Sustainable development is about growth at a steady rate whilst minimizing and

accounting for any factors that might influence the growth of something. It is the
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the
future generations to meet their own needs. The use of recycled or renewable resources
when building is an example of sustainable development. Sustainable development is
important in that it saves on the national budget, fulfils the needs of people and helps in
conserving the natural resources for future generations. The concepts of sustainable
development are economic, social and environmental. Sustainable engineering should
be based on principles that supports sustainable development. Engineering forms an
interface between the design, that is the idea on how to provide a sustainable solution to
a technical problem, implementation and production.

Some of the aspects to differentiate between traditional and sustainable approaches in

engineering:

Traditional Engineering Sustainable Engineering

Considers the object or process
Focuses on technical issues
Solves the immediate problem
Considers the local context
Assumes others will deal with political,
ethical and societal issues.
Considers the whole system in which the
object or process will be used
Considers both technical and non-technical
issues in a cooperative manner
Strives to solve the problem for infinite future
Considers the global context
Acknowledges the need to interact the experts
in other disciplines related to the problem.