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Sustainable Engineering 2 PDF
Sustainable Engineering 2 PDF
Benoit Cushman-Roisin
ENGS-21
7 November 2008
Traditional Engineering:
Sustainable Engineering:
(http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/eihd/navajo.htm)
Solution:
The new Navajo Bridge in Grand Canyon National Park is the only crossing of the Colorado River
for a stretch of 600 miles. The $15 million steel arch bridge carries traffic across Marble Canyon,
470 feet above the Colorado River. The 1929 Navajo Bridge remains a pedestrian bridge. High
strength steel was used in the new bridge in order to be visually compatible with the historic bridge
and its setting.
Traditional engineering:
Focus on performance
Sustainable Engineering:
How will widespread use
impact electricity demand
and electronics recycling?
(http://www.cs.cmu.edu/pics/campus/images/servers.jpg)
- Traditional engineering:
How effective is it in my wood product?
- Sustainable Engineering:
How will wide use affect the
construction industry?
How will the chemical affect
demolition waste/recycling?
Traditional engineering:
How can I make a tire that better
resists sand abrasion and heat?
Sustainable Engineering:
Where will all the rubber for this
come from?
Where will all these tires go
at the end of their useful life?
Eco-Industrial Parks:
Basic idea: Mimic nature by gathering industrial activities in one location to
promote interactions and close-loop practices, like in natural ecosystems.
Systems
thinking
required !
Pollution Prevention:
Basic idea: Avoid waste pollution in the first place, as much as possible
3P at 3M
Pollution Prevention Pays,
since 1975
adhesive
primer
primer
plastic film
backing
Considerations:
- Less material
- Less material variety
- Recycled materials
- Recyclable materials
- Ease of disassembly
- Less energy consumption
- Longevity
- Modularity
etc.
10
Well, that was all about HOW to design and build stuff.
But, WHAT should we actually build?
What should be our priorities?
To start answering this last question, let us consider where the
biggest impacts are. A good place to start is energy consumption.
Indeed, energy consumption is related to many environmental
problems, some upstream (depletion of non-renewable energy
sources & oil spills) and some downstream (air pollution and
greenhouse gases).
Energy consumption thus serves as a good proxy for overall
environmental impact.
A look at how we
consume energy in the
United States is quite
telling.
~1/3
~1/3
Two things stand out:
~1/3
- Heating, ventilation
and air conditioning of
buildings
- Road transportation.
11
A regenerative building?
A green vehicle?
(http://www.fair-pr.com/meet-aae/grove2005/exhibition.php)
12
Measuring the
environmental impacts
of your designs:
A basic life-cycle approach
13
An application example
of the Okala method:
Button vs. Zipper?
14
A closing thought:
Engineering is not just an activity, it is a profession.
A profession rises above an occupational specialty by including both
- The cultivation of specialized knowledge, and
- The use of that knowledge toward the Common Good.
(Daniel R. Lynch, 2006)
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