CVEN 489 “SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING” SUMMER SESSION II 2006 DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY Instructor Kelly Brumbelow, Ph.D. Room 205-L, WERC [email protected] 458-2678 Lectures: MTWRF 8:00-9:35 AM, Room CE 203 Format: Course credit hours: 3; Lecture hours per week: 3; Lab hours per week: 0 Prerequisites: None Text: Readings are specified in the calendar below and will be accessed online through the course website(marked with {w}), or directly at a given URL, or through the TAMU Library electronic collections (marked with {e}). Since class meetings will be mostly spent in discussion on readings, the reading assignments must be read before class. Additional readings may be specified during the semester. Course Description Definitions of sustainability and sustainable development from social, economic, political, and technical perspectives; concepts of natural capital, resource fungibility, strong and weak sustainability; industrial ecology; life-cycle analysis; valuation of environmental goods and externalities; sustainable infrastructure design and management. Grading: Midterm Exam 1 33% Midterm Exam 2 33% Review Paper 34% The Midterm Exams will be traditional in-class, individual exams covering sustainability theory. The exact format of the exams (e.g., open versus closed book, etc.) will be specified prior to the exam date. The Review Paper will require students to read technical literature beyond the assigned course materials, critically analyze the materials, and synthesize an understanding of the role of sustainable development in civil engineering systems (or another field as approved by the instructor) beyond that already covered in class.CVEN 489 – Sustainable Systems in Civil Engineering Page 2 of 4 Summer Session II 2006 Course Website: It’s a good idea to check the course website at least daily for announcements. The website will also be the means by which handouts, some readings, assignments, etc., will be distributed. http://ceprofs.tamu.edu/kbrumbelow/CVEN689/CVEN689_SSCE_Brumbelow.htm Course Outline: Below is the tentative outline for the course this semester. Modifications to this schedule may be announced in class or on the course website at any time. Please note the reading assignments and complete them before the relevant class period. “Weeks” below refer to calendar weeks in the 10-week Summer term. Date Topic and Reading Assignments 7/5 7/6 7/7 Course Introduction The commons and externalities: Hardin, G., The tragedy of the commons, Science, 162(3859), 1243-1248, 1968. {e} Natural capital and ecological economics: Daly, H.E., From empty-world economics to full-world economics…, 1992. {w} and Costanza, R., The ecological economics of sustainability, … 1992. {w} 7/10 7/11 7/12 7/13 7/14 Applying natural capital to the case of stormwater engineering: McCuen, R.H. 2003. Smart growth: Hydrologic perspective. J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 129(3), 151-154. {e} Exercise: Natural capital and stormwater engineering Fungibility and Strong vs. Weak Sustainability: Solow, R., Sustainability: An economist’s perspective, … 1991. {w} Entropy and Thermodynamic concepts in SD: Georgescu-Roegen, N., The entropy law and the economic problem, … 1971. {w} Exercise: Fungibility, entropy, and desalination as a water resource 7/17 7/18 7/19 7/20 7/21 Ethics of sustainable development: Engel, J.R., The ethics of sustainable development, … 1991. {w} Ethics (continued): Lubchenco, J., Entering the century of the environment: A new social contract for science, Science, 279(5350), 491-497, 1991. {e} and American Society of Civil Engineers, Code of Ethics. www.asce.org {e} and Leopold, A., A Sand County Almanac (excerpt), {w} The key to SD: Technology or Policy? Huesemann, M.H., The limits of technological solutions to sustainable development, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 5(1), 21-34, 2003. {e} and Cywinski, Z., Current philosophy of sustainability in civil engineering, J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 127(1), 12-16, 2001. {e} Exercise: Ethics, SD, and construction of infrastructure for refugee camps Midterm Exam #1CVEN 489 – Sustainable Systems in Civil Engineering Page 3 of 4 Summer Session II 2006 7/24 7/25 7/26 7/27 7/28 Metrics of SD: Tanzil, D., G. Ma, and B.R. Beloff, Sustainability metrics, 2003, www.bridgestos.org/GINmetrics.pdf {e} and Baetz, B.W., and R.M. Korol, Evaluating technical alternatives on basis of sustainability, J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 121(2), 102-107, 1995. {e} Metrics of SD (continued): Venetoulis, J., D. Chazan, and C. Gaudet, Ecological Footprint of Nations 2004, Redefining Progress, Sustainability Indicators Program, 2004. www.redefiningprogress.org/publications/footprintnations2004.pdf and Loucks, D.P., Sustainability implications for water resources planning and management, Natur. Resour. Forum, 18(4), 263-274, 1994. {w} Life-cycle analysis/SD in Environmental Engineering Solano, E., et al., Life-cycle-based solid waste management. I: Model development and II: Illustrative applications, J. Envir. Eng., 128(10), 981-992 and 993-1005, 2002. {e} SD in Transportation Engineering Jeon, C.M., and A. Amekudzi, Addressing sustainability in transportation systems: Definitions, indicators, and metrics, J. Infrastr. Sys., 11(1), 31-50, 2005. {e} and Kitou, E., and A. Horvath, Transportation choice and air pollution effects of telework, J. Infrastr. Sys., 12(2), 121-134, 2006. {e} SD in Construction, Materials, and Structural Engineering Hendrickson, C., and A. Horvath, Resource use and environmental emissions of U.S. construction sectors, J. Construc. Eng. Mgmt., 126(1), 38-44, 2000. {e} and Keoleian, G.A., et al., Life cycle modeling of concrete bridge design: Comparison of engineered cementitious composite link slabs and conventional steel expansion joints, J. Infrastr. Sys., 11(1), 51-60, 2005. {e} 7/31 8/1 8/2 8/3 8/4 SD in Construction, Materials, and Structural Engineering (cont.) Review web site of the U.S. Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org). Pay particular attention to pages concerning “LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.” Skim the following documents: LEED-NC (https://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=1095), LEED-EB (http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=913). SD in Geotechnical,