Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the
quality of future generations to meet their
needs, can be described as the simplest way to define sustainability. We
talked about this in the previous post; balancing economic development, social
equity and environmental protection help organisations move towards a
sustainable standing.
What about sustainability on the global scale ?
Sustainability and sustainable development are about striking a
balance between environmental concerns of natural resources, techno-economic
systems and their development and societal concerns of human capital, and
social expectations. A melange of all these systems leads to meeting our
present needs without compromising on the needs of the future.
This definition forms the basis for defining all categories of
sustainabilities in different areas of human activities.
Now, environmental sustainability may be seen as the ability of an
ecosystem to maintain and progress ecological processes. It may also be seen as
its ability to progress functions and productivity over time to promote human
health and happiness, merging design, manufacturing, policy and economics.
Economy, Environment and Society must make a holistic approach to
provide sustainable development - development, unlike growth, requires a
multilateral and wholesome approach, and effort. Unlike growth, it is also more stable and lasting.
In the corporate world, business sustainability must focus on
increasing productivity and reducing the number of emissions, waste, consumed
resources, maintaining product quality, dealing with competition and profits
alongside growing financial returns. It must also satisfy social and
environmental systems.
This three-centric approach is built on the concept of the three
pillars of Economic Development,
Techno-Centric Concerns and Socio Centric Concerns.
With an alignment of these three parameters, sustainable development
could be a faster and more-realistic goal. But what ties it all to gather ? A techno-engineering approach.
Technology sustainment is associated with activities that
a.
Keep an existing system operational
b.
Provide multiple versions of the system that satisfy the original
requirements (and)
c.
Support the manufacturing and supply of updated versions of the system
that meet evolving performance requirements
There are many engineering activities such as system design, product,
design, manufacturing process finalization, product performance testing,
evaluation and storage life tests, that contribute towards meeting technology
requirements. The operational performance and functionality/ maintenance phases
are also hugely affected by engineering and design.
This only goes further to show that technology sustainment is nothing
but meeting engineering activities that are carried out to sustain the product
for its lifetime. i.e. under varying conditions ranging from 3-25 years or
more.
Now, what purpose does this holistic view of engineering serve ?
a.
It provides a framework within which engineering design practices can
be carried out.
b.
It emphasizes the fact that professional practises in engineering need
to be performed with bigger and wider perspectives.
c.
It helps demonstrate that engineers addressing sustainable development
issues in product design and supply is central to the way engineering decisions
are taken
What defines a technologically manufactured, socially sustainable
product ? Or should engineers channel their focus towards “needs” rather than
“wants” when it comes to creating something sustainable ?
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