The Future is Green!
Civil and Environmental Engineers are looking far into the future to make sure today’s designs are resilient, sustainable, and forward-thinking. Smart infrastructure that can sense energy usage, structural loading, damage, and more is already possible. Buildings that integrate vertical farming, water collection, waste management, and energy generation are a must as our global urban population grows. Transportation systems that include vertical highways for drone deliveries and taxis are already under consideration.
ASCE’s Cities of the Future
The American Society of Civil Engineers is leading the sustainable future conversation having created interactive designs for five future cities: Mega City, Frozen City, Rural City, Off-Planet City, and Floating City. These cities will have alternative energy, autonomous vehicles, smart infrastructure, vertical gardening, and high-tech construction to combat climate change. ASCE has also released the Cities of the Future IMAX film to help show how challenges and opportunities for civil and environmental engineers.
‘Tree’scrapers that recycle water, generate electricity, and store carbon.
Vertical gardens help reduce the carbon footprint of cities, providing carbon-absorbing plants.
For cities to meet their carbon-neutral goals, new buildings will need to be designed differently. An exciting approach that also improves livability is the ‘Tree’scraper that incorporates vertical gardens in the design. To truly be green, these buildings are designed to manage their own waste and generate their own electricity. The vertical gardens can help as the gardens on one such building in Taiwan have lowered the outdoor temperature by 8-9 degrees Celsius in the summer.