Housing & Cities
Sustainable Construction in Humanitarian Action
Existing technologies and systems supporting more sustainable construction are not suited to the conflict-affected, often resource-strapped settings where the ICRC works. This project will adapt and extend existing technologies and systems that promote sustainable construction to provide guidance on how to use environmental impact assessment tools in humanitarian action. Moreover, it will develop a digital platform that supports the sustainable design, operation, and maintenance of humanitarian buildings and infrastructure. The goal of this project is to improve the sustainability of ICRC construction projects, particularly for water and local habitat.
The project is part of the external pageEngineering for Humanitarian Action Partnership between ETH Zurich, EPFL and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Focus Countries: Global
Contact: Prof. Guillaume Habert
Partners: external pageDr. André Ullal, external pageBuilding2050 group, EPFL, Pavlos Tamvakis, ICRC
ETH4D Grant: Humanitarian Action Challenges Grant
Low-cost Monitoring of Critical Infrastructures
One of the significant challenges facing critical civil infrastructures in Ghana is the absence of an efficient and reliable inspection and monitoring framework for tracking the health of infrastructure(s). This project seeks to develop a low-cost sensor-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system to aid the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) in inspecting and monitoring bridges in the country.
The project's primary objective is to develop a monitoring-supported bridge inspection framework, and to provide recommendations for integrating the developed framework into GHA's bridge maintenance program. The anticipated outcomes of this project include a low-cost sensor-based SHM framework for improving safety and longevity of highway bridges, as well as reducing the maintenance and repair costs for the GHA. This project could potentially position Ghana as a leader in assimilation of SHM techniques for critical infrastructures in the West Africa sub-region. The project aligns with resilience and sustainability objectives, as it seeks to deliver diagnostic tools and methods, which will help to save money on repairs and prevent catastrophic failures.
Focus Countries: Ghana
Contact: Dr. Vasileios Ntertimanis
Partners: external pageKwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, external pageGhana Highway Authority
ETH4D Grant: ETH4D Pilot Grant