Defining "sustainable engineering": a comparative analysis of published sustainability principles and existing courses
1. Defining “Sustainable Engineering”:
a Comparative Analysis of
Published Sustainability Principles
and Existing Courses
Stephen R. Hoffmann1, Alice L. Pawley1,2,
Ranjani L. Rao3, Monica E. Cardella1,2,
Matthew W. Ohland2
1Division
of Environmental and Ecological Engineering; 2School of
Engineering Education; 3Brian Lamb School of Communication
Purdue University,West Lafayette
2. Motivation
SEVERAL STATEMENTS OVER PAST DECADE AND A HALF ABOUT
NEED FOR ENGINEERS TO UNDERSTAND SUSTAINABILITY
1999 statement on Sustainable Development:
“ASEE believes that engineering graduates must be
ASEE
prepared by their education to use sustainable
engineering techniques in the practice of their
profession…”
Code of Ethics Fundamental Canon 1:
ASCE
“Engineers shall…strive to comply with the
principles of sustainable development”
Code of Ethics Fundamental Canon 8:
“Engineers shall consider environmental impact and
ASME
sustainable development in the performance of
their professional duties.”
Code of Ethics Professional Obligation 2:
“Engineers are encouraged to adhere to the
NSPE
principles of sustainable development in order to
protect the environment for future generations”
Student Outcome Criterion 3(c)
ABET
“an ability to design … within realistic constraints
such as … [list of eight including] … sustainability.”
3. Big picture: ASK project
Early question toward developing an
assessment framework for sustainability
knowledge of engineering students:
What is the set of concepts, ideas, approaches,
tools, methods, and philosophies that could be
included as the “necessary knowledge of
sustainability” for all engineering students?
4. Goals of this presentation
What is the set of concepts, ideas, approaches,
tools, methods, and philosophies that could be
included as the “necessary knowledge of
sustainability” for all engineering students?
5. Goals of this presentation
What is the set of concepts, ideas, approaches,
tools, methods, and philosophies that could be
included as the “necessary knowledge of
sustainability” for all engineering students?
How do detailed
statements of
sustainability principles
define sustainability?
6. Goals of this presentation
What is the set of concepts, ideas, approaches,
tools, methods, and philosophies that could be
included as the “necessary knowledge of
sustainability” for all engineering students?
How do detailed What is included in
statements of engineering course
sustainability principles titles and descriptions
define sustainability?
about sustainability?
7. Goals of this presentation
What is the set of concepts, ideas, approaches,
tools, methods, and philosophies that could be
included as the “necessary knowledge of
sustainability” for all engineering students?
How do detailed What is included in
statements of engineering course
sustainability principles titles and descriptions
define sustainability?
about sustainability?
How do these two
data sets compare?
8. Statements of Principles
• Fifteen sets of sustainability principles :
– Engineering / Technical Context
Chameau – keynote at ASEE Deans Inst. – 1999
Design for Environment – UNEP/CNRC – 1995
Principles of Green Chemistry – ACS – 1998
Principles of Green Engineering – 2003
Engr. for Sust. Devel. – Royal Academy – 2005
Sandestin Conference – 2003
– Governmental Context
– Industrial Context
– Educational Context
9. Statements of Principles
• Fifteen sets of sustainability principles :
– Engineering / Technical Context
– Governmental Context
Ahwahnee Principles – local govt. – 1991
Bellagio Principles – UN, assessment – 1996
Earth Charter – UN, Rio summit – 2000
Hannover Principles – urban design – 1992
– Industrial Context
– Educational Context
14. Coding the principles
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Holistic Integration
and Design
RA 9: “Adopt a holistic ‘cradle-to-grave’
approach.”
Ba4: [Today’s engineers must be able to]
“apply a holistic and systematic
approach to problem solving…”
Ba13: [Engineering education…must]
“strengthen systematic thinking and a
holistic approach.”
GE10: “Design…must include integration
and interconnectivity…”
S1: “Engineer…holistically, use systems
analysis, and integrate environmental
impact assessment tools.”
