Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering

Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering Module 17 Wrap Up of the Course Richard N. Wright, Dist.M.ASCE 17.1

Outline • Sustainability and the Triple Bottom Line • Demands for Sustainable Engineering • Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering • Professional Certification in Sustainable Engineering • Course Evaluation and Initiation of Feedback

Sustainability • Sustainability is a set of environmental, economic and social conditions in which all of society has the capacity and opportunity to maintain and improve its quality of life indefinitely without degrading the quantity, quality or the availability of natural resources and ecosystems • Sustainable civil infrastructure provides environmental, economic and societal well-being, now and for the future www.asce.org/ProgramProductLine.aspx?id=7085

Triple Bottom Line Sustainable Environmental Stewardship

Demands for Sustainable Engineering • Society needs infrastructure supporting economic, environmental and societal sustainability • ASCE’s Code of Ethics says engineers “shall strive to comply with principles of sustainable development” • Sustainability calls for mastery of knowledge beyond that required for professional licensure www.asce.org/AggregateContent.aspx?id=7109

The Engineer of 2020 The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century, National Academy of Engineering • To enhance the nation’s economic productivity and improve the quality of life worldwide, engineering education in the United States must anticipate and adapt to the dramatic changes of engineering practice. The Engineer of 2020 urges the engineering profession to recognize what engineers can build for the future through a wide range of leadership roles in industry, government, and academia not just through technical jobs www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10999

Body of Knowledge • Appendix L.Sustainability, Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century, ASCE, 2008

ASCE Vision 2025 & Roadmap The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 • Entrusted by society to create a sustainable world and enhance the global quality of life, civil engineers serve competently, collaboratively, and ethically as master: • planners, designers, constructors, and operators of society’s economic and social engine -- the built environment; • stewards of the natural environment and its resources; • innovators and integrators of ideas and technology across the public, private, and academic sectors; • managers of risk and uncertainty caused by natural events, accidents, and other threats; and • leaders in discussions and decisions shaping public environmental and infrastructure policy www.asce.org/PPLContent.aspx?id=2147486914

ASCE Policy on Sustainability Policy 418, The Role of the Civil Engineer in Sustainable Development: • “The American Society of Civil Engineers supports the following public and private sector strategies and efforts to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions” • “Sustainable development requires strengthening and • broadening the education of engineers and finding • innovative ways to achieve beneficial development while • conserving and preserving natural resources” Policy 488, Greenhouse Gases: www.asce.org/ProgramProductLine.aspx?id=7083

Owners and Public Need • Authoritative Professional Certification in Sustainable Engineering, which will be provided by ASCE through Civil Engineering Certification, Inc. • Authoritative Rating of Infrastructure Projects for Sustainability, which also is being developed by ASCE as the basis for a U.S. National Standard www.asce.org/ProgramProductLine.aspx?id=2147486190 www.ansi.org

Course Objectives and Context • Your CERTIFICATE will document your mastery of the TRANSFORMATIONAL concepts of sustainable engineering • This course is the first in the planned program for Professional Certification in Sustainable Engineering • Professional CERTIFICATION will be based on rigorous assessment of knowledge and skills

Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering Objectives • Understanding of Sustainability and its Triple Bottom Line • Understanding Strategic Contribution to Projects • Certificate as a valuable professional credential • Access to program and knowledge base for professional certification

1. Introduction Learning Outcomes • Learn the scope and objectives of Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering • Learn its place in ASCE’s program for Professional Certification in Sustainable Engineering • Learn about ASCE’s Sustainable Infrastructure Project Rating System

2. Transformational Projects Learning Outcomes • Exposure to some of the challenges posed by our non-sustainable model for development • Observations on how these challenges were addressed

3. Trends and Issues Learning Outcomes • What are the problems and issues associated with sustainable development • Also, the misperceptions! • What are the critical issues in sustainability: for engineers and for society • What is the role of engineers and how can they fulfill that role • Reasons for engineering leadership

4. Earth Systems Learning Outcomes • Define and use “systems thinking” in the context of anthropogenic and natural systems • Identify ways in which engineered systems interact with natural systems • Explain how attributes of natural ecosystems can assist in the design of engineered systems using concepts in industrial ecology • Explain the key concepts in widely known principles of sustainability

