Course Overview

The course examines the growing popularity of 'sustainability' and its implications for the practice of engineering, particularly for the built environment. The course will begin with a general survey and discussion of current trends, followed by the introduction of the life cycle assessment (LCA) method as a rigorous, quantitative alternative to current popular sustainability measures for the built environment. The LCA methodology considers the impacts of products throughout their lifetimes and has been used successfully in certain packaging and manufacturing industries. This course applies the LCA methodology to the evaluation of infrastructure. Fundamentals of the computational method (matrix formulation and analysis) are presented and discussed. Topics covered include water and wastewater management, energy use, material selection, and construction.

Class meetings will consist of general lectures, often followed by a tutorial/discussion session. Computational aspects of LCA will be demonstrated via short case studies. Students are required to conduct and present a group case study, the topic of which will be decided per group according to interest.