Objective Measurement of Sustainability

By J. Ajithkumar ( jajithkumar@hotmail.com )

If Quality was the key word in the industrial scene of 20th century, Sustainability has taken its
place in the next century. After witnessing devastating floods, hurricanes and unbelievable
climatic changes in almost all parts of the world, everyone has started taking their own
survival a bit more seriously now. Science and Technology personnel have always been
advising the politically powerful about the impending disaster for quite some time now. But
such predictive advises about theoretical disasters that are far off were never heeded by the
ruling elite. But the fury of hurricanes, extent of floods, snowing in deserts and rains in
summer has changed their attitudes. The ongoing melt-down of global economy is like a
lightning that has struck rulers who are already in peril. Craze for unbridled development is
giving way to thoughtful and calibrated development. And all the more important is the
Sustainability aspect of each and every new proposal for development.

Unlike Quality, the concept and spirit of Sustainability has crept into almost all fields of human
endeavor. Quality made more sense in the manufacturing and services sector, but
Sustainability is making much more sense in sectors that are much closer to our day-to-day
lives. Suddenly we are looking for sustainable homes to stay, sustainable means of
transportation and even sustainable regimes of lifestyle. Sustainability has taken the world by
storm but we need to be cautious now itself about its prudent and sensible application. It
should not be everything now that can end up as nothing at the end. In Quality we have a
similar situation with regard to the function of Quality Assurance in services sector, while
Quality Control in manufacturing sector worked wonders. Sustainability as an attribute must
not only be defined properly but also be subjected to measurement and that too on an
objective basis.

Measurement of any attribute will have elements of subjectivity and objectivity inherent in the
system. While the physical tools can ensure elements of objectivity, the personnel who use
them will contribute its subjective aspect. In the case of attempting to measure Sustainability,
the scenario is all the more complex because it is neither a physical attribute alone nor a
feeling of mind alone. It is a combination of both. There is a high chance of subjectivity
dominating in its measurement unless we are careful to design a system properly. Effects of
subjectivity can be vastly reduced by splitting the measurement criterion into as many
objective elements as possible. While this is not an attempt to propose a measurement
system for Sustainability, I propose to think aloud on the subject for a while.

In simple terms, Sustainability of any entity is that which sustains. For sustaining anything in
this universe we need the following three – continuous power, no internal hesitation and no
external resistance. These three broad aspects cover the basic minimum conditions required
for the sustainability of anything. In different fields of our activity, we can easily correlate the
three aspects with different attributes. Let us take our endeavors in Science and Technology.
The elements that would contribute positively to Sustainability will consist of the following:-

A. Less damage to physical environment

B. Less cost to build and operate
C. More safety to users
D. More use of current technology
E. More adaptable to future changes
F. Less possibility of misuse
G. Less taxing on users
H. Less damage to cultural environment
I. More related to local content
J. More and more profitable

Mathematically, we can depict OMIS (Objectively Measured Index of Sustainability) = ∑ f(A) +

f(B) + ……………….+ f(J).

By suitable definition of a scale of 1 to 10 for each of the above parameters A to J, it is easily

possible to get an aggregate value of OMIS for any entity. And we can state without any
reservations that any entity with an OMIS less than 50 must get rejected automatically as
unsuitable.