As a perfect segue from my last post, think about entering this contest about designing a sustainable village:

WHAT ARE WE AFTER?

This is a contest for the visions of an ideal sustainable village: a place where you would want to live, study, work and experience the challenges and rewards of an ecologically durable lifestyle. In other words: to define the future of living.

HOW CAN YOU CONTRIBUTE?

You can draw, sketch, take photographs, paint, use digital design tools to create  images, or even submit poetry (however, poetry must make a visual statement  as well as all entries will be treated as images). You can be as creative as you like, but please keep in mind the key words and goals of the CLEAR Village.

Distill your vision in to a 600dpi horizontal A4 image and send it through sendspace.com, following the instructions mentioned underneath.

I became a civil engineer because I wanted to make a big impact on society. Over time, I’ve become particularly concerned with society’s impact on the environment. I find large-budget LEED certified “green” projects to be incredibly important steps toward sustainable development. In my current position, however, I’ve been more involved in smaller rehabilitation and renovation projects. Though smaller in scope, these projects are equally important to the environment, because it’s almost always more efficient to re-use our existing building stock.

On a number of occasions, I’ve even had the opportunity to work directly with a company that provides solar panel roof-mounting solutions. We help ensure that the existing structure is capable of supporting the new equipment. I can’t think of a simpler way to help make our buildings greener.

Jeremy Jones, VP of strategic development for SoCore Energy, recently took the time to answer some of my questions about solar power and the future of “green” industries in America.

1) How much power can a solar installation generate?

In the U.S., each kilowatt of solar generating capacity that you install will generate between 1,100 and 1,600 kilowatt hours per year (with Northern latitudes at the low end and say Arizona at the high end). A typical residential system would be about 5kW while commercial installations are typically anywhere from 25kW to 1,000kWs or more.

2) What kinds of engineering challenges has your company faced in attempting to achieve your mission to make solar energy more flexible, more accessible, and more affordable?

Our business is built around trying to eliminate the barriers to more widespread solar adoption. We see the major barriers as a) lack of standardization and b) difficult project requirements. Ultimately, we need to drive down the cost of solar and the lack of standardization both within the system designs as well as the incentives from one state to another prohibit these reductions. Further, there are so many requirements that a project has to meet in order for it to be “viable” that it greatly limits the market expansion. For example, if every project needs to be with a customer who has a AAA credit rating (in order to qualify for financing), 20 years left on their roof warranty, and happens to own their building, solar can never really contribute to our energy mix. Our approach has been to standardize installation practices, increase system portability, and create shorter more flexible contracts for customers so that we can overcome many of these initial sales barriers.

3) How prominent a role do government rebates and tax credits play in people’s decision to install solar panels?

Today, they are absolutely critical. These incentives are creating the economies of scale required for us to reach grid parity and not need incentives in 5-10 years.

4) How will legislation currently under consideration (including cap and trade proposals) affect your industry?

Regarding cap and trade we’ll need to figure out how “Carbon Credits” will ultimately relate to “Solar Renewable Energy Credits,” which are the more common commodity for trading the “renewable” attributes of renewable energy. Separate from cap and trade, we’re very interested to see if a nationwide Renewable Portfolio Standard “RPS” gets passed as this would require all utilities to have a certain portion of their generation from renewables like solar.

5) What role do you think civil engineers will play in developing a new green energy infrastructure?

Civil engineers are playing a key role. As the cost of the technology (the actual photovoltaic cells) decreases, it becomes increasingly important to be very cost efficient with the other components of the system. As part of this, the ability for a project to be efficiently installed (and code compliant), is increasingly important. Civil engineers will play an important role in continuing to innovate on how systems are installed on rooftops and ground racks.

6) How have people’s perceptions of solar energy changed since you first became involved in the industry?

In my nine years in the solar industry, the market has completely changed. What was once an extremely niche product for municipalities and very early adopters is now becoming mainstream. Today, most customers still value the sustainable aspect of the project, but the projects have to make economic sense. In a few more years, I suspect the market will be purely cost based.

Please click here to read Jeremy’s responses to more questions, including:

• How does a solar panel generate electricity?

• How long does it take a solar installation to pay for itself?

