Our new Environmental Solutions Research Centre (ESRC) is officially open for business – and it’s tackling topical issues of international interest, such as coastal erosion, minimising construction waste, and asbestos remediation.
Last week around 50 people got together to celebrate the centre’s launch at Mt Albert campus. The great turnout signalled a high level of the interest in the centre’s projects, and how committed Unitec’s staff, students, academic and industry partners are to the work.
The ESRC team (from the left): Herman Hernandez Herrera, Yanina Purcell, Terri-Ann Berry, Shannon Wallis and Joanne Low
The ESRC is the first of its kind in New Zealand, and during the launch event, Tūāpapa Rangahau (research and enterprise) Director Marcus Williams paid tribute to the new centre’s director, Associate Professor Dr Terri-Ann Berry.
“Terri-Ann has a natural, energetic ability to build up lasting and invested partnerships with industry and the community. This is a rare talent, particularly when it’s coupled with strong science capability and a rich imagination,” he said.
“Unitec and the ITP sector pride themselves on applied research as our point of difference – it’s at the core of our value proposition in this space. The centre will tackle multi-generational issues through transdisciplinary, industry-partnered research, which has the potential to help people and transform environments around the world.”
Terri-Ann Berry, a chemist and environmental engineer at our School of Engineering and Applied Technology and her team are currently working on five projects of global significance:
Asbestos remediation
Asbestos-related conditions are New Zealand’s greatest workplace killer, and many millions of tonnes of materials containing asbestos still exist in construction sites and soil nationwide. In collaboration with universities in Australia and the US, and industry partners Chemcare and Focus Analytics, they will evaluate the effectiveness of using natural micro-organisms (such as bacteria and fungi) to degrade asbestos fibres and potentially remove their cancer-causing elements. Berry and PhD student Shannon Wallis are in the process of creating a small-scale testing lab, in collaboration with the School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, to analyse what life exists on asbestos, and experiment with creating conditions for bacteria and fungi to thrive.
Roger Birchmore, Lecturer – School of Building Construction, Marcus Williams, Director Research & Enterprises, Tūāpapa Rangahau and Guy Coulson from NIWA
Reuse of sediment dredgings
Harbours and ports around the world need to be regularly dredged to keep ships and other vessels moving – and the dredged material is frequently contaminated with petroleum products and metals. The team is working with Ports of Auckland and the University of Auckland to determine if it’s possible to stabilise and reuse these dredgings for construction, rather than disposing of them at sea. Experiments will involve testing under liquefaction and aquatic conditions.
Construction waste minimisation
Behaviour and process change are at the heart of this project, aimed at minimising waste – particularly plastic and polystyrene – from construction sites. The team is working with Naylor Love, Mitre 10, CivilShare and Auckland Council to identify opportunities to remove unnecessary products and packaging from the supply chain.
Coastal erosion
What can we do to stop stormwater run-off eroding cliffs from the top down, causing major slips and putting homes and people at risk? This project, in conjunction with the University of Auckland, investigates how urbanisation has increased coastal erosion, and what civil engineers can do to reduce stormwater runoff in future, knowing climate change is likely to increase intense weather events.
Indoor air quality
The team will continue previous Unitec research, collaborating with NIWA and BRANZ, into the presence of particulate matter and airborne VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in new, airtight homes. Monitors are prohibitively expensive, so they’re making their own in collaboration with the School of Computing and Information Technology, and are planning to test their equipment in new residential builds.
Andre Halkyard, director of Focus Analytics, said he approached Terri-Ann Berry about getting involved with the asbestos research after seeing a media article on the remediation research. They will provide technical support around testing soil, air and materials for asbestos.
“We’re keen to expand into exciting and innovative areas. Commercially, this is a huge pain point in the industry. Others have tried to do it [remediation] – it’s important work.”
Terri-Ann is most excited about the ESRC’s collaborative nature. “It enriches our students’ learning experience, and helps them make valuable connections with industry. It’s that excitement of working with people from all different backgrounds, communicating ideas and coming up with solutions that can be useful,” she said.
“Sometimes those solutions are wacky, and I quite like that. Some of the best inventions of the world were bonkers to start with.”
You can read more about the ESRC’s groundbreaking asbestos research project here.