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Shipping containers in a sustainable city
- G. Abrasheva, R. Häußling, D. Senk
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- Journal:
- Revue de Métallurgie – International Journal of Metallurgy / Volume 110 / Issue 1 / 2013
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 13 March 2013, pp. 55-63
- Print publication:
- 2013
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The challenges of sustainable urban development are tremendous. More than half of the earth’s population lives in cities and there is an upward trend. On a global scale, the cities are the greatest greenhouse gas producers and the biggest consumers of water and energy. Urbanisation, climate change and demographic change are forcing metropolises to make their infrastructure more efficient, be environmentally friendlier, keep the high standard of living and if possible save costs. One of the keys is the selection of materials. Buildings are responsible for 40% of the energy consumption and approx. 21% of produced CO2 worldwide. Scientists and researchers from all over the world are looking into new technologies, so that energy could be used efficiently and CO2 emissions reduced, without having to pass on comfort or “lifestyle habits” [http://www.siemens.de/nachhaltige-stadtentwicklung/nachhaltige-stadtentwicklung.html?stc=deccc020187 (accessed 27.04.2012)]. Sustainability is a complex term, used in the last 2–3 decades. It involves more than just the environment and it concerns every one of mankind [cf. Schlussbericht der Enquete-Kommission Globalisierung der Weltwirtschaft – Herausfordeung-en und Antworten, Drucksache 14/9200, http://dipbt.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/14/092/1409200.pdf, p. 393]. This is why social and engineering scientists from RWTH Aachen University have joined in their efforts to figure out how used shipping containers, which are in abundant supply, can play their role in the future of sustainable construction. After they have been used several times, freight containers are considered disused and begin to accumulate in the surroundings of seaports and harbours. The energy to produce a container is significant and considered wasted if the steel box has completed only a few runs. The first association with containers can be a cold and uncomfortable cell, however, after a glance at the properly adapted shipping containers, converted into cosy, pretty and affordable habitable spaces, this preconception can soon be dismissed. Research has shown, in terms of environment and design, they are innovative and intelligent – building with cargo containers is cheaper, “greener”, faster and more flexible than traditional methods. With the increase of life expectancy and population continuing to grow, demand for housing will rise as well. Demographic change and the demand will contribute to rising construction prices. Habitation is one of the essential basic needs of all people. If one takes into account population growth and the timely provision of housing for all people, existing construction methods have to be adapted and new ones developed. Space in the social sense is an expression of the society and not its reflexion [cf. M. Castells, The Rise of Network Society, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 440f]. Bearing in mind the diversity in Europe’s population and the anxiety for environmental protection and sustainability, also the contrariness in environmental awareness and behavior, likewise eco-friendly and polluting habits in our everyday life, which are linked together in a various and unconsidered way, validates having different levels of environmental awareness depending on the different segments of society. We speak here of the “patchwork” – character of lifestyles and values, which is illustrated and explained easily with the Sinus-Milieu-Model [Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Umweltbewusstsein in Deutschland 2010, Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen Bevölkerungsumfrage, 2010, p. 13]. This paper discusses the existing Sinus-Milieus® [http://www.sinus-institut.de/en/ (accessed 27.04.2012)] and their features and show hereupon the growing demand in the society on flexible living concepts and habitat designs. The theory supports, that building with steel containers could be a real solution for the social and environmental problems. A continuously availability of shippingcontainers as a building block is expected and therefore the construction business with steel containers has a great potential in terms of sustainability towards a sustainable construction in a sustainable city.
Strategies for fulfilment of critical raw materials demand in Europe
- D. Senk, F.M. Meyer, T. Pretz, G. Abrasheva
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- Journal:
- Revue de Métallurgie – International Journal of Metallurgy / Volume 109 / Issue 5 / 2012
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 28 September 2012, pp. 333-339
- Print publication:
- 2012
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As the global economy grows and evolves in the 21st century emerging technologies will require mineral commodities on a greater scale and in a larger number of applications than ever before. The explosive growth in the economies of other nations and the concomitant and explosive increase in demand for raw materials are the reasons for potential supply restrictions. The portfolio of minerals and metals needed for manufacturing is dynamic. If the supply of any of the raw materials used in everyday products and in new emerging technologies was curtailed, many high-tech sectors of the European industries could be significantly affected. For example, the so called “tuning metals” or “spice metals”, although used only in small and essentially as “functional alloyings” in conventional metals are indispensable as “power amplifier” of modern materials used in vehicle construction. These materials are in principle recyclable. However, in most cases it is impossible to recycle them because of the minor concentration in application, thus they are being “consumed”. The Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering of RWTH Aachen University is initiating thereupon an integrated interdisciplinary research. The three divisions of the faculty, i.e. Raw Materials and Waste Disposal Technology, Metallurgy and Materials Technology as well as Geosciences and Geography, collaborate on the issue of sustaining critical raw materials availability so that the supply of materials needed for futures industries can be guaranteed. Objective of this research cooperation is to develop life-cycle strategies for critical raw materials which are fundamental for emerging technologies. Securing the availability of raw materials may be accomplished by improving the efficiency of the raw materials chain and by enhancing the raw materials base. Increasing also the knowledge base in this field will enable the European society to transfer more resources into economically efficient and technically manageable as well as politically and socially acceptable mineral and metal reserves. Assuring a sustainable availability of critical metals will be of paramount importance for technical innovations. Researchers and scientists from the Faculty of Humanities at RWTH Aachen University are also involved to study the relation between raw materials supply and economic as well as social matters. Mapping out sustainable strategies for securing the supply of raw materials in the long run requires the competence and input of scientists in fields of natural, engineering, political, economical, and social sciences. Demand and supply of raw materials are affected by the economy, whereas global political and social issues have impact on the same economy.