• Are solar panels effective in northern climates?

• Is solar energy still “green” after considering life-cycle costs?

• Has social media changed how you do business?

www.asce.org/professional/educ/

According to a diverse group of civil engineers who met to discuss the future of the profession, by the year 2025 a civil engineer will be:

Entrusted by society to create a sustainable world and enhance the global quality of life.  Civil engineers serve competently, collaboratively, and ethically as master: planners, designers, constructors… stewards of the natural environment… innovators… managers of risk and uncertainty caused by natural events and other threats, and leaders in decisions shaping public environmental and infrastructure policy.

Wow!  That’s a really tough charge.  The statement is a great rallying cry for the importance and prestige of civil engineers, but can one realistically master so many subjects?  In 2008, an ASCE committee was tasked with determining the Body of Knowledge necessary to meet these ideals.

The resulting document spells out 24 different areas for prospective professionals to study.  Subjects like math, mechanics, and technical specialization are common to most traditional degree programs.  However, the committee suggested many new topics that weren’t even on the radar when I was in school.  10 Sustainability – Analyze systems of engineered works for sustainable performance; 17 – Public Policy – Apply process techniques to simple problems related to civil engineering works; and 19 – Analyze engineering works and services in order to function at a basic level in a global context.

Collectively, the new Body of Knowledge asks engineers to, “master more mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering science fundamentals; maintain technical breadth; acquire broader exposure to the humanities and social sciences; and achieve greater specialization.”

Colleges already struggle to integrate practical tools and procedures used by industry into the curriculum.  How do you fit all of these new subject areas into a degree program?  For one, engineering students should get used to the idea of going on to pursue a master’s degree.  More on the job training and exploratory learning is also suggested.  However, the authors of the Body of Knowledge purposefully want to raise the bar. More responsibility is placed on students and young engineers to actively seek education in these competencies.

Fortunately, some advice is given.  Take advantage of on-campus resources and challenges like the concrete canoe and steel bridge.  Study abroad.   Engage in conversations about sustainability, building information modeling and other new topics that are becoming more important in the industry.  Volunteer for community and professional organizations.  Demand feedback and diverse project assignments from teachers and employers.

Most importantly, take charge of your future.  Six months after starting my first job, I did not feel that I was getting the experience I needed to meet my career goals.  Throughout 18 years of school, someone had always told me what the next step would be.  However, at that point, it was entirely up to me make a move that would broaden my body of knowledge.  Be ready for that decision.  If you choose to continue learning throughout your career, then it’s likely that you will fully meet the charge for the civil engineer of 2025.

On a hot summer night, an air-conditioned movie theater is a good place to go for entertainment.  The studios understand this and typically roll out their most costly blockbusters.  Movies with comic book heroes and tons of explosions are a certainty.  It’s also a good bet that the laws of science will be suspended for about two hours, while heroes race through time and defy gravity and geeky computer hackers get the girl.

But when will they make a movie with an accurate portrayal of the exciting life of an engineer?  Oxymoronic as that may sound, I’ve heard it expressed at multiple conferences by well-meaning engineers who feel that, “if only we had a suitable role model, then kids would flock to engineering.”  First of all, the examples set for stockbrokers and lawyers in movies like Wall Street (1987) and The Devil’s Advocate (1997), respectively, don’t seemed to have dampened the attraction of these high-paying professions.  Secondly, if you think about it, there are quite a few movies featuring engineers and engineering themes.

Blockbuster season is a great time to learn about the fringes of scientific possibility.  The Star Trek (2009) franchise consistently incorporates the engineered possibilities of the future, albeit while taking a few creative liberties with special relativity.  Meanwhile, Terminator (2009) explores the darker side of technological advancement.  2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Contact (1997) more thoughtfully consider the confluence of science, emotion and faith.  While these movies are quick to exploit engineering, they don’t offer the leading role an engineer.

You need not look far, however, to find an engineering superhero.  Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man (2008), is best described as a genius engineer.  Who else could have created an impenetrable mechanized suit out of bazooka tubes and jihadi camping gear?

