Department of Urban Planning and Policy Development Rutgers University Revised 8 24 05 970 571 Industrial Ecology Tuesdays 9 50 am to 12 30 pm Fall 2004 Civic Square Building Room CSB 369 Professor Clinton Andrews 368 Civic Square Building Telephone 932 3822 x721 Email cja1 rci rutgers edu Class World Wide Web Page http policy rutgers edu andrews courses 571 htm This graduate seminar course explores the powerful industrial ecology analogy testing the blossoming field s claim that it is a framework for implementing sustainable development Industrial ecology takes a systematic view of the use and environmental implications of materials energy and products in industrial societies It attempts in practical terms to bridge the disciplines of economics and ecology It exploits the ecological analogy by placing industrial activity in its environmental context and by drawing on nature as a model It relies on microeconomics for a theory of agency and to explain the behavior of actors in industrial ecosystems We will evaluate four aspects of current research and practice in industrial ecology Macro At the industrial ecosystem level what do the flows of materials and energy look like Is there any waste Is the system sustainable Meso At the community level what is the structure of each web of industrial actors What actors are present and what are their roles Are there vacant ecological niches Organizational At the super micro or organizational level what motivates individual firms Which survival strategies do they employ If a niche is vacant why have firms not filled it How can we attract firms to fill a vacant niche How do organizations work How do ought they transform materials and energy Micro At the micro level what motivates individual humans Why do they create firms and governments Why do they consume pollute or stop polluting Class Project In order to ground the course in real data and practical concerns we will focus collectively on a specific application area This year s focus is the metabolism of Rutgers University starting with the Civic Square Building We will examine energy and material flows in and out of our building and campus wide to the extent feasible and also evaluate possible improvements We will decide in class whether to organize the work as a group project or a set of individual papers The course employs a research seminar format in which the instructor provides a conceptual overview of the day s topic and then student volunteers take responsibility for leading discussion on the application of the concepts to a specific case Thus each class will address both conceptual and practical issues No special disciplinary or mathematical background is required but students will be encouraged to use whatever they have Course requirements include active participation in classroom cases exercises and discussions 5 of grade leading the classroom discussion of one or more practicum topics depending on the size of the class 10 preparing a 3 5 page written reflection on the readings for each of Parts I II III and IV of the course 10 each and a final paper that contributes to the class project 45 No exams Readings All of the assigned readings except those in the required book listed here are stored in electronic form as pdf files in the class directory at Knight Common S 571 f05 Readings Required Graedel T E and B R Allenby 2003 Industrial Ecology 2nd ed Upper Saddle River NJ Prentice Hall Recommended Ayres R U and L W Ayres eds 2002 A Handbook of Industrial Ecology Edward Elgar Northampton MA If enough people want this expensive book I can make a bulk order at a substantial discount 2 Schedule of Classes WEEK DATE LECTURE TOPIC Part I Background 1 Sept 6 Introduction and Overview 2 Sept 13 People and Places 3 Sept 20 Begin Metabolism Study of Civic Square Building Part II Macro Level Issues 4 Sept 27 Disruption and Repair of the Grand Nutrient Cycles 5 Oct 4 Toxics and the Environment 6 Oct 11 Economic Flows Part III Meso Level Issues 7 Oct 18 Structure in Ecological Communities 8 Oct 25 Economics of Industrial Organization Part IV Organizational Issues 9 Nov 1 Organizational Behavior 10 Nov 8 Strategy and Accounting 11 Nov 15 Design for Environment Thanksgiving 12 Nov 29 Life Cycle Assessment Part V Micro Level Issues Final Presentations 13 Dec 6 Consumer Producer and Citizen Behavior 14 Dec 13 Final Student Presentations 3 Schedule of Topics Readings and Assignments Part I Background September 6 Introduction and Overview Introduction and course overview the ecological analogy central issues and perspectives Practicum Measuring classroom energy and materials use Required Reading Graedel T E and B R Allenby 2003 Industrial Ecology 2nd ed Upper Saddle River NJ Prentice Hall ch 1 3 pp 1 38 Recommended Reading Socolow R H 1994 Six perspectives from industrial ecology pp 3 16 in R H Socolow C J Andrews F Berkhout and V M Thomas eds Industrial Ecology and Global Change Cambridge University Press New York September 13 People and Places History of industrialization planning and public policy implications Practicum Consider the implications of industrial transformation for urban planning public policy at the state level and public policy at the national level Three volunteers will each prepare and hand out a short 1 page summary of one of these public decision domains and briefly present their findings to the class 10 minutes These presentations should not merely regurgitate the required readings they should go beyond them i e rely on the recommended readings and your own sources Required Reading Graedel T E and B R Allenby 2003 Industrial Ecology 2nd ed Upper Saddle River NJ Prentice Hall ch 4 7 pp 39 93 Andrews C J 1999 Putting Industrial Ecology into Place Evolving Roles for Planners Journal of the American Planning Association 65 4 364375 Recommended Reading Andrews C J 2002 Industrial ecology and spatial planning pp 476 487 in R U Ayres and L W Ayres eds A Handbook of Industrial Ecology Edward Elgar Northampton MA Douglas I and N Lawson 2002 Material flows due to mining and urbanization pp 351 364 in R U Ayres and L W Ayres eds A Handbook of Industrial Ecology Edward Elgar Northampton MA 4 Gordon J and J Coppock 1997 Ecosystem management and economic development pp 37 48 in M R Chertow and D C Estey eds Thinking Ecologically The Next Generation of Environmental Policy Yale University Press New Haven Grubler A 1994 Industrialization as a historical phenomenon pp 43 68 in R H Socolow C J