Delivering infrastructure projects that make a contribution to conditions of sustainability is a relatively new but important goal for engineers. Projects that conserve resources while reducing or eliminating negative environmental and social impacts have higher public acceptance and can save money. However, the critical issue is not just how to improve sustainable performance for infrastructure, but how produce infrastructure projects that deal effectively with non-sustainability: the consequences of operating under an unsustainable economic development model. Decade after decade of overconsumption and degradation has altered the provisioning and regulating functions of the Earth's ecological systems. The most important effects are increasing shortages of important resources and a changing climate. A changing climate is perhaps the most crucial issue for engineers, as it is altering significantly the operating conditions under which infrastructure is supposed to operate. This paper offers a framework and approach for delivering infrastructure projects that meet project owner needs while improving sustainable performance and maintaining project functionality in a changing operating environment.
展开▼