segalas_ lecture on technology and sustainable development

8/13/2019 Segalas_ Lecture on Technology and Sustainable Development

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Course SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTNTUU KPI, 12-23 February 2007

Erasmus Mundus Action 4 projectPromoting European Education in Sustainable Development

TEMPUS Joint European Project_ 25163_ 2004 Bridging the gap between University and businesses


Professor Jordi SegalasTechnology and Sustainable DevelopmentPolytechnic University of CataloniaBarcelona, SPAIN

Technology and Sustainable DevelopmentRole of Engineers

Case study


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Are wefollowers?

What role can engineers play, inWhat role can engineers play, insustainable development?sustainable development?


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Economy(inevitable laws)

Environment

(technologycan fix i t)

Society

The current world view

- relative importance?Economy laws areinevitable - marketlaws

Environment is used to fulfillthe demands of the Economylaws. (Resources, waste andpollution absorption)

Society adapts to theinevitable economy laws:

As much money as sooner aspossible.


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But this is what we all ultimatelydepend on for life - so...


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Environment- inevitable

Environment- inevitable

Engineers provide the interfaces...

SocietySociety

InfrastructureInfrastructure

ProductsProducts

Economy

- invented!

Economy

- invented!

Environmental laws areinevitable - laws of nature.

Environment nurtures,

supports and makespossible.Society - which has amixture of instinctive andlearned/cultural laws

Society has invented, toserve societys purposes.Economy - whose rules and

practices are totally inventedby society

SO: why do so many regard Economic laws as inevitable (globalisation, etc); butEnvironmental laws, and limits, as manipulable?


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Serving Needs, or Quality of Life, or

Wants? Traditional cultures, having more limited means

to satisfy human needs, tend to meet as manyneeds as possible with as few resources aspossible.

In contrast, industrial capitalism emphasises thecreation of specialised products that fight for

market niches to fill needs that, as often as not,cannot be satisfied by material goods.(Natural Capitalism, Ch. 14)


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Example: which of these is more worth

an engineers energy & interest?Hasbro's Tooth Tunes toothbrushes have an MP3 playerbuilt in. They use bone-conduction to rattle the sound through

your teeth for 3 minutes, making sure you brush for the American Dental Association's recommended time.


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Example: which of these is more worth

an engineers energy & interest?

Thousands of refugee deaths fromhypothermia could be prevented everyyear if a new hi-tech UK-designed tentlining performs well in tests in

Afghanistan. A team from the Universityof Cambridge has developed linings forexisting refugee tents that will pay forthemselves in saved heating costs in onewinter.They are made of a sandwich ofmaterials: polyester wadding like you'dfind in a puffa jacket and a cheapbreathable waterproof membrane.

Design of Temporary Shelters for Refugees


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Choosing what you are engineering

for - engineers cant be neutral

OK NEVER NEVER

GOOD MAYBE NEVER

BRILLIANT GOOD MAYBE

A f f l u

e n c e

Technology

Luxury

Quality

Needs

No net impact High impactIn - between

S u s t a i

n a b i l

i t y

L e a d e r s

h i p

S u s t a i n a

b i l i t y

L e a d e r s

h i p


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OK NEVER NEVER

GOOD MAYBE NEVER

BRILLIANT GOOD MAYBE

Engineers reputation as professionals, notmercenaries - whose interests do we serve?

Video toothbrush In development by

Panasonic, this

electric toothbrushhas a miniature videocamera mountedbeside the bristles toallow the user to see

on a monitor the40% of debris theynormally miss. (TYNKYN - EC 11/01)

Video toothbrush In development by

Panasonic, thiselectric toothbrushhas a miniature videocamera mountedbeside the bristles toallow the user to seeon a monitor the40% of debris theynormally miss. (TYNKYN - EC 11/01)


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What defines a socially

sustainable product? Is being manufactured sustainably enough,

whatever the products social impact? Or, should engineers push for socially

sustainable features in the products: for

instance. affordability and accessibility forthe excluded - the poorest 10%?

Or, should we put our energy and interest intoproducts and projects which serve needsrather than artificially created wants?


