Principles of Sustainability

-COLORADO.EDU
The concept of sustainability is based on the premise that people and their communities are made
up of social, economic, and environmental systems that are in constant interaction and that must
be kept in harmony or balance if the community is to continue to function to the benefit of its
inhabitants— now and in the future. A healthy, balanced society (or nation, or community,
depending on the strength of one’s magnifying glass) is one that can endure into the future,
providing a decent way of life for all its members—it is a sustainable society. Sustainability is an
ideal toward which to strive and against which to weigh proposed actions, plans, expenditures,
and decisions. It is a way of looking at a community or a society or a planet in the broadest
possible context, in both time and space.

Although it adopts a broad perspective, in practice the pursuit of sustainability is fundamentally a

local endeavor because every community has different social, economic, and environmental
needs and concerns. And in each community the quality, quantity, importance, and balance of
those concerns is unique (and constantly changing). For that reason—and because the best
mitigation efforts also tend to be locally based—we tend to speak of sustainability mostly in terms
of local actions and decisions.

There are six principles of sustainability that can help a community ensure that its social,
economic, and environmental systems are well integrated and will endure. We should remember
that, although the list of principles is useful, each of them has the potential to overlap and inter-
relate with some or all of the others. A community or society that wants to pursue sustainability
will try to:

1. Maintain and, if possible, enhance, its residents’ quality of life. Quality of life—or “livability”—
differs from community to community. It has many components: income, education, health care,
housing, employment, legal rights on the one hand; exposure to crime, pollution, disease,
disaster, and other risks on the other. One town may be proud of its safe streets, high quality
schools, and rural atmosphere, while another thinks that job opportunities and its historical
heritage are what make it an attractive place to live. Each locality must define and plan for the
quality of life it wants and believes it can achieve, for now and for future generations.

2. Enhance local economic vitality. A viable local economy is essential to sustainability. This
includes job opportunities, sufficient tax base and revenue to support government and the
provision of infrastructure and services, and a suitable business climate. A sustainable economy
is also diversified, so that it is not easily disrupted by internal or external events or disasters, and
such an economy does not simply shift the costs of maintaining its good health onto other regions
or onto the oceans or atmosphere. Nor is a sustainable local economy reliant on unlimited
population growth, high consumption, or nonrenewable resources.

3. Promote social and intergenerational equity. A sustainable community’s resources and

opportunities are available to everyone, regardless of ethnicity, age, gender, cultural background,
religion, or other characteristics. Further, a sustainable community does not deplete its resources,
destroy natural systems, or pass along unnecessary hazards to its great-great-grandchildren.
4. Maintain and, if possible, enhance, the quality of the environment. A sustainable community
sees itself as existing within a physical environment and natural ecosystem and tries to find ways
to co-exist with that environment. It does its part by avoiding unnecessary degradation of the air,
oceans, fresh water, and other natural systems. It tries to replace detrimental practices with those
that allow ecosystems to continuously renew themselves. In some cases, this means simply
protecting what is already there by finding ways to redirect human activities and development into
less sensitive areas. But a community may need to take action to reclaim, restore, or rehabilitate
an already-damaged ecosystem such as a nearby wetland.

5. Incorporate disaster resilience and mitigation into its decisions and actions. A community is
resilient in the face of inevitable natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods,
and drought if it takes steps to ensure that such events cause as little damage as possible, that
productivity is only minimally interrupted, and that quality of life remains at (or quickly returns to)
high levels. A disaster-resilient community further takes responsibility for the risks it faces and, to
the extent possible, is self reliant. That is, it does not anticipate that outside entities (such as
federal or state government) can or will mitigate its hazards or pay for its disasters.

6. Use a consensus-building, participatory process when making decisions. Participatory

processes are vital to community sustainability. Such a process engages all the people who have
a stake in the outcome of the decision being contemplated. It encourages the identification of
concerns and issues, promotes the wide generation of ideas for dealing with those concerns, and
helps those involved find a way to reach agreement about solutions. It results in the production
and dissemination of important, relevant information, fosters a sense of community, produces
ideas that may not have been considered otherwise, and engenders a sense of ownership on the
part of t

What is sustainable engineering?

