*2.4.4 Monitor energy consumption*

One of the purposes of infrastructure maintenance must be maintaining the infrastructure's negative impacts within the decided limits throughout the service life of the facility. For an operating infrastructure facility, a large amount of these impacts depend on energy consumption rates. The energy performance of infrastructure facilities is expected to decline throughout the years of service. Maintenance must fix the degradation of energy performance. This depends on the quality of energy monitoring that enables the facility managers to identify were the energy losses are occurring and fix them.

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waters.

*Maintaining the Sustainability of Critical Infrastructure DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85915*

**2.5 Environmental protection and restoration in maintenance operations**

of the assessment has a central role in the quality of maintenance programs.

Infrastructure facilities affect the surrounding environment in various ways. Although some compromises about the negative environmental impacts are inevitable, taking certain measures can significantly reduce these impacts. The majority of the environmental protection activities are related to the design and construction phases; however, the maintenance policies of infrastructures can contribute to effectively preserve its surrounding environment. What follows are some of the methods to enhance environmental protection while the facility is operating.

Depending on the facility's location, the maintenance operations can disturb wildlife in different ways. While a lot of consideration is commonly given to minimizing the disturbance to wildlife during the construction process, the risks of maintenance operations on the environment are, in many cases, underestimated and this can create severe threats for the habitats and wildlife. These risks are increased when wildlife is exposed to them for longer durations. This exposure can even impact migration, feeding, and breeding patterns. For instance, using vibrators in maintenance operations of a dam can affect the fish reproduction in adjacent

EPA provides comprehensive guidelines and requirements [29] to ensure that maintenance operations' disturbances to wildlife are minimized. Some primary

• Identifying vulnerable species in the project vicinity (including species sensitive to noises or vibrations, species that need large habitats, and species with

• Maximizing off-site operations (instead of performing the tasks on an eco-

• Minimizing different pollution types (air, water, soil, noise, and light pollution). Depending on the type each of the mentioned pollutions requires taking

• Establishing stringent fire-protection measures and regulations (for transferring and storing flammable materials, equipment fuel procurement, and

and the damages can be difficult to notice without inspections.

*2.5.1 Minimizing the disturbance of maintenance to wildlife*

measures in doing so are listed in the following:

low reproductive pedigree).

multiple measures for prevention.

sensitive site).

smoking on the site).

Although infrastructure projects are often designed and constructed by studying and minimizing their potential impacts on the environment, due to a variety of mostly unpredictable causes, these facilities can cause different damages to the neighboring areas. It is essential to include the protection and restoration of such damages in the maintenance policies. The degradation of nature happens gradually,

In Addition to restoration, the causes of the damage to nature need to be studied, and preservation from further damage must be added to the maintenance programs of the infrastructure. For instance, if soil pollution has been reported, different possible scenarios of the causes of pollution need to be considered. The common practice in such cases is relying on the most obvious cause for the damage while further assessment can reveal some causes that may seem unlikely. The comprehensiveness

*Infrastructure Management and Construction*

or other sensitive groups.

mance criteria must not be compromised.

ping vehicles, costs, and risks of road accidents).

to be the lowest bidder.

*2.4.4 Monitor energy consumption*

energy losses are occurring and fix them.

*2.4.3 Purchasing from local manufacturers and disadvantaged businesses*

*2.4.2 Material use reduction*

the following.

• Disclosure of material ingredients. The supplier must disclose the life-cycle information of the chemicals they have used in the product. This is more important for the infrastructure facilities that are in the proximity of children

The maintenance operation must seek for minimizing the need for raw materials. This can be achieved without compromising the quality of maintenance if certain measures are taken collaboratively. Some of these measured are explained in

• Using recycled materials. Using recycled, reused, and renewable materials reduces the demand for raw resources and contributes to preserving them for future generations. Maintenance operations that involve reconstruction of segments have high potentials to reuse certain elements of the existing part that is demolished. This requires an assessment of the opportunities to reuse and planning it before the demolition starts. Additionally, repair policies instead of replacement, particularly for equipment pieces, can significantly contribute to saving the embodied energy that has been used to manufacture, ship, and install the existing equipment. However, in all cases, the quality and perfor-

Procurement of materials from local suppliers lines up with sustainability goals in two ways: (1) by supporting the local businesses and contributing to economic growth and the welfare of the local community and (2) by reducing the negative impacts of shipment of materials on sustainability (air pollution caused by the ship-

In addition to local suppliers, the disadvantaged businesses must be supported while selecting the suppliers, or manufacturers. In the U.S. public projects, there is commonly a specified minimum percentage of purchases that must be obtained from the disadvantaged businesses. Examples of these businesses are African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian-Pacific and Subcontinent Asian Americans, and women-owned companies. Considering that most infrastructure facilities are public, maintenance purchases that are often in smaller amounts compared with new construction purchases creates an opportunity to support disadvantaged business although these businesses may not afford

One of the purposes of infrastructure maintenance must be maintaining the infrastructure's negative impacts within the decided limits throughout the service life of the facility. For an operating infrastructure facility, a large amount of these impacts depend on energy consumption rates. The energy performance of infrastructure facilities is expected to decline throughout the years of service. Maintenance must fix the degradation of energy performance. This depends on the quality of energy monitoring that enables the facility managers to identify were the

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