Expanding the design universe to accommodate sustainability

When evaluating alternative solutions for complex problems that have social and environmental dimensions, engineers tend to focus on the technical and economic issues and tack on remedial measures to convince clients and the public that they have considered all aspects fairly. This paper suggests that we need to embrace these non-traditional areas at the very earliest stages if we are to achieve solutions that begin the process of reversing the paradigm of unbridled growth. As engineers, we can and must offer more to our clients than a naked response to need. As professionals, we have the obligation to try to make the case for more balance in decision-making; indeed, we must aspire to work towards solutions that comply with the principles of sustainabiliry. But, in order to do this, we need a framework with which to work. We need to find ways of trading off quantifiable benefits and costs, with those that are only intangible. From all of this, the paper identifies three indices - financial (as measured in the local currency), environmental (as measured by the ecological footprint), and social (as measured by the community). The paper attempts to do this, borrowing from experiences that the author has had working with stakeholder groups in his local community. Then, the thorny question of weightings is addressed. The paper concludes by citing the example of a proposed expressway to illustrate how wrong a traditional engineering solution will be to the future well-being of the people of Hamilton-Wentworth.