Sustainable Engineering: Concepts, Design and Case Studies

Description

Assessing Engineering Designs for Environmental, Economic, and Social Impact

Engineers will play a central role in addressing one of the twenty-first century's key challenges: the development of new technologies that address societal needs and wants within the constraints imposed by limited natural resources and the need to protect environmental systems.

To create tomorrow's sustainable products, engineers must carefully consider environmental, economic, and social factors in evaluating their designs. Fortunately, quantitative tools for incorporating sustainability concepts into engineering designs and performance metrics are now emerging. Sustainable Engineering introduces these tools and shows how to apply them.

Building on widely accepted principles they first introduced in Green Engineering, David T. Allen and David R. Shonnard discuss key aspects of designing sustainable systems in any engineering discipline. Their powerful, unified approach integrates essential engineering and quantitative design skills, industry perspectives, and case studies, enabling engineering professionals, educators, and students to incorporate sustainability throughout their work. Coverage includes

* A concise review of the natural resource and environmental challenges engineers face when designing for sustainability
* Analysis and legislative frameworks for addressing environmental issues and sustainability
* Methods for identifying green and sustainable materials
* Principles for improving the sustainability of engineering designs
* Tools for evaluating sustainable designs and monetizing their benefits

CONTENTS:

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

About the Authors xiii

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Sustainability 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 The Magnitude of the Sustainability Challenge 2

1.3 Energy 3

1.4 Materials Use 8

1.5 Environmental Emissions 13

1.6 Summary 27

Problems 28

References 32

Chapter 2: Risk and Life-Cycle Frameworks for Sustainability 35

2.1 Introduction 35

2.2 Risk 35

2.3 Life-Cycle Frameworks 42

2.4 Life-Cycle Assessment Tools 55

2.5 Summary 57

Problems 57

Appendix: Readily Available Hazard References 61

References 62

Chapter 3: Environmental Law and Regulation 65

3.1 Introduction 65

3.2 Nine Prominent Federal Environmental Statutes 68

3.3 Evolution of Regulatory and Voluntary Programs from End-of-Pipe to Pollution Prevention and Sustainability 72

3.4 Pollution Prevention Concepts and Terminology 73

3.5 Environmental Law and Sustainability 74

Problems 75

Appendix 77

References 89

Chapter 4: Green, Sustainable Materials 91

4.1 Introduction 91

4.2 Environmental and Natural Resource Use Footprints of Material Extraction and Refining 91

4.3 Tracking Material Flows in Engineered Systems 99

4.4 Environmental Releases 107

4.5 Summary 114

Problems 114

References 115

Chapter 5: Design for Sustainability: Economic, Environmental, and Social Indicators 117

5.1 Introduction 117

5.2 Sustainable Engineering Design Principles 118

5.3 Economic Performance Indicators 126

5.4 Environmental Performance Indicators 133

5.5 Social Performance Indicators 146

5.6 Summary 149

Problems 149

Appendix 151

References 160

Chapter 6: Case Studies 165

6.1 Introduction 165

6.2 Biofuels for Transportation 166

6.3 Transportation, Logistics, and Supply Chains 181

6.4 Sustainable Built Environments 186

6.5 Additional Case Studies 201

References 201

Index 207