CEE Seminar: Building Green

Abstract: In response to increasing global awareness of the environment and energy consumption, engineers and the construction industry are facing great challenges in developing energy efficient and environmentally compatible civil infrastructure systems. Most of the attention and consequently the resources are given to automotive and industrial sectors that are commonly assumed to be responsible for environmental damages and high energy demand. However, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. buildings a few years back was 630.3 million metric tons, which is 39 percent of the total carbon dioxide emissions produced in the U.S. and 9.1 percent of global emissions. Two to 7 tons of waste (a rough average of 4 pounds of waste per square foot) are generated during the construction of a new single-family detached house, and 15 to 70 pounds of hazardous waste are generated. The U.S. residential and commercial buildings total primary energy consumption is 39.69 quadrillion Btu in 2005, which is a substantial amount of energy as compared to the total consumed by other sectors. This lecture will introduce the green building concept and provide a summary of green rating systems worldwide. Examples of green construction systems also will be presented.

Bio: Mosallam is a professor of structural and earthquake engineering and materials & manufacturing engineering technology in the UC Irvine Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He serves as director of the UCI Structural Engineering Testing Hall and is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Mosallam is a registered structural professional engineer in the District of Colombia and has more than 38 years of experience in structural engineering with a particular interest in innovative building systems and affordable housing including three-dimensional sandwich panels, seismic repair and rehabilitation of structures and development of polymer composites and sustainable and advanced materials. He is the author of the ASCE Design Manual for FRP Composites Connections (ASCE MOP 102) and the codeveloper of the ASCE/PIC Prestandard Document on Structural Design of Pultruded FRP Composite Structures. He is the founder of the Egyptian Green Building Council and the principal author of the Green Pyramid Rating System (GPRS). Mosallam is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards.