EC2502* Sustainability

for Engineers

Topic 01: Introduction

+ SD and Engineering

By Dr Motiar Rahman

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Housekeeping + Introduction
• Myself / Contact: MR
– Room AD-LT.15, Phase 3, Level 2 / Staff Room 4
– Email: motiar.rahman@utb.edu.bn
– Facebook ID: Motiar Rahman
– Spcialisation: Civil Engineering/Construction Management
– Research: Sustainable Construction; Modernising Construction;
Industry Development.
• Switch off / mute your mobile phone, please!
– No WA / Texting!!! If really needs to attend, please go outside!!
• Attendance is a necessity!
• Module Sharing > 50:50 >> and MR to discuss:
1) SD and Engineering
2) SD and Construction, Materials and Wastes
3) Life Cycle Costing (LCC)
4) Sustainability Assessment and Building Information Modelling

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 What is expected from this topic:
SD and Engineering
• Relevance between SD and Engineering
• Role of Engineering & Civil Engineering to SD
• Guiding principles of Engineering for SD
• Application of the guiding principles
• Please download free from internet:
Dodds, R and Venables, R. (2005). Engineering for
Sustainable Development: Guiding Principles, The Royal
Academy of Engineering (RAE). ISBN: 1-903496-21-7.
(Editors: Richard Dodds and Roger Venables).
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 Development and Problem

The AXE

Chesterfield, the UK : 15 June 2007

Tutong, Brunei: 25 January 2014. 01 SD & Engineering

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 Environmental Concerns ???

Bio-diversity
Climate Change

Resource Depletion

Hole in Ozone Acid Rain

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 Sustainable Development (SD)
• Growing concern on ‘current’ (i.e. before 1970s)
model of development:
– Creation of wealth >> minimum cost >> maximize profit
• Realisation that:
– it is creating many problems, e.g. pollution, land use,
deforestation, H&S, …
– many social and economic problems & environmental
degradation are intimately connected, e.g. poverty,
disease and education,
– these issues can not be solved in isolation
– problem lies in the way we do things, which is currently
undermining the natural systems, upon which we all
depend on to keep on doing things
• So, the ‘present’ model of development is not ‘sustainable’ >>
development should be in a different way
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 Sustainable Development (SD)
• Therefore SD arises as a
concept
• 1970s: The Global Think Tank
• 1980s: The World Commission
on Environment & Development Culture,
• The Brundtland Report (1987) the 4th
Pillar
• Our Common Future (1987): SD
is the development that
• meets the needs of the present
• without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their
own needs

• Key principles of SD:

1) Improve social & economic
conditions
2) Promote equity
3) Protect the environment

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 Sustainable Development (SD)
• So, what does SD mean in the present context?
– SD is the development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs
– However, any development (/ human activity) results in to
disturbance to the natural environment, creates many social
and environmental problems, impacting on land use, food,
materials, production cost & carbon emission, etc. …
– an extreme consequence of which is: rich becomes richer and
poor becomes poorer.
– The target is therefore to make a balance between the three
pillars or spheres, i.e. to ensure economic growth, while at the
same time, taking care of the degradation in social and
environmental terms.
– i.e. the process of moving human activities to a pattern that can
be sustained in perpetuity.
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 Economic Success

Severe Social
Severe Environmental Damage
Impacts

Make a Informed
Sustainable
Balance Development Decision
Making

Minimal
Social Environmental
Success Impacts
Economic Loss

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 What is Engineering?
• ABET: Accreditation Board of Engineering & Technology
– The creative application of scientific principles to
• design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or
• manufacturing processes or works
• utilizing them singly or in combination; or

– to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their

design; or

– to forecast their behavior under specific operating

conditions;

– all as respects an intended function, economics of operation

or safety to life and property.

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 The Role of Engineers – I: Civil Engineer
• Royal Charter, 1828: The profession of a Civil Engineer
– being the art of directing the great sources of power in Nature
for the use and convenience of man,
– as the means of production and of traffic in states both for
external and internal trade,
– as applied in the construction of roads, bridges, aqueducts,
canals, river navigation and docks, for internal intercourse and
exchange, and
– in the construction of ports, harbours, moles, breakwaters and
lighthouses, and
– in the art of navigation by artificial power for the purposes of
commerce, and
– in the construction and adaptation of machinery, and in the
drainage of cities and towns

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 The Role of Engineers – II: Civil Engineer
• Common sense perception:
– Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that
– deals with the design, construction and maintenance
– of the physical and natural built environment,
– including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams & buildings.

• Civil engineering is the oldest discipline after military

engineering
– it was defined to distinguish non-military engineering from military
engineering.

