Running Head: THE EFFECTS OF CIVIL CONSTRUCTIONS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The Effects of Civil Construction on the Environment PUCMM Anabelle Rodrguez June 26, 2013

The Effects of Civil Constructions on the Environment Since the beginning of times, human beings have been looking for ways to shelter from the natures forces such as every kind of precipitation, the rays of the sun, the beasts searching for meat, the cold and even, the heat. The World population has increased over the centuries almost like a virus, inhabiting every place of the world. As the human population grows, the families are formed and the need for homes pushes the householders to look for shelter and protection for their own ones. After these householders have their families protected under a roof, they will need to work to bring the food home. Time has passed all of us by, but these ways of living havent changed that much in the sense of the need of infrastructure to develop a better lifestyle. As a result, civil constructions are being

built all over the world. This growth has contributed to the pollution of the environment the same as dirt in oceans and rivers, the same as chemical gases in the air, and the same as every polluting element in the environment. There are at least three effects of civil constructions in the environment, and those three are to be analyzed in this essay. Through the pass of time, mankind has grown industrial, and the cities are bigger. Instead of living surrounded by nature, the humans have destroyed an amount of the ecosystem to place their homes, work places, schools, bridges, aqueducts and all of the others civil and industrial constructions. Although the city, for example, occupies only the 0.05% of the Hearth surface (Masson, 2006, p. 1), this is a significant percentage in relation with the pollution of the environment. Most of these cities hardly count with green places making the concentration of polluting gasses higher and contributing with the global warming. Another negative effect on the environment is that the materials in the constructions can consume a large amount of energy. Only in the manufacture of some materials, the energy consumption is high compared to the energy used during the placement of these

The Effects of Civil Constructions on the Environment materials in the construction and post used, after the work is completed. According to P.

Zapata (2012) this represents, approximately 94% of the total amount of energy consumed from extraction of raw materials through placement of the continuously reinforced concrete pavement. In the terms of global consumption, cement represents a 5% of the industrial energy consumption (Horvath, 2004). Civil engineering is inside of a chain reaction of pollution: to build, people needs materials; to get materials, people most manufacture them; to manufacture them, people must consume energy, and the production of energy is not currently efficient and so it still pollutes the environment. Apart from the amount of energy consumption that civil engineering generates, and the replacement of natural spaces for urban-no-green spaces, there is another effect. Some of the construction materials, as cement, emit polluting chemicals. Cement is between the most common materials in the Civil Engineering. In the constructions, cement is used in every part of it, except for those ones that are meant to be constructed with other material as wood. The first case is shown in every city in the world. The engineers have proven that this construction material is very efficient and easy to handle. However, even as useful like it is, the cement is responsible of about 5% of the global anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and significant emissions of SO2, NOx, particulate matter, and other pollutants (Horvath, 2004, p. 9). These chemicals, when released to the air, can affect not just the human health but also the natural environment of plants and animals. Other effect is being precursors of acid rain and global warming as well. In an attempt of increasing the lifestyle quality of the humankind through Civil Engineering, it has cost the health of the environment even in more ways as specified in this essay. The world has come to know this issue; for it Civil Engineers, Scientifics, Ecologists and every other professionals that deals with the environment direct or

The Effects of Civil Constructions on the Environment indirectly, are paying attention and keep on looking for better solutions. Every day, the

percentage of pollution in the world is alarming more people, and researches are increasing. The change is not notable yet for there are some more people that care the most for their own benefit than for the common house of human kind: Hearth. The conscious of lots may be silent but this doesnt mean that is all lost. Certainly, the solution of this worldwide issue isnt in humans hands but at least the world counts with honest people that are trying their best to make the environment a better place.

The Effects of Civil Constructions on the Environment

Reference 1. Horvath, A. (2004). Construction materials and the environment. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 29, 181-204. 2. Mason, V. (2006). Urban surface modeling and the meso-scale impact of cities. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 84, 1-3. 3. Zapata, P. and Gambatese, J.A. (2012). Energy Consumption of Asphalt and Reinforced Concrete Pavement Materials and Construction. Journal of Infrastructure Systems, 11(1), 9-20.

The Effects of Civil Constructions on the Environment