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BFC 32202 Engineers - Society Chapter 4 (Student Copy) PDF
BFC 32202 Engineers - Society Chapter 4 (Student Copy) PDF
HUMANISATION OF
ENGINEERING
CHAPTER FOUR
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BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
• The writer went on to say that the new modern airports designed by high-profile
architects suffer from poor sensory experience, ranging from ambient noise to glare
to uncomfortable furniture.
• The writer suggested that architects should spend more of their creative energies
on the traveler’s experience, and criticised that the team of specialists required to
actually design and build the airport – the specialised engineers (structural, lighting,
HVAC, landscaping, etc.), interior designers, surveyors – who are even less
concerned with the passengers’ comfort than architects are, also need to focus on
the traveler’s experience.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
What is “humanising”?
• To humanise is to make something
less unpleasant and more suitable for
people.
• To engineer something is to solve
societal problems. To solve societal
problems is to understand the
society. To understand the society is
to know the dynamics of humanity. Cheonggyecheon, Seoul
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• The practice of architecture, engineering, interior designing and urban planning need
to become more humanistic. The human element needs to be reintroduced to their
work and made central. They have an obligation and commitment to making buildings
and public spaces for people, and the environment at large.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
GROUP EXERCISE 3
There are just too many vehicles in Malaysian cities. Are cities being designed to
accommodate vehicles and not people?
How can we reduce the number of private vehicles in the city, and what are
the benefits of this approach?
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
CERES Principles
• A 10-point code of corporate environmental conduct endorsed by CERES companies,
and called the CERES Principles (formerly known as Valdez Principles).
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Pollution
• Industry and motor vehicle exhaust are the
number one pollutants. Heavy metals, nitrates and
plastic are toxins responsible for pollution.
• While water pollution is caused by oil spill, acid
rain, urban runoff; air pollution is caused by various
gases and toxins released by industries and
factories and combustion of fossil fuels; soil
pollution is majorly caused by industrial waste that
deprives soil from essential nutrients.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Global Warming
• Global warming is the result of human practices
like emission of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, etc.)
• Global warming leads to rising temperatures of the
oceans and the earth’s surface causing melting of
polar ice caps, rise in sea levels and also unnatural
patterns of precipitation such as flash floods,
excessive snow or desertification.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Intensive Farming
• Intensive farming or intensive agriculture is being
practiced, where a lot of capital and labour are
used to increase food production as demand
increases due to overpopulation.
• The use of large amounts of chemical fertilizer,
pesticides and insecticides has brought damage to
the environment.
• Also, intensive animal farming has caused pollution
and health issues, as well as criticism towards
treatment of animals.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Waste Disposal
• The overconsumption of resources and creation of
plastics are creating a global crisis of waste
disposal. Excessive amounts of waste are being
produced and dumped in the oceans and in some
cases, in less developed countries.
• Nuclear waste disposal has tremendous health
hazards associated with it. Plastic, food packaging
and cheap electronic wastes threaten the well
being of humans and animals.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Climate Change
• Climate change occurs due to rise in global
warming which occurs due to increase in
temperature of atmosphere by burning of fossil
fuels and release of harmful gases by industries.
• Climate change has various harmful effects but not
limited to melting of polar ice, change in seasons,
occurrence of new diseases, frequent occurrence
of floods and change in overall weather scenario.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Loss of Biodiversity
• Human activity is leading to the extinction of
animal and plant species. 10-30% of the mammal,
bird and amphibian species are threatened with
extinction.
• Loss of biodiversity can be attributed to the
influence of human beings on the ecosystem, by
intentionally altering the environment, exploiting
the species directly (fishing and hunting) and
transferring species from one area to another.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Deforestation
• Deforestation simply means clearing of green cover
and make that land available for residential,
industrial or commercial purpose.
• Our forests are natural sinks of carbon dioxide and
produce fresh oxygen as well as helps in regulating
temperature and rainfall.
• At present forests cover 30% of the land but every
year tree cover the size of Panama is lost due to
growing population and the demand for more food,
shelter, gadgets and clothing.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Ocean Acidification
• Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by
the ocean, breaking down into carbonic acid and
hydrogen ions.
• Carbonate ions, which are required for marine life
growth (shells and corals), bond with the hydrogen
ions, thus reducing carbonate ions.
• Ocean acidity has increased. By 2100, it may shoot
up by 150%. The main impact is on shellfish and
plankton in the same way as human osteoporosis.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Acid Rain
• Acid rain is caused by natural and man-made
sources that release sulphur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides into the atmosphere.
• These pollutants are transformed into acid
particles that travel long distances and fall to the
earth as wet and dry deposition (rain, dust, etc.)
• Acid rain is a known to have serious effect on
human health, wildlife, aquatic species and stone
structures.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Water Scarcity
• Only 3% of the world’s water is fresh water. As a
result, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack
access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water
scarce for at least one month of the year.
• Water sources are drying up or becoming too
polluted, while agriculture consumes a lot of water
and wastes much of that through inefficiencies.
• Climate change is altering patterns of weather and
water around the world, causing shortages and
droughts in some areas.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Genetic Engineering
• Genetic modification of food results in increased
toxins and diseases as genes from an allergic plant
can transfer to target plant.
• Genetically modified crops can cause serious
environmental problems as an engineered gene
may prove toxic to wildlife.
