Addressing Sustainable Technologies in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering

Geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, which constitutes one of the major tasks of the infrastructure and construction projects, is one of the main contributors to the climate change and other global environmental impacts, due to the use of large amounts of materials and energy. One of the most effective ways to address these challenges is to have the environmental implications integrated into the decisions of a geotechnical/geoenvironmental project. In this regard, the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) has gained major impetus to evaluate the environmental sustainability of such projects. LCA is a comprehensive method for assessing a range of environmental impacts across the full life cycle of a geotechnical and geoenvironmental project, from raw material acquisition, material manufacturing and transport, construction, use and maintenance, and final disposal/recycling. LCA can be challenging due to limited reliable or relevant inventory of data for the assessment. However, it is a systematic and well-accepted tool to develop/design environmentally sustainable geotechnical and geoenvironmental projects. In addition, a triple bottom line assessment which further involves evaluating the economic and social sustainability aspects of the project along with the LCA is essential to holistically evaluate and identify the effectiveness of a geotechnical and geoenvironmental project toward sustainability. This paper presents a review of few studies that demonstrate the application of LCA and triple bottom line assessment to some of the common geotechnical and geoenvironmental projects. The study underscores the importance of LCA in identifying the critical materials and/or operations for the resulting environmental impacts and helps explore different options to improve the net environmental and socioeconomic benefits.