J. H. Patterson, the real-life inspiration for The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), may not have had the technology, but I’m sure he had the mettle to face those foes.  He was tasked with overseeing the construction of a rail line over the Tsavo River in Kenya, when a pair of man-eating lions went on a 9-month killing spree.  After several attempts to engineer a means of capturing the lions, the lieutenant-colonel tracked and killed the lions himself.  The hides are still on display in Chicago’s Field Museum.

Engineers and engineering make for good cinema and TV.  Need more proof?  Check out the weekly cable listings for Junkyard Wars, Myth Busters, Modern Marvels and countless others.  But, does the media really influence kids’ career choices?  An old study by the National Institute of Education  seems to suggest: no.  When high school juniors were asked who most influenced their career choice only 8.1% indicated the media.  About double that percentage were most influenced by family members, while even non-family mentors ranked above the media.

While it may not be practical for engineering societies to enter the business of Hollywood, it is worthwhile for engineers to enter classrooms or otherwise mentor students.  ASCE can provide the know-how and a network of fellow members to make outreach easy.  Outreach volunteers can even register to win an Ipod by taking a survey about their experience. http://content.asce.org/pre_college_outreach/index.html

Don’t wait for Hollywood to come calling, get out there and sell your own exciting story to the next generation of engineers.

Please comment with your own recollections of great engineering movies.  Need more inspiration?  Here are a couple of other websites that have tackled the question of naming the best movies about engineering:
http://www.asme.org/NewsPublicPolicy/Newsletters/METoday/Articles/Top_10_Favorite_Films_by_Tom.cfm
http://www.designnews.com/blog/Electronics_News_and_Comment/582-The_Best_And_Worst_Engineering_Movies.php

Last week I made another trip across the Atlantic to attend a friend’s wedding in North Carolina.  A lousy flight plan took me from Lyon, through layovers in London and Chicago, to Charlotte.  Along the way, I realized that I need a haircut and hoped to find a barbershop while waiting for connecting flights.  This launched me on a wild goose chase that gave me plenty of time to ponder the inner workings of a major international airport.

My flight from France pulled up to terminal-five of London Heathrow Airport.  At the gate, I asked an airport attendant where in the airport could find a barbershop.  I eschewed typical male pride hoping that by asking for directions I could avoid a lengthy meandering quest through one of the world’s largest airports.  The supposedly knowledgeable staff sent me to terminal three.

For passengers not yet repatriated through customs, a special bus network shuttles between the various terminals.  From the bus you can peer into the maintenance and baggage claim back rooms tucked into the lower levels, typically inaccessible to the public.  A complex system of machinations could be seen to deliver luggage to the proper destination.

As I pulled up to the next terminal, I began to feel that luggage may not be the only thing carefully distributed around the airport.  In fact, the airport is likewise designed to securely and efficiently move passengers between gates, through checkpoints and to different terminals.  Bucking the trend, say in search of a haircut, is to risk falling off the conveyor to your next flight.

At terminal three, I was informed that there was no barber or salon, but terminal one was bound to have what I was looking for.  I again boarded the behind-the-scenes tour and moved on.  Beginning to feel a bit like human luggage, I noticed an important looking door titled “customer engineering.”  That either confirmed by suspicions or indicated a secret lab attempting to create a serum enabling travelers to put up with excessive delays, lost luggage, and wild goose chases for airport services.  By the way, there was no barber at terminal one either.

Returning to my departure terminal un-coiffed and hungry, I sat down for lunch at Yo-sushi.  In keeping with the theme, a la carte sushi dishes were served via conveyor.  The belt snaked around the tables and customers were instructed to take whatever they liked.  Dishes were color coded by price to keep things easy for the wait staff.  Like eager travelers at baggage claim, everyone wanted to be nearest the kitchen.  The best selections rarely made it all the way down the line.

Passing through a modern airport is an engineered experience.  Baggage, food and even passengers are conveyed by various means to their destination.  Efficiency and accuracy are variable, but irregularities in the system, like someone striking out to find a non-existant barber, fare less well than the norm.

Every little boy pretends that there’s a castle in his backyard.  Whether it’s embodied in a tree fort, a snow mound, or some old fencing, the premise is simple: defend the fortress under attack.  My brother and I waged countless campaigns in defense of our makeshift forts.  Of course, we always imagined that our forts were comprised of thick stone walls and the occasional moat. To boys growing up in the Midwest, the chance to see a real castle was just fantasy.

