Advancing Sustainable Development of Infrastructure Systems

Sustainability is a concept born from the global movement toward better management of resources. A 1987 United Nations World Congress document ~called the Brundtland Report! defined sustainability as ‘‘management of resources such that current generations are able to meet their needs without affecting the ability of future generations to meet their needs.’’ This definition of sustainability has led experts in many disciplines—technical and social—to call for an increased concern for environmental and resource management within their fields. However, practical interpretations of this definition are still largely missing. These interpretations are mostly being advanced by academic researchers and have yet to be incorporated into corporate and governmental structures. Indeed, leaders in engineering, chemistry, economics, and philosophy have translated this concept of sustainability into a call for action. The field of civil and environmental engineering, while not a primary player in the sustainability movement, has not been idle. The ASCE Committee on Sustainability was formed in 2001 and includes a cross section of ASCE’s membership profile. For the past 2 years, there has been one session at the ASCE National Conference on the topic of sustainability in civil engineering, including discussions on the role of sustainability in civil and environmental engineering education. The 2003 ASCE Construction Research Congress had two sessions on sustainability, and more are planned for the 2005 meeting. The May 2004 ASCE Structures Congress included one session on economic and environmental life-cycle assessment. These efforts are a good professional starting point, but should not be seen as sufficient to enable the levels of change needed. The National Science Foundation—a primary source of funding for engineering research in the United States—has been supportive of sustainable engineering projects, including the Division of Civil and Mechanical Systems in the Engineering Directorate. Programs from the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPA have also been supportive of this area over the past decade. Current national environmental priorities are not necessarily in line with global sustainability goals. For example, United States policy is currently dubious of the implications and causes of global climate change from greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric concentrations. The United States is not a player in the official global Kyoto Protocol implementation to reduce emissions to below 1990 levels. This could have the undesirable side effect of undermining our leadership positions in global environmental management, as well as in the development of environmental control technologies. Europe and Asia are poised to take over these leadership positions without further American efforts