Sustainability Methods in the Design of Industrial Structures

Implementation of sustainability methods in the design of industrial structures can be mutually beneficial to both industrial facility owners and the environment. Industrial facility owners benefit from sustained production with minimal business interruption over the course of the life span of the facility, while the environment benefits from a reduction in both the demand of natural resources and the disposal of contaminated structural materials. Business sustainability is improved for industrial facilities by making efficient design decisions in the beginning that extends the design life of industrial structures and minimizes the interruption from environmental loads such as wind, earthquakes, snow, and ice. Performance based design methods can be used to determine the desired functionality of a structure beyond the life-safety requirements of the code when subjected to such events. Sustainability benefits to the environment can be achieved by minimizing and limiting the natural resources required for the retrofit and repair of industrial structures. Such revamp work requires a large amount of natural resources because it is necessary to work around existing operating facilities. Business sustainability approaches for the design of industrial facilities can result in a conservation of natural resources which provides benefits to our environment.