Industrial sustainability may sound difficult to achieve, but large-scale change IS possible. Not only is it possible – it has already begun to happen.
Industrial engineering is a field of intense and complex problem solving. Since the Industrial Revolution, the advances made in manufacturing has had unforeseen environmental effects that we are just now starting to learn about and see in action.
Some of the unforeseen issues include raw material extraction, emissions, waste and invasion with subsequent destruction of critical natural habitats.
Making The Call For Improved Technology
Across the board today – every engineering discipline is engaged in sustainable design. From employing various initiatives, especially initiatives like life-cycle analysis (LCA), pollution prevention, design for the environment (DfE), design for dis-assembly (DfD), and design for recycling (DfR).
This engagement has begun replacing – or at least changing pollution control paradigms. An example of this includes the concept of a “cap and trade” program – a tested process that works well for some pollutants.
This system allows companies to place a “bubble” over entire manufacturing complex’s, or even to trade pollution “credits” with the competing companies in the industry.
Changes In Regulations and Policies
These kinds of policy and regulatory innovations require improved technology-based approaches. They also require better quality-based approaches. This means requiring specific actions like leveling out the pollutant-loadings or utilizing less expensive technologies to better remove the largest bulk of pollutants.
Higher operation and maintenance standards for technologies – and for the more difficult-to-treat stacks and pipes – also needs to be in place.
This total-effect can elicit a greater reducing of pollutant effluents and emissions than treating each stack or pipe as independent entities. The life-cycle analysis approach has been established as a foundation for most sustainable-design approaches.
This approach prioritizes the most vibrant problems by size, level of challenge for correction and feasibility. Then you match the technology to apply to the operation.
Adjusting Perspectives
Naturally, when it comes to paradigm shifts, all expectations have to be monitored from operational and technical perspectives simultaneously.
Dealing with past results, such as an uncontrollable waste stream, became a problem too vast and expensive to deal with effectively. Industrial sustainability requires new ways of thinking and problem solving.
Green industrial engineering has shown these processes to be inefficient – both economically and environmentally.
Green industrial engineering approaches achieve four goals:
Waste reduction
Pollution prevention
Materials management
Product enhancement
Industrial engineering sustainability is not just about lowering carbon emissions and recycling; it’s about creating an equitable future for generations to come.
The World Engineering Partnership for Sustainable Development was formed to take responsibility for some of the following areas:
Redesigning of industrial engineering responsibilities and ethical focus to sustainable development
Analyzing and developing long term plans, finding solutions by exchanging information with vested partners with new technologies
Solving the critical global environment problems, such as fresh water and climate change
Industrial Engineering Goals: Energy and Resource Efficiency
When Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. began re-envisioning the Rouge he was influenced by Bill McDonough, a pioneering environmental architect. Working together with universities Ford transformed the Rouge, an icon of the 20th century s Industrial Revolution, into a 21st century symbol of responsible manufacturing. Through comprehensive redevelopment, the historic brownfield site became a lean, flexible manufacturing facility an example of large-scale sustainability that has been benchmarked by companies, educators and organizations around the world.
Years after its revitalization, the Ford Rouge Center continues to be a hallmark of sustainable manufacturing. The green technologies utilized in its redevelopment and operation inspires others to adopt similar solutions.
Looking out the window at the facility’ s living roof one sees a field of green where Canadian geese, mallard ducks and killdeer nest and raise offspring. Seeing wildlife flourish at the Rouge Center would have seemed farfetched in 2003 when the Rouge was just black top, concrete and steel. The greening has transformed it.
Among Ford Rouge Center’s sustainability solutions are the pollution-reducing, energy-generating fumes-to-fuel system in its paint shop; natural lighting and efficient artificial lighting systems in its assembly areas; an energy-efficient heating, ventilation and cooling system; as well as the creation of a wildlife habitat.
The facility is best known for its innovative storm-water management system that includes the largest living roof in the automotive industry and one of the largest in the world. Sedum, a drought-resistant perennial groundcover, covers 10.4 acres of roof at the Rouge’ s Dearborn Truck Plant. Not only does the plant life help diminish storm-water runoff, it doubles the life of the roof, provides insulation, reduces cooling and heating demands by five percent, and absorbs carbon dioxide to reduce greenhouse gases.
The transformation of the Rouge Center placed Ford Motor Company at the forefront of the sustainability movement.
As an industrial engineer what are you doing to help your firm become Green”?