Shipping containers for a sustainable habitat perspective
- G. Abrasheva, D. Senk, R. Häußling
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- Journal:
- Revue de Métallurgie – International Journal of Metallurgy / Volume 109 / Issue 5 / 2012
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 26 September 2012, pp. 381-389
- Print publication:
- 2012
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Shipping containers have many names: cargo containers, sea cans, metal boxes, freight containers. Originally they were constructed, as the name reveals, “to contain” and store items and mainly to transport goods. Freight containers are built to strict international quality standards, to survive harsh treatment and a violent life in the marine environment 1. The main technical details regarding containers were specified in an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard in January 1968 2. The history of the shipping container starts like any other invention with a simple thought. It takes Malcom McLean, father of the shipping container, over 20 years to realize his revolutionary idea for the shipping industry and create a closed transport chain of universal freight container for ships, trucks and trains 3. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that shipping containers have laid the foundation for globalization and changed the world. Over 95% of the worldwide trade affairs are winded up in containers. Today, international freight transportation is no longer conceivable without containerization. There are approx. 28 million containers circulating the globe. In the last couple of years up to 3 billion TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) shipping containers were produced annually, mainly in Asia 4. Most of the freight containers are made out of COR-TEN-Steel, which ensures strong carrying and loading capacity and supports withstanding deformations or corrosion. Once they have served their purpose, shipping containers are being recycled as scrap. Another possibility is to be used in the architecture as spatial modules. A container’s life is ca.12 years and every year up to 1.5 billion TEU are considered disused. The continued availability of shipping containers as a building block is thus assured. Therefore, the construction business with containers has a great potential regarding sustainability. In the last 15 years shipping container construction has become popular for not only living spaces and homes, but for offices, studios, schools – the variety of uses is huge. Containers offer suitable solutions for a wide range of uses. The increasing interest in these “icons of globalization” can be explained with the fact, that they are relatively inexpensive, structurally sound and in abundant supply 6. Using old freight containers could be seen as an environmental protection strategy and also as a redesign of technical artefacts. Building with shipping containers is a new more affordable method of construction and design. Due to metamorphose in functionality and meaning of containers – from a cargo box into a habitable space – we realize how big the technical range of diversity is. Technique reaches and changes the “Social” through design. The imprecise term design, which has become a vogue term nowadays, is the interface between technique, body, mind and communication 5. Designed objects are always also symbolic objects for different milieus; design has an effect on awareness raising, thus on environmental awareness. An ongoing project at RWTH Aachen University gives attention exactly to those disused shipping containers, their eventuality and boundary as environmental protection strategies in the living area, as well as to the well-known cleavage between environmental awareness and environmental behaviour. The project focuses on the living situation in Germany and its potential for such new and innovative living concepts.
Integrated interdisciplinary university: technology, materials, society
- D. Senk, G. Abrasheva, A. Heinen
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- Journal:
- Revue de Métallurgie – International Journal of Metallurgy / Volume 106 / Issue 12 / December 2009
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 08 December 2009, pp. 572-578
- Print publication:
- December 2009
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RWTH Aachen University has a long history as a research organisation and as an institution of education. It is known as a progressive, modern and forward-looking institution among students, industrial partners and citizens. RWTH Aachen University recognises its responsibility towards society, it has established and demonstrated flexibility and adaptability over the years and it is determined to improve its international visibility. Within the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments, RWTH Aachen University has been awarded funding for its future concept. This allows a greater concentration on the clear stated goals and principles of the university, one of which is to train a highly-qualified and responsible new generation of academics for the benefit of business and society, research and teaching. RWTH Aachen University has developed a strategic plan which is reflected in the Institutional Strategy and leads to a super ordinate goal: In contrast to a university primarily characterised by the coexistence of individual strengths, especially in engineering, RWTH is developing into an integrated interdisciplinary university of technology that is able to meet global challenges. Six interdisciplinary forums at RWTH (e.g. Forum Materials Science, Forum Technology and Society) are engaged to provide a better integration and cooperation among all scientific areas. Working groups within the forums and the different departments at the university collaborate in order to make a faster progress in cross-cutting research fields. Interdisciplinary pathfinder project proposals were submitted and doctoral theses, e.g. “Development of materials and technologies in the mirror of literature” and “Material design against the background of technology and society”, are begun at our Department of Ferrous Metallurgy, Chair for Metallurgy of Iron and Steel. In cooperation between different departments of Material Sciences and the Humanities we have set up a project relating to “Materials, symbolic meanings of materials and identity construction”. The speakers of the Forums support the dialog between academic world, industry, society and politics. The best researchers are supposed to contribute and collaborate. That is why the social surroundings and environment should be appropriately arranged. Modifications in organization and structure at RWTH Aachen University have been made. With its large number of projects for integration and support for newly-appointed researchers and their families, Dual Career Programme, Parent Service Office, efforts to internationalise all the faculties and to inspire young people to be the future generation of engineers, scientists and leaders in industry and society, demonstrates the strong will to learn and teach. RWTH Aachen University is looking ahead with a great optimism that it will succeed in Meeting Global Challenges in the next 10 years and that it will bring valuable information, research and development to the SOVAMAT Initiative.