Sustainability by Design Creating a Common Understanding of Sustainability Jay Moynihan Community Development Education Shawano County

Most common definition of sustainability: "meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Actually, of “sustainable development”, From “Our Common Future”, by the Brundtland Commission, aka UN World Commission on the Environment and Development (1987) Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland

"meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Hmmmmmmmmm… What does that mean? …And how?

What do we know?

Sustainability: Describes a future state Science provides a description of the key features of that state That state is dynamic and adaptable “Sustainable development” is the process…. ……of moving towards that state

“Pleistocene of South America” by D. Bogdanov We also know: In nature there are no winners or losers. Only survivors.

Economy Natural Capital & Services Culture Our economic and cultural behaviors are totally dependent on the non-human world. We also know:

Natural Capital & Services Culture What we spend nearly all of our time thinking about. We also know: The Economy Jobs!

We also know CultureThe Economy Natural Capital & Services

We also know: Yesterday’s solutions are often today’s problems. We are now facing the challenges of our species’ success

We also know: We are facingThe Perfect Storm Rapid Climate Change “Peak Oil”/Energy Costs (once again, when the economy improves) Fresh Water Scarcity

In the early 1990’s Paul Hawken was working on his book The Ecology of Commerce, and had hundreds of 3x5 cards pasted all over the walls and ceiling. …The cards were about our problems. Paul got really depressed. A story

All of a sudden he said to himself, Geez, it is a design problem! Luckily, we are good at design!

Luckily, science provides us with the broad, general “specs” for sustainability, The parameters within which we are free to design solutions.

Scientific Laws & PrinciplesMeaning 1 Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed. 1st law of thermodynamics and the principle of conservation of matter. It is impossible to “throw something away”. It just changes form. 2 Matter and energy tend to disperse. (2nd law of thermodynamics) Entropy Matter and energy never go away, they change form. Matter tends to simplify absent an energy input. 3 Material quality is characterized by concentration and structure of matter. We never consume energy or matter-- only its quality, (the degree of order within energy and matter), purity and structure. 4 Net increase in material quality on earth can only be produced by sun-driven processes. All the energy for everything we do was and is produced by the sun.

Add together the 4 laws & principles, and you get: The cyclic principle Waste must not systematically accumulate in nature, and reconstruction of material quality must be at least as large as its dissipation.

The Cyclic Principle is not just some cool idea. It is the most basic rule of long term survival here It provides the core of our design space It is at the center of the new economic path and long term job growth in the 21 st century Waste must not systematically accumulate in nature, and reconstruction of material quality must be at least as large as its dissipation. Mother Nature

What we Know The Cyclic Principle → A Design Framework System Conditions

System Conditions Describe a Sustainable Society They are not negotiable. But The way you satisfy them and the rate you at which you satisfy them, is. ( But remember, nature always bats last.)

System Conditions In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing......concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust,...concentrations of substances produced by society,...degradation of nature by physical means, …and, in that society, people are not subject to conditions that sytematically undermine......their capacity to meet their needs.

System Conditions In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing... 1.concentrations of substances extracted from the earth’s crust e.g. heavy metals, mercury, lead, cadmium; fossil fuels 2.concentrations of substances produced by society e.g. 70,000+ chemicals; dioxins, PCBs, flame retardants 3.degradation by physical means e.g. forests, fisheries, farm lands … and in that society … 4.people’s needs are met worldwide e.g. air, water, food, shelter, quality of life

Change is really the only constant in our universe. Rapid Change = Risk + Opportunity Opportunities…

Apollo Alliance Coalition of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders representing over 17M Americans Created in Inspired by Apollo space program Working to catalyze a clean energy revolution in the U.S. to reduce dependence on foreign oil, cut the carbon emissions that are destabilizing the climate, and expand opportunities for U.S. businesses and workers. Promotes policies and initiatives to speed investment in clean energy technology and energy efficiency, put millions of Americans to work in well-paid, green collar jobs, and make the U.S. a global leader in clean energy products and services.

Clean Tech: Magnet for Venture Capital “Green Gold Rush" Global investment in renewable energy surged 60% to $148B in 2007, (UNEP report, July 08) Global Projections for Clean Tech (Clean Edge forecast, March 08) from $77B to $254.5B (4X) Biofuels (ethanol & biodiesel): from $25.4B to $81.1B Wind power: from $30.1B to $83.4B Solar photovoltaics: from a $20.3B to $74B Fuel cell / distributed hydrogen: from $1.4B to $15.6B

“Every $1B capital investment in energy and efficiency would create approximately 9,500 building-retrofit jobs. Such an investment would also create 1,200 jobs from building and installing solar photovoltaic panels and about 900 wind-energy jobs” "In the jobs-creation sweepstakes, retrofitting buildings runs away with it. That's about 10-to-1 over any other investment." ~ Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute founder (Nov 08) ~ Green Retrofits Job Creation

Potential Green Jobs in U.S. Study by Global Insight for US Conference of Mayors ( Oct 08) 2008: 750,000 green jobs 419,000 in Engineering, Legal, Research and Consulting 127,000 Renewable power generation 57,500 in Agriculture and Forestry 2038: 4.2M jobs - 5 times today; fastest growing job segment 1.23M in renewable electricity production 1.50M in alternative transportation fuels 1.40M in engineering, legal, research, and consulting 0.81M in commercial and residential Retrofits 2038 Assumptions 40% alternative electricity; retrofits reduce electricity demand by 35% in existing buildings; 30% alternate fuels.

Crisis is Resetting the Economy “If you think this is only a cycle, you’re just wrong. This is a permanent reset. There are going to be elements of the economy that will never be the same, ever.” “The NA companies best positioned to tap that growth will be the ones that double-down on investments in innovation and technology during the downturn. If you keep investing in technology and innovation in the worst of times, your competitive advantage grows." (Jeff Immelt, CEO, General Electric, Feb 09) Tyler Hamilton, The Toronto Star, Feb. 11, 2009

And that is just the beginning…. “Green Jobs” The jobs that it will take to essentially redesign the industrial and consumer economy

Rapid climate change Declining fresh water resource Decline of fossil fuels Increasing economic disparity All hands on deck!

Are you up to the job?

Tools for the Job

Systems Thinking Systems Dynamics Triple Bottom Line Industrial Ecology Cradle to Cradle Rapid Climate Change & Energy Strategy Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Green Building Bio-based Production Full Cost Accounting Life Cycle Assessment Ecological Design Biomimetics/Biomimicry

Innovation Political Will Courage Communication Cooperation A sense of urgency A desire for a better life for our children

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Albert Einstein