View Important Policies and System Requirements for this course.

This webinar was co-sponsored by ASCE's Construction Institute (CI) and ASCE Continuing Education

Instructor:  James A. D'Aloisio, P.E., SECB, LEED AP, BD+C

Course Length: 1 Hour

Purpose and Background

Effectively and economically reducing atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (CO2-e) will require careful effort on everyone's part, including and especially engineers. This webinar reviews the carbon footprint of concrete, steel, masonry and other construction materials that is generated by their manufacture, fabrication, and erection, and how to avoid unnecessarily high emissions. It also explores the potential ways that engineers can control and reduce the use of fossil fuels over the service life of their projects. This webinar compares the emissions generated by the construction of a typical building to the approximate magnitude of emissions due to heating and cooling of a building. It also reviews what opportunities exist to reduce emissions at the end of the materials' service life.

Primary Discussion Topics

• Determination of the magnitude of CO2-e emissions from construction projects
• Comparison of CO2-e emissions from construction vs. other sources (such as transportation, power generation, etc.)
• Assess impact of reducing structural thermal bridges on energy and C02-e reduction
• Consideration of alternative structural systems and their effect on CO2-e emissions
• Consideration of 'design for deconstruction' methodologies to reduce future carbon emissions
• Review the role of the engineer in addressing societal problems, including climate change

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Realize the importance of the role engineers can play in CO2-e emissions reduction
• Become familiar with relative lifecycle CO2-e emissions of common construction materials
• Recognize materials with high CO2-e emissions to minimize use of, or avoid completely
• Determine the contribution of building envelope energy losses that engineers can control

Webinar Benefits

• Learn what engineers can do to proactively and effectively mitigate climate change
• Introduce engineers to a new way of looking at their projects, and their profession, in a way that they may never have before
• Realize that there is a lot that engineers can do to address climate change
• Understand enough big-picture carbon reduction concepts that they can contribute to project discussions on how to reduce a project's CO2 emissions
• Realize that designing a project to reduce CO2-e emissions does not mean that the project budget or schedule will be compromised
• Avoid being unprepared when carbon reduction requirements are mandated, or monetized through mechanisms such as cap and trade or carbon fee and dividend systems

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-assessment (true-false, multiple choice and fill in the blank questions).

Intended Audience

• Structural engineers who design buildings - basic knowledge of building design is useful
• Other civil engineers who work on infrastructure projects
• Civil engineering educators - this is an up-and-coming topic that students need to learn
• Governmental civil engineers - this is a new policy issue

Webinar Outline

• Rationale: anthropogenic CO2-e emissions
• Construction emissions
• Operational emissions
• Post-operational emissions
• Conclusion: The role of the engineer

How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion

To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 1 year of purchasing the course.

How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?

1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]