Machu Picchu Life Cycle Analysis

July, 2013

Team Member Report Participation

Ana I Hernandez Impact Evaluation Identification of Possible Problems Brianda Rodriguez Goals Definition and Scope Evaluation Cesar Chavez Life Cycle Inventory Conclusions

Life Cycle Analysis of Machu Picchu

Goals Definition and Scope

Machu Picchu it is an Incan site located on a ridge between the Huayna Picchu and

Machu Picchu mountains in Peru. It is located in an altitude of 8, 038 feet above sea level where the Urubamba River flows across these mountains. The surface has approximately 1738 ft. long and 656 ft. wide, divided in two sectors the agricultural and urban.

Machu Picchu one of the greatest constructions in the world built by Inca engineers sometime during the mid-15th century which was abandoned in the early 16th century.

Nowadays there no exist accurate information about the construction process and mechanics of this city. There is evidence that extraordinary engineering and architectural achievements were made with the use of simple materials such as wood, stone and some bronze tools.

The construction of the city required to consider certain aspects such as the economic, and environmental. The economic base of this empire was agriculture; an extensive area was selected to grow crops. The area designated is called terraces, which exists in different types and dimensions according to functions assigned, for instance land retention and agriculture. Terraces are composed by different sizes of stones, gravel and mud and it has an appearance of large steps, avoiding accumulation of water. Also, they created aqueduct systems which were used for terraces irrigation purposes and to provide drinking water to the city, this construction is called stairway of fountains. A 48 foot long permeable wall was built to concentrate water into a stone- lined canal; the fountains were linked by stone channels that formed a 180 foot long cascade of water. Incas were able to create these hydraulic systems with tools limitations, but clearly was not an obstacle to them.

The Incas were taking advantage of the geographical situation and natural resources for the construction of the buildings. Everything was made of materials that are not easy to work and somehow would be “impossible” to work under Inca’s situation. They used a dry stone technique to build the city, which consist in cutting the stone and give the appropriate size and shape and then put it together with another stone without the use of any material to cement. Some materials used by them were heavy granite stones for the base of the buildings, grass and branches for the roofs.

The Incas created a functional unit named Machu Picchu, which records showed that around 5000 people helped in this construction. An evaluation of the materials used and the impact that this materials represented in the environment will be discussed further.

Life Cycle Inventory

The Incas were very intelligent in the way they utilized nature to their own benefit. Even today, we are not 100% sure of how their techniques work, but we have a pretty good idea that can be useful to create a life cycle inventory.

A Life Cycle Inventory is a tool that helps to quantify the total energy and materials required to create a product and what happens when it is disposed.

Before start this Life Cycle Inventory it is important to mention that during the time of the Inca Empire, the Incas didn’t know the wheel, therefore their energy and effort to transport rocks from one place to another was greater than other civilizations that did use the wheel as a way to transport their materials. The following diagram shows the process of the construction of Machu Picchu:

One disadvantage of this kind of Life Cycle Inventory is that because of the lack of information about the techniques used by the Incas to construct Machu Picchu it is impossible to know exactly the amount of people used to transport the stones, or the amount of wood needed to put the stones into place. But one thing is for sure, it took a lot of human energy to build this amazing city, especially because of its location at the top of a mountain.

Impact Evaluation

It is called impact evaluation to the technical and administrative procedure to identify, prevent, and interpret the environmental impact that a project will produce on its surroundings. All this with the purpose of make the necessary changes or adjustments to reduce the environmental impact.

The impact evaluation of the city of Machu Picchu will include an analysis of the materials used for its construction, methods of construction and maintenance of construction when operating. Taking into consideration the environmental protection agency list of impact categories the following were found to have major impact.

Global Warming; is an impact category related with the production of CO2. When the construction of the Inca city Machu Picchu being 1738 ft long and 656 ft wide on top of the mountain was built the trees that were located in here had to be cut. It is known that trees help transform C02 emissions into oxygen, by eliminating 10.6 hectares of trees, Machu Picchu increases CO2 in the atmosphere, therefore impacts global warming.

Resource Depletion; is a category associated with the decreased in resources for future generations. The resources used were kept at a minimum in the construction of Machu Picchu but the use of materials for the construction is inevitable. Heavy granite stones are the primary materials for the construction of the city, and the roofs of the buildings were primary made of wood and grass. It is impossible to know but it is thought that these materials came from the platform were the city is build, because of these the materials used were not replaced resulting in a resource depletion.

Land Use; related to the loss of terrestrial habitat for wildlife. The Incas kept the unnecessary use of land to a minimum and took advantage of the available space using agriculture terraces, and by taking the materials used in the construction of the city from the same place, there was no disturbance of land besides the 10.6 hectares were the construction is located. It can be considered that the Incas had a minimum impact on the land but some nevertheless.

Interpretation

Machu Picchu is a city constructed not only in a strategic location but with special techniques that even nowadays are difficult to understand. The Incas were great engineers, they respected and used nature to their own benefit, they constructed this amazing city using just the basic materials such as stones and wood, they had extensive areas for agriculture and aqueduct systems for irrigation. The Incas applied the concepts of green engineering in a way that we cannot imagine, because they really respected and understood Pachamama (Mother Earth).

According to the data collected and analyzed, materials were gathered from the environment close from the area where the construction was performed. From the inventory part can be interpreted that certainly the city was completed, but some impacts in the environment were generated, such as the contribution to global warming and land use with the removal of trees. Nevertheless, once the trees were removed still could be used to the construction of roofs and reuse the waste produced. Since the uses of kinetic, mechanical and gravitational potential energy were used in the construction process, there were not emissions of CO2 produced. A sensitivity analysis could not be performed because of the lack of accurate information collected from the exact methodology used to construct the city, since they did not use specific machinery that would not create a great impact in the environment. After analyzing the Life Cycle of the construction of Machu Picchu there were no considerable environmental risks related for the construction of the city. There is minimum maintenance done on the construction, so the possible risks were neglected. Overall the possible significant risks the city of Machu Picchu has are nonexistent.

Traveling across this beautiful country and learning about Sustainability Engineering, made us realize that we have to respect our Mother Earth in the way the Incas did, using energy and resources at a rate that does not compromise nature, or the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sources

Environmental Protection Agency. “Life Cycle Assessment”. July, 2013 < http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/std/lca/pdfs/chapter4lca101.pdf >

‘The Construction of Machu Picchu”. July, 2013 < http://www.rediscovermachupicchu.com/mp-construction.htm >