Sustainable Engineering – Putting It into Practice:

An Introduction

Two very important governing documents have been adopt-
ed by IABSE: “Declaration for Sustainable Development”
in 1996, initiated by Mr. Robert Silman (refer to page 229),
and “Ethical Principles for the Practice of Structural Engi-
neering” in 2002, initiated by Mr. John M. Hanson, Past Presi-
dent of IABSE (www.iabse.org). Both documents stress the
importance of sustainable development for the future of so-
ciety. In our professional activities as structural engineers, we
must sustain the natural environment, use renewable materi-
als, and eliminate or mitigate the negative impacts of our
projects on the environment.
These principles are well understood by structural engineers,
but it is not always fully understood how to put sustainabili-
ty into practice in our daily design and construction work.
This SEI journal series on Sustainable Engineering has been
planned to help practical structural engineers tackle the sus-
tainability issue. Reports have been collected to show the
state-of-the-art of sustainability in structural engineering.They
cover a wide range of topics such as: Philosophy, Education,
Design, Materials, Energy, and Case Studies. Sustainability
is a global concern that is studied all over the world. Theory
and practical examples carried out in Europe,America,Africa
and Asia are presented.
The members of IABSE Working Commission 7 on Sustain-
able Engineering contributed to this series as authors and
reviewers. Their cooperation is deeply appreciated.
Shun-ichi Nakamura
Member of the SEI Editorial Board

Sustainable Engineering: State-of-the-Art and Prospects

Peter Maydl, Prof., Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria

Summary Introduction
Since the 1985 Brundtland Report and the 1992 Rio Declaration were published, Historical Development
sustainable development has become a well-known global political paradigm.
However, sustainability has been applied to forestry for centuries in Europe. The Sustainability originates from an an-
historic development of the issue of sustainability is briefly described as well as cient principle in forestry that is simply
the possibilities of how sustainability can be transferred into the construction to not gain more timber from the for-
sector. This sector is the most important contributor of the industry in resource est than it can regenerate. The precau-
consumption and waste production. Architects and engineers need to consider tionary principle for future generations
the entire lifetime of buildings “from cradle to grave” and the ecological, eco- has been valid in forestry for centuries.
nomic and socio-cultural aspects. This refers to an assessment of the environmen- The first documented evidence were
tal impact of construction activities such as the consumption of materials, energy the forestry regulations of a monastery
and land, and human- and eco-toxicity of emissions as well as optimizing life cy- in Alsace going back to the year 1144
cle costs. In addition, some principles of planning actual developments in the in- [1], another example is the well known
ternational standardization by the International Standardization Organization treatise from 1713 “Silvicultura Oeco-
(ISO) and the Committee for European Codes (CEN) are shown. The interest of nomica” by Hans Carl von Carlowitz
investors in the performance of buildings is growing and is influencing project [2]. Since the end of World War II
development and planning. Construction materials and components have been short-term gains has been the main fo-
developed under new conditions which will lead to new levels of global competi- cus of economic action, which has led
tion. Universities need to understand sustainable engineering in a new approach to unlimited consumption of materials
to the education of civil engineers in fulfilling their responsibility for the built en- and fossil energy with all the adverse
vironment. consequences such as high waste and
emissions.

