Sustainability concepts For Civil Engineering

Lec.01: Course outline, Introduction to Sustainability

Mostafa Salari
Mostafa.salari2@ucalgary.ca
Schulich School of Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
 Time to know each other!

2 Instructor: Mostafa Salari Fall 2022

 Course Outline: Learning Outcomes

1. Explain why sustainability is important.

2. Identify the technology and non-technology aspects and concerns associated with
sustainability.

3. Assess the challenges associated with Economic Sustainability including Life Cycle Cost Analysis,
Present/future/ annual worth, Rate of return, Benefit/cost ratio
4. Apply and interpret the results of an environmental analysis using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life
Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA), Product Category Rule (PCR), Environmental Product, Declaration
(EPD), and Ecological footprint.

5. Assess the social impacts of human activities, focusing on existing civil engineering examples, Social
media and civil engineering, United Nations, Oxfam Doughnut, Human Development Index (HDI), and
Social Impact Assessment (SIA).
6. Identify and implement more sustainable Civil Engineering in practice.
7. Focusing on future sustainability, and climate change’s impact on economical, environmental and
social aspects of societies.

3 Instructor: Mostafa Salari Fall 2022

 Course schedule (Exam date)

4 Instructor: Mostafa Salari Fall 2022

 Assessment

5 Instructor: Mostafa Salari Fall 2022

 Assignments-I
Group of five students:

Filling the excel file: Student ID, First and Last name

Deadline for Grouping: Oct 5th

6 Instructor: Mostafa Salari Fall 2022

 Resources

7 Instructor: Mostafa Salari Fall 2022

 History of Human Progress, Civilization

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 Cities are born of agriculture

From about 9000BCE permanent new human

settlements began to appear throughout the Middle East.

Humans invented agriculture. Farming enabled people

to grow all the food they needed in one place, with a
much smaller group of people. This led to massive
population growth, creating cities and trade.

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 Cities of the Ancient World
Earliest known city is Çatalhöyük

Settled around 9400 BCE

Estimated population of 8000 people

Provides important evidence of the transition from settled villages to

urban agglomeration

Features a unique streetless settlement of houses clustered back to

back with roof access into the buildings

For 1,150 years, it was continuously occupied until it was

abandoned, around 5,950 B.C. Researchers now believe
that diseases, overcrowding, and climate change

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 Cities are born of religion

Gobekli Tepe (9500-8000 BCE) is the oldest man-

made place of worship yet discovered.

Göbekli Tepe (which translates to "potbelly hill" in

Turkish) was built before any evidence of farming or
animal domestication emerged on the planet. So it's
thought that this massive undertaking was the work
of hunter gatherers.

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 Cities of the Ancient World
Thebes was the capital of Egypt during the period of the
New Kingdom (c. 1570-c. 1069 BCE) and became an
important center of worship of the god Amun(also
known as Amon or Amen, a combination of the earlier
gods Atum and Ra). Its sacred name was P-Amen or Pa-
Amen meaning "the abode of Amen"
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Uruk played a leading role in the early urbanization of
Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC. At its height c.
2900 BC, Uruk probably had 50,000–80,000 residents
living in 6 km2 (2.32 sq mi) of walled area; making it
the largest city in the world at the time.
 Cities in the First Millennium

The formative period of the classical world religion,

with the development of early Judaism and
Zoroastrianism in the near east, and Vedic religion
and Vedanta, Jainism and Buddhism in India.

World population: more than doubled over the

course of the millennium, from about an estimated
50–100 million to an estimated 170–300 million.

Close to 90% of world population at the end of the

first millennium BC lived in the Iron Age
civilizations of the Old World:
Roman Empire, Parthian Empire, Hindu Kingdom
and Han China.
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Chang’an was an ancient capital of more than ten
dynasties in Chinese history, today known as
Xi'an. Chang'an means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical
Chinese since it was a capital that was repeatedly
used by new Chinese rulers.
 Cities in the Medieval World

Medieval cities were protected by high

walls. Inside the walls, the streets were
narrow and unpaved. There was usually
a square in the centre of the city. This
square had the most important public
buildings: the cathedral, the town and the
marketplace.

Venice, Baghdad, Cairo, Paris,

Jerusalem

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 The Modern City:

A modern city has technological conveniences

like sewers, streets and traffic lights. It has
buildings, usually high-rises. There will also be
planned green places like parks. A modern city
should also have a system of public transportation
and services like schools and hospitals.

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 Societal collapse (Civilization collapse)
Possible causes of a societal collapse:
Natural catastrophe, War, famine, Economic
collapse, Population decline, Mass migration.

Fall of a complex human society characterized by

the loss of :
Cultural Identity, Socioeconomic Complexity,
Downfall of Government, Rise of Violence

Virtually all civilizations have suffered such a fate, regardless

of their size or complexity, but some of them later revived
and transformed, such as China, India, and Egypt. However,
others never recovered, such as the Western and Eastern
Roman Empires, the Maya civilization, and the Easter Island
civilization.
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Introduction to Sustainability

17 Instructor: Mostafa Salari Fall 2022

 What is Sustainability:

United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA):

“Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and wellbeing
depends, either directly or indirectly on our environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the
conditions, under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the
social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations. Sustainability is
important to make sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials and resources to
protect human health and our environment.”

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 What is Sustainable Development

“Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Reference: Brundtland GH 1987, our common future-report to UN general assembly by

the World Commission on Environment and Development

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 “Sustainable development is the pathway to sustainability”

Ø Core elements of sustainable development:

Environmental: Ensuring we are consuming our natural resources at a sustainable rate?

Economic: use of resources efficiently and in a sustainable manner to consistently produce an

operational profit.

Social: ability to persistently achieve a good social well-being.

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 Why we need sustainable development?

Population increase

Consumption of Resources

Emissions/Waste

Environmental Health

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 What is Ideal in Sustainable development

Triple bottom line concept:

Ø Viable
Ø Equitable
Ø Bearable

Job Opportunity Development

Resource Efficiency
Environmental Justice
Healthy water supply

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