Posts filed under 'Sustainability'
The National Infrastructure Bank
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Leaders of “Building America’s Future” in their letter to President Obama commended him for his efforts and wrote in part:
“We write to ask for your continued leadership on the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank, which will help rebuild our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, including our transportation, water and wastewater, broadband, power grid and other critical assets. As you know, the American Society of Civil Engineers identified more than $2.2 trillion in outstanding infrastructure needs. We cannot improve our infrastructure through the annual appropriations process alone.
We must renew our commitment to a National Infrastructure Bank that can help leverage public and private dollars, address regional and national needs and spur a rebirth in how our country invests in infrastructure. Building America’s Future, along with many other organizations, has educated the public about the outstanding needs throughout our country. Cities and states are struggling to find enough resources on their own.”
Critics are pontificating on the reasons why this will not work. One of their concern centers on the shortfall of the initial investment. Their thought is that we can’t find enough money to fully fund a trillion dollar need, so why fund with a “paltry” $60 billion? Secondly, critics are hung up on the term “bank.” Banks need to lend money and generate revenue, and therefore make investments that repay themselves. Since all infrastructure projects will not return large financial investment, then critics want the bank funding investment portfolio modified. Finally, the critics regard any federal organization as ineffective.
We cannot afford another eight years of inactivity and political battles.
These infrastructure repairs are desperately needed. This is our industry’s future and we support this initiative.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Add comment February 9, 2010
Sky City: City in the Sky or Pie in the Sky?
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
So. Tired of dealing with traffic congestion, long commutes, urban sprawl and air pollution? Interested in Sustainability? Interested in Urban Redevelopment? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to check out Tokyo’s Sky City.
Tokyo, Japan’s Sky City is in essence, a true city within a city. In the planning stages for many years now, the Sky City project is geared towards freeing up congestion and providing some “oh-so needed” green space in downtown Tokyo. The largest metropolitan region in the world with over 35M people (according to Wikipedia), Tokyo is jam packed to say the least and the urban sprawl is ri-dic-u-lous.
Aerial Photo of Tokyo, Japan
The average commute is two hours, many streets and roads are inaccessible and unnavigable for many emergency vehicles, and the civil engineering infrastructure is over capacity. Many Japanese citizens believe the answer to these problems is to build vertically, like Sky City. Sky City would reach two-thirds of a mile straight up into the sky and would accommodate 35,000 residents and 100,000 workers with apartments, offices, commercial facilities, movie theaters, a stadium, schools, hospitals, a monorail, etc. The reality is that one could live, work and play in Sky City without ever having to leave…ever.
Check out the first segment of video as seen on The Discovery Channel’s “Extreme Engineering”:
The remaining four segments you can find on YouTube as they get much deeper into all the cool research and engineering that is required to accomplish such a feat.
Segment 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vOtSFWqnp8
Segment 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODgvqtiRLng
Segment 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdykY41VEvk
Segment 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arM_TBadGd8
What an amazing concept; key word here being “concept.” Do you believe this concept will become reality? Can these types of vertical cities really be as structurally sound as they need to be? Would you live in a place like this? If this works in Tokyo could we one day see this “metropolis of the future” in New York City?
If this is really what the future holds, and if these types of projects will one day become common place as our population continues to soar, then how can one NOT be excited about a career in civil engineering?
What’s your take on Sky City?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
9 comments October 14, 2009
LEED Accreditation – Fad or Necessity?
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Is it really necessary to become a LEED accredited professional (LEED AP)? Can you design for sustainability without having LEED accreditation? Is this just another acronym to put on a business card? Or, as some suggest, is this a half hearted attempt by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to exploit the demand for solutions to environmental issues and make some money along the way?
Just a few years ago only a select few individuals had LEED AP following their name. Now more than 75,000 architects and engineers proudly display this designation to demonstrate their prowess in green building, strategies and technologies. The USGBC clearly states that the “LEED Professional Accreditation distinguishes building professionals with the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the LEED certification process.” As LEED certification becomes better defined, the LEED AP testing has become more difficult and comprehensive.
The LEED train has left the station and whether critics like it or not, it is here to stay. Therefore, having LEED AP on your resume will become a necessity and possibly valued in the future as the PE, AIA, RLA or AICP designations are now. Whether one can or has designed with an eye to sustainability in the past will no longer matter, without having the acronym after their name. Experts concur that, for now, LEED is here to stay and one might as well get on board.
Do understand that as the U.S. increases desirability and need for green design, skeptics are becoming louder and activists more outspoken. Pete Wann’s blog on the “Fashion of LEED Bashing” suggests that the original critics were builders and developers and that today’s naysayers are those from the environmental and architectural traditionalist movements. While an Internet search turned up plenty of arguments on both sides of the recycled fence, I still think that in spite of its flaws and inadequacies, the LEED program is better than nothing when it motivates people to seriously face the future environmental challenges. And if we are going to have universally accepted guidelines (I don’t see the USGBC going away) then why not have professionals accredited? What do you think?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
15 comments June 25, 2009
