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1500 words, A discursive report on the Civil Engineer’s contribution to economic, social,
environmental and sustainability issues.

Economic, Social and Environmental Context

ES1 :Knowledge and understanding of commercial and economic context of engineering

processes

ES2 :Knowledge of management techniques which may be used to achieve engineering

objectives within that context.

ES3 : Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable

development.
ES4 : Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering
activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk)
issues.

Civil Engineer’s Contribution to Economic, Social, Environmental and Sustainability

Issues

Introduction

What is Sustainability?

The definition of “sustainability” is the study of how

natural systems function, remain diverse and produce
everything it needs for the ecology to remain in
balance. It also acknowledges that human civilisation
takes resources to sustain our modern way of life

There are countless examples throughout human history where a civilisation has damaged its
own environment and seriously affected its own survival chances (some of which Jared Diamond
explores in his book Collapse: How Complex Societies Choose to Fail or Survive

Sustainability takes into account how we might live in harmony with the natural world around
us, protecting it from damage and destruction.

We now live in a modern, consumerist and largely urban existence throughout the developed
world and we consume a lot of natural resources every day. In our urban centres, we consume
more power than those who live in rural settings and urban centres use a lot more power than
average, keeping our streets and civic buildings lit, to power our appliances, our heating and
other public and household power requirements. That's not to say that sustainable living should
only focus on people who live in urban centres though, there are improvements to be made
everywhere - it is estimated that we use about 40% more resources every year than we can put
back and that needs to change.

Sustainability and sustainable development focuses on balancing that fine line between
competing needs - our need to move forward technologically and economically, and the needs to
protect the environments in which we and others live. Sustainability is not just about the
environment, it's also about our health as a society in ensuring that no people or areas of life
suffer as a result of environmental legislation, and it's also about examining the longer term
effects of the actions humanity takes and asking questions about how it may be improved.

Civil Engineering and Sustainability

The civil engineering profession recognizes the reality of limited natural resources, the desire for
sustainable practices (including life-cycle analysis and sustainable design techniques), and the
need for social equity in the consumption of resources. Hence, Civil Engineers play a vital role in
the Sustainable Development in meeting the needs of the public. A Civil Engineer's utmost
responsibility is sustainability.

To fulfill this:

 To provide an understanding of the fundamental material and energy balances that

underpins process engineering.
 To provide knowledge and understanding of the methods of calculating material and
energy balances around a process flowsheet and to provide practical laboratory
experience in engineering processes.
 Appreciate the social, environmental, ethical, economic, and commercial considerations
affecting the exercise of engineering judgement.
One area of sustainable design that can have a major impact on our immediate environment
relates to our water resources. Civil Engineers must think creatively and “outside of the box”
when designing and planning our precious water resources. Sustainable water resource design
should include emphasis on water conservation, grey water applications, utilizing secondary
irrigation sources in lieu of culinary sources, eliminating water waste, aquifer recovery and
storage, public outreach efforts, etc.

As the world’s population increases, engineers face ever-evolving challenges with regard to
issues of sustainability and the health of our natural environment such as;

 air and water quality engineering, science, and modeling

 environmental nanotechnology
 environment-energy studies, including, bioenergy, carbon capture and sequestration, and
shale gas
  environmental sensing
 green design and construction
 industrial ecology
 life cycle assessment
 remediation risk assessment
 sustainable engineering
 climate change

Professional engineers have a significant role to play in sustainability. They work to enhance the
welfare, health and safety of all, with the minimal use of natural resources and paying due regard
to the environment and the sustainability of resources. Their work is influenced by the
opportunities and challenges that sustainability brings. Engineers are the providers of options and
solutions to maximize social value and minimize environmental impact. There are pressing
challenges due to the adverse effects of depletion of resources, environmental pollution, rapid
population growth and damage to ecosystems. Increasingly, engineers are required to take a
wider perspective including goals such as poverty alleviation, social justice and local and global
connections.

Engineers are the providers of options and solutions to maximize social value and minimize
environmental impact. There are pressing challenges due to the adverse effects of depletion of
resources, environmental pollution, rapid population growth and damage to ecosystems.

Extending this worldwide creates access to engineers to share the knowledge, experience and
practice. When achieving sustainability, engineers should not be diminished by the part they
undertake.

By increasing the greenery, that is plant propagation, humans can alter the emissions caused by
industry and vehicles. Sustainability and sustainable improvement is basically recognizing the
need for living by taking necessary measurements and granting access to resources. Social,
economic and environmental aspects of sustainability are the most common. One of the
increasingly developing perform is sustainable building in the new construction and development
era. This is due to the green development which is acknowledged by engineers and designers.
When considering the life –cycle, it suggests that sustainable building is economically successful
while creating a better environment. Globally this concept will accelerate and more people and
countries will interact with green technology. Furthermore, existing building owners are keen
towards upgrading or renovating their buildings with green technology while following the
sustainable construction conditions. Sustainable development affects human actions and the
outcome is they can be kept permanent. Sustainable development is the technique to solve
environmental and progress problems which are caused by the actions of humans. Sustainable
development contains of the three major factors of social, environmental and economic liability.

Figure 1-The three pillars of sustainable development

In Sri Lanka sustainable development is crucial in construction. It is not popular in Sri Lanka.
All three factors should be considered equally and the population is rising rapidly in Sri Lanka,
so it should be taken into account that sustainable development will make a better future.

Environmental

Waste material management is one of most essential part of building construction. Filling marshy
lands with waste materials is the popular method to this matter. But after this, marshy lands fill
with storm & rain water can cause massive floods. Preparing soil bricks by using this waste
material is proper method to recycling waste materials.

