This past Earth Day on April 22nd was and is a reminder for all of us to be conscious of the environment. Because of our work in industrial construction, protecting valuable resources is always a consideration in project design. Optimal resource efficiency, from reducing energy use to using recyclable materials, is a goal we strive for. The Base Construction team consistently finds ways to use the most sustainable materials and reuse waste such as heat and water to save energy.
Optimal resource efficiency is a core idea of a global circular economy. A circular economy uses existing materials instead of continually starting with raw materials. To that extent, steel is integral to the global circular economy. It is truly sustainable because of its competitive advantage over other materials. The steel lifecycle enables it to be reduced, reused, remanufactured, and recycled. For industrial construction, steel is the only material suitable for support structures, platforms, catwalks, ladders, and machine guards.
Using resources efficiently involves out-of-the-box engineering. Recycling waste water is the ultimate in eco-friendly practices. Base has created a system to recycle wastewater and turn it into an advantage by treating the water and using it for two to three cycles. In a recent project, our engineering team developed a cycle/design system with a custom-built storage tank and sensors to measure for proper pH levels. Eventually, the water was unable to be reused for another cycle, but the results reduced wastewater going to the city sewer lines from 70,000 gal to 40,000, saving 30,000 gals of wastewater in total.
Base is involved with power saving projects that include both reducing the amount of power required to run a system and also capturing wastes to redirect that energy. Just as recycling wastewater returns every last bit of usable water, waste heat is also repurposed to generate power and save money. We have been working on a project that captures waste heat through negative pressure and uses it in a heat exchanger to raise the temperature of the water. For a brewery, we recently built a cogeneration system using a heat engine to generate electricity and heat at the same time. The heat exhaust, which would have been released into the air, was processed to heat water needed for the operation. In both of these instances, the companies reduced the amount of energy consumption by reusing wasted energy to power their processes.
Reducing energy use saves money and resources. The engineering team at Base has a broad understanding of how to use resources efficiently to reduce a company’s carbon footprint. For the smartest use of energy, contact the environmentally conscience team at Base Construction!
