Sustainability & Urban Infrastructure

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course first will describe the concept of sustainability and the consequences of neglecting it. Then it will describe urban infrastructure systems, how they developed historically, and how urban systems can transition to more sustainable modes. While environmental systems will be emphasized, e.g., potable water, storm water, and wastewater, the course also will discuss power generation and electrical grids. For example, sustainability can be enhanced by local energy production (e.g., wind, solar, biomass), management of networks with advanced sensing (e.g., smart valves on storm water systems, real-time monitoring of electrical demands and incentives to minimize power consumption during peak hours), and recovery of nutrients, energy, and water from wastes and local food production. Differences between developed and developing countries will be highlighted. The water/energy nexus, water/food nexus, and industrial pollution prevention/waste minimization techniques will be discussed. Quantitative engineering tools, accessible to sophomores, will be used to assess system sustainability, e.g., models of population growth with impacts on resources, management of peak demands (electrical, transportation, water), flow in groundwater systems (aquifer capacity, effects of overexploitation), basics of urban hydraulics and hydrology (water and sewer network analysis, effects of climate change on water resources, urban infrastructure and flooding), and basics of biological waste treatment (how wastewater can be treated for resource recovery and reuse, production of biogas). Exercises will be done on spreadsheets or Matlab.