1. Main point Storyboard Awareness of personal role: Awareness of facts:
Sustainable development is a way of thinking that involves a) living within the thermodynamic limits of the natural system; b) Increasing the sufficiency of real human wealth for all.
Awareness of personal role:
Mindset needed to engage in design for sustainable development
Awareness of facts:
Meadows/Daly framework for sustainable development indicators
Awareness of strategies:
Design strategies for sustainable development
For more in-depth information on sustainable development, see pp. 1-22, J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009). 
what is my role as an engineer?
why indicators, why sustainability?
3 basic types of indicators needed
thermodynamic realities
what personal development do I need?
upstream design principles
LCA & other tools
redefine problem; look for human element
Efficiency of creating well-being
Sufficiency of human well-being for all
Sustainability of environmental integrity
This work was made possible by the National Science Foundation’s DUE# | © Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa

2. Sustainable Development
The engineer’s role 2

3. Sustainable Development
Using regenerated income, not principle
Increasing sufficiency of real human “well-being” for all
expenses ≤ income
comfort, happiness, health
principle
(economic, social and natural resources)
income
expenses
flow
flow
1.6 An activity will not be sustainable unless A) its effective consumption of resources is less than the environment’s ability to regenerate those resources and B) it functions to increase societal equity;
1.9 Sustainability indicators derive from social, environmental and economic measures.
3.2 Recognize the connection between sustainable development and topics such as system thinking, population, water, material and energy;
4.1 View the field of engineering as one of tackling challenges caused by the global economic system (i.e., as a field with a high human purpose).
Sustainability is fundamentally about balancing the capacity of the natural system with the demands of the social system
Note that development is different than growth. Growth implies increasing in size, whereas development increasing in quality. This difference in focus implies that in order to measure “development,” we must use indicators (or measures) for quality.
To illustrate, consider this: What is the difference between the quantity of engineering designs produced by a firm and the quality of engineering designs produced by a firm?
stock
Activity
What happens when expenses exceed income? Give examples of income, principle, and expenditures for economic, social and natural resources. 3

4. ends means happiness, community, enlightenment
H. Daly, D. Meadows
happiness, community, enlightenment
How does sustainable development concern an engineer? To consider this, we must examine the idea of human existence and engineers as part of the human race.
In examining human existence in general, the ultimate ends include transcendent qualities like happiness, community and enlightenment. The means, depending on one’s mental model, may include things shown here, like technology and wealth.
means
technology, wealth, natural capital

5. ends
H. Daly, D. Meadows
happiness, community, enlightenment
I dedicate my professional knowledge and skill to the advancement and betterment of human [health, happiness and fortune].
NSPE Engineer’s Creed, 1957
3.4 Relate the concept of sustainable development to their own behavior and decisions ;
4.2 Understand their role in sustainable development;
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
5.2 View the field of engineering as one of tackling challenges caused by the global economic system (i.e., as a field with a high human purpose);
5.4 Care about their community (e.g., campus), environment;
If we compare the National Society of Professional Engineer’s ethics statement, their Engineer’s Creed, to the ultimate means and ends, it points out that the engineer’s purpose is arguably around advancing the attainment of the ultimate ends of human existence.
Here, the term “welfare” that is in the actual statement has been replaced by its definition, “health, happiness and fortune.”
The engineering profession in the last 50 years has focused largely achieving the means, perhaps with mental model that these means would achieve the ends. While the engineering profession has accomplished great things, the purpose of the engineer is strongly aligned with achieving the ultimate ends. The assumption that perpetual technological achievements promotes happiness may not be accurate. Numerous studies show that, for example, advanced technology, is not always a pathway to happiness.
So in considering our role as engineers in the larger society, we can see that our professional goals are not only aligned with the ultimate human ends, but with the goals of sustainable development (“improvement”).
For more in-depth information on defining sustainability and understanding some of the global discussions on this topic, see pp. 4-8, J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).  There is a information on engineering ethics and risk that includes environmental justices and indigenous people and the environment on pp
means
technology, wealth, natural capital

6. Engineer’s Creed
Engineer’s Creed
(National Society of Professional Engineers, 1954)
I dedicate my professional knowledge to the advancement and betterment of human welfare*.
*welfare-health, happiness and fortune
Activity
Describe how preserving the environment is consistent with the “enhancement and betterment of human welfare” stated in the Engineer’s Creed.
3.4 Relate the concept of sustainable development to their own behavior and decisions;
3.6 Describe the importance of environmental integrity (species diversity, health of ecosystem) to real human well-being;
4.2 Understand their role in sustainable development;
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
5.2 View the field of engineering as one of tackling challenges caused by the global economic system (i.e., as a field with a high human purpose);
5.4 Care about their community (e.g., campus), environment;
6.5 Practice the virtues of inquiry and critical thinking when evaluating new information.
This professional statement of purpose was developed by the NSPE in This continues to be the engineer’s creed (“Organization’s statement of belief”).
How does this statement differ from your understanding of the purpose of the engineering profession?
For more in-depth information on issues that affect engineering practice, see pp. 9-21, J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).  For a discussion on the importance of biodiversity, see pp For a discussion on engineering ethics and risk, see pp This includes topics like environmental justice and indigenous peoples and the environment.
Alternative Activity
Draw a causal loop diagram that illustrates how preserving the environment is consistent with the “enhancement and betterment of human welfare” stated in the Engineer’s Creed. 6

7. Grand Challenges of Engineering
Sustainability
Health
Safety
The joy of living
Activity
How do each of the four areas fit within the role of the engineer as expressed in the Engineer’s Creed?
Alternative Activity
Draw a causal loop diagram showing how the four areas fit within the role of the engineer as expressed in the Engineer’s Creed?
2.1 Use causal loop diagram to approximate the behavior of a complex system;
3.4 Relate the concept of sustainable development to their own behavior and decisions;
3.6 Describe the importance of environmental integrity (species diversity, health of ecosystem) to real human well-being;
4.2 Understand their role in sustainable development;
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
5.2 View the field of engineering as one of tackling challenges caused by the global economic system (i.e., as a field with a high human purpose);
5.4 Care about their community (e.g., campus), environment;
6.5 Practice the virtues of inquiry and critical thinking when evaluating new information.
In 2007, the NAE convened a group of national visionaries and leaders to ask them to identify the engineering grand challenges for the 21st century. They identified 14 grand challenges and categorized them into four general categories.
As shown, “Sustainability” is one of the four categories of challenges, as is “the joy of living.” How do these categories fit within the engineer’s creed?
For more in-depth information on how health is related to sustainability, see pp , J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).  7

8. Sustainable Development
“Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
(The World Commission on Environment and Development, United Nations,1987)
1.1 Remember the Brundtland Report definition of sustainable development;
1.2 Understand that the term “sustainable development” has many interpretations;
3.3 Identify sustainable indicators that have a local and global relevance;
4.4 Appreciate others’ views on sustainability and see a situation from another’s perspective;
4.5 Sustainable solutions require the consideration of all peoples’ aspirations and the collaboration with others;
5.4 Care about their community (e.g., campus), environment;
6.5 Practice the virtues of inquiry and critical thinking when evaluating new information.
This definition is the most accepted definition of sustainability. However, sustainability as defined here is vague and leaves a lot of questions that need to be answered such as exactly what to sustain and how do we know what are the needs of future generations without knowing the future? Will oil or coal be the main source of energy in the future or will they find a new source of energy, that therefore allow us to use those natural resources without concern of the future?
For more in-depth information on definitions, see pp. 4-6, J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).  Does the issue of environmental justices fit into this definition? (pp ).
Classroom Activity
(2 minutes)
Discuss the above definition. What are needs of the present? What are needs of future generations? How those needs are met? 8

9. Facts: The signs for needed change9

10. Our Earth: A Closed Thermodynamic System
1.5 Remember that economies (“the trade of goods and services”) are wholly-owned subsidiaries of societies, both of which require a healthy environment to thrive;
The important part here is that in a closed thermodynamic system, there is no exchange of mass with the surroundings. We can exchange energy with the surroundings, as we do, but all the mass that is used or that is toxic essentially comes from or stays within our closed thermodynamic systems.
This has many design implications which will be addressed in the slides on design principles.
Activity (2 minutes)
Identify the sources and sinks for materials used in our economy, which sits wholly within a closed, thermodynamic system? Do the same for energy. 10

11. Accelerated glacial melting
3.2 Recognize the connection between sustainable development and topics such as system thinking, population, water, material and energy;
4.1 Understand both sides of the sustainable development balancing equation (capacity of the natural system and demands of the social system) can be altered significantly by human actions and their impact on the local environment, global environment, and community;
Instructor: “After years of moving at a relatively stable speed, Helheim Glacier in southern Greenland has dramatically accelerated. According to a University of California-Santa Cruz study, the glacier's peak rate of flow has increased from 8 km per year in 2000 to 11 km per year in In addition to flowing more rapidly the glacier thinned by 40 meters between 2001 and The calving front of the glacier − the area where the ice breaks away and falls into the ocean − has retreated by approximately 5 km. These images show the retreat of Helheim Glacier's calving front between September of 1986 (Landsat) and July of 2006 (ASTER).”
From:
This evidence implies a thermodynamic system that is not in steady state, but in a state of increasing heat input over time. Explain this conclusion using systems.
Hint: Create a system boundary around the glaciers and then evaluate the changes in energy required for accelerated glacial melting (rise in the rate of melting over time). If Q is heat in and Q’ is heat out, we expect Q’/Q to be a constant in steady state. That is, dQ/dt = 0 in steady state, but accelerated melting implies d/dt (dQ/dt))>0, which is not a steady state.
For more in-depth information on definitions, see pp. 4-6, J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).  Does the issue of environmental justices fit into this definition? (pp ).
09 Sept 1986
30 July 2006
Edge of Helheim Glacier, Greenland 11

12. Ecological Footprint Ecological Footprint (giga hectares)
4.1 Understand both sides of the sustainable development balancing equation (capacity of the natural system and demands of the social system) can be altered significantly by human actions and their impact on the local environment, global environment, and community;
This graphic depicts the annual “big picture” view of the earth. In this image, the material and energy inputs to the economy (red circle) are represented by the arrows. They enter the economy in a high-grade form (left) and exit in a lower grade form (right).
The ecological footprint, a concept developed by Wackrnagel et al. , tracks these flows by evaluating the total biocapacity (productivity) of the earth in terms of area (measured in hectares) required to produce the materials or absorb wastes (primarily CO2) associated with the economic activity.
The annual productivity of the earth can be thought of as the annual interest on that the earth earns on its natural capital, which is like the principle in a bank account.
Since the mid-1980’s, we have been globally “overspending” our annual income by ~40% (i.e., our expense are 140% of our income) by Wackernagel et al’s analysis. Practically speaking, since we can’t really spend what we don’t yet have, we have been accumulating “debt” in the form of increasing atmospheric SO. This CO2 is waiting to be absorbed. Natural rates of absorption are about 40 years according to the IPCC.
M. Wackernagel, L. Onisto, P. Bello, A. Callejas Linares, I. Susana Lopez Falfan, J. Mendez Garcia, A. Isabel Suarez Guerrero and M. Guadalupe Suarez Guerrero, National natural capital accounting with the ecological footprint concept, Ecological Economics 29 (1999), no. 3,
Ecological Footprint
(giga hectares)
Area of land needed to generate resources and absorb wastes from human economic activity = 12

13. Area within the Great Lakes watershed ~0.58 M km2
Ecological Footprint
These next two images illustrate the concept of ecological footprint. As shown here, the Great Lakes region of Michigan can be circumscribed by a circle with a certain diameter.
Area within the Great Lakes watershed ~0.58 M km2 13

14. Area within the Great Lakes watershed ~0.58 M km2
Ecological Footprint
Current human activity Michigan requires an equivalent of 8 x the actual area, or 4.6 M km2.
Is this sustainable?
3.2 Recognize the connection between sustainable development and topics such as system thinking, population, water, material and energy;
4.1 Understand both sides of the sustainable development balancing equation (capacity of the natural system and demands of the social system) can be altered significantly by human actions and their impact on the local environment, global environment, and community;
If we were to blow up the region to the actual area of land needed to support the economic activity of the Great Lakes area, we would need a circle that had a diameter that was almost three times the size of the actual area.
Would this be considered a sustainable situation?
Area within the Great Lakes watershed ~0.58 M km2 14

15. Ecological Footprint
Global expenses have been ~140% of its ecological footprint income since ~1985.
World average available ~2 gha/person;
US use ~13 gha/person
3.2 Recognize the connection between sustainable development and topics such as system thinking, population, water, material and energy;
3.4 Relate the concept of sustainable development to their own behavior and decisions;
4.1 Understand both sides of the sustainable development balancing equation (capacity of the natural system and demands of the social system) can be altered significantly by human actions and their impact on the local environment, global environment, and community;
4.2 Understand their role in sustainable development;
This graph illustrates the availability of ecological resources that are available by region and it also shows how much resources are being used by the each region. The height of each bar is in proportion to a region’s average footprint (expenditures) per person, the width is proportional to its population, and the area to the region’s total Ecological Footprint (population x footprint/capita). A comparison of each region’s footprint with its biocapacity shows whether that region has an ecological reserve or is running a deficit. Even with its considerable biocapacity, North America has the largest per person deficit, with the average person using 3.7 global hectares more than the region has available. The European Union (EU) is next: with a per person deficit of 2.6 global hectares. At the other extreme is Latin America, with ecological reserves of 3.4 global hectares per capita. The average person’s footprint in the region is only about a third of the biocapacity available in the region per person.
You might be wondering...how can we spend more bioresources than the world produces in a year? Remember that the footprint also includes the area of arable land that is needed to absorb the wastes, so if this exceeds what is available, the wastes accumulate. In the footprint calculations, the "wastes" are primarily CO2. So, the reason that our consumption rate is so greatly exceeding the biocapacitive rate is primarily because of CO2 emissions that cannot be absorbed in the annual time frame.
For copyright information go to:
2006 Living Planet Report available at:
For more in-depth information on carrying capacity see pp , for information on growth models and human population see pp , for information on the IPAT Equation see p. 180, for information on ecological footprinting see pp , and information on water footprinting, see pp , J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).  Table 5.5 on p. 181 provides information on ecological footprints of countries from around the world.
See the Wackernagel reference in Ecological Footprint slide for a deeper treatment of the footprint concept. 15
WWF Living-Planet Report 2006
© 2006 WWF (panda.org). Some rights reserved.

16. Materials Flows in the Economy
This graphic, developed by Graedle et al (Yale University), represents the flow of some key materials in the global economy.
The bottom right graphically depicts the fraction of the world population represented by the U.S. (~4.7%, blue people icons). As shown at the right, some of these materials are recycled in the economy.
The circular figure indicates how many years, presuming today’s consumption rate, there will be before we consume all the available key materials.
Things to consider: Is the assumption of today’s consumption rate reasonable? Why or why not? What would it mean for us to “run out” of certain materials?
Find five resources that are likely to run out first. How long are these resources expected to last? Do we need the products they support?
Activity 7 16

17. Interaction among Human and Environment
2 earths needed by 2050
Evidence of past 30 years:
the shrinking ice in the Arctic;
melting glaciers;
growth of cities like Las Vegasl
forest loss in the Amazon;
the decline of the Aral Sea and Lake Chad
4.1 Understand both sides of the sustainable development balancing equation (capacity of the natural system and demands of the social system) can be altered significantly by human actions and their impact on the local environment, global environment, and community;
Introduce examples of how human activity changes the environment of the Earth.
Watch video of glacial degradation:
Interactive map available at following site:
Various power point slides are available at this site
From:
For more in-depth information on climate change and its environmental impacts, see pp , 163, 208, 367, J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).  17

18. Meadows Framework for Sustainable Development Indicators
source: D. Meadows, “Indicators and Information Systems for Sustainable Development,” A Report to the Balaton Group, The Sustainability Institute, Hartland, VT (1998) 18

19. Indicators From the Daly Triangle Ultimate Ends Well-being
Intermediate Ends
Intermediate Means
Ultimate Means
Well-being
Harmony, community,
Enlightenment, self-respect
Knowledge, wealth, mobility
Social, human, and built capital to convert resources to well-being
Labor, tools, infrastructure
2.2 Understand that the term “sustainable development” has many interpretations;
3.2 Recognize the connection between sustainable development and topics such as system thinking, population, water, material and energy;
One framework used to create sustainable development indicators has been developed by on of the early pioneers in sustainability, Donella Meadows ( ).
She used the Daly Triangle as a conceptual depiction of humanity’s purpose. This triangle was created by the ecological economist, Herman Daly (1938- ). This triangle, represented in this slide as a glower, depicts the ultimate ends of human existence as being “well-being,” where we achieve the higher order psychological needs. The ultimate means by which we have to achieve these are the existing natural capital.
In between are the intermediate means and ends by which the ultimate ends are achieved.
D. Meadows, "Indicators and information systems for sustainable development," Sustainability Institute, 1998, pp
Natural capital
Raw materials, solar energy, biosphere, biochemical cycles
Indicators
like “design specifications”, they help you know when you have achieved your goal 19

20. Sustainable Development Indicators
Meadows suggests three indicator types:
real human
well-being
measures ratio,or efficiency of converting resources to real human well-being
sufficiency for all 1 3
sustainability 2
environmental integrity
Indicators = “design specifications”
1.4 Understand that sustainable design addresses societal, economic and environmental concerns in an integrated (or holistic) way;
1.6 Create innovative solutions (strategies, designs, consumption patterns, policy) that have the potential to make the system more sustainable;
1.9 Learn how to manage campus sustainable development projects with application of all above thinking;
1.12 A minimum set of sustainable development indicators must include indicators for a) sufficiency of real human well-being for all and 2) sustainability of environmental integrity, and 3) the ratio of the two, which measures the efficiency of converting natural capital to real human well-being;
2.2 Identify appropriate sustainable development indicators for a system;
2.7 Learn to set sustainable development goals and select appropriate indicators and methods to monitor sustainability performance of a system;
2.9 Learn how to manage campus sustainable development projects with application of all above thinking
3.4 Relate the concept of sustainable development to their own behavior and decisions;
3.5 Develop a set of sustainable development indicators for their lives;
4.5 Sustainable solutions require the consideration of all peoples’ aspirations and the collaboration with others;
Donella Meadows suggested that a complete set of indicators demands a minimum of three indicators shown here.
Indicators are like design specifications. They enable you to measure whether you’ve achieved your design goals.
For more in-depth information on how indicators for measuring sustainability, see pp , J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).  On page 301 there are links to indicators, for example, indicators used for transportation and for Sustainable Seattle.
Activity (2 minutes)
Pick any two of these three types of indicators. What would be the danger of only measuring these two? 20

21. Sustainability of Natural Resources
Daly Rules for environmental integrity
sustainability 2
use rate < regeneration rate ≤
Metric tons
Metric tons
Renewable resources:
year
year
consumed
regenerated
Metric tons ≤
Metric tons
Non-Renewable resources:
1.6 An activity will not be sustainable unless A) its effective consumption of resources is less than the environment’s ability to regenerate those resources and B) it functions to increase societal equity;
2.2 Identify appropriate sustainable development indicators for a system;
3.4 Relate the concept of sustainable development to their own behavior and decisions;
3.5 Develop a set of sustainable development indicators for their lives;
4.1 Understand both sides of the sustainable development balancing equation (capacity of the natural system and demands of the social system) can be altered significantly by human actions and their impact on the local environment, global environment, and community;
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
Herman Daly developed specific guidelines around the sustainability of environmental integrity. This would be the second of the three types of indicators from the previous slide.
The bottom line is that the rate of use must be less than (or equal to) the regeneration rate. If you consider the fact that you are using three types of resources (renewable, non-renewable and those that cause pollutants), this leads to three equations that are expressed here.
year
year
consumed
Substitution by
renewables
Metric tons ≤
Metric tons
Pollutants:
year
year
Detoxified and absorbed by natural systems
emitted 21

22. Mindset Required for Designing for Sustainability22

23. “We can’t solve problems at the same level of thinking used to create them.”
Innovation...we must think differently than the thinking that occurred in the industrial age.
Some old thinking: Linear, reducing complex systems to simple, linear models that are isolated from environments. 23

24. Required Inputs to Economy: Past and Present
Biases
Required Inputs to Economy: Past and Present
Pre-industrial (before 1700)
Labor-intensive
(human and animal power)
Industrial ( )
D. Holmgren
Energy-intensive
(fossil fuel power)
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
Throughout human history, there has been the exchange of goods and services that we term “economic activity.” Prior to the industrial revolution, the engine of the economy was labor. This labor was in the form of human power, sometimes in the form of slavery. It was also in the form of animal power, which was usually in the form of slavery.
The industrial revolution ushered in an era of energy-intensive economics. Humanity has been primarily using fossil fuels as the energy source for this economy.
With the availability of fossil fuels dwindling and their deleterious effects on human health and the environment on the rise, we are ushering in the post-industrial age economy. This economy, as stated by Holmgren, will be creativity-intensive. This era will require us to do more with less and do more with other and requires information and innovative design. As a consequence, a key competency to develop for the post-industrial age economy is new thinking.
D. Holmgren (2002), Permaculture: Pinciples & Pathways Beyond Sustainability, Holmgren Design Services, Hepburn, Victoria: Australia.
Post-Industrial (2000-)
Design and information-intensive
(innovation power)
David Holmgren 24

25. symptoms trends policies, technology beliefs, assumptions Events
Patterns
trends
Systemic structures
policies, technology
1.4 Care about their community (e.g., campus), environment;
2.6 Create innovative solutions (strategies, designs, consumption patterns, policy) that have the potential to make the system more sustainable;
4.3 Understand that one’s own view of the world resulting from mental models where facts are ascribed personal meaning is only represent part of the whole situation and is biased by one’s mental models;
6.3 Identify resources to get information for solving the problem from 6.2;
6.5 Practice the virtues of inquiry and critical thinking when evaluating new information.
To consider new thinking, we must first examine old thinking.
The way we see problems is a little like the way we see that tip of an iceberg. As you know, ice is about 10% less dense than water, so 90% of the iceberg’s volume is beneath the surface.
Oftentimes we only see and think of the symptoms...we ask ourselves how we change the symptoms. e.g. we have a headache, we take a pill. Changing the symptoms does not change the underlying patterns of behavior that cause the symptoms.
To change the patterns, we must recognize the systemic structures that create the patterns. For example, there is an epidemic of early on-set of type II diabetes in the United States (event). This results from a pattern of early, excessive consumption of sugar in food (patterns of behavior). That pattern is a result of a tax incentive structure for growing corn in the US that subsidizes the production of corn so that high fructose corn syrup (a form of sugar) is being sold far below market value (Systemic structure).
To fix the systemic structure, we must address the mental models that created the structure in the first place. For the above example, the laws in the 70s that set this system in motion were based on the belief that we can help stabilize the food industry in the US by creating government subsidies for certain crops.
Peter Senge (1990) , The Fifth Discipline, Doubleday Publishers
Mental models
beliefs, assumptions
Peter Senge, Bob Doppelt

26. symptoms trends policies, technology beliefs, assumptions Events
Patterns
trends
Systemic structures
policies, technology
2.4 Define a design problem from a systems view (e.g., The need to relocate an company’s office buildings may be more of an issue of transmitting information instead of creating a new location for people to meet);
2.5 Identify leverage points within a system that can serve to make the system more sustainable;
4.6 Awareness and reflection on mental models facilitates sustainable design;
6.3 Identify resources to get information for solving the problem from 6.2;
6.5 Practice the virtues of inquiry and critical thinking when evaluating new information.
The leverage to change the situation lies far below the symptoms in the mental models that created the systemic structures in the first place.
So, new thinking means getting to these mental models that are perpetuating the current situation and challenging those mental models.
Mental models
beliefs, assumptions
Peter Senge, Bob Doppelt

27. Mental Models at Work Activity What are the mental models at work?
1.3 Remember that proactive prevention of (environmental, societal, or economic) damage requires far fewer resources than reactively attempting to reverse damage after it has occurred;
4.6 Awareness and reflection on mental models facilitates sustainable design;
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
This schematic depicts different stages of “solutions” for the problem of pollution. There are actually different mental models at the core of each of these. For example, underneath the the “unprepared” stage, there are probably mental models such as “My pollution activities are so small, they won’t catch me.” [noncompliance]; “What I’m dumping into the environment won’t harm anything.” [pollution]; “I know that I’m wasting my feedstocks, but it’s so cheap and abundant, it really doesn’t matter in the big picture” [waste].
See if you can identify the mental models that are at work in the interventions of the other stages.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FACULTY:
Pollution control: “What we are putting into the environment could be dangerous”
Compliance: “If we don’t adhere to the rules, we’ll be fined”
Pollution prevention:
Environmental management systems:
Product Stewardship
Design for environment
Life-cycle assessment
Environmental cost accounting: “If we account for the real costs (environmental, social), the market will adjust to control the damage.”
Integrated management systems:
For more in-depth information on recent global discussions on sustainability, see pp. 4-9, J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).
Activity
What are the mental models at work?
5 minutes: Identify the mental models that are at work within each of these stages 27

28. Aristotle, Roger Burton
Final
Formal
intent
design
transpersonal
subject-subject
Material
Efficient
processes
2.6 Create innovative solutions (strategies, designs, consumption patterns, policy) that have the potential to make the system more sustainable;
4.6 Awareness and reflection on mental models facilitates sustainable design;
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
This slide depicts Aristotle’s four types of causality which captures different ways of thinking about the causes of a situation. Aristotle posited that the way something is can be traced to four different sources: material, efficient, formal and final “causes.”
As an example, consider making a sculpture and starting at the bottom left of the figure. If you were making a sculpture, your choice of materials would influence the outcome. The process that you chose would also influence the outcome. So, if your sculpture was ice and you chose to use heat to melt in the shape rather than chisel or cast it, that would influence the final outcome. The design or form of what you had envisioned also influences it; a statue of Mickey Mouse would of course be different than one of a horse. Another source influencing the outcome is the intent. The statue that was intended as a tribute is likely to be different than one that is intended for commercial success.
These four types of causality represent four different world views. The material world view sees “objects”. The efficient world view sees sees a subject and an object. In this world view, the person making design decision sees things and other people as means to an end (or “objects”). In the formal world view, there is a recognition of other people as having valid viewpoints…as being another with an equally valid subjective view (i.e., influenced by one’s own thoughts, feelings and perspective). The final world view recognizes an interconnectedness and indeed an interdependence of all things.
For the last years, western civilization has been focusing their efforts on the bottom half of these set of causes. It is the realm of focus on external things. It is a mechanistic way of viewing the world; it presumes that things are object is to be used and manipulated.
When Einstein urges us that we can’t solve problems at the same level of thinking that we used when we created them, perhaps he would encourage us to evolve to the top half of this diagram, which is more of an internally-focused and motivated domain. It is also a domain where we draw upon the views of other in the information and design-intensive requirements of the post-industrial era.
So these are four types of mental frameworks.
Now, what types of interventions might proceed from each of these?
natural capital
objects
Aristotle, Roger Burton
subject-object

29. Roger Burton, Donella Meadows
intent
design
Envisioning new purpose
Redefining goals
Empowering self-organization
natural capital
processes
2.5 Identify leverage points within a system that can serve to make the system more sustainable;
2.6 Create innovative solutions (strategies, designs, consumption patterns, policy) that have the potential to make the system more sustainable;
4.6 Awareness and reflection on mental models facilitates sustainable design;
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
6.3 Identify resources to get information for solving the problem from 6.2;
6.4 Solve the problem by synthesizing information found through self-directed learning in 6.3;
These four different types of causality give rise to different points of intervention in a system. One could intervene at any point in a system, but the points of intervention have, in theory, different degrees of impact, depicted by the size of the yellow circle.
For example, consider redesigning a car. You could choose different materials (natural capital), or you could ask yourself about the purpose of designing a car. Is it to provide personal access to goods and services? If so, perhaps you can reframe the design problem as “design a way to provide low-impact access to goods and services.” This changes the statement of the problem and allows an opportunity for an “out-of-the-box” solution.
Altering numbers, stocks and flows
Changing System Rules
Roger Burton, Donella Meadows

30. A Vision Test Can you identify this animal
A Vision Test Can you identify this animal? (Divide the room into three groups of viewers, the next image should be seen only by Group 1) 30

31. The next image should be seen only by Group 2
GROUP 1: WHAT IS THIS?
Here is a small test: Ask a 2/3 of the room to close their eyes while you show the other 1/3 this picture.
Announce to the class that you are going to show three pictures of the same thing, but you will only show 1/3 of the class at a time.
Tell them they will be looking at the same animal.
The next image should be seen only by Group 2 31

32. The next image should be seen only by Group 3
Now ask a different 1/3 to look at this picture while the other 2/3 of the students have their eyes closed.
GROUP 2: WHAT IS THIS?
The next image should be seen only by Group 3 32

33. © 2009 - Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa
GROUP 3: WHAT IS THIS?
Lastly, give the last 1/3 a look at this picture while the other 2/3 has their eyes shut.
See if they can guess what the picture was.
You are all looking at the same thing. Take 60 seconds in small groups to indentify what you saw. 33
© Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa

34. © 2009 - Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa
You are all looking at the same thing. Take 60 seconds in small groups to indentify what you saw. 34
© Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa

35. seeing our limits & beyond
Innovative design for sustainability requires
seeing our limits
& beyond
4.3 Understand that one’s own view of the world resulting from mental models where facts are ascribed personal meaning is only represent part of the whole situation and is biased by one’s mental models;
4.4 Appreciate others’ views on sustainability and see a situation from another’s perspective;
4.5 Sustainable solutions require the consideration of all peoples’ aspirations and the collaboration with others;
5.3 Value the perspectives brought by other disciplines in solving sustainable development challenges;
6.5 Practice the virtues of inquiry and critical thinking when evaluating new information.
The point here is that they were indeed looking at the same thing, but from different viewpoints.
It’s a reminder of the parable of three blind men trying to describe to one another what an elephant is. As you can imagine, what each describes depends on where they are standing and what they are able to perceive with their hands. One stands at the tusk and describes an elephant as something hard and smooth; One stands at the leg and describes an elephant as akin to a tree trunk; one stands at the flank and describes an elephant as large, flat and wrinkly. All are correct, but have a limited understanding of what the whole elephant actually looks like.
Sustainability and sustainable development are much like this...the problem is so big and multifaceted that each of us is like one of these blind men, with a limited perspective.
We need to both acknowledge our limitations in viewpoint and to be willing to learn from those outside our field in order to overcome the challenges that we are facing. Again, this puts us up in the “Formal” or “design” type of causality (and thus the design and information- intensive mode of the post-industrial era). 35

36. Design Strategies for Sustainable Development36

37. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Inventories inputs and outputs of product or process life cycle;
Converts inventory to impact in categories (e.g. global warming, acidification, aquatic toxicity, human health);
Applies value-based weighting of categories to compute a single impact number.
1.3 Remember that proactive prevention of (environmental, societal, or economic) damage requires far fewer resources than reactively attempting to reverse damage after it has occurred;
1.7 Identify the strengths and limitations associated with the following decision-making tools: Life-cycle assessment, ecological footprint, design for environment;
3.1 Through research, determine how natural systems and social systems are linked to one another through stocks and flows;
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
5.2 View the field of engineering as one of tackling challenges caused by the global economic system (i.e., as a field with a high human purpose);
At all stages of the life cycle, material and energy are drawn from the environment and wastes are emitted into the environment. Recall that the earth is a closed thermodynamic system. The question becomes at what level do we intervene in the product or process and what types of interventions do we design.
As a guide for designing interventions, one can use the illustrations summarized in the intervention slide.
LCA provides a means for comparing the relative impact of different interventions.
For more in-depth information on life cycle assessment (LCA), see pp , J.R. Mihelcic and J.B. Zimmerman (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009).  This includes an example that performs an LCA on Pipe Materials, pp
For more, see Chapter 7: Mihelcic and Zimmerman
Activity (5 minutes)
What is more valuable, to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, to prevent aquatic toxicity, or to protect human health? 37

38. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Strengths
Considers whole cycle,
Allows consideration of multiple criteria
Facilitates comparison
Limitations
Costly
Imprecision of data
Hidden embedded values
1.7 Identify the strengths and limitations associated with the following decision-making tools: Life-cycle assessment, ecological footprint, design for environment;
The strengths of the LCA method are listed on the slide, as are the Limitations.
A full LCA is time consuming and costly. However, streamlined LCA methods offer quick and dirty comparisons. One quick version of input/output analysis by Carnegie Mellon ( uses money as its common currency. Its advantage is that it is quick. Its disadvantage is that it elevates cost to the only important parameter and there are hidden values and innovations in the cost modeling. Also, it uses aggregated sector data (e.g., agriculture sector) so that comparisons of products or processes within the same sector are not possible.
These streamlined version typically collapse the decision onto one variable, such as cost (input/output) or energy (Cambridge Engineering Selector) and thus mask innovation opportunities.
Cambridge Engineering Selector, Granta Design, Ltd. 38

39. The Five I’s
Innovation:
“We can’t solve problems at the same level of thinking used to create them.”
Innovation...we must think differently than the thinking that occurred in the industrial age.
Some old thinking: Linear, reducing complex systems to simple, linear models that are isolated from environments.
This is the first “I” for five I’s of sustainable design. 39

40. The Five I’s: Inherency
1. Inherency of non-toxicity
3.2 Recognize the connection between sustainable development and topics such as system thinking, population, water, material and energy;
The second “I” is “inherency.”
At every stage of the life cycle, the designer has a choice of what materials and energy to use for that particular step. For each step, wastes are produced and in the case of choosing materials that are inherently toxic, people are at risk through exposure to toxic substances.
Alternative would be to chose inputs that are inherently benign that result in benign product contents and process outputs. As simple example is using organic farming and permaculture methods to grow food instead of industrialized era methods. Industrial era methods use a great deal of toxic pesticides and mechanized equipment throughout the life cycle. The result is toxic by-products throughout the life cycle.
Paul T. Anastas, Julie B. Zimmerman

41. The Five I’s: Integration
1.4 Understand that sustainable design addresses societal, economic and environmental concerns in an integrated (or holistic) way;
Early approaches to dealing with designing for the environment focused on single-item concerns, such as compliance to laws. By focusing on a single issue, one can accidentally shift the burden to another part of the system. For example, corn-based bio fuels appeared to be a good replacement for petroleum based fuels. In shifting toward these fuels, we caused scarcity of corn-based food resources for another part of the system.
By integrating concerns throughout the design process (2000 and beyond), the designer can realize more life cycle benefits and avoid shifting the burden to another part of the system.

42. The Five I’s: Intedisciplinarity
3. Interdisciplinarity
domain
expand design
3.2 Recognize the connection between sustainable development and topics such as system thinking, population, water, material and energy;
The third “I” is interdisciplinarity.
This equation shows what is classically know as the IPAT equation, developed by Paul Ehrlich. (A review of this equation can be found in Chertow, M. (2000). The IPAT equation and its variants. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 4(4), )
The terms are I(mpact) = P(opulation) x A(ffluence) x T (echnology).
One thing that this equation presumed is that reducing the impact needs to come through reductions in one of the three terms on the right. Consider the meaning of this…what does it mean to control the population? What about affluence? Or Technology. If one looks at lowering the impact only through changing technologies.
The activity requires students to make some presumptions about the Affluence and Technology terms. For example, if they presume the affluence is the same as it is now, Technology would need to be reduced by nearly a factor of 3. That means increasing “efficiency” (=1/Technology) by nearly a factor of 3. Is this possible?
Activity (10 minutes)
Trends indicate the world population will grow from 6.6 Billion to 9 Billion people by What would it take to reduce the impact in this scenario to half of what it is now?

43. domain 3. Interdisciplinarity Four I’s expand design
3.2 Recognize the connection between sustainable development and topics such as system thinking, population, water, material and energy;
4.1 Understand both sides of the sustainable development balancing equation (capacity of the natural system and demands of the social system) can be altered significantly by human actions and their impact on the local environment, global environment, and community;
4.2 Understand their role in sustainable development;
4.5 Sustainable solutions require the consideration of all peoples’ aspirations and the collaboration with others;
5.1 Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
5.2 View the field of engineering as one of tackling challenges caused by the global economic system (i.e., as a field with a high human purpose);
5.3 Value the perspectives brought by other disciplines in solving sustainable development challenges;
This image expands the design domain to factors outside of the IPAT equation that indeed influence the PAT terms and resulting Impact. Notice that many of these issues are social in nature. This illustrates the need for collaboration across disciplines for sustainable design.
The fourth “I” is Interdisciplinarity.
High leverage and low cost in education solutions.

44. 4. International The Five I’s: International
1.4 Understand that sustainable design addresses societal, economic and environmental concerns in an integrated (or holistic) way; designs that address less than all three are unlikely to be sustainable;
This graphic illustrates the global reality of the economy that we are involved in. When designing for sustainability, the international nature is a large factor and should be considered. The U.S. largely moved its manufacturing to China in the 1980s. This may have lessened the CO2 emissions of the United States, but it moved this burden to another part of the global system: China. Because China’s energy is currently more than 80% coal-based (the US is ~55%), moving the manufacturing to China worsened the global CO2 emissions.
The last “I” is International.