Civil Engineering is the broad discipline that deals with design, construction, and maintenance including roads, buildings, parks, bridges, airports, and water systems.
Key focus areas include:
Structural Engineering (e.g., buildings, bridges)
Transportation System (e.g., highways, railways)
Geotechnical Engineering (e.g., soil and foundations)
Hydraulic and water resources (e.g., dams, canals, water refineries)
Construction management
Urban development and planning
The main goal is to ensure infrastructure is safe, sustainable, efficient, and durable.
Environmental engineering is a subdiscipline of civil engineering focused on protecting human health and the environment through sustainable design and management of air, water, and land systems.
Key focus areas include:
Water and waste treatment
Air pollution control
Solid and hazardous waste management
Environmental impact assessments
Sustainable energy and climate adaption
Soil remediation and environmental restoration
The main goal is to reduce environmental impact and ensure clean, safe natural resources for current and future generations.
Building science is an interdisciplinary field studying the physical behavior of buildings, including energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, moisture dynamics, and thermal performance.
Key focus areas include:
Energy efficiency
Thermal insulation and moisture control
Indoor air quality
Sustainable building material
Building codes and standards
Green buildings.
The main goal is to create buildings that are comfortable, energy-efficient, healthy, and durable.
Developing a windmill is a multi-discipline process and involves civil engineering, environmental engineering, and building science. Civil engineers will be responsible for designing and constructing the foundation and tower that will support the windmill and protect it from structural loads, wind loads, and seismic loads while maintaining the stability and longevity of the windmill. Environmental engineers are responsible for assessing environmental impacts as the project progresses such as noise pollution, impacts to the surrounding environment/wildlife (birds and bats etc.) and compliance with environmental regulations. Environmental engineers may also be performing assessment studies around siting decisions, and strategizing with project teams to determine a site that has minimal disturbance on the ecosystems while maximizing clean energy collection. Building science is concerned with the site/placement of the control building or housing for the electrical components associated with the windmill. Building science will have to take important decisions like the thermal performance of the building and moisture control to energy efficiency of the building itself to anticipate and ensure that the sensitive components that will be located inside will be operating in optimal conditions throughout its sustainable lifespan. All of the above disciplines will provide assurance that the windmill is structurally and computationally efficient, environmentally sound, and sustainable.