maybe you envision immense concrete blocks obscuring the skyline, or smoke stacks pumping out pollution or a quiet patch of land made barren in preparation for the next biggest development seen this side of the mississippi. 

if you recall early mornings waking up to the sounds of jackhammers, or detour signs lengthening your route to work, it certainly doesn’t improve your quality of life. this is something today’s sustainable development goals strive to do.

these mental manifestations of the construction industry aren’t entirely representative of reality, however, they can’t be written off as generalizations either. there are facts. the production of concrete, an extremely favorable building material, especially in dc, has contributed up to 5% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions in previous years. the u.s. green building council (usgbc) has reported that buildings account for more than 40% of the u.s.’s energy consumption.

as i have gone through three years of education and summer internships to prepare me for a post-graduate career in construction engineering i’ve had to consider these things and weigh them against my goals. thankfully, the industry is more than just those statistics; it is adapting to the standards we – as wiser inhabitants of earth – are setting. one of the biggest ways the construction industry is moving forward, with me happily following along, is with leed, or leadership in environmental and energy design.

first introduced in 1998 by the usgbc, leed started as a rating system with five simple categories to help promote conservation. it has progressed, offering the leed green associate credential (people are leed accredited, buildings are leed certified) to professionals who work in related industries. it has now even fostered its own sort of brand; often leed-certified buildings can be recognized by their use of glass, open spaces, inventive design, and natural elements. this has certainly helped improve the public conception of construction.

through my internship at clark construction this summer i’ve spent some time learning more about how leed works in the favor of construction. though these buildings do save money and energy during their lifespan and are highly photogenic, there’s a larger element. a lot of the credits come into play during construction and are earned by the general contractor. there are goals for reducing light pollution on a site, goals for reducing the amount of heat reflected, goals for picking sites that are easily accessible by public transportation. almost every aspect of the process, from selecting where your lumber comes from to picking the paint on your roof, can create a positive effect.

though i’m learning more about smart ways to conserve and sustainable construction practices at clark, i still have some concerns about the future of keeping engineering green. firstly, the buildings that tend to be leed certified are large, and as i like to think, “glamorous.” projects like museums and skyscrapers, and massive residential buildings. sustainability doesn’t seem as accessible for the less attractive and lower budget projects.

if small town needs to create more places for its growing population to live, or if a suburb badly needs to update their water treatment plant, leed doesn’t feel like the best fit. however there are other green rating systems, like envision, which focuses on civil infrastructure. they adopt the same objectives and adjust the criteria for a better fit. usgbc also offers other higher-level accreditations past green associate which include focuses on neighborhood development and homes. this issue is being addressed and i hope it becomes more and more standard for business to adopt these common goals.

what i don’t hope, is that green building becomes an excuse to build anything. if a parcel of land is available on the edge of a city, it might not necessarily need to be developed into the newest high rise apartment building. even if it sources its lumber from responsible forests within a 50 mile radius and will foster more practice of mixed land use, what if the property disrupts a struggling native plant? or what if its attempt at development is really just enabling the gentrification of that neighborhood? or what if we just don’t need it? construction is a valuable industry because it services the needs and interests of the public. but we need to ensure scaling down its existing impact doesn’t allow new forms of excess.

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more information

– for an infographic on the future of concrete check out: https://ensia.com/infographics/the-future-of-low-carbon-cement/

– for more information on green building check out: https://www.usgbc.org/articles/green-building-facts

– for some stunning examples of finished sustainable construction projects check out: https://www.clarkconstruction.com/our-work/expertise/sustainability

civil engineering has been practiced as early as the ancient roman times, and has been a relatively static field, in regards to its materials and methodology. now with the new discoveries concerning climate change and global health, policies put forth by entities such as the u.s. green building council have been a catalyst for change in the industry.

as a construction management intern for clark construction, i was able to have a hands-on understanding of the roles of an engineer on a structural project. on a field site, there are a dozen moving parts which are constantly working to build and bring to life the work of the designs.

my assignment was the closeout phase of the 7th and 8th floors of gwu science and engineering hall. the clark office was set up on the penthouse level, giving me the unique chance to work both in the office and “in the field.”

in the office, i was able to communicate with the project managers and the architect for proper documentation of submittals, requests-for-information (rfis), and leed documentation. since the building was designed as a leed gold structure, i was given the task of ensuring the project’s construction phase had met the leed requirements. this entailed contacting subcontractors for exact information of the source and contents of their materials, which included having non-voc paints, fsc wood products, and fluorescent bulbs.

since this was a summer internship and the project was nearing substantial completion, time was of the essence. every day, sometimes even twice a day, i would call each of the subcontractors in order to get the proper documents. as i waited for this information, i would have to photograph the job site every other day to ensure that the project was within the leed guidelines of source control and interior standards. pictures of the safety net and of the construction crew working in a secluded area were recorded. this aspect was crucial since the project was a completion of the top two floors, therefore little evidence of construction was to be seen from the lower floors.

