Sustainable Design of Pipelines: Guidelines for Achieving Advanced Functionality

The definition of sustainability is based on a full range of assessment criteria organized under accounting categories that have been designed to address an appropriate balance of economic, environmental, and social issues. This overview chapter presents sustainability concepts based primarily on existing processes, tools, and guidelines that can be adapted for specific applications in the pipeline industry. The objective is to provide a conceptual tool and thought process that engineers, planners, owners, and public officials can use to evaluate the potential impacts of a project and promote the sustainable planning, design, construction, and operation of pipelines used in the water, wastewater, and storm water industries.

This chapter presents an overview of construction materials used on pipeline projects and details how to evaluate their carbon footprint and life cycle considerations with respect to the selection of the most appropriate and sustainable materials for a project. Also presented are considerations associated with the selection of materials to be used on a pipeline project; these include raw materials, production issues, transportation, and life cycle costs for the specific application for complete “cradle to gate” evaluation. Performance, environmental, economic, and life-expectancy aspects of sustainability are also addressed. The importance of resiliency is a function of the likelihood or probability that the event will take place during the life of the pipeline, along with the consequences associated with failure/damage to the pipeline.

This chapter provides insight into the processes and institutional frameworks needed to promote project sustainability, and discusses owners’ best practices and institutional considerations that need to be in place to promote the development of a sustainable project. Also examined are best practices for the project owner's role in developing a sustainable pipeline project including guidance and recommendations for project teams. The project owner has the single highest level of impact in defining the requirements for sustainable development of pipeline projects. Six broad categories of recommended best practices are described: project definition and scoping, community social sustainability, project leadership and management, procurement management, operations leadership, and design and construction criteria leadership. It is recommended that social and community aspects of sustainability be considered in project delivery.

A design engineer's goal is to attain resilience, the ability to recover to a substantial level of operation, as quickly as possible. This chapter presents the factors that need to be considered in a pipeline project to provide gains beyond the basic performance of a pipeline. The current state of sustainable planning and design best practices is evaluated, along with ways in which sustainable design considerations can be implemented to provide measurable gains in project performance. Information and guidance are provided for applications of good practice that allow for sustainable design construction and operation of buried pipelines. The significant roles of project owners and their leadership in performance and success of pipeline systems are defined.

This chapter discusses options that can be included in project designs and specifications to encourage the reduction of consequential impacts caused by pipeline construction. Sustainable construction best practices and implementation thereof, both during the design phase and during the construction phase, are discussed. Also explored are construction methodologies that may have appropriate applications to reduce project impacts including embedment practices such as material selection, standards and specifications, final design, reuse of native materials, and waste management. The responsibilities of the designer in preparation of plans and specifications to be used by the contractor to construct the project are described. The role of proper equipment maintenance in reducing the operation cost and fuel consumption is examined. Applications of trenchless construction methods in installation of new pipelines and utilities are also investigated.

The Operation and Maintenance (OM) phase of a project begins at the completion of construction and ends when the useful life of the pipeline is complete. Sustainable OM practices should reduce social and environmental impacts and be economically viable. Sustainable practice goals are presented that include longer useful life of the asset, reduced energy needed to operate the pipeline, reduced problems with the pipeline over its intended life, and improved reliability and quality of service of the pipeline. Applications of cathodic protection to pipelines to achieve indefinite corrosion protection of the metallic pipe are explored, focusing on two types of designs of cathodic protection systems, sacrificial anode systems and impressed current systems. Damage from third parties, typically owing to construction of additional infrastructure is also discussed and is the leading cause of pipeline outages.

Life cycle studies involve the gathering and processing of data over a projected design life. A thorough understanding of the concept of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is needed to fully comprehend and mitigate, when possible, the true loadings and impacts of various alternative materials and installation processes on organizations, on society, and on the environment. This chapter analyzes a comprehensive EPA discussion of the purpose and content of an LCA, beginning with a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), which is an inventory of all inputs and outputs associated with the manufacture of a product. The more complex calculation of social and environmental costs is addressed including evaluation of impacts through the manufacturing, transportation, installation, removal, and/or recycling of material. Several negative factors in calculating LCA that can potentially be reduced by minimizing diameters or design and operation are also identified.

This chapter discusses the development and organization of the Envision project rating system and describes how this rating system can be used to evaluate the incorporation of sustainable concepts into the planning, design, construction, and operation of infrastructure projects. The purpose of this rating system is to promote a shift in methods used by engineers and owners to develop, design, and operate projects. It consists of two tools, the Envision Checklist and the Envision Rating System, which break project sustainability contribution into two parts, performance contribution and pathway contribution, and influence the full project life cycle, extending beyond the borders of the owner, engineer, and contractor. Applicability of the Envision system to pipeline design is explored, and the process for implementing Envision is described.