Sustainable engineering takes environmental engineering concepts to the next level by looking at
the interactions between technical, ecological, social and economic systems and by avoiding
shifting problems from one area to the other.
Sustainability means living well within the ecological limits of a finite planet. More than ever,
engineers need to find holistic and effective solutions to protect our vital life support systems and,
at the same time, meet the needs of a growing human population.

Concepts such as life cycle thinking, industrial ecology and sustainable systems engineering are
important elements in the education and work practice of a sustainable engineer.

-UNSW, SYDNEY…, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Importance of Sustainability in Engineering Management

-KETERING UNIVERSITY

“In engineering, incorporating sustainability into products, processes, technology systems, and services generally means integrating environmental,

economic, and social factors in the evaluation of designs. While the concepts of engineering for sustainability may seem simple in the abstract, converting

the concepts into the quantitative design tools and performance metrics that can be applied in engineering design is a challenge.” – David T. Allen and

David R. Shonnard, Authors, Sustainable engineering: An introduction to sustainability

Defining Sustainable Development

Sustainable development was first introduced in 1992 by Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime
Minister of Norway and Chair of the Brundtland Commission, at the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development. The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable
development as "development which meets the needs of current generations without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Since then, sustainable
development became a priority for world leaders influencing economic, social and environmental
development.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe had these thoughts to offer: “The concept
of sustainable development supports strong economic and social development, in particular for
people with a low standard of living. At the same time, it underlines the importance of protecting
the natural resource base and the environment. Economic and social well-being cannot be
improved with measures that destroy the environment. Intergenerational solidarity is also crucial;
all development has to take into account its impact on the opportunities for future generations.”

Sustainability in Engineering Management

In David T. Allen and David R. Shonnard’s book, Sustainable engineering: An introduction to

sustainability, the authors note that “growing populations and affluence, around the globe, have
put increasing pressure on air and water, arable land, and raw materials. Concern over the ability
of natural resources and environmental systems to support the needs and wants of global
 populations, now and in the future, is part of an emerging awareness of the concept of
sustainability.”
It was no long ago that the idea of sustainability was seen by many as an obstacle to profit.
Joseph Sarkis, Theo De Bruijin, and Qingghua Zhu, in their article, Sustainability in Engineering
Management—Setting the Foundation for the Path Forward, echo this notion when they write
“Sustainability has traditionally placed limits on organizations. More recently, it has become a
source of inspiration and innovation. Organizations have initiated efforts to design their business
models on the basis of sustainability. Sustainability and sustainable practices have become
critical concerns for engineering managers within organizations.”
Robert Andrews, Partner and Project Manager of AHA Consulting Engineers, agrees. He says,
“Sustainability Design Engineers are working intently on designing buildings that reduce usage of
natural resources. Designing buildings in ways that reduce energy consumption, water
consumption, and refrain from generating an excessive use of fossil fuels.” Doing this creates a
healthier environment for employees and reduces a company’s carbon footprint.

Andrews further suggests that once sustainability projects, policies, and procedures are in place,
companies will begin and continue to reap a wide variety of benefits such as:

 Adding value to the owner

 Reducing operation costs
 Reducing complaints
 Ability to increase rent
 Retaining tenants
 Increasing the market value of building

Future Concerns

“Engineers in the 21st century will need to design for energy efficiency, mass efficiency, and low
environmental emissions. Both short and long-term steps are needed to reduce fossil resource
consumption and approach zero waste generation from engineered processes and products.”
Questions for engineering sustainability in regards to products and process include:
 Will it be made from recycled materials?
 How much energy will it use?
 Will it be powered by a battery or solar cells?
 Will it be able to be recycled at the end of its useful life?
 Will it have parts that contain toxic metals that must be disposed of?
The process of designing and/or operating systems in a way that reduces energy, waste, and use
of toxic materials, calls for senior leaders in engineering management to continue to recommend
and refine the steps necessary to ensure sustainability for organizations, people, and the planet.
1.4 Principles of Sustainable Engineering
-PENNSTATE
"Engineering in context, engineering with a conscience, engineering for a finite planet and the
indefinite future"
-Benoit Cushman-Roisin

Sustainable engineering should be based on principles that support sustainable development, as

defined in the upper sections of this lesson. Engineering forms an interface between the design
(i.e., the idea how to provide a sustainable solution to a technical problem) and implementation
and production. In case of technology development, engineering phase is linked to almost every
level of technology readiness spectrum. Sustainable engineering principles should be
contemplated and applied early to ensure that technology development and scale-up follow the
environmentally benign route. It will be hard to turn back to redo and redesign things from later
stages! In that sense, the sustainable engineering principles should be taken into account in
decision making for both research and industrial projects as well as in policy making and decisions
regarding funding of technological research.

