Next Generation Infrastructure: Principles for Post-Industrial Public Works

252 Pages·2014·8.077 MB·English

by  Hillary Brown (auth.)

F D W. O
OREWORD BY AVID RR
NEXTGENERATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
PPrincipleessss ffor Post-Industrial Public Works
HILLARY BROWN
Next Generation
Infrastructure

Next Generation
Infrastructure
Principles for Post-Industrial
Public Works
By Hillary Brown
Washington | Covelo | London
Copyright © 2014 Hillary Brown
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form or by any means without permission
in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 2000 M Street NW,
Suite 650, Washington, DC 20036
Island Press is a trademark of The Center for Resource
Economics.
Island Press would like to thank Furthermore, a program of
the J. M. Kaplan Fund, for generous support of the design and
printing of this book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, Hillary.
Next generation infrastructure / Hillary Brown.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59726-805-9 (hardback)—ISBN 1-59726-805-4
(cloth)—ISBN 978-1-61091-181-8 (paper) 1. Infrastructure
(Economics)—Environmental aspects—United States. 2.
Infrastructure (Economics)—Government policy—United
States. I. Title.
HC110.C3B76 2014
363.60973--dc23
2013039889
Printed on recycled, acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Keywords: biomass, bioremediation, carbon reduction, climate
change adaptation, climate change mitigation, coastal
resilience, distributed energy systems, geothermal energy,
green streets, hydrogen power, infrastructural ecology,
renewable energy, siting public utilities, smart grid, solar
power, storm-water management, urban resilience, waste
combustion, water scarcity, waste-to-energy facilities, water
treatment and storage
For Jeanne and George

Contents
Foreword by David W. Orr ........................................................................................................................ xi
Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................................... xv
Chapter 1. Introduction: Bold Endeavors Needed ................................................................ 1
Chapter 2. Toward Infrastructural Ecologies: Interconnected, ....................................... 17
Multipurpose, and Synergistic Systems
Chapter 3. Greening Heat and Power: An Integrated Approach to .............................. 41
Decarbonizing Energy
Chapter 4. Advancing Soft-Path Water Infrastructure: Combined ............................... 69
Constructed and Natural Systems
Chapter 5. Destigmatizing Infrastructure: Design of Community-Friendly ............. 97
Facilities
Chapter 6. Creating Resilient Coastlines and Waterways: Hard and Soft .............. 127
Constructions
Chapter 7. Combating Water Stress and Scarcity: Augmented Sources and ........ 149
Improved Storage
Chapter 8. Ways Forward: Think Systematically, Experiment Locally ....................... 171
Notes ............................................................................................................................................................ 199
Index ............................................................................................................................................................. 233
ix

Foreword
David W. Orr
An hour north of New York City, the Omega Institute operates
a solar-powered wastewater system that looks and works like
a tropical greenhouse. It was designed by John Todd and BNIM
Architects to process 50,000 gallons of wastewater each day.
The system combines indoor and outdoor wetlands to purify
sewage without chlorine, aluminum salts, or other chemicals,
and without fossil fuels. Plants, animals, and some of the most
ancient organisms on Earth remove nitrogen and phosphorus
from the waste stream and detoxify contaminants. It is a model
of smart ecological design, good engineering, full-cost econom-
ics, and foresight. But the Omega Institute facility is only one
small example of next-generation design applied to energy,
water, transport, and waste-management systems. There are
many others around the world that are revolutionizing infra-
structure, reducing costs, and improving resilience, as reported
here by Hillary Brown.
Our existing infrastructure of wastewater plants, bridges,
the electrical grid, pipelines, roads, and dams is rapidly deterio-
rating. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that
its repair or replacement will cost $3.6 trillion. For financial rea-
sons alone it is a good time to rethink the way we design, build,
and invest in public infrastructure. But the design assumptions
underlying our existing infrastructure are crumbling along
with the concrete, steel, wires, and pipes. The designers of the
industrial infrastructure presumed an inexhaustible supply of
cheap energy, the efficacy of simple and single-purpose solu-
tions to complex problems, and the necessity of brute-force
mastery of nature, all executed with a bulletproof confidence
in endless economic growth on a finite planet. The fatal short-
comings of that paradigm are massively documented and are
becoming a daily bad-news story in our increasingly precarious
experience.
xi