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Advanced Technology Proposals for Infrastructure Rebuilding for Sustainable Development

by Charles C. Lozar, Architect; Equities Research Group, Champaign, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Infrastructure: Planning and Management

Abstract:

There is serious need to rebuild and renovate the infrastructure of the United States in order to create a basis for growth in the future. However, new concerns of global warming, energy conservation, recycling efficiency along with quality of life issues suggest that we should not use the old 'infrastructure paradigms' for construction in the next few decades. The new rules for the use of alternative energy sources, recyclable products, advanced communication technology, and pollution reduction have not yet been integrated into zoning regulations or the building codes in order to make the concept of 'sustainable development' a criterion for design. This paper suggests the development of a policy of advanced infrastructure design which focuses on environmental management (creating suburban ecologies in neighborhoods), energy conservation (passive and photovoltaic community systems), material recycling (local reuse of materials and systems), automated infrastructure systems (construction with robots and maintenance with sensors), and alternative transportation networks (trains running on solar and air cushions). Management of these system by central automation will aid in amortizing the cost and balancing the community social and economic design in dense neighbourhoods. This approach requires rethinking of our definition of infrastructure.

Subject Headings: Recycling | Infrastructure | Sustainable development | Automation and robotics | Solar power | Energy infrastructure | Energy efficiency | United States

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