Quantifiable SustainabilityDr. Jorge Gonzalez, Professor of Mechanical EngineeringOur balance with natural ecosystems is a contemporary challenge, and the fundamental questions of what environmental impact is and how it can be quantified are pivotal as we aspire to a sustainable way of living. Specific metrics are needed to both determine the impacts of our actions on immediate environments and find ways to mitigate these impacts. These lead to what is known as quantifiable sustainability, and if we’re informed about how our sustainability is changing, we’re in a better position to modify our actions for minimized impact. We already have an idea of how our actions affect the environment─in both the short and long terms─based on our knowledge of the interaction between humans and natural systems. Possible metrics for these impacts include carbon footprint, which associates sustainability with the carbon chain and measures the impact in terms of mitigation of the green house gas carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 offsets are arguably the best indicators of sustainability levels, and the question of real-time measurement of carbon offsets follows. A group of SCU professors and students believe that sustainability can be quantified and measured in order to help individuals increase their levels of sustainability. Consider the literally close-to-home example of quantifiable sustainability for a residential building that consumes energy at an approximate rate of 100 tons of C02 per year. The sources of unsustainable behavior in this system─in terms of CO2─may come from inefficient use of the energy within the building, or from human behavior that increases energy usage. This home’s energy consumption can be easily measured in real time by energy sensors, and if there’s consensus that C02 is a good indicator of sustainable behaviors, the resulting measurements and ongoing monitoring create what we call dynamic sustainability. Combine this with the embodied sustainability of the materials from which the home is built, and you have a measure of the total sustainability of the residence. These same principles can be applied to transportation systems, individual appliances, electronic gadgets and more. In the aggregate, they help us to monitor our own levels of sustainability on a real-time basis, and, more importantly, act in a way that maximizes them. This could be the key to the carbon economy compensating individuals and corporations for their efforts in reducing CO2 emissions. Here at Santa Clara University’s School of Engineering, we’re demonstrating these concepts through our research of sustainable smart homes, exemplified in our award-winning 2007 Solar Decathlon House (see www.solardecathlon.org ). We’re looking at how energy consumption sources can be monitored, the development of control systems that increase levels of sustainability, new construction materials with lower levels of embodied energy, and the possibilities in defining new sustainable indexes. Through this pivotal work, we look forward to uncovering solutions to a number of scientific and practical questions leading to quantification, measurement, and optimization of sustainability. |
