are higher than in most other sectors,” advised Asko Sarja, of the Finnish consulting firm Innokas.

The building sector must adopt a sense of urgency, he said.

The knowledge exists but it is still challenging, especially for small and medium enterprises, but a huge change must happen for buildings in the next 10 years toward nearly zero energy buildings.

In a specific reference to penthouses, Mario Fsadni from the University’s Institute of Sustainable Energy, predicted that sooner or later building regulations had to be enforced.

Presenting a paper on energy efficient social housing, Charles Yousif from the same institute said the cost of installing insulation in new buildings is minimal and can be absorbed into the whole project.

The heat capacity of building blocks still varies from what is laid out in the regulations, and upper terrace floors, which form the roof of underlying apartments, are still not being insulated. Reflective roof coatings meant to reduce summer heat can actually put energy costs up in winter.

Building energy management systems that are able to cope with future expansion while being ‘backwards compatible’ offer scalability, while older systems can still be adapted without software being replaced.

University research on the use of treated sewage effluent for large scale agricultural production in areas outside the groundwater protection zone revealed obstacles of cost linked to distribution problems of treated sewage effluent caused by lack of forward planning at design stage.

A presentation from the Institute of Sustainable Development showed the use of geographic information systems as a tool to improve road safety. Equipp-ing traffic police with global positioning system devices to send road injury data for further analysis could help the authorities adopt a proactive approach rather than wait for fatal-ities to happen before making improvements.

Retro style designers may find a useful resource in an online interactive database for re-use and design in the building industry (www.thereusemap.com).

Old ceiling fans and 1960s chandeliers are in demand, while requests can be sent in for used timber beams and stone blocks on offer.

Ambiguity over which authority is responsible for enforcing the law was cited by hydrologist Marco Cremona, who also noted that the neglect to collect rainwater in households was reflected on a larger scale with abandoned reservoirs, such as the one at the airport.

A code of good practice for rainwater use and a review in the legislation on the scale of wells would see a three-person family making use of free rainwater collected for all their second class water needs.

Low energy consuming sterilisation by ultraviolet light would be beneficial for summer control of microbes in rainwater used in showers, although this stops being a problem during colder winter days as the microbes die off.

A tender by Transport Malta for a steel footbridge reconnecting Valletta to the breakwater has emerged as a joint venture between the famous Spanish bridge designers Arenas and Associates and local architects Bezzina and Cole. The bridge is to be built to withstand extreme crowd load bearing at times.

The effects of impact waves, tsunamis and earthquakes on built structures were also discussed at the international conference. Assessing seismic vulnerability and drawing up an inventory would be useful tools in rehabilitation of risk-prone structures.

The international conference was hosted in Malta by the Chamber of Architects, and was organised jointly by the European Council of Civil Engineers (ECCE) and the chamber.

The publication Sustainable Development: Civil Engineering And The Built Environment, which was launched during the conference, includes important contributions on innovative research and developments.

The event and the conference publication were coordinated by Ruben Paul Borg, who besides being a lecturer at the University’s Faculty for the Built Environment is also a member of the chamber’s council.

The event was opened by the chamber president Vincent Cassar, ECCE president Gorazd Humar and Resources Minister George Pullicino.

Richard Coackley, senior vice-president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, presented a keynote lecture on water resources and the role of engineering in meeting the water security challenge.

Papers were presented by various international experts in sustainability and construction, as well as local civil engineers who addressed the four main areas of the conference, namely civil engineering education, planning and transportation, energy efficiency and resources, and structural engineering and seismicity.

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