Imagine my exuberance in social studies class when the teacher popped in a video about the Rhine River in Germany.  A tour guide matter-of-factly described dozens of fortresses guarding the banks of the river.  Some castles had tall spires and tall ramparts, just like the storybooks.  In the days before the internet, I actually begged to go to the library to learn more.  On several trips to Europe since, I have had the opportunity to walk old battlements and peer through dungeon windows.  Each visit had been fleeting, always on our way to the next attraction… until now.

I recently moved to the South of France, following my wife who has been hired to translate technical documents into English for a local energy company.  Her contract will allow us to live here through the end of the year.  We are staying in a small village near the Rhône River, and guess what?  There’s a real castle in my backyard.

On a bluff overlooking the Ceze River valley, lie the remains of a 13th century castle, le Château de Gincon.  From our apartment, a steep 5 km ascent through vineyards and thick brush brings you to the base of the edifice.  Although only a few buildings survive in recognizable condition, the fortress is still intimidating.

In its heyday, this castle was fully equipped with a 3-story dungeon tower, a chapel and several spartan residences.  As with most ancient structures, the castle was re-purposed many times throughout its history.  In the 1600s, sheep herders made their home within the walls and a mine was dug underneath the dungeon.

The local cooperative of vineyards has begun a campaign to restore some of the castle.  A series of plaques give information about the various buildings, and one residence is being fully restored.  A paved road has even been constructed to allow less energetic patrons to explore the Château.

On the day I first visited, I had the entire castle to myself.  It was easy to imagine the medieval scenes that once transpired where I was standing.  I entered through the main gate, and marched up the cobble-stone ramps inclined for the horses.  From the ramparts, I imagined a panorama without electrical lines and paved highways.  Inside a restored residence, I marveled at how such structures were constructed without tower cranes and bulldozers.  It was a wonderful child-like experience to let my imagination run wild.

I will continue to blog from France.  The countryside has many sources of inspiration from Roman ruins and Medieval castles to cutting edge nuclear technology.  I hope you will enjoy my perspectives from France.

Chicagoans are very proud of their city’s rich but short history.  The city was founded in 1833, though it may have been a trading post for the French decades before that.  The built legacy of the city, however, was wiped clean in the great fire of 1871.  It’s safe to say that Chicago would not be the destination that it is today without that transformational event.  The stage was set for architects and city planners to envision a new modern American city.

Daniel Burnham’s plan is being widely celebrated by the city this year.  Miles of parkland along the lakefront, Grant Park, and the magnificent mile can be claimed as results of Burnham’s plan.  Over the years, citizens have fought hard to preserve the architectural legacy of the second city.  The wall of historic buildings along Michigan Avenue is a testimony to these efforts.

But do Chicagoans take the preservation movement too far?  After all, not a single building in the entire city is more than 150 years old.  Certainly, there are reasons to celebrate Chicago’s truly innovative vertical architecture, but let’s be honest… these buildings are still infants when compared on the global scale.

A good example of this is the juxtaposition of St. Michael’s church in Old Town (Chicago) to Mont Saint Michel (France).

St. Michael’s church was actually completed two years before the fire of 1871.  The local German community was devastated when the fire crossed the Chicago River and burned their church to the ground.  However, the parishioners were driven to be the first in the city to rebuild their church after the fire.  The new church re-used as much of the ruined masonry as possible.  Standing taller than the famous water tower, St. Michael’s was then the tallest building in Chicago and boasted the largest congregational space in the city. Huge stained glass windows, colored with gold dust, uranium ore, and cobalt powder, make it a destination for travelers interested in ecclesiastical art.  Today the church is 136 years old.

In contrast, Mont Saint Michel has been a destination for pilgrims for over 1300 years.  It’s almost ten-times older!  In that time, the island monastery has experienced countless calamities.  The continual re-building of the abbey makes it one of the best places to compare historic architectural styles side-by-side.