during the course of the data collection, i did receive some advice from my supervisors and occasional assistance from the clark leed fellow. although each of the members of my team had specific priorities to complete. i came to learn that typically, the leed documentation was sent weeks after the clark construction team would leave the project site. it left me with the impression that the leed certification was not a pressing matter. the leed aspects of the project (the chilled beams, the green roof, and interior air quality control) were outlined years before excavation. while the last stages of accreditation could be finalized after the project site was completed, which was an acceptable practice for contractors.

after four weeks of collecting the data in various different forms and after meetings with a clark leed fellow, it was ready to be uploaded to the usgbc website. this process should have been just several clicks of the mouse and keyboard, however since the website was down, i had to upload each item individually. it was painstakingly long, although i was able to finish the leed certification for the project before i left for the end of the summer.

the construction industry is not the most glamorous and not the most thrilling. however, structures of all kinds – bridges, skyscrapers, and dams – are ubiquitous and unavoidable. as a first-hand witness to the leed process, i have endured the long processes of waiting, photo-taking, and paperwork. it made me feel more like a secretary than an engineer, more of a scorekeeper than a construction management intern.

despite all of that, my internship gave me a glimpse of the growing green standards in the construction industry. these structures will be around for at least the next 50 years. i am pleased to have had the opportunity to observe sustainability at its core, which is to develop and build an entity which meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. 

photo credit to dieseldemon.

interlocking cross laminated timber (iclt) is a prefabricated, cross-laminated solid wood wall and roof panel. similar to cross-laminated timber (clt) developed in europe, iclt is fabricated from two to seven layers of alternating 3” x 6” to 3” x 8” pine stock milled from waste wood. unlike other solid wood panel systems, however, iclt utilizes no fasteners and no adhesives, which reduces overall capital cost for either stainless fastener purchase and install or press purchase and set-up associated with glue lamination. conversely, standard mills and timber fabricators looking to diversify their product offering may produce iclt with existing infrastructure and equipment.

iclt is currently in the development, testing and code acceptance research phase in preparation for market acceptance in the next three to five years.

poor air quality has led to an explosion of asthma cases and other health problems among vulnerable populations including children, the elderly, and low-income residents. each year bad air causes two million deaths worldwide. also, in the u.s., there have been 8,000 premature deaths from excessive heat over the past 25 years. urban heat islands, which are caused, in part, by sunlight being absorbed by paved surfaces and roofs, lead to higher surface temperatures, up to 90 degrees. atmospheric air temperatures are also higher: in the day by up to 6 degrees, and at night, by up to 22 degrees. vulnerable populations also face greater risks of heat exhaustion. (source: world health organization (who) and heat island impacts, u.s. environmental protection agency (e.p.a.) )

increasing the tree canopy in cities is one way to fight both poor air quality and urban heat islands. research shows significant short-term improvements in air quality in urban areas with 100 percent tree cover. there, trees can reduce hourly ozone by up to 15 percent, sulfur dioxide by 14 percent, and particulate matter by 13 percent. u.s. trees remove some 784,000 tons of pollution annually, providing $3.8 billion in value. furthermore, a single large healthy tree can remove greater than 300 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. in fact, new york city’s urban forest alone removes 154,000 tons of co2 annually. through their leaves, trees also provide evaporative cooling, which increases air humidity. shaded surfaces may be 20-45 degrees cooler, and evapotranspiration can reduce peak summer temperatures by 2-9 degrees. (source:“heat island mitigation: trees and vegetation, u.s. environmental protection agency (e.p.a.) and “sustaining america’s trees and forests,” david j. nowak, susan m. stein, paula b. randler, eric j. greenfield, sara j. comas, mary a. carr, and ralph j. alig, u.s. forest service. )

some other benefits: urban forests reduce energy use by providing shade in the summer and wind breaks in the winter, reduce stormwater runoff, remediate soils, and provide animal and plant habitat. trees have economic benefits: they increase property value. lastly, trees have positive cognitive effects and may even help improve moods. (source: “sustaining america’s trees and forests,” david j. nowak, susan m. stein, paula b. randler, eric j. greenfield, sara j. comas, mary a. carr, and ralph j. alig, u.s. forest service; “does looking at nature make people nicer?” the dirt blog and “the restorative effects of nature in cities,” the dirt blog)

lime hemp is a great material.  in terms of low energy construction that means low energy and use.  building in this way means you can keep energy usage down and it is excellent in terms of embodied carbon because the hemp absorbs co2 when it grows.  the walling structure is negative carbon.

the hemp used has a very low narcotic content and is fully licensed by the government to be grown in the uk.

it is also an insulating walling material where the structural strength comes from the timber frame and the hemp lime creates the bulk of the wall which does the insulation.

please tell everyone you know to ask their u.s. rep to support hr1831, the industrial hemp farming act! see www.votehemp.com for the latest developments.