Lecture 1 Flashcards
Who defined sustainable design as seeking to meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations?
Brundtland.
Who defined sustainable design as the careful meshing of human purposes with the larger patterns and flows of the natural world?
David Orr.
Who defined sustainable design as a process that supports and improves the health of the systems that sustain life?
Bill Reed.
What are the three pillars of sustainability?
People (social), planet (environmental), and profit (economic).
The environmental impact of human activities fall into what three categories?
Physical changes, chemical changes, biological changes.
Deforestation (and other alterations of landscapes or waterways) is an example of what type of environmental change?
Physical change.
Changes to the built environment (buildings, bridges, etc.) from deposition and chemical attack is an example of what type of environmental change?
Physical change.
Changes to chemical constituents of soils and sediments is an example of what type of environmental change?
Chemical change.
Increases in the concentration of emitted substances in the air/water/soil and any resulting secondary reactions is an example of what type of environmental change?
Chemical change.
Changes in the viability of plants, fish, animals, and microorganisms due to altered habitat and chemical constituents/concentrations is an example of what type of environmental change?
Biological change.
Injury or illness to people/plants/animals from exposure to and/or accumulation of chemicals and their derivatives is an example of what type of environmental change?
Biological change.
What is anthropogenic environmental change?
Environmental change caused by human activities.
Anthropogenic environmental changes fall into what two categories?
Land use (including depletion of natural resources) and emissions/residues from products/industrial processes.
What are the 4 guiding principles for engineers to achieve sustainability?
(1) Maximize the value of your activity towards building a sustainable world. (2) Apply professional/responsible judgement & take a leadership role. (3) Seek multiple views. (4) Manage risk to minimize adverse impact.
What are the 3 major categories of sources of environmental impacts due to human activity.
Materials selection, manufacturing processes, and energy use.
In what 2 ways can the environmental impact of material selection be reduced?
Selecting alternative, environmentally preferable materials and using less material without compromising function/reliability.
The manufacturing process often consists of material extraction, refining, transport, transformation and assembly into final products. Which of these steps release waste materials into the environment?
In most cases, every one of these steps releases waste material to the environment.
Most of the world’s energy today comes from what energy source?
Fossil fuels - oil, coal, and natural gas.
Besides cost, why are nuclear and renewable energy sources not necessarily appropriate alternatives?
They aren’t free of adverse environmental consequences.
What is an environmental LCA and what does it do?
An environmental life cycle assessment provides the big picture of how engineering decisions in a particular area affect the environment.
What does the law of mass conservation state?
That mass can neither be created nor destroyed.
What does the first law of thermodynamics state?
That energy can neither be created nor destroyed.
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set standards for 6 common air pollutants. What name is given to these standards?
National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
What are the criteria air pollutants?
Particulate matters, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, lead, sulfur dioxide, & nitrogen dioxide.
What are the 4 general sources of air pollutants?
Stationary fuel combustion sources, industrial (and other) processes, highway vehicles, and non-road mobile sources.
PM are of what two possible measurement sizes?
PM10 or PM2.5
PM10 and PM2.5 particles are of what maximum size?
10 and 2.5 microns, respectively.
What level of PM is considered safe by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act?
There is no level considered safe.
What about PM particles affects the scope & severity of its impacts?
The size (smaller particles are linked with adverse health effects).
Asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and various forms of heart disease are the effects of which criteria air pollutant?
PM.
The following are major sources of which non-CO criteria air pollutant?
Industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and smoke from open burning and residential wood heat.
PM.
Which of the criteria air pollutants is a brownish gas?
Nitrogen dioxide.
Nitrogen dioxide causes acute respiratory irritation at what concentration when exposed for 15 minutes?
At 1 ppm for 15 minutes.
Through photochemical reactions, NO2 is an important precursor to what 2 phenomena?
Acid rain and ground-level ozone.
How is NO2 produced?
During fuel combustion.
Which criteria air pollutant is the main component of smog?
Ground level ozone.
How is ground level ozone produced?
By the reaction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides, in the presence of sunlight and warm temperatures.
What are the 3 effects of prolonged exposure to ground level ozone?
Damage to lung tissue, premature aging of the lungs, chronic lung disease.
VOCs are carcinogenic, as they contribute to the formation of what 2 criteria air pollutants?
Ground-level ozone and PM.
The transportation sector, products containing solvents, industrial processes, and residential wood burning are all major sources of which criteria air pollutant?
Ground-level ozone.
Which criteria air pollutant is an odorless, tasteless, colorless gas?
Carbon monoxide.
How is carbon monoxide produced?
By the incomplete combustion of fuels (mainly from cars).
Which criteria air pollutant interferes with the blood’s ability to carry oxygen to the brain, heart, and other tissues?
Carbon monoxide.
Which criteria air pollutant slows reflexes and causes fatigue, headache, confusion, nausea, and dizziness?
Carbon monoxide.
Inhaling large amounts of carbon monoxide leads to what?
Death by suffocation.
What are the 4 primary sources of carbon monoxide?
Transportation, wood industry, aluminum industry, and residential wood heating.
With criteria air pollutant is a colorless gas with a strong odor?
Sulfur Dioxide.
Sulfur dioxide is an irritant to what parts of the body?
The eyes and respiratory tract.
What are the 4 primary sources of sulfur dioxide production?
Burning of fossil fuels from smelters, power plants, refineries, and internal combustion engines (including automobiles).
