Preface

Growing populations and affluence around the globe have put increasing pressure on natural resources, including air and water, arable land, and raw materials. Concern over the ability of natural resources and environmental systems to support the needs and wants of global populations, now and in the future, is part of an emerging awareness of the concept of sustainability. Developing new technologies that address societal needs and wants, within the constraints imposed by natural resources and environmental systems, is one of the most important challenges of the 21st century. Engineers will play a central role in addressing that challenge.

Engineers can design products, processes, and technologies that are sustainable by integrating environmental, economic, and social factors in the evaluation of their designs. While this may seem simple in the abstract, the tools for converting sustainability concepts into the types of quantitative design approaches and performance metrics that can be applied in engineering design are just emerging. These emergent tools of designing for sustainability are the topic of this textbook.