ENG93000: Engineering Management for a Sustainable Future

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SOUTHERN CROSS UNIVERSITY
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Unit Name: Engineering Management for a Sustainable
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Unit Code: ENG93000-2018-3
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Workshop 1......................................................................................................................................3
Workshop 2......................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
List of Figures
Figure 1: Energy Consumption Chart..............................................................................................3
Figure 2: Site Visit...........................................................................................................................6
Figure 3: Ecosystem Services..........................................................................................................7
Figure 4: Asset management Cycle.................................................................................................8
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Introduction
A safe ecosystem will always result in a safer life for humans. Management of ecosystem and the
services of ecosystem is a crucial factor for healthy life of mankind. In this report, various issues
faced by the earth like global warming, urbanization, extinction of fossil fuels, hazardous
emissions in the environment has been discussed. The solution to these problems has also been
explained in this document so as to get a sustainable future. The whole document focuses on
sustainability, its problem, and solutions.
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Workshop 1
The workshop-1 on “Engineering management for a sustainable future” held in my university is
truly one of the best workshops I have ever attended, which focus on the issues, by resolving
which, by resolving which we can get a sustainable future.
The first critical issue I found is the process of Current electricity supply chain. As electricity
is one of the crucial requirements for our livelihood, so I thought of comparing the electricity
supply chain of current world to the future. With the increase in population, the demand for
electricity is also increasing. To maintain the balance between demand and supply more
electricity is being generated, resulting in the emission of high level of CO2 in the atmosphere,
which will ultimately result in global warming. Usage of fossil-fuels emitting CO2 is the main
reason behind this global warming. In my point of view, usage of the natural energy generating
constituents like solar, kinetic, hydropower energy can solve this issue. Engineers can take the
help of technology for building such kind of generators that can reserve the natural renewable
sources of energy for generating electricity for getting a sustainable future. According to Jibran
Khan (2016), consumption of energy is increasing day by day. If fossil fuels are used for
electricity in current world, then global warming will increase at great scale. Using solar energy
can make future more sustainable.
Figure 1: Energy Consumption Chart
Source: (Khan, 2016)
In my perspective, as energy consumption is increasing rapidly, the only solution is to use
natural sources of energy.
The second issue I found while attending the workshop is the Usage of unsustainable kitchen
appliances. I think a green kitchen can result in a greener environment. With the advancement in
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technology, more appliances are being developed with an aim to reduce human efforts of doing
work. But these appliances are not environment-friendly (Sonnenberg, Nadine C. et al. 2014).
Kitchen appliances use high voltage electricity and emit harmful gases causing harm to nature. In
my point of view, engineers should develop appliances by keeping in mind their effect on the
environment. Refrigerators emit harmful CFC in the environment causing depletion in ozone
layer. So engineers should search for another alternative of refrigerators for saving our earth
from global warming that will result in a sustainable future. According to Anon (2014), eco-
friendly kitchens are the future of kitchen appliances so there should for getting a sustainable
future. So I can say that kitchen appliances which are harming environment must be used only
when they are greatly needed.
While attending the workshop I got to know about Electric Car and its advantages. Electric car
is the future of sustainable living. As it does not consume fuel for running, less harmful particles
are emitted in the environment. For a long time, we have been using cars which consume fuels
like petrol and diesel. Increased usages of vehicles which consume fuels have ultimately resulted
in exhaustion of these fossil fuels and global warming (Barbarossa, Camilla et al. 2017). In my
point of view, Electric cars have resulted in an invention that can conserve these fossil fuels and
will also reduce global warming. These cars consume electric energy instead of fuels which
makes them eco-friendly. They use batteries which give less harm to the environment as less or
no residual pollutants are generated by these cars. According to Tabbi Wilberforce (2017), fuel
cell electric car and hybrid electric cars are the advancement in the structure that can be made in
electric cars.
For a sustainable future, engineers must more vehicles like an electric car or can make more
advancement in these cars for making them more efficient. So, I can say that electric cars are the
best for a sustainable future.
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Workshop 2
During the workshop-2 I have visited a site for the purpose of getting knowledge about the facets
that should be kept in mind while doing construction. In earlier days, all the work was done by
taking traditional engineering as the base, where the focus was only on technical part. In such
process, only the short term problems had been focused, due to which people were not getting
long-term benefits. But now, it is the high time to shift from traditional engineering to
sustainable engineering (Anon 2012). When the work of engineering is done which gives
sustainable outcomes, along with technical issues, each and every issue must be considered, like
social issues, environmental issues, and economic issues. By implementing engineering with
sustainable outcomes, we focus on short-term as well as long-term problems. We can build an
environment-friendly future when implementing sustainable engineering.
I have learned about the ecosystem services which are based on Hannover principles given by
McDonough in the year 1992. The principle focuses on nine points that should be kept in mind
while doing construction work on any site. (Anon 2012) They are:
By analyzing all the nine points I have learned that we dependent on ecosystem and its services
for our survival so the work should be done in such a way that no loss is faced by either nature or
human life. As there is interdependency between nature and human life so design should be
made by keeping in mind its consequences reflecting on nature. Object should is made in such a
way that it can sustain for a long period of time so that we can reduce the reconstruction cost and
less waste is generated.
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Figure 2: Site Visit
We rely on many ecosystem services for proper natural functioning of our lives. They can be
categorized as:
 Supporting Services: The services that provide support for other ecosystem services like
formation of soil, photosynthesis process etc., are supporting services.
