Peter Stasinopoulos

Whole System Design is increasingly being seen as one of the most cost-effective ways to both increase the productivity and reduce the negative environmental impacts of an engineered system. A focus on design is critical as the output from this stage of the project locks in most of the economic and environmental performance of the designed system throughout its life which can span from a few years to many decades. Indeed it is now widely acknowledged that all designers - particularly engineers architects and industrial designers - need to be able to understand and implement a whole system design approach. This book provides a clear design methodology based on leading efforts in the field and is supported by worked examples that demonstrate how advances in energy materials and water productivity can be achieved through applying an integrated approach to sustainable engineering. Chapters 1-5 outline the approach and explain how it can be implemented to enhance the established Systems Engineering framework. Chapters 6-10 demonstrate through detailed worked examples the application of the approach to industrial pumping systems passenger vehicles electronics and computer systems temperature control of buildings and domestic water systems. Published with The Natural Edge Project the World Federation of Engineering Organizations UNESCO and the Australian Government.

An Integrated Approach to Sustainable Engineering

Whole System Design

Michael H. Smith

Ernst U. von Weizsa ̈cker

Karlson "Charlie." Hargroves

Cheryl Desha

"The 21st century will see monumental change. Either the human race will use its knowledge and skills and change the way it interacts with the environment, or the environment will change the way it interacts with its inhabitants. In the first case, the focus of this book, we would see our sophisticated understanding in areas such as physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, planning, commerce, business and governance accumulated over the last 1,000 years brought to bear on the challenge of dramatically reducing our pressure on the environment. The second case however is the opposite scenario, involving the decline of the planet's ecosystems until they reach thresholds where recovery is not possible, and following which we have no idea what happens. For instance, if we fail to respond to Sir Nicolas Stern's call to meet appropriate stabilisation trajectories for greenhouse gas emissions, and we allow the average temperature of our planets surface to increase by 4-6 degrees Celsius, we will see staggering changes to our environment, including rapidly rising sea level, withering crops, diminishing water reserves, drought, cyclones, floods ... allowing this to happen will be the failure of our species, and those that survive will have a deadly legacy. In this update to the 1997 International Best Seller, Factor Four, Ernst von Weizsäcker again leads a team to present a compelling case for sector wide advances that can deliver significant resource productivity improvements over the coming century. The purpose of this book is to inspire hope and to then inform meaningful action in the coming decades to respond to the greatest challenge our species has ever faced 6 that of living in harmony with our planet and its other inhabitants."--Publisher's description.

Peter Stasinopoulos

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