• Creation and management of sustainable and recyclable infrastructures

Our COE project “Sustainable Metabolic Systems of Water and Waste for Area-based Society” consists of three groups. The “water metabolic system group” and “waste metabolic system group” develop the technologies on water/wastewater treatment or solid waste management that are essential for the establishment of sustainable area-based society. On the other hand, our “system for sustainable infrastructure group” undertakes the most fundamental part of our COE project, which is the establishment of sustainable infrastructure system. It is imperative for both water and waste system, because sustainable system of water or waste cannot be achieved without sustainable infrastructure facilities. The aim of our group is to develop both hardware and software technologies for the sustainable social infrastructure that are environmentally friendly over the long term. In order to accomplish the above goal, therefore, we are attempting to develop the following technologies:
1) technology for developing highly durable or recyclable materials,
2) rehabilitation/retrofitting technology with new materials and reinforcement methods for prolonging service life of structures, and
3) prediction methods for structural performance during service life through construction material deterioration models and then propose a rational system for structural design, materials, construction and maintenance.