15. Coding the principles
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BELLAGIO #3:
from UN, Focus on Assessment
of progress toward sustainability
original text:
“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
a) consider equity and disparity within the current
population and between present and future
generations, dealing with such concerns as
resource use, over-consumption and poverty,
human rights, and access to services, as
appropriate.
b) consider the ecological conditions on which life
depends
c) consider economic development and other, non-
market activities that contribute to human/social
well-being.
16. Coding the principles
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BELLAGIO #3:
from UN, Focus on Assessment
of progress toward sustainability
original text:
“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
a) consider equity and disparity within the current
population and between present and future
generations, dealing with such concerns as
resource use, over-consumption and poverty,
human rights, and access to services, as
appropriate.
b) consider the ecological conditions on which life
Protection of depends
c) consider economic development and other, non-
biosphere and
market activities that contribute to human/social
ecological systems
well-being.
17. DfE
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Coding the principles
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BELLAGIO #3:
from UN, Focus on Assessment
of progress toward sustainability
original text:
“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
a) consider equity and disparity within the current
population and between present and future
generations, dealing with such concerns as
resource use, over-consumption and poverty,
human rights, and access to services, as
appropriate.
b) consider the ecological conditions on which life
Resource conservation
depends
c) consider economic development and other, non-
market activities that contribute to human/social
well-being.
18. DfE
GC
Coding the principles
CH
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Be
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BELLAGIO #3:
from UN, Focus on Assessment
of progress toward sustainability
original text:
“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
a) consider equity and disparity within the current
population and between present and future
generations, dealing with such concerns as
resource use, over-consumption and poverty,
human rights, and access to services, as
appropriate.
b) consider the ecological conditions on which life
Promote human depends
c) consider economic development and other, non-
welfare, basic human
market activities that contribute to
needs, quality of life
human/social well-being.
19. Coding the principles
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BELLAGIO #3:
from UN, Focus on Assessment
of progress toward sustainability
original text:
“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
a) consider equity and disparity within the current
population and between present and future
generations, dealing with such concerns as
resource use, over-consumption and poverty,
human rights, and access to services, as
appropriate.
b) consider the ecological conditions on which life
Intergenerational depends
c) consider economic development and other, non-
component
market activities that contribute to human/social
well-being.
20. DfE
GC
Coding the principles
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BELLAGIO #3:
from UN, Focus on Assessment
of progress toward sustainability
original text:
“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
a) consider equity and disparity within the current
population and between present and future
generations, dealing with such concerns as
resource use, over-consumption and poverty,
human rights, and access to services, as
appropriate.
b) consider the ecological conditions on which life
Democracy / social depends
c) consider economic development and other, non-
equity / justice / human
market activities that contribute to human/social
rights
well-being.
21. Coding the principles
DfE
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BELLAGIO #3:
from UN, Focus on Assessment
of progress toward sustainability
original text:
“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
a) consider equity and disparity within the current
population and between present and future
generations, dealing with such concerns as
resource use, over-consumption and poverty,
human rights, and access to services, as
appropriate.
b) consider the ecological conditions on which life
Eliminate poverty
depends
c) consider economic development and other, non-
market activities that contribute to human/social
well-being.
22. Coding the principles
DfE
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BELLAGIO #3:
from UN, Focus on Assessment
of progress toward sustainability
original text:
“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
a) consider equity and disparity within the current
population and between present and future
generations, dealing with such concerns as
resource use, over-consumption and poverty,
human rights, and access to services, as
appropriate.
b) consider the ecological conditions on which life
Economic viability
depends
c) consider economic development and other, non-
market activities that contribute to human/social
well-being.
