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A Pathway Towards Sustainability

A Pathway Towards Sustainability How the engineering profession can contribute to the movement towards sustainability by William A. Wallace Sr. Vice President CH2M HILL presented to the Engineers International Roundtable National Academy of Engineering 13 September 2002

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A Pathway Towards Sustainability

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  1. A Pathway Towards Sustainability How the engineering profession can contribute to the movement towards sustainability by William A. Wallace Sr. Vice President CH2M HILL presented to the Engineers International Roundtable National Academy of Engineering 13 September 2002

  2. Moving Toward a Sustainable Future • How do you shift from a non-sustainable pathway toward a sustainable pathway? • Problems • Legacy investment in non-sustainable technologies, processes and systems • Sustainable development viewed as an expense, not as an opportunity • Poor environment for innovation

  3. Three Steps • Develop a practical awareness of the sustainable development issue • Create a sustainable project roadmap • Develop a sustainability knowledge base

  4. Developing a Practical Awareness of the Sustainable Development Issue Is sustainable development an issue worthy of concern? What are the metrics of sustainability

  5. Social Structure Infrastructure Resource Recovery Discarded Materials, Wastes Damaged Ecological Resources (Renewable) Carrying Capacity Not Economically Retrievable Not Economically Retrievable Minerals, Metals, Fuels Resources (Non-Renewable) Production - Consumption Model Resource Extraction, Harvesting Process, Modify Resources Convey, Transport Consume Discard Harvesting Extraction

  6. Conditions for Sustainability • Renewable resources (ecological) • Use < Regeneration • Non-renewable resources (minerals, fuels) • Use < Development of renewable substitutes • Pollution emissions • Emissions < Carrying capacity of environment

  7. The Debate Over Sustainability ResourceConstrained ResourceAbundance Ecological Resources (Renewable) No real resource shortages Little ecological damage Substantial ecological damage Impending resource shortages Reaching carrying capacity Carrying capacity not in jeopardy Minerals, Metals, Fuels Resources (Non-Renewable) No real resource shortages Technology not capable of making additional needed resources economically available Impending Resource Shortages Technological advances will continue to “save the day”

  8. Creating A Sustainable Project Roadmap If sustainability is an important issue, then how will we change course? Making progress project by project.

  9. Approach • Create a sustainability framework for evaluation • Advance the state-of-the-practice • Determine current state of the practice • Set targets based on best-in-class technologies, achievements by others • Evaluate using sustainability-based criteria • Systems evaluation • Sustainability is a journey, not a binary choice • Economic viability is critical!

  10. Five-Step Process • Step 1: Project Vision • Where are you going • Step 2: Fatal flaw analysis • What issues might cause the project to fail? • Step 3: Benchmarking • What existing projects can be used as indicators and benchmarks for sustainable development? • Step 4: Sustainable technologies • Which technologies can be incorporated into the design that meet SD principles? • Step 5: Systems integration • Do systems meet target benchmarks?

  11. World of Technologies World of Projects Drop Drop Do integrated systems meet target benchmarks? Project vision Fatal Flaws? 2 1 Abandon Project Process Flowchart Pass SD screening? Is project usable for benchmarking? 3 4 No No Benchmarks SDtechnologies Define Project Concept Report 5 No Yes Yes No Final target benchmark, integrated SD systems. Revise systems or benchmarks

  12. Developing a Sustainability Knowledge Base Develop and maintain a knowledge base of sustainable projects and technologies

  13. Developing a Sustainability Knowledge Base • Scan the world of technologies • Evaluate technologies against sustainability criteria • Use a sustainability framework (TNS, other) • Scan the world of projects • Learn and record what has been achieved • Verify performance • Maintain and disseminate the information

  14. Technology Evaluation *1 is most sustainable, 5 is least sustainable

  15. Engineering for Developing CommunitiesThe Developing World as the Classroom of the 21st Century Earth Systems Engineering Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder

  16. Challenge Training of engineers: • who have the skills and tools appropriate to address the issues that our planet is facing today and is likely to face within the next 20 years • who are aware of the needs of the developing world • who can contribute to the relief of the endemic problems of poverty afflicting developing communities worldwide

  17. Earth Systems Engineering ”ESE is a multidisciplinary (engineering, science, social science, and governance) process of solution development that takes a holistic view of natural and human system interactions. The goal of ESE is to better understand complex, nonlinear systems of global importance and to develop the tools necessary to implement that understanding” (National Academy of Engineering, 2000)

  18. Earth Systems Engineering DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY GREEN DEVELOPMENT RENEWABLE RESOURCES CITY PLANNING AND DESIGN NATURAL CAPITALISM TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM THINKING

  19. University NGO Partnership Engineering for Developing Communities Outreach Component Students, Technology, Training, Education CU Program Engineering for Developing Countries (Education, R&D) Engineers Without Borders (Field Projects, Hands-on) Case Studies, Results, Applications, Needs

  20. On-Going EWB Projects • San Pablo, Belize – Design, construction, and improvement of a water distribution system using ram pumps and rope pumps in wells • San Pablo, Belize – Installation of a water filtration system and submersible generators to generate electricity using the river water current • Seven Mile Village, Belize – Drilling and installation of wells to alleviate water collection problems • Punta Gorda, Belize – Technical assistance to the Mayan School Satal Pal Canbalnah (Learning Center for the Lost Child)

  21. On-Going EWB Projects (2) • Foutaka Zambougou, Mali and Bir Moghrein, Mauritania - Using appropriate technology to solve water and electricity problems • Jalapa Valley, Nicaragua – Using appropriate technologies to improve source water, sanitation, energy and communication (in partnership with Friendship City Project, Boulder) • Santa Rita, Peru – Solving local rainfall-induced slope stability problems (in partnership with Peruvian Eco-Sustainable Research and Understanding, Lafayette)

  22. Belize ProjectSan Pablo Design and Construction of a Ram Pump System

  23. The End Questions?

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