 Provisioning Services: The services that provide us with the end products are provisioning
services. Food, water, natural medicines etc., are examples of provisioning services.
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 Regulating Services: The services that regulate all the components of an ecosystem are
known as regulating services. For example, climatic regulations, pest regulations, etc.
 Cultural Services: The abstract services that provide us with persistent joy by their existence
like spiritual joy and artful experiences are cultural services.
Figure 3: Ecosystem Services
Source: (Hicks, 2015)
According to Christina Hicks C. (2015), human is totally dependent on services offered by
ecosystem for their survival, any dis-balance in the ecosystem will ultimately create a problem
for human survival.
So in my perspective, as the survival of human system is completely dependent on the ecosystem
services, so any climatic change occurring in nature will not only cause loss to ecosystem
services but will also impact on human system. So mankind must keep in mind result before
doing anything which is harming ecosystem.
In the workshop, I have also learned about Smart and liveable cities and its advantages.
Technology in the current world is advancing at rapid speed day in and out. With the
advancement of technology, its implementation in real world is also increasing. This faster
advancement of technology is resulting in faster urbanization. According to United Nations
(2014), by the year 2015 66% of the population of the world will be shifted toward cities which
will end in rapid urbanization. So, there is a need of making cities smart and liveable cities (de
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Jong, Martin et al. 2015). Engineers must move towards focusing on the technologies that can
make a city which works on many technologies that make human life better result in sustainable
future. According to Stella Care (2018), a city can only be converted into smart city when
government and engineers will work together for the betterment. So according to me, for making
a city smart, engineers should focus on every dimension like economy, environment,
governance, sustainability, which will result in sustainable future and will be profitable for both
people and environment.
Whole of life Asset Management: Assets can be termed as one of most valuable component for
any organization. Assets can be anything that helps in proper functioning of the organization.
They can any tangible or non-tangible components like machinery, building, vehicles, people,
values, prosperity or anything that provide some value to the organization. So there should be
proper management of these valuable assets by examining the risk, performance, and cost
involved in maintaining these assets. From the development to the end of life of asset, every
stage must be analyzed and maintained properly.
There is a complete life cycle that any asset of the organization follows.
1. Find out which assets are needed.
2. Create an asset.
3. Utilize the asset by acquiring all the values of the asset.
4. Maintain the asset so that it functions properly.
5. Abandon the asset if its value has been diminished or else renew the asset.
Figure 4: Asset management Cycle
Source: (Stella, 2018)
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During the workshop-2, I have read an article named as Monbiot Article which mainly focuses
on the problem faced by the ecosystem due to the ignorance of people. Our lives are totally
dependent on the well-being of our mother earth. If the mother earth is not preserved, then we
cannot guarantee the active life of human beings. But, the irony is, something on which we
should focus the most, is getting the least attention. We are so occupied in doing our day to day
work that we entirely brush aside the importance of the welfare of the most prominent
component, Earth (Carè, Stella et al. 2018). More technologies must be developed by the
engineers so as the problems facing by the earth can be resolved. According to George Monbiot
(2018. P.3), little changes in the environment are expanding the risks of big disasters. The main
reason behind this drastic situation is the mindset of people who only focus on their short-range
life instead of thinking of long-range life which totally depends on the wholeness of earth. So
now, it is high time to put the wellness of earth to the first priority for getting a safe and secure
future for every living being present on earth.
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Conclusion
In the whole document, sustainability has been explained and the reasons behind the current
unsustainable environment have been explained. Many solutions have been given, which can be
implemented for getting an eco-friendly and sustainable future that will result in better place
mankind to live in.
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References
Khan, Jibran & Arsalan, Mudassar H. (2016) Solar power technologies for sustainable electricity
generation – A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. [Online] 55 (C), 414–425.
Anon (2014) Indonesia Kitchen Appliances Market Set to Grow 21% CAGR Through 2019,
Reports TechSci Research Study. 27 November. [online]. Available from:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1628237905/.
Wilberforce, Tabbi et al. (2017) Developments of electric cars and fuel cell hydrogen electric
cars. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. [Online] 42 (40), 25695–25734.
Hicks, Christina C. et al. (2015) Linking ecosystem services and human‐values
theory. Conservation Biology. [Online] 29 (5), 1471–1480.
Carè, Stella et al. (2018) Crowdfunding for the development of smart cities. Business Horizons.
[Online] 61 (4), 501–509.
Sonnenberg, Nadine C. et al. (2014) Consumers’ preferences for eco‐friendly appliances in an
emerging market context. International Journal of Consumer Studies. [Online] 38 (5), 559–569.
Barbarossa, Camilla et al. (2017) Personal Values, Green Self-identity and Electric Car
Adoption. Ecological Economics.[Online] 140190–200.
de Jong, Martin et al. (2015) Sustainable–smart–resilient–low carbon–eco–knowledge cities;
making sense of a multitude of concepts promoting sustainable urbanization. Journal of Cleaner
Production. [Online] 109 (C), 25–38.
Anon (2012) Renowned Designer and Sustainability Advocate William McDonough to Deliver
Three Major Addresses in San Francisco. 8 November. [online]. Available from:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1142622531/.
Maring, Linda & Blauw, Maaike (2018) Asset management to support urban land and subsurface
management. Science of the Total Environment. [Online] 615390–397.
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