Lecture 5

Sustainable Engineering
Sustainability in Engineering Management – EM854

INSTRUCTOR
DR. SHAHBAZ ABBAS
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Introduction

Ecological Footprints
Contents
Sustainability Indicators

Industrial Ecology

Life Cycle Concept

Dr. Shahbaz Abbas

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Assignment 1 – Case Study Analysis

 What challenges did the plastics industry face worldwide at the time of the Plastilene Group
implementing its sustainable innovation strategy? Based on these challenges, what were the
Plastilene’s Group main challenges in the markets it serves?

 What benefits has the Plastilene Group realized from the implementation of the sustainability
strategy and the circular economy?

Dr. Shahbaz Abbas

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Introduction

 Engineers design many systems that require materials and energy to produce
transportation, buildings, products, and other structures that can have significant
impacts on environment, economy, and society
 Various frameworks have been developed to facilitate assessment and monitoring.
Some include the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), triple bottom line, and the Natural
Step.
 The GRI has been used widely for measuring and reporting on the environmental,
economic, and social dimensions via various indicators.
 The Natural Step was developed in 1989 by Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt (Edwards 2005) for
evaluating the impact of environmental pollution on children’s cancers.

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Ecological Footprints

 The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the WBCSD have been working on the
development and use of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GFN 2018).
 Electronic greenhouse gas (GHG) emission calculators are found on the website
(www.ghgprotocol.org), in addition to accounting and reporting standards and sector
guidance.
 It calculates the land and sea area for the resources consumed (food, wood, energy,
space) and to dispose of the wastes and sequester carbon dioxide emissions.
 The area includes forests, fishing grounds, grazing land, built-up land, and cropland.
Various assumptions must be made to estimate and simplify absorption of carbon
dioxide emissions by forest

Dr. Shahbaz Abbas

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IPAT Equation

 Environmental Impact Assessment is expressed as:

I= PAT
 I is impact on the planet, P is population, A is affluence, and T is Technology or
environmental impact per product or service use
 It is a method for indicating the impact of humans on the environment

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Ecological Footprints

 Energy Footprints
 The land area required to absorb carbon dioxide emissions and the energy
required for a process or production. Although energy use is not considered,
renewable energy would require less area than a nonrenewable energy. This type
of footprint is the least used footprint.
 Water Footprints
 Takes into consideration the amount of freshwater per product per time. Water
consumed in direct or indirect use or polluted is determined. It is used for surface
and groundwater use, rainwater storage in soil, gray water produced, and
freshwater to assimilate pollution

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Ecological Footprints

 Carbon Footprints
 Examines the GHG emissions and embodied energy in terms of land required for carbon sequestration
(the capturing, removal and storage of carbon dioxide). It is becoming more common as organizations
and countries try to reduce their carbon emissions to combat climate change
 The six GHGs (CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are
reported as direct and indirect emissions
 Materials Footprints
 Often used by companies to evaluate material consumption and waste throughout the whole
production cycle.
 Ecological rucksack is an example that looks at the weight of a material embodied by the product
arriving to the consumer via the extraction, production, and use of the material throughout its life cycle (

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Sustainability Indicators

 Help to show where and whether improvement is needed

 Water and waste recycling rates, water and energy consumed, employment rates,
GHG emissions, and water quality
 General trends over time can show progress
 IS04001 management systems
 UN SDGs
 Cradle to Cradle – Circular Economy

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Industrial Ecology

 It utilizes a systems approach for environmental protection and natural resource

conservation such as incorporating sustainable development objectives in processes
involved in industrial production

 An intertwined system, industrial ecology is comprised of

 (a) renewable and nonrenewable natural resource exploitation and conservation at the
one end for raw materials required for industrial activity;
 (b) efficient industrial production through technology and resource conservation, and
adherence to the 4 Rs (recycle, recovery, reduction, and reuse of waste products); and
 (c) environmentally conscious management of emissions and disposal of waste products
from industrial activities at the other end

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Life Cycle

 A major tool in industrial ecology and thus can also be useful in sustainable engineering

 The entire life of a product or process from cradle to grave must be considered and not just the
production step where most emphasis had been placed previously

 The processing of raw materials, manufacturing of the product, transportation, distribution,

recycling, and/or final disposal

 All material and energy flows must be identified to recognize environmental impacts

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 Standard
Life Cycle of Product
Development

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 Modified
LC of Product
Development

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 Multiple LC of
product

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