Dynamic engineering for sustainability

Nestled beside Abu Dhabi International Airport, a sustainable city is emerging from the sand that will rely entirely on renewable energy. Masdar, in the United Arab Emirates, is a carbon-neutral community development that is also planning to ban cars in the city, eliminate waste, and recycle and re-use water as much as possible.

Dr Avinash Patwardhan, Vice-President and International Sustainable Solutions Manager with CH2M HILL, has been working on the project. His company developed strategies and solutions that will serve as a platform in planning and operating all the projects within the development.

Working with the carbon-neutral, 100% power through renewable energy, and zero waste objectives, Patwardhan applied technologies and processes at Masdar to establish baseline, key performance indicators for water, energy and waste. The tools applied also considered the social side such as air quality and odours, along with developing the local economy.

Sustainability technology developed by Patwardhan will provide ongoing information for tracking sustainability indicators related to emissions, waste and materials management, resources such as water and biodiversity, and the social and economic aspects.

The same set of tools and strategies used on the Masdar development can be applied when working with existing developments such as water and wastewater plants. Patwardhan says that without too much investment, a 10-15% baseline improvement in energy can be achieved by fixing the so-called ‘low hanging fruit’ options, such as improving the energy efficiency of the pump station or switching the timing of the pumps for use at night when the power is low.

“Dynamic simulation and optimisation gives us the edge over static analysis,” says Patwardhan.

He explains that a static analysis can provide a solution for say the year 2020, but it doesn’t allow for what happens in between time. The dynamic element of CH2M HILL’s Voyage model tests possible solutions to make sure they meet the functionality and sensibilities of the project before they are implemented. It also allows for uncertainties such as climate change, population increases or decreases and new regulations. When changes occur, the information can be entered into the system and adjustments can be implemented along the way.

With the world population projected to increase to nearly eight billion by 2020 and only a finite source of fresh water available, Patwardhan believes there is going to be a water crisis and a leap in technology is necessary.

CH2M HILL developed the Sustainability Intelligence Portal (SI Port), which provides water infrastructure industry users a tool to baseline, plan for, and reduce their carbon, energy, water and waste footprints. The internet-based system helps users to evaluate, act on, monitor and report on these key aspects of sustainability:

• GHG emissions
• Waste management
• Water
• Green products and sustainable materials
• Social impacts
• Economics
• Biodiversity

The system includes modules to estimate GHG emissions, evaluate alternatives during planning and design, and manage emissions during construction and operations to minimise the carbon footprint from materials, energy, chemicals, travel, and provide effective supply chain management.

“Solutions can no longer be single focused,” he says.

“We must develop linked solutions, ones that consider water, energy, carbon, waste, and social and economical matters. Closed loop systems that look at wastewater recycling and re-use as well as solutions for developing the local communities and economies are important.”

CH2M HILL also has developed sustainability tools available to the general public and businesses.

The firm’s Solar Mapping tool, which uses Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth as a visualisation platform, estimates the solar energy potential for commercial and residential structures in a particular city or region, and allows building owners to visualise the potential environmental benefits and monetary savings that would result from installing solar energy panels on their property. The tool looks at the sun angle and the hours of sunlight to determine how much energy can be achieved and how this translates to carbon reductions. It also factors in access to local vendors and rebates. The Solar Mapping tool is currently used in San Francisco and nearly a dozen other cities in the US.

In Australia, CH2M HILL has been working on the Gippsland Water Factory, an innovative new wastewater treatment and recycling system. Using its software tools to guide decisions on the project, the company established baseline GHG emissions at the plant. It then determined where the emissions were coming from in order to develop an optimum set of solutions to reduce them.