The Future Of Airport (outdoor animals) Design Goes Green
No commentsBy Dominic Donaldson
An international airport is a hub of activity; with holidaymakers, business people and others travelling en mass, it is essential to create a calm and tranquil atmosphere. It is also important to plan and design the airport so that a large number of people can pass through with minimum disturbance to each other and to the operations within the terminal itself.
There are, however, smaller general terminals and military bases that form a large part of the aviation industry and the design and development of each of these has different priorities.
The smooth running of these large projects takes a level of organisation and planning that requires the amalgamation of many skills in the engineering industry. In recent years the building of any industrial development has had to conform to new environmental impact legislations.
To guarantee that the development meets these regulatory standards it is essential to implement an Environmental Management System. This will ensure that every step of the airport design has been considered in accordance with any future environmental impacts it might have.
Environmental engineering takes many environmental factors into consideration and meets the ‘green’ standards expected by a concerned public and demanded by government regulations. Using resources wisely and setting high standards that will meet tomorrow’s sustainability requirements are a priority.
It is now widely understood in business that an increase in environmental performance translates as a rise in general performance and profits; it is this kind of understanding that is allowing the boundaries of design to be pushed and for developments in airport design to embrace the future of technology.
The aesthetics of an airport differ depending on whether it functions as a consumer-facing international air terminal, a military base or a general aviation airport, due to significantly different end user requirements. In a commercial airport, the design is tailored toward creating a calm, open atmosphere.
The users of this type of airport are generally waiting for long amounts of time to board a flight and will spend this interval shopping in the many tax free boutiques and eating and drinking in the terminals bars and restaurants. The way these airports function has to facilitate a large number of people queuing and moving between areas. This requires wide, open walkways and an environmental control system that ensures passengers are comfortable while they wait to board.
If you compare this with the functioning of a military air base, the differences in design priorities are startling. At military air bases, comfort and aesthetics take a lower priority than functionality because a military establishment is primarily a place of work. There is no need to create a consumer-friendly atmosphere culture and the volume of personnel that military airports have to process is dramatically reduced.
A small local airport often has to accommodate a unique demographic that needs more functionality than an international terminal because some of the clientele are pilots and others are passengers, so a certain level of consumer-friendly aesthetics are built in and the facilities on offer mirror those that would be expected at a major airport, such as restaurants and shops.
Understanding and unifying aesthetics and functionality in accordance with a sustainable way of development is the major challenge facing airport designers today. When you have passengers who seek five star service and airport operators that aim to meet a target of zero carbon emissions, formulating a green project that gets the green light can seem like pie in the sky.
Dominic Donaldson is an expert in the engineering industry.
Find out more about airport design and why the new environmental legislation is affecting the aesthetics of airports.
Why Not Try to Eat Less Meat?
By Stephanie Foster
Cutting back meat consumption can be a difficult thing to do, at least in the United States. Eating meat is so much a part of how I was raised that it’s really hard to break the habit or slow it down. But there are a lot of good reasons to do so.
1. Better for your grocery bill.
This is a reason that many of us can get on board with these days. Beans, lentils, brown rice, barley and so forth cost much less than meat and are great sources of protein. They’re also nicely filling. All you have to do is learn to cook them in ways you enjoy.
2. Better for the environment.
Another great reason, even if it’s less of a motivator for many people who are far more concerned with their budget. Grains have a much lower environmental impact than meat. Animals eat a lot of grain, but the amount of meat you get from them is much less.
You will also significantly cut your carbon footprint. Meat production overall is very hard on the environment.
3. Less handling of raw meat.
While the big salmonella stories recently have related to foods such as spinach, the mishandling of raw meat is a very common source of food poisoning. Just think of how quickly you reach the ‘use by’ date of any meats you buy, versus how long grains last. A part of the food poisoning risk with meat is how fast germs can grow in it.
4. How many farm animals are treated.
If the ethics worry you, then the treatment of farm animals is a big deal. There are farms that treat their animals far better than the factory farms that produce the more affordable meats. And of course there are all the hormones and antibiotics used on factory farm animals.
5. It can be healthier.
This one really depends on you. It’s possible to eat unhealthy without meat, but if you’re trying to eat well and eat less meat, it’s pretty healthy. You’ll probably have less fat in your diet, for one thing. You can cut the odds of getting many health problems simply by eating less meat. It’s not a guarantee, just lower odds.
If you want to cut back on meat but still like to have it every day, just work on how you serve it. Go heavy on the vegetables when you stir fry, for example. I’ve found chopping the meat into pieces can make it look as though there’s more on my plate as well, so I eat less of it.
Stephanie Foster blogs at http://www.greensahm.com/ about being a green stay at home mom. She offers tips on green parenting and more at her site.
Massive international growth potential for UK breakthrough in road maintenance
By ASI Solutions ASI Solutions
Potholes claim 1 in 6 vehicle failures Scottish roads the worst, South West the best
Local road lottery is being blamed for a 47 percent increase in car suspension failure during the past five years.
According to analysis by independent automotive warranty firm, Warranty Direct, the number of cars needing suspension and axle repairs as a result of poorly maintained roads and potholes has jumped from 9 percent of all claims in 1999 to an average of 17 percent for the first eight months of 2004.
Either continuous driving over cracked and uneven road surfaces, or the sudden jolting of a deep pothole, can cause damage to shock absorbers, springs, upper and lower arms, and stabiliser bars.
Regionally, Scottish drivers are the most at risk with a staggering 35 percent of all claims attributable to a road defect. The worst region in England during the past twelve months has been Anglia with nearly 1 in 5 breakdowns reporting suspension or axle damage. Greater London recorded a figure of nearly 14 percent, with roads in the South West, currently the least likely to damage the health of your vehicle at just over 11 percent.
Region %
Scotland 35.07
Anglia 19.11
North East 18.77
West Midlands 15.56
North West 15.25
Wales 14.42
Greater London 13.99
East Midlands 13.76
South East 12.40
South West 11.04
=======================
British Average 16.93
The data from Warranty Direct is supported by comments from the Institute of Civil Engineers and the Asphalt Industry Alliance about the state of British roads. The latest ALARM (Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance) survey, reported a 94 percent increase in visible defects over the past ten years, during which time the number of compensation claims against local authorities in England had doubled an annual payout of 85m.
ASI Solutions is author of this article on Infra-red road repair .
Find more information about Infra-red road repair here.
Your Source For Conserving Water Solutions
Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 7:45 am and is filed under environmental. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
