Challenges and opportunities for the built environment in a carbon-constrained world for the next 100 years and beyond

Today, the built environment, including infrastructure for tunnels, bridges, highways, subways, railroads, harbors, buildings and airports, is responsible for a significant portion of the energy consumption, natural resource utilization, waste generation as well as CO2 and other environmentally harmful emissions in the United States and around the world. There is no silver bullet solution to achieve the ambitious goal of zero carbon buildings and a city infrastructure with significantly reduced CO2 emissions. Thus, multifaceted solutions should be developed. Another challenge associated with the built environment is aging and a large economic burden to upgrade and maintain the outdated infrastructure. The current status of the U.S. built environment is far below sustainable condition. Rapidly deteriorating infrastructure that must be replaced provides us with the unique opportunity to rethink where and how we should live in the future. In addition, current challenges related to economic and societal inequality in the United States and other global communities also force us to re-evaluate how humanity is connected and how we share resources for a sustainable and healthy future while keeping the Earth safe. The engineering solutions for our future built environment include, but are not limited to, the design and synthesis of new infrastructure materials with low carbon intensity, the development of new manufacturing options and technologies, and the integration of innovative functionalities into building envelopes.

如今，在美国以及全球范围内，建筑环境，包括隧道、桥梁、公路、地铁、铁路、港口、建筑物和机场等基础设施，在能源消耗、自然资源利用、废弃物产生以及二氧化碳和其他对环境有害的排放方面占了相当大的比重。要实现零碳建筑以及大幅降低二氧化碳排放的城市基础设施这一宏伟目标，没有一蹴而就的解决方案。因此，应该制定多方面的解决方案。与建筑环境相关的另一个挑战是老化以及升级和维护过时基础设施的巨大经济负担。美国建筑环境的现状远未达到可持续的条件。必须更换的迅速恶化的基础设施为我们提供了一个独特的机会，让我们重新思考未来应该在何处以及如何生活。此外，美国和其他全球社区当前与经济和社会不平等相关的挑战也迫使我们重新评估人类是如何相互联系的，以及我们如何为了一个可持续和健康的未来共享资源，同时保护地球的安全。我们未来建筑环境的工程解决方案包括但不限于：设计和合成低碳强度的新型基础设施材料，开发新的制造选择和技术，以及将创新功能集成到建筑围护结构中。