BACKGROUND

Sustainable development is a complex concept that you've likely heard about or studied, because it impacts engineering and will probably continue to do so throughout your career. Therefore, you need to understand its origins, its current status, and how it will affect the future of design and development.

Wikipedia defines sustainable development as a process of developing (land, cities, business, communities, etc) that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." One of the factors that sustainable development must overcome is environmental degradation without impeding the needs of economic development or social equity and justice. Sustainable development is said to have three "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars": economic development, social development, and environmental protection.

The spectrum of applications for sustainable development is incredibly wide, ranging from lofty and comprehensive plans to develop poverty-stricken third world nations at one end to sustainable development considerations in the design of a new product at the other end. What is the impact on engineering?

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) have defined sustainable development as "the challenge of meeting human needs for natural resources, industrial products, energy, food, transportation, shelter, and waste management while conserving and protecting environmental quality and the natural resource base essential for future development." Infrastructure itself must be sustainable in the sense of reliably and economically meeting human needs for its vital services, in its own effects on environmental...