• It is now divided into several sub-disciplines including:

– structural engineering, environmental engineering, geotechnical
engineering, transportation engineering, …
– water resources engineering, coastal engineering, materials
engineering, surveying, municipal or urban engineering, and
construction engineering …
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 The Role of Engineers – III: Mechanical Engineer
• Mechanical Engineering:
– Deals with the design, construction and operation of machines.

• Mechanical Engineers / Engineering :

– Are now divided into several sub-disciplines including composites,
mechatronics, nanotechnology,
– overlaps with aerospace engineering, metallurgical engineering,
civil engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering,
chemical engineering, industrial engineering, and other engineering
disciplines to varying amounts.
– may also work in the field of biomedical engineering, specifically
with biomechanics, transport phenomena, biomechatronics,
bionanotechnology, and modelling of biological systems.

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 The Role of Engineers - IV
• As development progresses:
– Engineers face 3 types of Concerns.
– Socio-centric, Techno-centric, and Eco-centric concerns

• Socio-centric concerns: human expectations & aspirations

– i.e. the needs of human beings to live worthwhile lives
– UK Govt. ‘a better quality of life for everyone, now and in the future’.

• Techno-centric concerns, i.e. techno-economic systems:

– the skills that Engineers must continue to deploy, and
– the economic system within which skills are deployed.

• Eco-centric concerns > the ability of the planet to sustain us,

– both by providing the material and energy resources/needs, and
– by accommodating us and our emissions and wastes.

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 1. Underlying meaning of SD is: Techno-centric & Socio-
centric concerns are kept within Eco-centric concerns.
2. Achieving sustainability through SD will require some
significant shifts in behavior & consumption patterns.
3. Engineers are the key players to do this, as both
citizen + technical expert.
4. They take important decisions on the use of
material, energy, water resources, etc. etc. to
design and develop various new products and
infrastructures. …. ….
5. Engineers to Lead, practice more & more, & achieve SD
6. Remember: SD is the process
of moving human activities … to
be sustained in perpetuity
7. Available Limited capitals: (1)
Human, (2) Environmental,
(3)social, (4) Financial, and (5)
Manufactured.
8. SD is to utilize the first 3, to
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 The Role of Engineers – V: The Challenges
• Developments = Engineered products, services & infrastructure
• SIX Challenges faced by engineers to achieve SD :
– Reduce the adverse environmental and social aspects of developments
– Improve environmental performance of Developments
– Improve contribution of Developments to a high quality of life
– Help society to move towards a more sustainable lifestyle, and
– Ensure that products, services and infrastructure meeting these criteria are
competitive in the market place, and ideally the most competitive
– Overarching Challenge>> Conflict between dual role: as a citizen /
member to the society, and as a technocrat/ engineer to client or customer
• How to overcome the challenges?
– Sensible decision making for using materials, energy, water resources,
infrastructure development, etc.
– Innovation and creativity, along with traditional skills, for using any
alternatives available
– Extensive planning and teamwork with other disciplines Read case studies
– Sound knowledge of any Guiding Principles from the Guide
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 12 Guiding Principles
1. Look beyond your own locality & the immediate future:
– Locally sustainable with problems in broader context, e.g. material
extraction for construction at other places
– Identify potential positive & negative impacts
– Seek to minimize the negative, and maximize the positive

2. Innovate and be creative:

– Not to follow specific rules, but an approach to strike a balance
– Alternative solution to fit SD, with flexible options to change

3. Seek a balanced solution> between 3 pillars & 5 capitals

– Balance –ve & +ve impacts PLUS Seek gains from all 3 pillars
– Prefer use of renewable & recyclable resources
– Equal focus on present & future: aiming durability, flexibility & low
impact
– Market creating SD >>> e.g. alternatives to burning straw.

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 12 Guiding Principles
4. Seek engagement from all stakeholders
– User requirement: their views, perceptions and knowledge
– Professional engineers: as citizen AND professional roles

5. Make sure you know the needs & wants

– Problem identification: differentiate user needs & wants >
stakeholder
– Interdependencies of needs and wants between 3 pillars
– Consult the stakeholders about SD solutions using broad framework

6. Plan and manage effectively

– Open-ended terms of aims > NOT to preclude innovative solutions
– Critically review historical evidence, for appropriate balance
– Do not use a sledgehammer to crack a nut / fire a cannon to kill a
mosquito
– Keep plan straight-forward and use the easiest solutions and gains
– Low hanging fruits (easily doable), but sustainable for future
generations
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 12 Guiding Principles
7. Give sustainability the benefit of any doubt > precautions
– i.e. future impact of today’s decisions,
– so need to demonstrate the results of the actions proposed
– Caution: scientific understanding of the problems and effects of the
decisions / actions not sure
– ONLY reject very uncertain future events