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Case Study

http://www.interfacesustainability.com/


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Enterprise core


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Enterprise relation to Society

The company is part of a supply chain, with suppliers and customers and a market, ourshare of which we hope to increase. Products flow through that supply chain in onedirection; money flows in the other direction.


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1. Zero Waste

Against ideal operationalstandardszero waste they identified $70 millionin waste, based on 1994operations10 percent ofsales!


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1. Zero Waste

Total manufacturing waste sentto landfills has decreased by

63% since 1996.

The cumulative avoided costsfrom waste elimination activitiessince 1995 have totaled over$299 million.


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2. Benign Emissions

Interface identified and inventoried 247air emissions stacks and 19 wastewater effluent pipes at their

manufacturing locations.


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2. Benign Emissions

Reduced the number of stacks on itsfacilities by 35 percent and the numberof effluent pipes by 53 percent.


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3. Renewable Energies

The third front, Renewable Energy,means eventually harnessing solarenergyHarnessing renewable energy willattack numerous unwantedlinkages, both to the lithosphereand to the biosphere, and will allow

closed loop recycling


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3. Renewable Energies

An emphasis on initiatives thatimprove efficiency and conserveenergy has reduced the total energy

used at carpet manufacturing facilities(per unit of product). It is down 41%since 1996.

use ofrenewableenergyincreasedfrom 11%

to 13% in2005.


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4. Closing cycles

Two cycles are introduced:a natural, organic cycle ,emphasizing natural rawmaterials and compostableproducts ("dust to dust")a technical cycle , giving man-made materials and precious

organic molecules life after life,through closed loop recycling.


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4. Closing cyclesThe ReEntry program diverted 85million pounds of material fromlandfill between 1995 and 2005.In 2005, 18 million pounds wasdiverted from landfill and used inrecycling (71%), energy captureand conversion (28%), andrepurposed (1%).

The percentage of recycled orbiobased content in products

worldwide has increased from0.5% in 1996 to 15.9% in 2005.


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4. Closing cycles

Water intake per square meter of carpet is down 81% in

modular carpet facilities anddown 52% in broadloom facilitiesfrom 1996 due to conservationefforts and process changes


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5. Efficient resources/goods transport

We can: videoconference to avoid the

unnecessary trip for a meeting. drive the most efficient

automobiles available. site our factories near the markets

they serve plan logistics for maximum

efficiency


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6. Sensitivity Hookup

service to the community throughinvolvement and investment in thecommunity (especially ineducation),

closer relations among ourselves(inside the circle) to get all of us inalignment, and with suppliers andcustomers.


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6. Sensitivity Hookup


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7. Redesign of commerce

Redesigning commerce probablyhinges, more than anything else, onthe acceptance of entirely new notionsof economics, especially prices thatreflect full costs.

It means shifting emphasis fromsimply selling products toproviding services

Relationships based on delivering, vialeasing agreements, the services our

products provide, in lieu of theproducts themselves


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7. Redesign of commerceOther examples:Photocopies:

Elevator:

We can go farther:

In ICT: You can buy hours of word editor instead of hardwareand software.

In civil engineering: you can provide the service: connectionbetween two places instead of roads. The enterprise isresponsible for maintenance, in case of interruption enterprise

is fined.

Schindler , Sells vertical transport maintenance free

instead of elevators

Xerox : Sells copy services instead of copymachines.


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service oriented

resource-efficient

wasting nothing

solar driven

cyclical (no longer take-make-waste linear)

strongly connected to

stakeholders: communities(building social equity),customers, and suppliersand to one another.

Our communities are strongerand better educated

Redefine engineering culture away from


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Redefine engineering culture away fromBuilding things to meeting needs sustainably?

I built all

this!

I didnt needto build

anything new!

Providing and Refurbishing theminimum to meet societys needs

Visible construction, at great publicexpense, to meet societys wants

The 19th (& 20th?) Century Engineer The 21st Century Engineer

Engineers provide the


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Environment -inevitable

Environment -inevitable

Engineers provide the

interfaces...

Society - instinctive?Society - instinctive?

Becomingsustainablerequires leaderswho recognisethis world view,and actaccordingly.

InfrastructureInfrastructure

ProductsProducts

Economy

- invented!

Economy- invented!


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segalas_ lecture on technology and sustainable development

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