• Another drawback is that increased use of toxins
to make insect resistant plant can cause resultant
organisms to become resistant to antibiotics.
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
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ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• With environmental ethics, we can ensure that we are doing our part to keep the
environment safe and protected.
• With the rapid increase in world’s population, the consumption of natural resources
has increased significantly. This has degraded our planet’s ability to provide the
services we humans need. The consumption of resources is going at a faster rate
than they can naturally replenish.
• Environmental ethics builds on scientific understanding by bringing human
values, moral principles, and improved decision making into conversation with
science.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
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ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
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BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• Cost-benefit Approach
• The problem is analysed in terms of the benefits derived by reducing the
pollution (e.g. improvements in human health) and the costs required to solve
the problem. The costs and benefits are weighed to determine the optimum
combination.
• In this approach, the goal is not to achieve a completely clean environment, but
rather to achieve an economically beneficial balance of pollution with health or
environmental considerations.
• Problems with this approach include:
• There is an implicit assumption in cost–benefit analysis that cost is an
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
important issue. But what is the true cost of a human life or the loss of a
species or a scenic view? These values are difficult, if not impossible, to
determine.
• It is difficult to accurately assess costs and benefits, and much guesswork
must go into these calculations.
• This approach does not necessarily take into account who shoulders the
costs and who gets the benefits.
• It does not necessarily take morality or ethics into account. The only
considerations are costs and benefits, with no room for a discussion of
whether what is being done is right or not.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
IfIfyou
youthink
thinkthe
theeconomy
economyisismore
moreimportant
important
than the environment, try holding your
than the environment, try holding your
breath while counting your money.
breath while counting your money.
Guy McPherson
Mahatma Gandhi
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• Construction Materials
• Materials used in the construction of buildings may be produced in a non-
sustainable way. The factories that make the materials produce damaging CO2
emissions.
• Materials that are not produced locally are often shipped from across the
country or even from overseas. The transportation required for shipping these
materials has a considerable impact on air quality.
• There is a huge environmental impact associated with the extraction and
consumption of raw materials for the use of building materials, not to mention
the actual production of those materials in their final form. 40% of the world’s
raw materials are used in the construction of buildings.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
Green Buildings
• “Green building” or “sustainable building”
may seem like a trendy way to be
environmentally friendly, but it is actually
an important factor in lowering the
negative impact we have on the
environment.
• Green buildings not only benefit the
environment, but are also beneficial to the
people working in the building and has a
Malaysian Energy Commission, Putrajaya relatively lower overhead costs.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• The benefits of green buildings can be grouped into three categories; environmental,
economic and social.
• Environmental Benefits
• One of the most important types of benefit green buildings offer is to our
climate and the natural environment. Green buildings can reduce or eliminate
negative impacts on the environment – by using less water, energy or natural
resources, and have a positive impact on the environment by generating their
own energy or increasing biodiversity.
• At a global level:
• The building sector has the largest potential for significantly reducing
greenhouse gas emissions compared to other major emitting sectors.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• Economic Benefits
• Green buildings offer a number of economic or financial benefits, which are
relevant to a range of different people or groups of people. These include cost
savings on utility bills for tenants or households (through energy and water
efficiency), lower construction costs and higher property value for building
developers, increased occupancy rates or operating costs for building owners,
and job creation.
• At a global level:
• Global energy efficiency measures could save an estimated €280 to €410
billion in savings on energy spending (and the equivalent to almost double
the annual electricity consumption of the United States).
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ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• Social Benefits
• Green building have been shown to bring positive social impacts too. Many of
these benefits are around the health and well-being of people who work in
green offices or live in green homes:
• Workers in green, well-ventilated offices recorded a 101 per cent increase
in cognitive scores (brain function).
• Employees in offices with windows slept an average of 46 minutes more per
night.
• Research suggests that better indoor air quality (low concentrations of CO2
and pollutants, and high ventilation rates) can lead to improvements in
performance of up to 8 per cent.
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ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Create regulatory
Enable members of the
structures for
public to take part in Create specialist courts
environmental
environmental decision- and tribunals
management, such as
making
regulatory agencies
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
• The 8 principles listed under DASN to harmonise economic development goals with
environmental imperatives:
Continuous
Conservation of
Stewardship of the Improvement in the
Nature’s Vitality and
Environment Quality of the
Diversity
Environment
Active Participation in
Commitment and
the International
Accountability
Community
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ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
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ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
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ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
• In Malaysia, EIA is required under section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act
1974, which specifies the legal requirements for prescribed activities.
• It empowers the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment after due
consultation, to prescribe any activity that may have significant environmental
impact as a “Prescribed Activity”.
• It requires the project proponent of a prescribed activity to submit an EIA
report to the Director General of Environmental Quality before approval for
the proposed activity is granted.
• The EIA report must be in accordance with DOE guidelines, contain an assessment
of the impact of the prescribed activity on the environment, and detail the proposed
measures to prevent, reduce or control adverse impacts on the environment.
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Monitoring
and Pre-feasibility
Evaluation
Environmental monitoring and Assessment of significant impacts,
auditing, lessons for future projects identification of mitigation needs,
input to cost/benefit analysis
Implementation Feasibility
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Prescribed Activities
• The following are activities that may have significant environmental impacts,
according to the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities)(Environmental Impact
Assessment) Order 1987.
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
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ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
BFC 32202 – ENGINEERS & SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
BDD/FKAAS/UTHM