23. CH
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160 principles
NS
IT
Ba
Organizing themes
59 unique codes
24. DfE
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Organizing themes
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59 unique codes
organized into
six “themes”
160 principles
25. Organizing themes
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Traditional Environmental
Sustainability Goals
— safety / toxicity / health
— eliminate, minimize, manage
waste
— (design for) energy-efficient
transportation, distribution
— (design for) energy efficiency
and conservation
— use of renewable feedstocks
and resources (non energy)
— pollution prevention
— use renewable / natural energy
flows
— appropriate use rates (e.g., for
assimilation, regeneration,
development of options)
26. Organizing themes
DfE
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Specific Things to Protect/
Improve
— resource conservation
— protection of biosphere /
ecological systems
— protection of human welfare,
basic human needs, quality of life
— protection of specific
environmental features
— environmental improvement
— water resources protection
27. Organizing themes
DfE
GC
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Ethics and Guiding Beliefs
— intergenerational equity
— personal educational values
— right of co-existence (human and
eco-) and co-respect
— deontological principles of the
engineering profession
— personal ethical responsibility/ies
— spiritual importance
— precautionary principle
— interdependence (ecological and
human)
— honesty of practice – alignment
of principle and action
28. Organizing themes
DfE
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Be
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IF
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Social and Societal Aspects
— democracy, social equity, justice,
human rights
— clear monitoring, reporting,
sharing of information
— stakeholder engagement
— open communication
— cultural and local awareness
— elimination of poverty
— physical spaces for social diversity
— design for open space, public space
— enhance formal education
— non-violence and peace
— globalization awareness
— interaction of engineering, society
— participation in policy-making
29. Organizing themes
DfE
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Engineering Design Criteria
— holistic integration and design
— economy of transition of feedstock
to product
— design for end-of-life, recyclability,
degradation, and/or disassembly
— large scale, longterm interconnected
— long-term value, durability, reusability,
and/or repairability
— life-cycle thinking
— innovation / major conceptual shift
— design for modularity, flexibility
— design for integration
— consequences of design on use
— risk reduction
— balanced solutions
— effective problem definition
— worth using limited time, resources
30. Organizing themes
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Business Perspectives and
values
— economic viability
— effective management, planning,
and implementation
— defined goals and objectives
— appreciation of limitations
— constant improvement
— management responsibility
— reframe and monetize pollution
responsibility
— triple bottom line
— redesign of commerce system
32. Perspectives of principles lists
Engineering and
Technical
Governmental
Industrial
Educational
Traditional
Environmental
Specifics to
Protect/
Improve
Ethics/Beliefs
Social/Societal
Engineering
Design
Business
Perspectives
33. Perspectives of principles lists
Engineering and
Technical
Governmental
Industrial
Educational
Traditional
Environmental
Specifics to
Protect/
Improve
Ethics/Beliefs
Social/Societal
Engineering
Design
Business
Perspectives
34. Sustainability engineering
courses
• Search of publicly available catalog
language for sustain* in the course title
or description.
• 36 Universities in the US
– large, top-ranked, NSF support in sust.
– about 35% of all US Engr. undergrads
• 174 courses identified
36. Principles themes in course
descriptions
THEMES IN TEN OR MORE (OF 174) COURSES:
Use of renewable / natural
energy flows
Pollution Prevention
(Design for) energy efficiency
and conservation
Eliminate, minimize, manage
waste
Water resources protection
Resource conservation
most least common
Participation in policy-making
more than 10 courses
Interaction of engineering and
society
3-9 courses
Life-cycle thinking
Economic viability
37. Thank you.
This presentation is based on work supported by an
NSF IEECI grant (#0935066). Any opinions, findings,
and conclusions, or recommendations expressed are
those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
views of the National Science Foundation.
38. Comparison to broader
themes of sustainability
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Edwards’s “Seven Common Themes”
1. Stewardship
2. Respect for Limits
3. Interdependence
4. Economic Restructuring
5. Fair Distribution
6. Intergenerational Perspective
7. Nature as Model and Teacher
From Andres R. Edwards (2005),
The Sustainability Revolution:
Portrait of a Paradigm Shift,
New Society Publishers.
39. Coding the principles
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DESIGN for ENVIRONMENT #4:
from UN Environment Programme
and CNRC
original text:
“Optimize production
• choose alternate production processes
• fewer production steps
• lower/cleaner production energy
• less production waste
• fewer/cleaner production consumables”
codes:
(Design for) energy efficiency and conservation
c
Eliminate / minimize / manage waste
o
d
Economy of transition of feedstock to product
e
s
40. Coding the principles
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Eliminate / minimize /
manage waste
GC1; GE2: “It is better to prevent waste
than to treat or clean up waste…”
IF1: “Eliminate all forms of waste in every
area of business…”
Economy of transition from
feedstock to product
GC8: “Unnecessary derivitization …should
be minimized or avoided…”
GE6: “Embedded entropy and complexity
must be viewed as an investment when
making design choices…”