UMD Researchers Lead Sustainable Construction and Manufacturing Workshop

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Measurement Science for Sustainable Construction and Manufacturing workshop

This June 12-13, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Professor Bilal M. Ayyub, along with CEE Professor Gerry Galloway and Dr. Richard Wright of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), organized the 2014 “Measurement Science for Sustainable Construction and Manufacturing” workshop.

Held at the ASCE Headquarters in Reston, Va., this event provided an opportunity for area experts to examine the measurement science needed to guide decisions for sustainability throughout the life cycle of design, construction/manufacturing, operations and maintenance of facilities and systems of the built environment and manufactured products. A product of a University of Maryland grant funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), this workshop engaged more than 75 international and domestic thought-leaders and experts from disciplines including construction, manufacturing, codes and standards development, economics, government, industry and academia.

Attendees addressed trends and needs relating to sustainable construction and manufacturing, and the results of this workshop are set to be documented in coordination with NIST, ASCE and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Key topics discussed included measurement science (definition, standards, metrics, indicators and ratings); systems (aggregation, sustainability-resilience synergy and interdependencies); planning, design and supply; and the impact of economic, environmental and social factors.

“A major need for achieving sustainable construction and manufacturing is to establish meaningful measurements for the complex attributes of sustainability suitable for lifecycle considerations,” Ayyub said. “What one can measure, one can manage.”

More than 25 speakers were featured during the two-day event, William Flanagan (General Electric Company), Cliff Davidson (Syracuse University), Joe Cresko (U.S. Department of Energy) and Joseph Fiksel (The Ohio State University).

 

 

Published July 30, 2014