CEE 12-712 Mini #1 and 12-713 Mini #2 (Fall Semester)
12-714 Mini #3 and 12-715 Mini #4 (Spring Semester)
6 units per mini
| Professor Cliff Davidson, Instructor cliff@cmu.edu |
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12-712 Mini #1 Course Description:
Society has generally assumed that the earth’s resources are limitless and wastes can be disposed of without serious consequences, but the validity of these assumptions is now being challenged. This course begins with a background of the concept of sustainability engineering, including changing attitudes and values toward technology and the environment through the twentieth century. The concept of a system is explored with reference to the earth's life support systems. The potential damage of conventional engineering decisions on the earth's life support systems is discussed. Tools for sustainability engineering are then presented and used in example problems. These tools include metrics of sustainability, principles of design for the environment, methods for pollution prevention, substitution of materials, and use of mass and energy balances in the design of sustainable systems. The concept of industrial ecology is also explored, where the flows of mass and energy through industrial systems are examined. Finally, examples of engineering decisions under the old paradigm of limitless resources and under the new paradigm of a finite earth are compared. Prerequisite: senior standing in engineering or permission of the instructor.