Sustainable Development: An Introduction

• The lecture introduces sustainable development and its core principles.

About the Lecturer

• Holds a PhD and Master's degrees in Building Engineering from Concordia University.
• Also has a Master's in Architecture and Town Planning, plus a Master's and Bachelor's in Architecture.
• Was an Associate Professor at Calgary University until 2022.
• Has been an Associate Professor at Concordia since 2023.
• Conducts research in net-zero energy buildings and neighborhoods.
• Focuses on high-performance building envelopes.
• Studies solar and renewable energy planning and integration in buildings.
• Works towards sustainable and resilient developments.

Course Outline

• Covers introduction to sustainable development and engineers' role.
• Overviews environmental issues.
• Addresses global warming and the greenhouse effect.
• Discusses energy.
• Includes Lifecycle assessment.
• Features technology design and the environment with case studies.

Syllabus Highlights

• Week 1: Course overview & introduction to sustainable development.
• Week 2: Overview of environmental issues, focusing on air pollution.
• Week 3: Overview of environmental issues, focusing on water pollution.
• Week 4: Overview of environmental issues, focusing on solid waste.
• Week 5: Global warming and greenhouse effect are discussed.
• Week 6: Focus on Life Cycle Assessment & Assignment #2, Team Project
• Week 9: Midterm Exam.
• Weeks 10 & 11: Technology design & the environment with case studies.

Assessment Details

• Projects are completed by humans only, the use of generative AI tools is prohibited.
• Submissions are assessed for plagiarism using Urkund / Ouriginal software.
• Projects are completed in randomly assigned groups.

Graduate Attributes Covered

• Impact of Engineering on society and the environment.
• Skills include analyzing social and environmental aspects of engineering activities.
• Professionalism, understanding roles and responsibilities; Ethics and Equity.

Suggested Textbooks

• "Sustainability Principles and Practice" by Margaret Robertson (2021).
• "Introduction To Engineering and The Environment" by Edward S. Rubin (2001).
• "Life Cycle Assessment: Quantitative Approaches for Decisions that Matter" (2014).

Objectives of the Lecture

• Formulate a practical definition of sustainability.
• Discuss human activities and their environmental impact.
• Summarize the role of engineers in sustainable development.
• Define sources of environmental impacts.

Defining Sustainability

• Brundtland defined sustainable development as meeting present needs without compromising future generations.
• Sustainability encompasses human well-being, environmental quality, and economic viability.
• Pillars of Sustainability: People (Social), Planet (Environmental), and Profit (Economic).

Human Activities and Impact

• Human activities affect the environment through land use, resource consumption, and emissions.
• Physical changes include deforestation and altered waterways.
• Chemical changes involve soil and water contamination.
• Biological changes affect the viability and migration of plants, fish, animals, and microorganisms.

Environmental Challenges Today

• Challenges include rapid urban growth that is not planned well and resource depletion.
• Pollution, reduced biodiversity, hunger, and global environmental changes are major concerns.

Sustainable Development Actions

• Reusing materials, minimizing material use, and reducing hazardous substances.
• Minimizing energy consumption and waste heat.

Sustainability vs. Resilience

• Sustainability and resilience are connected but distinct.
• Resilience means a system's ability to tolerate disruption.
• A sustainability strategy has long-term objectives.
• A resilience strategy focuses on adapting to unanticipated shocks.

Definitions

• Carrying capacity - the number of individuals a system can support.
• Ecological footprint - the stress placed on an ecosystem.
• Resilience - a system's ability to adapt without collapsing.
• Tipping point - a critical threshold that leads to irreversible change.

Role of Engineers

• UNESCO recognizes the importance of engineering in mitigating climate change and advancing sustainable development.
• Engineers are involved in technology development and deployment.
• Engineers have a responsibility for a range of activities affecting environmental change.
• Impact comes from land use changes and emissions/residues.

Environmental Impacts

• Material selection, manufacturing processes, and energy use are major factors.
• Choosing alternative materials and reducing material use improve sustainability.
• Engineers turn raw materials into finished products which starts with mining raw materials which continues until the final part is assembled
• Most cases the materials released negatively affect the environment as it can negatively pollute the air, water and solid waste.
• A society’s energy quantities and types used directly affects environmental effects to sources like appliances to the transportation we use daily.
• Energy use encompasses everything- from heating and cooling appliances and also powering transportation systems
• Most of today’s energy for the world are said to come from fossil fuels like oil and natural gas.
• Other potential materials for energy such as renewable and nuclear sources have shown side adverse environmental consequences.

Life Cycle Perspective (LCA)

• Provides a "big picture" view of the environmental effects of engineering decisions.
• Impacts occur at each stage from raw materials to end-of-life.
• The stages include raw materials extraction, manufacturing, construction, use, and end of life.

Environmental Legislation in Canada

• Canadian Environmental Protection Act (1999): focuses on pollution prevention
• Fisheries Act (1985): focuses on water protection and waterways
• Impact Assessment Act (2019): Outlines conducting project environmental impact assessments.
• Engineers must obey environmental laws and aim for higher standards.

Basic Engineering Principles

• Conservation of mass states that mass is neither created nor destroyed.
• Expressed as: (Total mass flow in) = (Total mass flow out) + (Change in mass stored).
• The first law of thermodynamics states that energy is conserved, not lost but transformed.
• Expressed as: (Total energy flow in) = (Total energy flow out) + (Change in energy stored).