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2.9. Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure (SRI)
This knowledge area integrates the principles of sustainability, resilience, and climate adaptation into the lifecycle of civil infrastructure. It focuses on designing, constructing, and managing systems that meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own, while withstanding and recovering from natural and anthropogenic shocks and stresses.
2.9.1. SRI/Foundational Sustainability Principles and Triple Bottom Line (Core Tier1: 1 hr, Core Tier2: 1 hr) ↑ Back to top
Topics:
Core
- Triple bottom line (TBL) framework and sustainability metrics
- Life-cycle thinking and stage-gate analysis for infrastructure projects
- Regenerative design and net-positive impact goals
Learning Outcomes:
Core:
- Define the three pillars of the triple bottom line and give an infrastructure-related example for each [Familiarity]
- Apply life-cycle thinking to compare the long-term impacts of two alternative paving materials [Assessment]
- Develop a project goal for achieving a net-positive environmental impact [Assessment]
2.9.2. SRI/Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy (Core Tier1: 1 hr, Core Tier2: 1 hr) ↑ Back to top
Topics:
Core
- Resource efficiency: energy, water, and material consumption minimization
- Circular economy principles: reduce, reuse, recycle, recover (R4)
- Sustainable procurement and supply chain management
Learning Outcomes:
Core:
- Calculate the embodied energy or water footprint of a simple structural component [Usage]
- Explain how circular economy principles can be applied to construction and demolition waste [Familiarity]
2.9.3. SRI/Social, Economic, and Governance Dimensions of Sustainable Infrastructure (Core Tier1: 1 hr, Core Tier2: 1 hr) ↑ Back to top
Topics:
Core
- Social sustainability: equity, accessibility, and community well-being
- Economic sustainability: life-cycle costing and total cost of ownership
- Policy frameworks and green rating systems (e.g., Envision, LEED for Infrastructure)
Learning Outcomes:
Core:
- Evaluate the social equity implications of a proposed transportation project [Assessment]
- Perform a life-cycle cost analysis to justify a higher initial investment in a durable material [Usage]
- Use a green infrastructure rating system checklist to assess a project's sustainability performance [Familiarity]
2.9.4. SRI/Resilient Design for Natural Hazards and Climate Change (Core Tier1: 1 hr, Core Tier2: 1 hr) ↑ Back to top
Design strategies and engineering solutions to enhance the ability of infrastructure systems to anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and recover from acute shocks (e.g., earthquakes, floods) and chronic stresses (e.g., sea-level rise, temperature increase) in a timely and efficient manner.
Topics:
Core
- Resilience concepts: robustness, redundancy, resourcefulness, rapid recovery
- Hazard identification and probabilistic risk assessment
- Multi-hazard design approaches and trade-offs
- Climate change projections and their translation into design parameters
- Structural resilience: performance-based design and damage-control technologies
- System-of-systems resilience for interconnected infrastructure networks
- Adaptive capacity and flexible design for uncertain futures
- Community resilience and social dimensions of infrastructure recovery
- Financing resilience: benefit-cost analysis and innovative funding mechanisms
Learning Outcomes:
Core:
- Describe the four key properties (4Rs) of a resilient system [Familiarity]
- Perform a qualitative risk assessment for a site exposed to multiple natural hazards [Assessment]
- Incorporate projected sea-level rise or increased precipitation into the design basis for a coastal or drainage structure [Usage]
- Explain how base isolation or damping devices enhance structural resilience [Familiarity]
- Analyze the cascading failures in interconnected water and power networks after an earthquake [Assessment]
- Design a flexible foundation system that can be adapted for future increased loads [Usage]
- Evaluate the role of social capital and community preparedness in post-disaster recovery [Assessment]
- Conduct a benefit-cost analysis for a proposed infrastructure resilience upgrade [Usage]
2.9.5. SRI/Green Building Systems and Sustainable Urban Development (Core Tier1: 1 hr, Core Tier2: 1 hr) ↑ Back to top
Integrated design of high-performance buildings and sustainable urban forms that minimize environmental impact, optimize resource use, and enhance human health and well-being, considering energy, water, materials, indoor environmental quality, and site ecology.
Topics:
Core
- High-performance building envelopes and passive design strategies
- Energy modeling, efficient HVAC systems, and on-site renewable generation
- Water efficiency: low-flow fixtures, rainwater harvesting, and greywater reuse
- Indoor environmental quality (IEQ): thermal comfort, daylighting, and air quality
- Sustainable site design: stormwater management, heat island reduction, habitat preservation
- Net-zero energy and water building design
- Smart building technologies and IoT for operational optimization
- Urban sustainability: transit-oriented development, density, and mixed-use planning
- Green building certification systems: LEED, BREEAM, Living Building Challenge
Learning Outcomes:
Core:
- Design a building section illustrating key passive heating and cooling strategies [Assessment]
- Size a rainwater harvesting system for a given roof area and demand [Usage]
- Explain the key parameters affecting indoor air quality and thermal comfort [Familiarity]
- Develop a site plan that minimizes impervious surfaces and incorporates green infrastructure [Usage]
- Model a building's energy use to demonstrate a path to net-zero energy [Assessment]
- Describe how a building automation system can optimize energy and water use [Familiarity]
- Plan a transit-oriented development (TOD) node for reduced vehicle dependence [Assessment]
- Prepare documentation for a project targeting a specific level of LEED certification [Usage]
2.9.6. SRI/Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Embodied Carbon Accounting ↑ Back to top
Methodology for quantifying the environmental impacts of a product, process, or system throughout its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal, with a specific focus on calculating and reducing embodied carbon in construction materials and assemblies.
