Engineering solutions to minimize embodied carbon, reduce environmental impacts, and support carbon dioxide removal in the built environment.
The Green Engineered Materials and Systems (GEMS) group conducts research at the interface of materials science, structural performance, and industrial ecology. This work includes quantitative modeling of resource utilization and spatiotemporal environmental burdens. In this area, we are exploring factors such as alternative resources, resource availability, and environmental impact assessment. We conduct these assessments at local, regional, and global scales. Our team also tackles challenges tied to performance and sustainability guided material design. In this area, we are deriving tools and methods to design sustainable infrastructure materials. This includes the integration of sustainability into structural design and assessing the effects of improving the durability of materials. We also study advanced composites. In this area, we are exploring utilization of bio-renewable and industrial by-product materials, the use of bio-inspired structures, and the influence of alternative constituents on material properties. This work focuses on plastics, alloys, natural materials (e.g., wood, organic fibers), as well as cements and cement composites.
Publications
To support the uptake and use of our research, a key aspect of our dissemination is through peer-reviewed journal publications.
Tools & Datasets
When our work supports the development of large datasets and/or tools that can support future work and analysis, we aim to share these.
Materials Decarbonization & Sustainability Center
Due to the rapidly growing interest in this field, we recently launched a research center focused on driving emissions reductions from materials.
Contact:
Professor Sabbie Miller
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
2001 Ghausi Hall
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
Email: sabmil at ucdavis.edu