Mont Saint Michel currently faces its grandest challenge.  For centuries the Mont was an island at high tide and surrounded by quick sand at low tide.  A causeway constructed in 1879 has caused considerable collection of sands around the islet, threatening to link Mont Saint Michel to the mainland.  Fortunately, the causeway is now being demolished in favor of a less intrusive pedestrian bridge.

These two monuments to St. Michel illustrate people’s determination to overcome the forces of nature.  Chicago also rose out of ashes to a brighter future.  There are a lot of great architectural treasures worth preserving, but let’s agree that Chicago’s history has only just begun.

Love in an elevator, maybe not. It is pretty cool to see the structure in the shaft though. Today’s site visit took me inside the elevator shaft of a 1920s building. To upgrade the elevators, some old brackets need to be removed while new steel beams must be added in other locations. The elevator consultants are also concerned about the ability of the pit to withstand the “crash” test required to certify the new elevator.

Ever get the feeling, as you’re walking down the sidewalk, that you’re no longer on solid ground? Maybe you should. In many major cities, the sidewalks are built above hollow “vault” spaces. These were once used as a type of early loading dock. Building supplies were dropped down into the basement through a sidewalk hatch. In some places, you can still see the hatches, however, it’s more concerning when these vaults are covered up and forgotten.

The City of Chicago requires annual inspections of sidewalk vaults located in the central business district. During these inspections, I’ve had a chance to explore below some of the city’s landmarks. The vaults are frequently larger than you might expect and extend out to the edge of the roadway. Construction types vary greatly, but they usually match the methods used for the adjacent building. Sometimes new buildings are built on the site, but in order to keep the sidewalks open during construction, the vaults are never filled or updated.

The most frequent problems observed in the vaults are related to water infiltration. Old construction methods rarely incorporated waterproof membranes. Water also tends to seep through metal access covers or glass-block-filled iron grating. In addition, most sidewalk vaults were never designed for the heavy trucks allowed on the roads today. What if a fire truck pulls onto the sidewalk? You might think of the sidewalk at a bridge deck in these cases.

Fortunately, many building owners, sensitive to liability for any accidents on their property, proactively shore or reinforce their vault spaces. A long term solution usually involves completely demolishing the sidewalk and building a new deck or simply filling the vault with soil or concrete.

Exploring the vaults below the city’s streets adds a small sense of adventure to my job. It’s not quite like the show on the History Channel, but it does provide a link to a bygone era. If building owners and engineers continue to meet their responsibility, the public can continue to walk the city’s sidewalks without worrying about what exists below.

For more on sidewalk vault construction see http://www.structuremag.org/article.aspx?articleID=885

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s definitely true of engineering work. After all, the product that we deliver at the end of the day is typically a set of drawings. It’s equally important to use images throughout the project timeline to communicate with colleagues and clients.

Lately, I’ve been working out the details of a very complex entrance to a commercial building. My assignment is made more difficult because much of the floor structure was constructed while the architectural details of the entrance area were still being worked out. The challenge now is to provide support for the curtain wall, a hoist system for window washers to hook into, and support for a fancy 4-story tall piece of artwork in very tight quarters.

After being assigned the job, I was bombarded with emails describing the conditions. Honestly, none of it made any sense. I tried looking through old sketches drawn up by my colleagues, but I could tell that many of the specifics had changed. The only way to make progress was to meet with the architects and flesh out some concepts in person.

What was supposed to be a half-hour meeting lasted more than two. I brought the existing structural drawings with me, and the architects printed out large sheets with their initial ideas. Side by side, we were able to recognize the conflicts. Some of my suggestions were quickly discarded because of geometric limitations. But it’s better to find that out right away, versus spending hours on a bad hunch.

On the way back from my meeting, I actually walked past the job site. From the street, I could see the area that we had just discussed. I hadn’t planned to stop by, but this gave me an opportunity to snap a photo with my camera phone.

The next day my team started fleshing out our structural sketches. It was a bit comical to see my phone being passed around, so people could see the actual as-built condition we had to work around. Working as a team, we came up with some ideas that greatly improved on the architect’s initial concept. So, of course, we sent over some more sketches.

Even though the project was fairly small, it was rewarding to come up with a good solution to a complicated problem. It feels great when effective communication, face-to-face and with pictures, leads to project success.