Session

Civil Engineering, Infrastructure and Environment

Description

Sustainable development is a key component in urban studies. The sustainability of buildings has become a headline topic in recent years. Buildings do not exist in isolation from their environment, however, but are integrated with infrastructure. In defining sustainable buildings, the issue arises how to incorporate the influences of not only user behavior, building design and technologies, but the associated infrastructure that comprises the entire built environment. The built environment considered here includes all buildings and infrastructure, and in this context, comprises approximately 10% of global GDP. The building and construction sector alone is not only the largest consumer of natural resources, in terms of both land use and materials extraction, but is responsible for 30-40% of global primary energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An important element in the implementation of sustainability goals in the built environment is the availability and dissemination of quantified knowledge about the effects that the construction, use, maintenance, and decommissioning of buildings and infrastructure are having on the environment. One approach to making that knowledge available and useful in the pursuit of sustainability is through the use of indicators. Indicators can be defined as variables that have been chosen for their ability to describe specific characteristics in the state of a system. Many sets of indicators have been developed, and then utilized independently or aggregated into indices to assess different components or aspects of sustainability, While many of these indicator sets and indices incorporate segments of the built environment into their analyses, none of them incorporate a complete and specific set of indicators.

Keywords:

sustainability, indicators, infrastructure, built environment.

Session Chair

Anjeza Alaj Murati

Session Co-Chair

Arbëresha Kastrati

Proceedings Editor

Edmond Hajrizi

ISBN

978-9951-437-96-7

Location

Lipjan, Kosovo

Start Date

31-10-2020 3:30 PM

End Date

31-10-2020 5:00 PM

DOI

10.33107/ubt-ic.2020.76

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Oct 31st, 3:30 PM Oct 31st, 5:00 PM

Building materials and environmental indicators for urban planning-exposure

Lipjan, Kosovo

Sustainable development is a key component in urban studies. The sustainability of buildings has become a headline topic in recent years. Buildings do not exist in isolation from their environment, however, but are integrated with infrastructure. In defining sustainable buildings, the issue arises how to incorporate the influences of not only user behavior, building design and technologies, but the associated infrastructure that comprises the entire built environment. The built environment considered here includes all buildings and infrastructure, and in this context, comprises approximately 10% of global GDP. The building and construction sector alone is not only the largest consumer of natural resources, in terms of both land use and materials extraction, but is responsible for 30-40% of global primary energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An important element in the implementation of sustainability goals in the built environment is the availability and dissemination of quantified knowledge about the effects that the construction, use, maintenance, and decommissioning of buildings and infrastructure are having on the environment. One approach to making that knowledge available and useful in the pursuit of sustainability is through the use of indicators. Indicators can be defined as variables that have been chosen for their ability to describe specific characteristics in the state of a system. Many sets of indicators have been developed, and then utilized independently or aggregated into indices to assess different components or aspects of sustainability, While many of these indicator sets and indices incorporate segments of the built environment into their analyses, none of them incorporate a complete and specific set of indicators.