A STEP TOWARDS NURTURING EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS

Mohamed Elzomor; Rubaya Rahat; Piyush Pradhananga; Claudia Calle Müller

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Construction Engineering Division Technical Session 1
Page Count: 10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40902
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40902
Download Count: 660

Rubaya Rahat grew up in Bangladesh, where she pursued her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). After graduating she worked for two years in a construction management company in Dhaka,

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Piyush Pradhananga

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Piyush Pradhananga is a Ph.D. Candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University (FIU). Piyush holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tribhuwan University (TU). Following his graduation in 2016, he joined a leading real estate corporation in Nepal as a site engineer working on a multi-million project. He later joined a research firm based in London where he worked as an Engineering Graduate Researcher. Piyush is currently a Graduate Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant at the Moss School of Construction, Sustainability, and Infrastructure at FIU where he focuses on multidisciplinary research that harmonizes sustainability in construction. His other research interests include Sustainable Construction, Robotics, and AI-based Construction, Engineering Education, Green Buildings, Sustainable Infrastructure, Resilient and Sustainable Post-Disaster Reconstruction, and Circular Economy. Piyush is also a LEED Green Associate and ENV SP (i.e., Envision Certified Professional in Infrastructure Sustainability).

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Claudia Calle Müller Florida International University

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Claudia Calle Müller is a Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University (FIU). She holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP). Claudia has 4+ years’ experience in structural engineering designing reinforced concrete residential and commercial buildings in Peru; 2+ years’ experience in entrepreneurship building a successful health coaching and wellness business; and 4+ years teaching. Currently, Claudia is a Graduate Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant at the Moss School of Construction, Sustainability, and Infrastructure at FIU where she focuses on multidisciplinary research on sustainability, equity, resilient and sustainable post-disaster reconstruction, engineering education, and well-being.

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Abstract

Infrastructure decisions have previously played a vital role in amplifying the vulnerability of underserved populations including minorities. With the increasing threats of climate change, the underserved populations tend to be more vulnerable indicating the need for not only sustainable but also equitable infrastructure systems that serve all communities. Thus, Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) education must create awareness among the future engineering and construction workforces and encourage them to analyze the economic, social, environmental, and climatic implications while designing and constructing infrastructure systems. Infrastructure professionals must have the required skills to balance their responses to policy and stakeholders' needs as well as develop sustainable and equitable infrastructure projects. The goal of the study is to demonstrate best practices to integrate sustainability concepts throughout four years of Bachelor's programs under the AEC curricula based on recommendations from sustainability experts including the Envision Academic Committee which works towards enriching and supporting sustainable education. Moreover, this study advocates for integrating and encouraging students to obtain sustainability credentials, particularly credentialing of the ISI-Envision rating system, Envision sustainability professional (ENV SP) during sustainability education. Given the importance of infrastructure systems for a functional community and the potential of the Envision rating system to particularly address the infrastructure challenges to develop sustainable and equitable projects, AEC programs should not only restrict their curricula to teach sustainable building rating systems. The outcomes of this research include: 1) capture various effective sustainability teaching efforts, which have been adopted by the sustainability instructors in their respective institutions; 2) nurture a platform to guide interested instructors to adopt sustainability as well as Envision system within AEC and STEM through proposing a matrix/framework to effectively integrate infrastructure sustainability into the existing engineering curriculum; and 3) discuss available means to pursue sustainability credentials, i.e., ENV SP during their courses. This study comprehends a qualitative approach to demonstrate best practices and effective methods for integrating sustainability concepts as well as sustainability credentialing in AEC curricula. The findings of this study guide to AEC faculty best practices when integrating sustainable infrastructure rating systems into architectural design studios, capstone engineering, and sustainability construction courses.

Citation
Format

Elzomor, M., & Rahat, R., & Pradhananga, P., & Calle Müller, C. (2022, August), A STEP TOWARDS NURTURING EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40902

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Infrastructure decisions have previously played a vital role in amplifying the vulnerability of underserved populations including minorities. With the increasing threats of climate change, the underserved populations tend to be more vulnerable indicating the need for not only sustainable but also equitable infrastructure systems that serve all communities. Thus, Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) education must create awareness among the future engineering and construction workforces and encourage them to analyze the economic, social, environmental, and climatic implications while designing and constructing infrastructure systems. Infrastructure professionals must have the required skills to balance their responses to policy and stakeholders' needs as well as develop sustainable and equitable infrastructure projects. The goal of the study is to demonstrate best practices to integrate sustainability concepts throughout four years of Bachelor's programs under the AEC curricula based on recommendations from sustainability experts including the Envision Academic Committee which works towards enriching and supporting sustainable education. Moreover, this study advocates for integrating and encouraging students to obtain sustainability credentials, particularly credentialing of the ISI-Envision rating system, Envision sustainability professional (ENV SP) during sustainability education. Given the importance of infrastructure systems for a functional community and the potential of the Envision rating system to particularly address the infrastructure challenges to develop sustainable and equitable projects, AEC programs should not only restrict their curricula to teach sustainable building rating systems. The outcomes of this research include: 1) capture various effective sustainability teaching efforts, which have been adopted by the sustainability instructors in their respective institutions; 2) nurture a platform to guide interested instructors to adopt sustainability as well as Envision system within AEC and STEM through proposing a matrix/framework to effectively integrate infrastructure sustainability into the existing engineering curriculum; and 3) discuss available means to pursue sustainability credentials, i.e., ENV SP during their courses. This study comprehends a qualitative approach to demonstrate best practices and effective methods for integrating sustainability concepts as well as sustainability credentialing in AEC curricula. The findings of this study guide to AEC faculty best practices when integrating sustainable infrastructure rating systems into architectural design studios, capstone engineering, and sustainability construction courses.
AU  - Mohamed Elzomor
AU  - Rubaya Rahat
AU  - Piyush Pradhananga
AU  - Claudia Calle Müller
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - A STEP TOWARDS NURTURING EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/40902
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--40902
ER  -