Sustainable Development and Green Design—Who Is Leading the Green Initiative?

Civil engineers can contribute solutions to sustainable develop-ment and green design issues. Commitment to this challengerequires that civil engineers acknowledge their professional obli-gation, extend their knowledge base, and participate in all levelsof policy decisions. As primary players in the design of manyessential systems, some civil engineers may not be adequatelyresponding to these challenges.Although the task is large and interdisciplinary, the civil engi-neering profession has an undeniable responsibility, which couldlead toward personal and professional accomplishments. Evenwhen civil engineers accept the ethics of sustainability and greendesign limitations imposed by policy, owners, and key stakehold-ers still exist. Informed civil engineers have a professional obli-gation to broaden the understanding of policymakers, owners, andkey stakeholders, who may in turn demand sustainable design.After defining and contextualizing sustainability and civil en-gineering, the discussion is developed in the following manner: