Sustainable

Infrastructure
 Infrastructure is the set of structural elements that supports the day-to-day
function, and influences the direction of human society. Sustainable
infrastructure refers to the designing, building, and operating of these
structural elements in ways that do not not diminish the social, economic and
ecological processes required to maintain human equity, diversity, and the
functionality of natural systems.
 Infrastructure is critical to sustainable community development, our future
well-being and the day-to-day lives of individual Canadians. The
infrastructure we are building today will shape tomorrow’s communities. This
year-long research program is looking at five key infrastructure areas that we
consider crucial to sustainable development:
1. Energy
2. Transportation
3. Waste Management
4. Land Use Planning
5. Governance
Energy Infrustructure

 Energy Infrastructure naturally includes the traditional utilities associated

with energy transport and management (coal transport trains, natural gas
pipelines, electric transmission lines, etc.). However, the field also covers
large-scale energy management technology such as advanced electricity
metering and distribution systems, smart building technologies, and modern
power plant control systems.
Sources of Energy

 Solar Energy: Companies that generate power by converting sunlight into

electricity.
 Examples include solar panel manufacturers, designers, installers, and monitoring
solutions.

 Wind Energy: Companies that generate power using air flow.

 Examples includes wind turbine manufacturers, designers, installers, and monitoring
solutions.
Sources of Energy

 Geothermal Energy: Companies that use geothermal power to generate

electricity.
 Examples include geothermal energy development, design, and monitoring.

 Hydropower Energy: Companies that generate power from the energy of

moving water.
 Examples include wave energy converters, run-of-the-river systems, as well as project
management and monitoring solutions.
Sources of Energy

 Bioenergy: Companies that generate energy from biomass.

 Examples include bioenergy development, research, and monitoring

 Carbon Management: Technologies that aim to reduce carbon dioxide and

other greenhouse emissions.
 Examples include solutions that capture, sequester, and store carbon emissions, carbon
emission data analytics, and carbon emission recycling.
Transportation

 Transport infrastructure is one of the most important factors for a country's

progress. Although India has a large and diverse transport sector with its own
share of challenges, they can be overcome by energy-efficient technologies
and customer-focussed approach.

 One cannot overemphasize the importance of transportation than call it the

'lifeline' of a nation. It has been proven by so many instances how transport
infrastructure has added speed and efficiency to a country's progress.
Waste Management infrastructure

 Waste management involves the collection, transport, processing and disposal

of waste materials produced by human activity. The most basic waste
management involves collection and disposal. Increasingly, waste is also
processed to reduce volume, produce energy, reduce hazards, or gather
material for recycling. Waste can be managed in several ways:
Landfill

 Landfill is the oldest waste disposal method and is still common throughout
the world. Often landfills are established in abandoned quarries and mines.

 Though landfilling of waste can be done successfully, it can also lead to

windblown garbage, vermin, and leachate that pollutes groundwater.
Incineration

 Incineration involves the burning of waste.

 Incineration occurs on the small scale in many Canadian backyards and on the
large scale in industry and in many towns. Incineration can also be used to
generate electricity and heat however most of the energy is lost to the
atmosphere
 Incineration creates toxic gasses and ash which must then be disposed of.
Toxic emissions include dioxins and mercury compounds, both very harmful to
the environment.
Reduction

 Waste reduction can involve the compaction of existing waste, but

increasingly involves resource recovery. This includes reusing and recycling.
 Recycling is also known as secondary resource recovery.
 Recycling involves the reprocessing of material that would otherwise be
considered waste.
Composting and Digesting

 Organic wastes, including our sewage, is typically composted or digested

 Technologies vary widely, but the general goal is to eliminate pathogens,
physically break down waste, and produce soil and clean water.
 Sewage treatment systems usually contain three stages. Primary treatment
removes inorganic debris and breaks up solids, secondary treatment settles
out solids and allows the breakdown of pathogens, and tertiary treatment
renders the waste free of all pathogens.
Land Use Planning

 Land use, transportation and infrastructure planners prepare plans and

policies that affect the growth and appearance of neighborhoods, cities,
and urbanregions. Their work affects the siting and sizing of new
development at the urban scale as well as the physical design of specific
sites.
 Their work may also protect historic buildings and special design districts in
the urban core, as well as open spaces and agricultural lands affected by
unwanted or premature urban growth in rural areas. Integrated land use and
transportation plans have emerged in recent years to promote new concepts,
such as: “transit-oriented development,” “complete streets,” and “safe
routes to schools,” and to reverse the negative effects of urban sprawl and
decay
Governance Infrastructure

 is the collection of technologies and systems, people, policies, practices, and

relationships that interact to support governing activities.
 Poor governance is a major reason why infrastructure projects often fail to
meet their timeframe, budget, and service delivery objectives.