There have been multiple attempts by academic and industrial institutions to formulate
sustainable engineering principles. All of them fall within the triangle with Environmental, Social,
and Economic values as cornerstones. The overarching goal is to generate a balanced solution to
any engineering problem. If an engineering project benefits one of these three aspects but ignores
the others, we have a lopsided system which creates tension, instability, and new problems in the
long run.
Here are some of the aspects that differentiate the traditional and sustainable approaches in
engineering:

Sustainability Approaches in Engineering

Traditional Engineering Sustainable Engineering

Considers the object or process Considers the whole system in which the object or process
will be used

Focuses on technical issues Considers both technical and non-technical issues

synergistically

Solves the immediate problem Strives to solve the problem for infinite future (forever?)
 Sustainability Approaches in Engineering

Traditional Engineering Sustainable Engineering

Considers the local context Considers the global context

Assumes others will deal with political, Acknowledges the need to interact the experts in other
ethical, and societal issues disciplines related to the problem

The diagram in Figure 1.3. presents a consolidated framework for sustainable engineering principles, which are in part
adopted from the work of Gagnon and co-authors "Sustainable development in engineering: a review of principles and
definition of a conceptual framework" (2008) and from the green engineering principles established by Sundestin
Conference (2003).

Figure 1.3. Classification of sustainable engineering principles versus environmental, social, and
economic criteria.
 Figure 1.3 text description

Various principles of sustainable engineering are placed on the perimeter of the triagle. On the trangle's bottom edge are the Society pole (left) and

the Economy pole (right). From left to right, the four principles shown are as follows:

 Offer individuals and communities the opportunity to increase their capabilities.

 Know your "needs" and "wants." Put primary focus on achieving needs of larger number of individuals.

 Allocate in a fair manner benefits and costs related to economic activity and public policies.

 Maintain a positive genuine long term investment considering all types of capital.

On the triangle's left edge are the Society pole (bottom) and the Environment pole (top). From bottom to top, the four principles shown are as follows:

 Ensure that all material and energy inputs and outputs are as inherently safe and benign as possible.

 Look beyond your own locality and the immediate future.

 Preserve access to exosystems services essential to health and wellbeing.

 Preserve biodiversity and respect all life forms regardless of how useful they are to humankind.

On the triangle's right edge are the Environment pole (top) and the Economy pole (bottom). From top to bottom, the four principles shown are as

follows:

 Stay within ecosystem's carrying capacity in terms of resource development and waste assimilation.

 Develop closed cycles of operation and consumption to minimize waste.

 Offset the use of non-renewable resources by investments in renewable substitutes.

 Stimulate innovation to facilitate the adaption of more efficient and greener technologies.

The principles shown at the center of the triangle are as follows:

 Engineering processes holistically, use system analysis, and integrate invironmental impact assessment tools.

 Seek stakeholder involvement while respecting local subsidiarity and cultures.

 Internalize all costs within the value of goods and services (polluters must pay).

Credit: based on concepts from Gagnon et al., 2008

Figure 1.3 lists the various principles of sustainable engineering versus environmental, social,
and economic poles. Some of these principles clearly gravitate towards one of the corners of this
triangle and thus address particularly societal, environmental, or economic concern. But some
others, which are placed along the sides of the triangle, have connections to two of the poles of
the diagram and address both societal and economic, or both economic and environmental
concerns in some proportion. Those principles placed in the center of the diagram combine all
three aspects of sustainability to a certain degree and hence their implementation would benefit
all societal, environmental, and economic stakeholders. We should not consider this collection of
principles set in stone. Many sources and organizations build on the existing documents and
provide their own visions. I invite you to reflect on this diagram and provide your comments for
making it more complete and more concrete for our future consideration.
These principles can be viewed as guidelines for a specific engineering project. We are going to
look at a specific example where the engineering solution was able to address the need and
benefit sustainability, not sacrificing one for the other.