176 Reports Structural Engineering International 3/2004


Dimensions of
Sustainability
Ecological
Sustainability
Objectives of
Protection
Human
Ecosystem
Health
– Waste Avoidance – Human toxicity of
– Emissions Building Materials
– Pollutants – Pollutants
– Land Use – Sick Building
Syndrome
Fig. 1: Dimensions of sustainability and objectives of protection
The increasing resource consumption
and the resulting emissions led to the
famous 1972 report to the Club of
Rome “Limits of Growth” by Dennis
Meadows [3]. The consequences were
numerous public discussions but little
in political action. In 1987 the “Brundt-
land Commission” set up by the Unit-
ed Nations published their report “Our
Common Future” and defined “Sus-
tainable Development” for the first
time as a “Development that meets the
needs of the present without compro-
mising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs” [4]. Since this
time Sustainable Development has be-
come a well known concept that has
led also to a global political acceptance.
Five years later the World Business
Council on Sustainable Development
defined Sustainable Development at
the Earth Summit of the UN in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992 as an “economic process
that can be maintained long-term in
line with the earth’s carrying capaci-
ty”[5]. Since then numerous attempts
can be seen world-wide to implement
sustainability into daily life in various
activities e.g. in various so-called Agen-
da 21 processes. Agenda 21 is a com-
prehensive plan of action to be taken
globally, nationally and locally by or-
Structural Engineering International 3/2004
Sustainable
Construction
Economic
Sustainability
– Regional Spin-offs
– Maintenance
– Mobility Costs
– Risk Management
– Life Cycle Costs
– Flexible Use
– Reliability
Natural
Resources
– Resource Efficiency:
Materials (biotic, abi-
otic), Energy, Soil
– Recycling Economy
ganizations of the United Nations, and
associated governments and major
groups in which humans have an im-
pact on the environment. Sustainabili-
ty can now be found in most compa-
nies as a part of their corporate identi-
ty, large companies publish sustainabil-
ity reports, numerous sustainability
indices have been established on the
stock market, and hardly any politi-
cian’s speech can refrain from men-
tioning it.
What is Sustainability?
Sustainability comes from the latin word
“sustinere” that means “to bear”, “to
endure”. Sustainability can be translat-
ed simply as long term compatibility.
Today sustainability is seen in 3-di-
mensions, namely ecological, economic
and socio-cultural. Ecological sustain-
ability is focused on 3 protection goals:
protection of resources, the ecosystem
and human health (Fig. 1).
Role of Construction Sector
The share of the Gross Domestic Prod-
uct (GDP) of the construction sector is
approximately 10% in the European
Social
Sustainability
– Satisfaction
– Employment
– Regional Spin-offs
– Sick Building Syndrome
Union (EU), with the share of jobs be-
ing up to 7%. Within the EU half of all
materials that are taken from the earth’s
surface are used in the construction
sector and more than 1⁄4 of the amount
of total waste is construction waste. In
Austria the share of total waste from
building sites including excavation ma-
terial amounts to 57% of the total waste
per year [6]. The service life of building
products is substantially higher than
that of other industry products. There-
fore faults in product development,
such as insufficient separatability or
recyclability of compound materials,
are recognized with greater delay mak-
ing it difficult to react in a timely man-
ner.
The demands on buildings change in-
creasingly faster. While service life for
residential buildings can be estimated
to be 80 to 100 years, service life for
office buildings lies between 30 and 50
years. Lifetime of factory buildings has
decreased to 10 years or even shorter.
Therefore we need to design buildings
and engineering structures under com-
pletely different criteria in the future
than has been done so far. In former
times buildings were designed for cen-
turies which made it obvious to use
construction materials with high dura-
Reports 177
bility. This was strengthened by increas-
ing requirements and demands like
higher buildings, larger span lengths,
intensified chemical and physical de-
mands on the components’ surfaces,
etc. For many engineering structures
such as infrastructure buildings the
requirement for high durability and
long-term reliability still exists, for ad-
ministration or factory buildings dif-
ferent criteria needs to be considered
for the future.
Ecological Sustainability
Sustainability is not a measurand but a
paradigm. So, how can we measure the
application level of sustainability? For
this purpose indicators are used by
which the impact on the environment
caused by construction activities can
be displayed. This can be made only
partly quantitatively and partly quali-
tatively.
Within recent years numerous at-
tempts can be seen globally to make
ecological assessments which led to
the development of a great number of
electronic assessment tools. The objec-
tives and fields of application of these
models are quite different with only a
few that can be used as planning tools.
Within the International Standardiza-
tion Organization (ISO) several work-
ing groups deal with the standardiza-
tion of ecological assessment, which will
be implemented in future European
standards [7, 8].
Impact of Construction Activities
In considering the protection goals of
ecological sustainability the following
types of impact can be identified:
– resource consumption; renewable ma-
terials (biotic), non-renewable materi-
als (abiotic), land
– emissions during production, utiliza-
tion and removal; hazardous for the
ecosystem, hazardous for human health
(main topic of building biology).
Indicators
Numerous indicators are discussed to-
day by which negative impacts on the
environment can be displayed. In the
following is a short outline of the most
important indicators that is proposed
to become part of the international