5. Five Capitals Learning Outcomes • Understand how the Economic Growth aspects of the Triple Bottom Line approach to sustainable infrastructure development impact the participants’ project work

6. Social Factors: The Community Learning Outcomes • Understand how the Social Progress (Community Level) aspects of the Triple Bottom Line approach to sustainable infrastructure development impact the participants’ project work

7. Social Factors: Individual Behavior Learning Outcomes • Identify ways in which human activities can become more sustainable • Use basic tenets of social psychology to explain obstacles individuals face when trying to change their behavior • Describe possible ways to overcome the obstacles

8. Sustainability Quadrant Learning Outcomes • How to define and measure conditions of sustainability • Useful tools for establishing sustainability programs and setting priorities

9. Moving Toward the Sustainability Quadrant Learning Outcomes • Understand how industry and government are responding to the issues of sustainability • Learn about what’s driving them • Recognize that we, as engineers are building 2050 today!

10. Project Pathway and Performance Learning Outcomes • How to maximize the opportunities to improve sustainable performance on projects • Doing things right and doing the right things • The importance of striving for restorative performance

11. Life Cycle Cost/Benefit Learning Outcomes • Learn techniques for life cycle cost and benefit assessments • Learn about advanced techniques for probabilistic and sensitivity analyses, benefit-to-cost ratios, and comparing incommensurate benefits and costs • Learn how to access information sources on the methods and data for such assessments

12. Life Cycle Assessment Learning Outcomes • Define two types of life cycle assessments • State the advantages and disadvantages of each type • Perform simple calculations with both types to determine which of several alternatives has the lowest environmental impacts

13. Environmental Policies, Regulations and Innovation Learning Outcomes • Understanding NEPA as the First Enabling Legislation of Sustainability in the U.S. • Knowledge of EPA‘s Role Regarding NEPA • Knowledge of Statutes That Define EPA‘s Regulatory Authorities • Understanding How Regulatory Streamlining Can Support Sustainable Resource Protection • Understanding Green Infrastructure -as Practice for Sustainable Water Resource Protection

14. World View Learning Outcomes • Delivering sustainable infrastructure projects outside the Developed World must contend with complications in the economic and social realms • Physics and chemistry may be the same, but the cultural, economic and institutional settings present unique complexities

15. Delivering Sustainable Projects Learning Outcomes • Explain how to apply sustainability in project work • Identify sustainable practices and opportunities in all stages of project work • Describe reasons to align with stakeholders • Explain value of incorporating sustainability into constructability process

16. Leadership Perspectives Learning Outcomes • Learn the policies and strategies ASCE has developed to advance sustainability in civil engineering practice

17. Wrap Up Learning Outcomes • Review Learning Outcomes of Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering • Provide Evaluation of Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering • Initiate Sustained Feedback on ASCE’s program for Professional Certification in Sustainable Engineering

Examination for Certificate • Written, on-line, multiple choice examination • Tests understanding of principles and concepts of sustainability • Discussion questions with each module cover the topics of the examination

Professional Certification in Sustainable Engineering • The professional will be certified to provide professional services for sustainability • The body of knowledge is that required to design and deliver sustainable infrastructure projects. It will cover the body of knowledge for ASCE’s Sustainable Project Rating System • Professional licensure will be prerequisite for certification • Certification will require passing a written examination comparable to the PE exam and continuing education

Proposed Courses of the Program On-line courses, links to self study resources, multiple choice examinations • Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering covering the principles and concepts of sustainability and sustainable infrastructure • Transformational Project Planning and Management covering transformational approaches to design and construction and active financial, environmental and societal management delivering planned project performance

Proposed Courses of the Program • Community Involvement covering engagement with local groups, amenities, and minimizing impacts and nuisances • Land Use and Ecological Issues covering legal requirements, remediation, landscape and habitat preservation • Water and Air Issues covering protection of the water environment, storm water, flood hazards, water conservation. stack discharges, environmental and indoor air quality, public and workforce health • Assessments of Project Life Cycle Impacts covering economic, environmental and societal aspects of energy, materials and waste

Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering