UNIT 7: ENGINEERING AND SUSTAINABILITY

Picture 14. Hand of a businessman reach out towards hand of the nature

"WE ABUSE LAND BECAUSE WE REGARD IT AS A COMMODITY BELONGING TO US. WHEN

WE SEE LAND AS A COMMUNITY TO WHICH WE BELONG, WE MAY BEGIN TO USE IT WITH
LOVE AND RESPECT.” (Leopold, Aldo, 1887-1948)

A) STARTING UP

Set for class discussion. ENVIRONMENT

1. Comment on the quotation by Aldo Leopold, an American philosopher and
conservationist and one of the founders of environmental ethics and wildlife
preservation.

2. How would you define environmental ethics?

3. What are the simple things we can all do to help protect the Earth?

B) VOCABULARY
Let’s look at the definitions of the terms sustainable and sustainability.
Sustainable - adjective
• able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed
• involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources
• able to last or continue for a long time.
Sustainability – noun
• The ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed.
• Environmental Science: the quality of not being harmful to the environment or
depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance:
e.g. The committee is developing sustainability standards for products that use
energy.
Regarding engineering design and development, sustainability would be applied to such
things as renewable energy technologies, new materials and processes that have
recycling/reuse potential, and the development of more efficient processes that limit or
minimize the impacts of human activities on the environment.

Task 1. Are the products in the box below sustainable? Why/why not? Explain.
glass oil plastic solar energy

glass:

oil:

plastic:

solar energy:
PRODUCT LIFECYCLE

Task 2. Look at the diagram below and explain it to your partner. Which stages of the
product life cycle does the diagram below represent?

Task 3. Study the two lists of verbs in the box and match the verbs with similar meanings.
1. care for a) study; think about

2. consider b) connect

3. define c) utilize; use

4. exploit d) explain

5. imply e) cause; generate

6. lead (to) f) mean; signify

7. meet g) cut

8. reduce h) face

9. relate (to) i) preserve

THE THREE SPHERES OF SUSTAINABILITY

Task 4. Study the diagram “The three spheres of sustainability” and answer the question.

As you can see from the diagram the sustainability system is a collection of
interconnected systems. What are the three main spheres of sustainability and how are
they connected?
C) READING

THE ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL COMPONENTS OF SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability can be broadly defined as “meeting the needs of the present

generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs”. When it comes to describing sustainability in our world, we need to be concerned
about three main areas of influence. There are three interconnected spheres of
sustainability that describe the relationships between the environmental, economic, and
social aspects of our world. These spheres are a related set of concepts that, when taken
together, can form a solid ground from which major decisions and actions can be made.
Examples of such decisions could include land use planning, surface water management,
building design and construction, and even law making.
When the concepts contained in the three spheres of sustainability are applied to
real world situations, everybody wins. Natural resources are preserved, the environment
is protected, the economy isn't harmed, and the quality of life for our people is improved
or maintained. In other words, nearly everything we do or plan to do, influences the
sustainability of the human race.

Environmental Sustainability

In a truly sustainable environment, an ecosystem would maintain populations,

biodiversity, and overall functionality over an extended period. Ideally, decisions that are
made should promote equilibrium within our natural systems and seek to encourage
growth. Unnecessary disturbances to the environment should be avoided whenever
possible. When decisions are made, one part of the discussion should always be the
environmental impacts of the proposed outcome or result.
There are several items that are directly related to environmental sustainability.
One of the concepts that is of the utmost importance is the proper management of our
natural resources. Our aim should be to minimize our impacts to the environment and find
solutions to promote habitat restoration and preservation as means to negotiate a
successful solution to the problem.

Economic Sustainability
 For many people in the business world, economic sustainability involves creating
economic value or growth. On the large scale (globally or even locally), this narrow-
minded approach to management of a business can ultimately lead to unsatisfactory
results. However, when good business practices are combined with the social and
environmental aspects of sustainability, you can still have a positive result that is for the
greater good of humanity.
There are several key ideas that make up economic sustainability. For example,
governments should look to promoting "smart growth" through no-nonsense land use
planning and subsidies or tax breaks for green development. Strong financial support for
universities, education programs, and research & development is an important part of
economic sustainability as well. In addition to this, an emphasis should also be placed on
other areas such as reducing unnecessary spending and cutting red tape 1.

Social Sustainability

Social sustainability is based on the concept that a decision or project promotes

the betterment of society. In general, future generations should have the same or greater
quality of life benefits as the current generation does. This concept also encompasses
many things such as human rights, environmental law, and public involvement &
participation. Failing to put emphasis on the social part of decision or action can result in
the slow collapse of the spheres of sustainability (and society as well).

Final Thoughts

For many people, the main concern in their lives is their overall wellbeing and
quality of life. Think about how this relates to the economy and the environment. In a
poor economy, people experience a poor quality of life. The same also holds true for a
poor environment. In a poor environment, the impacts on quality of life are not always
easily observable. However, it doesn't take a trained individual to see how things such as
polluted stormwater runoff, overdevelopment of floodplains, and the poor management
of our scarce resources can influence our everyday quality of life. The three spheres of
sustainability encompass many concepts which explain how decisions and actions can
have an impact on the overall sustainability of our world.

1
To cut red tape- an idiom meaning to reduce excessive bureaucratic rules and procedures
 Adapted from Wannamaker, Christopher, 2020

Task 5. Written assignment

1. Annotate and highlight the crucial information in the text. Jot down everything you
find important.

2. Circle all the unknown or unfamiliar vocabulary and find the meaning.

3. Write a descriptive summary of the text. Make sure to include the factors mentioned
in the three sustainability spheres.
Picture 15. Wind farm above Pag town

CLEAN ENERGY IN OUR REGION

4. What type of clean energy do you consider to be the most effective in our
country/region? Why?
B) EXTENDING SKILLS WRITING SKILLS CORNER, PAGE: 75

PARAPHRASING AND REPORTING FINDINGS

You cannot use another writer’s words unless you directly quote. Instead, you must
restate or paraphrase.
There are several ways to do this:

Original text: “By balancing forces, you can calculate the frictional force required and
therefore the minimum necessary coefficient of static friction.”

Use a synonym of a word or a phrase

Example: Minimum necessary coefficient of static friction → the smallest value (for
minimum static friction) → the smallest compulsory coefficient of static friction
Change from active to passive and vice versa / Change the order of information

Example: The obligatory frictional force and the smallest compulsory coefficient of static
friction can be calculated by balancing forces.

Note that terms such as frictional force and coefficient of static friction cannot be
replaced.

When reporting findings from one source, you should use all the methods above. When
paraphrasing, you should aim to make sure that 90% of the words you use are different
from the original. It is not enough to change only a few vocabulary items: this will result in
plagiarism. A paraphrase should only be used in conjunction with a clear
acknowledgement of the source.

Choosing the correct writing plan WRITING SKILLS CORNER, PAGE: 75

There are many distinct types of essays that require different skills and are used for different
purposes. Additionally, they use diverse writing techniques for communicating the essay’s
theme. The following types of writing are commonly used in technical and research reports
and essays in engineering fields:
descriptive
analytical
comparison
problem-solution
When you are given a written assignment, you must decide on the best writing plan before
you begin to write the outline. Please go to the writing skills corner in this textbook to find
out more about the writing types and structures.

Task 6. Write an essay (500-650 words) on the chosen topic. Help yourself with reading an
article on the selected topic. Use paraphrasing and comparison essay type.
1. What are the current obstacles to sustainability regarding engineering design and
production, and how can they be overcome?

2. Explain why future development needs to be sustainable.

3. Describe the factors that engineers should - but often don’t - consider in a project if it
is to be approached holistically.

4. Compare and contrast current, unsustainable methods of energy production and use
with more sustainable options, such as renewable energy.