How extreme Climate Change Is Affecting Construction Industry – Part 1

How extreme Climate Change Is Affecting Construction Industry – Part 1

Climate change has in the past few decades become one of the biggest challenges that is being faced by the human race. The Earth’s climate has changed throughout its history but the current problem is because of the rate at which it is changing. It is today an undeniable fact that human activities have warmed the ocean, land and atmosphere and that widespread, rapid and negative climatic effects have taken place.

The reasons for that can fall collectively on all human activities. That means all sectors of the industry needs to change and reinvent their process, functions and actions to ensure that the earth remains habitable. This holds true for the construction industry more than ever. In 2020 Building operations amounted to a staggering 28% of global emissions while construction-related industries (cement, glass, etc) added another 10%. Significant changes are imperative.

The construction industry is on a path of becoming more ecological. New investments are being made into sustainable and renewable energy, governments are drafting more environmentally friendly legislation etc. From changing job roles, to the increase in demand of prefabrication and modern technological solutions like BIM Drafting Services here is how climate change is affecting construction industry.

Building and Infrastructure design must evolve to tackle climate change:

A lot of focus is already given to the way in which the construction industry can change in order to meet the sustainability standards. However, there is another pressing issue caused as a result of climate change which is the need to update the existing infrastructure and building structures to deal with the evolving weather conditions. Here we look at some extreme weather conditions that can be faced as a result of climate change and how buildings and infrastructure need to be prepared for it.

Design to withstand increase in fires and excessive heat:

Wildfires are unfortunately becoming extremely prominent across the globe. In 2020 Australia was ravaged with one of the deadliest wildfires in the history. This year itself Turkey saw more than 250 wildfires across 53 provinces. And then there is California which has in the past 30 years seen a damage over $24 Billion USD due to increase in wildfires. Wildfires have demanded a change in design like the creation of defensible space around the house which acts as a buffer can slow or stop the wildfire from burning the house. Another significant change which can happen is change of materials that are used in the construction. Take steel for instance, steel used in construction of bridges, tunnels, building etc. has a fire resistant coating. In cases of raging fire the coating can be scrapped causing the steel to become weak. It is also not necessary to melt the steel for the building or the structure to collapse. When subjected to extreme heat it starts to lose its strength and stiffness. The weak steel might then not be able to support the weight. Here, two things can take place.

Firstly, the new construction especially for buildings alternative materials can be considered. For instance concrete is more fire resistant. It has also become stronger over the years. A typical concrete has PSI strength 4,000 PSI (Pounds per Square Inch) while the newer concrete ranges in strength of 8000-1400 PSI and even more in some cases.  Secondly, the existing infrastructure in certain areas which are more prone to wildfires need to be checked to ensure that they will hold out. Point Cloud to BIM Services can be used to create accurate BIM models representing the existing state of these infrastructure. This can then be used to conduct a thorough analysis, and even simulations can be run to ensure than in case of wildfires the infrastructure would not collapse. It is very crucial to ensure that the infrastructure will be able to hold out in cases of wildfire and not collapse causing an already dire situation to become worse.

In general also the temperature is becoming very high that roads and roofs are melting everywhere. In New York as a result of excess heat 53,000 people lost power. The communities and government agencies now have to update power girds, apply fire-resistant and cooling materials on top etc.

In the part one of the article we looked at current scenario with regards to climate change and how the construction industry contributes towards it. We further discussed how the current infrastructure will have to evolve in order to deal with changing weather conditions with specific focus on effect of wildfires and extreme heat on building and infrastructure design. In the next stage we will focus on design and construction of buildings and structures to with withstand hurricanes and cyclones and state how onsite construction can deal with changing and extreme climatic conditions.

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