Topics:
Core
- LCA methodology: goal definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment, interpretation
- Life cycle inventory (LCI) data sources and databases (e.g., Ecoinvent)
- Impact assessment categories: global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication
- Embodied carbon: definitions, calculation methods, and benchmarks
- LCA software tools and their application to building and infrastructure systems
- Whole-building LCA and integration with BIM
- Dynamic LCA and temporal considerations in impact assessment
- Carbon sequestration in bio-based materials and concrete
- Policy drivers: carbon budgets, regulations, and carbon pricing
Learning Outcomes:
Core:
- Outline the four main phases of a standard Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) [Familiarity]
- Compile a life cycle inventory for a concrete mix using a standard database [Usage]
- Calculate the global warming potential (embodied carbon) of a defined structural element [Assessment]
- Interpret the results of a comparative LCA for two competing design options [Familiarity]
- Use a simplified LCA software tool to model a small building assembly [Usage]
- Conduct a whole-building LCA using BIM-integrated tools [Assessment]
- Explain the importance of time horizon and dynamic factors in carbon accounting [Familiarity]
- Quantify the potential carbon storage benefit of using mass timber instead of concrete [Assessment]
- Analyze how a carbon tax would affect the material selection for a project [Assessment]
2.9.7. SRI/Nature-Based Solutions and Low-Impact Development ↑ Back to top
Use of natural processes and ecosystems (e.g., wetlands, green roofs, permeable pavements) to manage water, reduce pollution, mitigate urban heat, enhance biodiversity, and provide other infrastructure services, often in combination with conventional engineered systems.
Topics:
Core
- Nature-based Solutions (NbS) concepts, typology, and co-benefits
- Low-Impact Development (LID) principles and site-scale techniques
- Green infrastructure for stormwater: bioswales, rain gardens, constructed wetlands
- Blue-green infrastructure: restoring urban streams and daylighting rivers
- Soil restoration and urban greening for heat mitigation and carbon sequestration
- Ecological engineering and habitat creation
- Hybrid grey-green systems and their performance quantification
- Community engagement and social acceptance of NbS
- Policy and planning frameworks for mainstreaming NbS at city scale
Learning Outcomes:
Core:
- Define Nature-Based Solutions and list three key benefits beyond water management [Familiarity]
- Design a bioswale or rain garden for treating runoff from a small parking lot [Usage]
- Compare the cost and performance of a green roof vs. a conventional roof for stormwater retention [Assessment]
- Explain the concept of "daylighting" a stream and its urban benefits [Familiarity]
- Design a multi-functional green space that provides both flood storage and habitat [Assessment]
- Quantify the runoff reduction and peak flow attenuation of a proposed green infrastructure plan [Assessment]
- Develop a public engagement strategy for a proposed urban wetland restoration project [Familiarity]
- Integrate NbS into a municipal stormwater master plan [Assessment]
2.9.8. SRI/Energy Infrastructure and Renewable Energy Integration ↑ Back to top
Planning, design, and assessment of energy systems for buildings and communities, with emphasis on energy efficiency, renewable energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal), energy storage, microgrids, and the role of civil infrastructure in enabling the energy transition.
Topics:
Core
- Energy systems fundamentals: demand, supply, conversion, and distribution
- Renewable energy technologies: solar PV, solar thermal, wind, geothermal heat pumps
- Energy efficiency in buildings and industrial processes
- Energy storage technologies: batteries, pumped hydro, thermal storage
- Grid integration of distributed energy resources and smart grids
- Microgrid design for resilience and community energy independence
- Civil infrastructure's role: building-integrated PV, wind turbine foundations, geothermal wells
- Life-cycle energy analysis of renewable energy projects
- Policy, economics, and financing of renewable energy infrastructure
Learning Outcomes:
Core:
- Describe the operating principles and typical applications of three major renewable energy technologies [Familiarity]
- Calculate the potential annual energy generation from a rooftop PV array [Usage]
- Audit a simple building to identify key opportunities for energy efficiency improvements [Assessment]
- Explain the function of energy storage in balancing variable renewable generation [Familiarity]
- Design a conceptual microgrid for a university campus to enhance energy resilience [Assessment]
- Evaluate the structural and geotechnical considerations for siting a utility-scale wind turbine [Assessment]
- Perform a simple life-cycle energy analysis for a solar farm [Usage]
- Analyze the impact of a feed-in tariff on the financial viability of a residential solar project [Familiarity]