How can sensors be used for sustainability improvement?

The applications of sensing technologies in both civil and environmental engineering fields have been substantially developed over the last decades, which have initiated revolutionary phases of better understanding and monitoring of the structural and environmental health. The recent developments in the sensing technology helped engineers to have real-time accurate monitoring of structures’ conditions, quantity, and quality of natural resources, which resulted in a cost-effective and efficient management of infrastructures and environment. In this context, this chapter presents an overview of the applications of the sensing technology in monitoring of the structural and environmental health. A general background about the need for sensing technology in environmental and structural applications was presented. Additionally, a brief about the classification methods of the commonly used sensors along with their advantages and disadvantages are presented in this chapter. Finally, a number of the recent successful applications of the sensing technology in fields of environmental and civil engineering are presented along with a brief of key findings. The outcomes of this overview demonstrated that sensing technology is an efficient and cost-effective alternative for the traditional monitoring processes. Additionally, the technology provides valuable real-time information about the conditions of the monitored structures that help to avoid sudden failures incidents. In terms of environmental health, sensing technology enables the operators to precisely monitor the change in the environmental conditions and depletion of the natural resources for huge areas (continental-scale) that help to minimize the impacts of natural disasters and to prevent/minimize serious pollution incidents.