Development of a carbon calculator for underground utility construction

Destructive effects of Green House Oas (OHO) emissions on the environment such as climate change and global warming are some oftoday’s major concerns. According to the “Environmental Protection Agency” (EPA) U.S 2010, construction is the third highest source ofOHO emission between other industrial sections. Underground utility construction projects are considered as one of the major areas of the construction projects. Also Underground infrastructure is aging across North America; hence rehabilitation or new installation of pipelines and facilities has become inevitable. 1bis raises the need to study the carbon emissions associated with different underground construction projects. Furthermore, a local based carbon calculator is required to be developed that would consider the site specifics, pipeline properties, equipment and specifications used in Edmonton for infrastructure construction projects. Hence, the objective of this project is to develop a user friendly carbon calculator, which helps designers to evaluate environmental impacts of each underground construction methods in the feasibility study phase.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Alireza Bayat

Student:

Sadegh Mohit

Partner:

City of Edmonton

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure

University:

University of Alberta