SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Goal of Sustainable Development

Defined by a 1987 United Nations commission in the Brundtland Report Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

 Sustainable Development (Sustainability) means different things to different people and communities depending on the nature of their activities and the cultural, geographic, economic, and environmental contexts in which they operate.

 In the past, environmental engineering was a reactive profession, reacting to the problems created by the growth of world populations and the increase in our standard of living. The future problems that environmental engineers will address can be extrapolated.

 Classical sanitary engineering education based on applied hydraulics, public health, and chemical engineering processes is inadequate to deal with these complex matters. The new breed of environmental engineers entrusted with the protection of human health and the environment will embrace the natural sciences.

 Environmental Engineers will deal on a cutting-edge level with the application of biological and chemical sciences, including nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, chemical fate and toxicity, and life cycle impact considerations

 Environmental engineers will also gain greater understanding of industrial processes, including product design and development. And finally, because these problems are all in the public domain, they will learn to apply the social sciences such as public policy, communications, and economics and will learn to work with diverse stakeholders to solve problems.

 Sustainable engineering transforms existing engineering disciplines and practices into those that promote sustainability. Sustainable engineering incorporates the development and implementation of technologically and economically viable products, processes, and systems that promote human welfare, while protecting human health and elevating the protection of the biosphere as a criterion in engineering solutions.

Sandestin, Florida to develop a set of principles for green engineering.

Green Engineering
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines green engineering as the design, commercialization, and use of processes and products [that] are feasible and economical while minimizing 1) generation of pollution at the source and 2) risk to human health and the environment.