In case of population growth, the building construction is rapidly increasing. Clearing lands for
building construction caused to deforestation. This is very highly caused to increasing the
amount of Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Replantation after the construction can reduce this
matter, but avoiding deforestation is better.
Releasing chemicals to natural water sources is another worse thing but releasing when after the
treating is the best way.

Economical

Using renewable energy for the electrical consumption is can minimize the highest expenses. For
examples, using solar power, wind power, bio mass energy can help with this point. As well as
this can reduce carbon consumption in the atmosphere. For electricity generation, using solar
panels is the best method. It is most common and cheapest way to generate electricity. For use of
hot water, electricity is highly using. By using sola hot water systems can give the best answer
for this matter.

Give majority for natural ventilation for buildings also reduce the energy consumptions while
using air conditions. Considering wind direction is helps to get the natural ventilation. Building
designing with natural lighting also reduces the cost of living. Choosing the materials for the
interior painting and construction also reduce the energy for lighting and ventilation.

Waste water management with rain water harvesting the very effective to water demand.
Plantation with harvest water is very economical and environmental friendly.

Efficiently using the lands will helps to reduce the cost of living.

Social

Construction with creativity will make beautiful places which give the mind relaxing. Motivated
people make good society. Therefore constructing walking paths, parks, Jims will help to
increase the health of shareholders. And that place will be the best place for living and making
the relationships.

A Sustainable Future

It is not yet clear what our sustainable future will look like but with emerging technologies and
the improvement of older cleaner fuel sources, many people now look to a post fossil fuel world
- including businesses. Since the 1950s, we have experienced unprecedented growth including
intensive farming, a technological revolution and a massive increase in our power needs putting
even greater pressure and strain on the planet's resources. We are also far more aware of the
plight of the developing world and that facing our planet as we now observe both natural and
human-caused disasters and the effects that these can have on the ecosystems and on human
population. It's vital that we develop new, cleaner technologies to cope with our energy demands
but sustainability is not just about the environment.

The biggest social activism movement related to the social development side of sustainability,
has been programs such as Fair Trade and the Rainforest Alliance in encouraging good farming
practices while ensuring farmers who produce luxury goods such as coffee and cocoa receive a
decent living wage. Activist and sustainability professionals hope to remove trade barriers in
future so that they may benefit everyone, contributing to the economic and social development
core of sustainability while promoting good environmental practice.

CONCLUSION

Sustainable development is largely about people, their well-being, and equity in their
relationships with each other, in a context where nature-society imbalances can threaten
economic and social stability. Because climate change, its drivers, its impacts and its policy
responses will interact with economic production and services, human settlements and human
societies, climate change is likely to be a significant factor in the sustainable development of
many areas. Simply stated, climate change has the potential to affect many aspects of human
development, positively or negatively, depending on the geographic location, the economic
sector, and the level of economic and social development already attained. Because settlements
and industry are often focal points for both mitigation and adaptation policy-making and action,
these interactions are likely to be at the heart of many kinds of development-oriented responses
to concerns about climate change.

As a result of significant impacts that can be attributed to climate change. But industry,
settlements and societies will be important foci of mitigation actions and adaptations involving
land uses and capital investments with relatively long lifetimes. In the meantime, however,
actions that address challenges of climate variability, including extreme events, contribute to
environmental risk management as well as reducing possible impacts of climate change.

The most serious issues for sustainable development associated with climate-change impacts on
the subjects of this chapter are:

Threats to vulnerable regions and localities from gradual ecological changes leading to
impact thresholds and extreme events that could disrupt the sustainability of societies and
cultures, with particular attention to coastal areas in current storm tracks and to
economies and societies in polar areas, dry land areas and low-lying islands.
 Threats to fragile social and environmental systems, both from abrupt climate changes
and thresholds associated with more gradual climate changes that would exceed the
adaptive capacities of affected sectors, locations and societies. Examples include effects
on resource supply for urban and industrial growth and waste management.

In general, however, climate change is an issue for sustainable development mainly as one of
many sources of possible stress. Its significance lies primarily in its interactions with other
stresses and stress-related thresholds, such as population growth and redistribution, social and
political instability, and poverty and inequity. In the longer run, climate change is likely to affect
sustainable development by reshaping the world map of comparative advantage which, in a
globalising economy, will support sustainable development in some areas but endanger it in
others, especially in areas with limited capacities to adapt. Underlying such questions, of course,
are the magnitude and pace of climate change

Impacts of climate change on development paths also include impacts of climate-change

response policies, which can affect a wide range of development-related choices, from energy
sources and costs to industrial competitiveness to patterns of tourism. Areas and sectors most
heavily dependent on fossil fuels are especially likely to be affected economically, often calling
for adaptation strategies that may in some cases require assistance with capacity building,
technological development and transition financing.

References

1. http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm
2. https://www.academia.edu/9294719/
Urban_Sustainability_in_Theory_and_Practice_Circles_of_Sustainability_2015_
3. http://degrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Lorek_Sustainable-consumption.pdf
4. http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/what-is-sustainable-development.html
5. http://epa.gov/ncer/rfa/forms/sustainability_primer_v7.pdf
6. http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/iucn_future_of_sustanability.pdf
7. http://www.sustainabilityconsortium.org/wp-content/themes/sustainability/assets/pdf/
whitepapers/Social_Sustainability_Assessment.pdf
8. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/4538pressowg13.pdf
9. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html
10. Diamond, J. 2005: Collapse: How Complex Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. New
York: Penguin (http://cpor.org/ce/Diamond%282005%29Collapse-
HowSocietiesChooseFailureSuccess.pdf)