TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT – AN ACADEMIC’S PERSPECTIVE By Sarah Goh
Dr David Ness is Adjunct Professor, UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, with a background in architecture, urban and infrastructure planning, and strategic asset management. He conducts research on fair, sufficient, and circular resource use, and was awarded the Arup 2017 Global Research Challenge to adapt the circular economy to the built environment. Recently he co-presented in the ‘Sufficiency, Circularity & Systems’ Seminar by the Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE) Working Group of the International Council for Research and Innovation.
Dr David Ness shared his thoughts on how the planning, building, and using of our infrastructure assets can contribute to lessening emissions in the environment. He started by stressing on how fundamentally important it is that planning should entail a rigorous process to analyse the need for any infrastructure project, and that any undertaking is not subject to political whims. This is because the initial planning could have the most consequential effects for emission outcomes. Work also must not be approved based solely on operational emissions, as embodied emissions associated with materials used in construction must be considered.
“About 40% of emissions are due to the built environment, including buildings and infrastructure,” said Dr Ness, “comprising around 29% operational and 11% embodied. “With increasing operational energy savings, embodied emissions are becoming increasingly important, predicted to equal operational by 2050.” “We can provide the same service INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT - NEEDS VS WANTS.
with less physical material involved, by focusing on service needs. Think about why the present infrastructure is inadequate. How about resurfacing a road instead of building a new one? Or widening the present road to cope with increased traffic? Or managing the demand with less material and carbon intensive ways?
“Trees are cut down to widen roads – is it necessary?” i When I asked about how our infrastructure assets can be best managed, he suggested a smart way to approach projects is by incorporating into contracts the life cycle of assets and ways to manage them. For example, as part of the government’s outsourcing process, a contract for a road project could include not just the construction but also responsibility for the management of the asset over its life cycle. This will ensure the quality of construction will be taken seriously to minimise the need for unnecessary repairs due to substandard work or cheap material used in the first instance. Some jurisdictions adopt a pay as you use system. “Here, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge & Tunnel, people have to pay as they use it so that funds are available to maintain the integrity of the asset. With this way of doing things, there could be ongoing employment and management of constructed works,” said Dr Ness. Then, there could also be a strategy in place to introduce a carbon price, or a carbon budget, allocated to industries
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and projects that will help prevent irresponsible construction that would only satisfy wants, not needs. Obviously, Dr Ness is very eager to distinguish between wants and needs. The professor laughed about Elon Musk’s approval of the air taxis currently being developed in Germany. While there isn’t the urgent need to go as far (yet) as introducing these taxis that do not require runways and are capable of delivering affordable highspeed connections over great distances, decision makers must have the vision to anticipate our infrastructure needs. These can and will change in the future, which will affect the demand for the sort of services on offer. We must switch our thinking from ‘build as usual’ to ‘build better’ and ‘build for adaptability’. Or even ‘not build at all’. I asked about the trams and trains. Dr Ness feels quite positive about the emerging technologies in this area. We can see a future when the same operations can be conducted sans the need for rail tracks and overhead power infrastructure. Even the metal tracks will be superseded by rubber tyres! A trackless tram technology is currently being trailed in China. No road digging is undertaken, and the installation of the infrastructure can be done quickly using prefabricated components. What about climate change? “Construction must adapt to climate change,” he replied. “With global warming, more frequent flooding, higher winds and storms and bushfires occurring… all these must be taken into consideration in the planning and construction processes. A simple example is with the material used – will the same material deteriorate faster if the temperature keeps rising?” A good example is with the bitumen roads here. Often, when a local pipe burst occurs, SA Water workers will respond by closing the entire road and digging it up to carry out the repair work. In the event, the road surface will be disturbed, and the road closure will inconvenience the residents. However, Dr Ness thinks that with more creative engineering, things could be done cheaper and better. “Perhaps we can integrate the road surfaces with what’s beneath so repair works could be attended to in isolation without extensive disruption. CIVIL CONNECT