8. If polluters must pollute … then they must pay as well

– Production > pollution > effect at different places
– Challenge: compensation amount>> so: law, attitude, CSR, …
– Use social, environmental & political implications in appraisal

9. Adopt a holistic, ‘cradle to grave’ approach: WLC / LCC

– to costing, EIA, & social equity to future generations
– Future options, materials use, maintainability, end-of-life option

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 12 Guiding Principles
10. Do things right, having decided on the right thing to do
– Decided …>> following the principles 1-9, e.g. Retain the
sustainability focus through WLC
– Manage intermediate processes with active sustainability orientation
– Ensure legal requirements and constraints are complied with.
– Critically appraise good practices, and market & technical
developments for adopting them

11. Beware of cost reductions that deceit as value engineering

– Rationale: first time decisions are unlikely to be best every time.
– Avoid sacrificing sustainability against cost reduction
– Be self-critical to own assumptions & values
– Challenge own and others’ existing assumptions
– Re-examine first preferences for re-appraisal, if needed

12. Practice what you preach

– Be accountable for self-work: design, …
– Change yourself before seeking others to change
– You must not expect more of others than you do
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 Construction Project Lifecycle (PLC)
The Construction Process (BS PD6079:4)

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 PLC phases and project management structure [CIOB]

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 Phases of PLC (BSI)

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 Optional: Slides 20 - 23
Application of the Guiding Principles: STAGES
• Various ways to divide projects: APM, CIOB, RICS, PMI, BS
• For guiding purposes, into five main stages of Life-cycle:
1) Framing the requirement
Participative & Qualitative
2) Scoping the decision
3) Planning and Design Strategic & Analytic
4) Implementation, Delivery and operations Managerial & Quantitative
5) End of usable life

1. Framing the requirement:

– Often completed in a feasibility study or early design stages
– Involves defining the need or desired outcome
– Done by describing the issue/ problem, challenge, and boundary of
decision making
– Consideration on acceptability to build or manufacture>> i.e. client may
not be able to accommodate full SD approach

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 Application of the Guiding Principles
2. Scoping the decision: project definition study
• Usually in ‘project definition study’ for large projects, but in initial
design for small & simple projects. Typical elements:
• Project description: name of the project, e.g. constructing a multi-
storey residential building in … … KB + date
• Business need: aims and objectives, may or may not be
measurable, e.g. cost reduction, 24-hr in hospital area, etc.
• Project ownership /approval, i.e. names of PM, or client
• Financial & project timing goals, e.g. project cost, IRR (internal rate
of return), BE (break-even), CBR (cost-benefit ratio), profitability,
etc.
• Resources: Internal resources to support the project (e.g. PM, site
supervision, etc.) PLUS
cost for external consultant and/or contractor.
• Project risks: all identified risks, consequences, measures, …
• The above demands rigorous consideration of SD issues with
WLC approach to harvest maximum benefit, as most design
decisions are taken at this stage.
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 Application of the Guiding Principles
3. Planning and Design
• Planning: Determining in advance on what to do to execute a project
within required time, cost & to the quality> choose from alternatives
• Detailed design: solutions that meet the diverse requirements
• Things to consider: fitness for purpose, safety, quality, VfM, …
• Minimize adverse impacts, & enhancement of environment, quality
of life of consumers / clients, workers, neighbours, etc.
• Dis-assembly for maximum re-use and recycling

4. Implementation, Delivery and operations

– Practical realisation of the design into a real physical product
– Crucial to maintain earlier decisions based on SD approaches, as
against unforeseen difficulties and cost reduction measures
– Many issues to consider: waste, pollution (noise, sound, dust),
delay, quality, unforeseen events, … … …

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 Application of the Guiding Principles

5. End of usable life

– Dismantle and/or further SD approach after actual design life, e.g.

– Further use, recycling, disposal

– Waste Hierarchy: reuse > recycling > disposal with landfill as last
resort

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 Thank You!
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 Practice / Tutorial Questions
• Practice Questions:
1. Discuss the role of Engineers in achieving sustainability
2. Describe the concerns and challenges faced by engineers to
achieve sustainable development.
3. Explain how to overcome the challenges faced by engineers.
4. Explain: “If polluters must pollute … then they must pay as
well”. How to implement it?
5. Explain what is meant by “Do things right, having decided on
the right thing to do”.
6. Explain the role/ importance/ need of any guiding principles in
delivering duties of civil engineers to achieve sustainable
development.
• Tutorial Question:
• For a given project, summarise the activities you will do and
solutions you will seek, if assigned for conducting:
a) project definition study, or
b) planning and design.
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