standardisation:
– Resource consumption; material in-
put (biotic, abiotic), water, land
178 Reports
– Primary energy
– Emissions:
Global Warming Potential (GWP)
Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP)
Acidation Potential (AP)
Nutrification Potential (NP)
Photochemical Ozone Creation Po-
tential (POCP)
– Eco-toxicity, human toxicity
The Environmental Products Declara-
tion (EPD) for building products/ma-
terials as intended by the European
Commission will require detailed in-
formation about these indicators for
all constructions. However, the current
situation of the data base is rather
unsatisfactory. Numerous publications
and electronic data bases are available
but clear information about system
boundaries, cut-off criteria and other
conditions used for calculation are miss-
ing. This makes it difficult to check and
compare data from different sources.
Generally it should be considered that
only components and construction units
be assessed that take into account func-
tionality. There is no use in comparing
materials with each other, e.g. 1 kg ce-
ment with 1 kg steel or 1 kg timber. A
flexural beam with a certain span length
and service load can be designed in
timber, reinforced concrete or steel.
These beams can be compared with re-
gards to the production costs as well as
to ecological sustainability using indi-
cators as mentioned above. But it is
significant to refer to these indicators
in relation to a “functional unit”, in this
case e.g. the design bending resistance.
For total life cycle analyses, life span
and maintenance efforts under defined
atmospheric conditions have to be ad-
ditionally considered. To compare e.g.
different external wall systems the m2
wall surface will be defined as a func-
tional unit under identical technical
conditions (load-carrying capacity, ther-
mal insulation, noise and fire protec-
tion etc.). For a comparison of com-
plete buildings the m2 net floor area or
the m3 gross volume is used as a func-
tional unit.
Economic Sustainability
The goal of economic sustainability is
the minimization of costs over the en-
tire life span of a building taking into
consideration the quality and require-
ments of the proprietor and the opti-
mization of life cycle costs. Up to now
the main interest of proprietors was to
minimize construction costs, and they
also demanded reduced planning costs
even so economizing on the planning is
Structural Engineering International 3/2004
the best way to increase the total costs
of a building. Sustainable construction
needs to start in the planning phase or
even better in the project development.
What is valid for construction costs is
also valid for economic and ecological
sustainability: with increasing planning
progression the ability to have an in-
fluence sinks. Fig. 2 shows the cost struc-
ture of the so called subsequent costs ac-
cording to the Austrian standard [9, 10].
It can be assumed that the importance
of user costs will increase in real estate
assessments. This is also valid for the
flexibility for various occupancies as
well as for demolition and removal costs
of a building. Primarily for buildings
with short service life user costs will in-
creasingly influence the current mar-
ket value.
Here, it is necessary to point out a
problem which complicates the real-
ization of sustainable engineering: if
the investor (who finances the project
and defines the planning specifications
in advance) and the later user are not
identical, different interests in costs
will result. While the user is interested
in low operating costs the investor ex-
pects a high return of investment and
therefore low production costs. Only a
demand oriented market could moti-
vate the investors to focus more upon
operating costs.
Responsibilities of Architects
and Engineers
If sustainability concepts are to be re-
alized two decision makers have to be
convinced:
– the proprietors and investors,
– the planners in the field of adminis-
tration and residential buildings; the
architects and the consulting engi-
neers, mainly civil engineers.
Investors normally focus on short term
economic goals. Lately a change of their
view can be observed: aspects of serv-
ice life like maintenance, cleaning, en-
ergy consumption are influencing deci-
sions in planning and project develop-
ment. With regard to public relations
of the investors and new tendencies in
the evaluation of public companies by
rating agencies, it can be seen that eco-
nomic and ecological sustainability can
result in an additional long-term (eco-
nomic) advantage that can be assessed
in money.
It is the job of architects and engineers
in the future to focus their attention
not only to the construction phase but
 Project Development Costs
Construction Costs
Subsequent Costs
Costs of Use
Afteruse Costs
Fig. 2: Cost structure according to Austrian standard ÖNORM B 1801-2 (1997)
to the whole life span of the buildings
and to understand their responsibility
in a holistic way considering the three
dimensions of sustainability. A new
quality of planning would result from
this and the most sustainable buildings
will, however, not be planned by archi-
tects and engineers who offer the low-
est fee.
Principles of Planning
As mentioned above sustainable engi-
neering is nothing really new, but re-
quires a change to the current planning
process in construction. Some princi-
ples that should be considered are e.g.:
– clear definition of the ideas and in-
tentions of the investor in the phase
of project development; type of oc-
cupancy and alternative occupancies,
estimated service life of the building
as a base for life cycle costs etc.,
– planning to requirements for new
buildings or checking how space re-
Structural Engineering International 3/2004
Capital Costs
Depreciation Costs
Taxes and Charges
Administration Costs
Operation Costs
Utilisation and Disposal
Caretaker and Supervisor
Technical Service
Cleaning
Upkeeping Costs
Maintenance
Repair
Restoration
Demolition/Disposal
Seperation/Disposal of
Hazardous Waste
Decontamination
quirements can be satisfied by exist-
ing buildings,
– setup of the planning team (architect,
structural engineer, building physicist,
building equipment planner, etc.) at
an early stage of project develop-
ment, because the usually draft-ori-
ented architects do not always con-
sider all the consequences of their
design for the operation, life cycle
costs, impacts on the environment,
etc.,
– avoidance of modifications in plan-
ning by new guidelines of the investor
or alternative proposals of contrac-
tors,
– adaptation of durability of building
materials and construction units to
the estimated service life of these
construction units,
– selection of building materials not
only on the basis of traditional engi-
neering criteria such as strength,
stiffness, durability, etc., but also with
regards to dismantling, separation
and recyclability.
Drinking Water
Waste Water
Energy
Heating
Air Condition
Lighting
Hot Water
European Technical Framework
Sustainable development is in the
meanwhile being recognized world-
wide in all economic sectors as a neces-
sity, increasingly so also in the con-
struction sector. There are numerous
activities in all industrialized countries,
also in various technical organizations
of the construction sector such as the
International Council for Research
and Innovation in Building and Con-
struction (CIB), the International
Union of Laboratories and Experts in
Construction Materials, Systems and
Structures (RILEM) or IABSE. The
increasing interest in the performance
of buildings and long-term aspects can
be noticed in various activities called
Performance Based Buildings (PBB)
[11]. In the European Union sustain-
able development has become a main
topic in all three dimensions [12],
therefore the European Commission
also plans several concrete actions in
the upcoming years. One is a thematic
Reports 179
strategy on the urban environment
[13] that in a chapter on “sustainable
construction” the following, amongst
others, are mentioned:
– a common methodology for evaluat-
ing the overall sustainability of build-
ings and the built environment, in-
cluding life-cycle cost indicators
– further non-energy-related environ-
mental performance requirements to
complement Directive 2002/91 on the
energy performance of buildings
– national sustainable construction
programs
– fiscal incentives for more sustainable
buildings
– training, guidance, exchange of expe-
rience and further research on sus-
tainable construction
– an environmental labeling of con-
struction materials.
Another is a mandate of the European
Commission to CEN “Development of
Horizontal Standardised Methods for
the Assessment of the Integrated Envi-
ronmental Performance of Buildings”
[8] with the following content (excerpt):
– (voluntary) environmental declara-
tion of building products
– framework for assessment of envi-
ronmental performance of buildings
and constructed assets
– sustainability indicators
– service life planning; guidelines for
considering environmental impacts.
Meanwhile all big producers of build-
ing materials have information on ma-
terial flow analyses and eco-balances
of their products. However publication
of this data is not consistent and when
questioned most producers respond
cautiously. In particular the discussions
about the Kyoto protocol and the
forthcoming emission trading have the
attention of many of the affected com-
panies which for the building industry
includes mainly the steel, cement,
limestone, glass and energy supplier.
However the future framework of Eu-
ropean standards as well as the Envi-
ronmental Declaration for Building
Products will require that all relevant
environmental data for building pro-
ducts be published and validated by in-
dependent experts. In addition, it will
be necessary to define uniform condi-
tions (e.g. system boundaries). Sustain-
able engineering would therefore lead
to new levels of global competition
and would also make new demands on
the development of building materials
and building products.
180 Reports
Education of Civil Engineers
Realizing sustainable engineering in
practice requires a modified and broad-
er education of architects and civil en-
gineers. The constantly increasing tech-
nical requirements on their curriculum
has led to extensive specialization in
many countries in order to limit the
length of studies. Austrian technical
universities have always attempted to
also educate high-level generalists, which
has clearly led to longer studies than in
most other countries, especially in civil
engineering. While the education of ar-
chitects is very draft-oriented special-
izations have been established for civil
engineers in different branches such as
structural engineering, hydraulic engi-
neering, transportation engineering, and
construction management.
Sustainable engineering, however, re-
quires civil engineers who are able to
think holistically and run interdiscipli-
nary teams, whereby detailed knowl-
edge in classical engineering disciplines
is desirable but of limited necessity. If
these requirements find entry into the
education of engineers or are offered
as postgraduate studies civil engineers
would obtain an improved acceptance
in our society and would be able to
better play a leading role in the entire
management of our built environment.
Future Prospects
Sustainable development will come
through all economic sectors at the be-
ginning of the 21st century and will be-
come a matter of course within the
next decade. No other industrial sector
is such a multiplier in the consumption
of materials and energy, as well as in
impacting the environment, than the
construction sector. Holistic, interdisci-
plinary thinking and conscientious re-
flections of ones own actions with re-
gard to ecological, economic and social
dimensions for future decades is a chal-
lenge that we must take upon our-
selves. It is one to be most likely man-
aged by civil engineers. Only if long-
term economic aspects and the corre-
lation of economy and ecology are
recognized early in planning by engi-
neers will there be success in building
for future generations and therefore
for sustainability.
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