CHAPTER 2

Review of Related Literature

DESIGN THROUGH THE 12 PRINCIPLES OF GREEN ENGINEERING

In recent years, numerous papers, books, and conferences have centered on the

subject of lessening the negative human impacts on the plant and on its ability to sustain

life. Often, from these discusses, specific goals have emerged, such as minimizing waste,

increasing recycling, or approaching sustainability. Given engineering focuses on how to

achieve sustainability through science and technology.

Green engineering focuses on how to achieve sustainability through science and

technology. A design based on the twelve principles moves beyond baseline engineering

quality and safety specifications to consider environmental, economic, and social factors.

The breadth of the principles’ applicability is important when dealing with

architectural designs – whether it is molecular architecture required to construct

chemical compounds, product architecture to create an automobile, or urban

architecture to build a city - the same green engineering principles must be applicable,

effective, and appropriate. Otherwise, these would not be principles but simply a list of

useful techniques that have been successfully demonstrated under specific conditions.

(Anastas, P.T. and Zimmerman, J.B., 2003)

 THE 12 PRINCIPLES OF GREEN ENGINEERING

Principle 1: Designers need to strive to ensure that all material and energy inputs and

outputs are as inherently nonhazardous as possible.

Principle 2: It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it is

formed.

Principle 3: Separation and purification operations should be designed to minimize

energy consumption and materials use.

Principle 4: Products, processes, and systems should be designed to maximize mass,

energy, space, and time efficiency.

Principle 5: Products, processes, and systems should be “output pulled” rather than

“input pushed” through the use of energy and materials.

Principle 6: Embedded entropy and complexity must be viewed as an investment when

making design choices on recycle, reuse, or beneficial disposition.

Principle 7: Targeted durability, not immortality, should be a design goal.

Principle 8: Design for unnecessary capacity or capability solutions should be

considered a design flaw.

Principle 9: Material diversity in multicomponent products should be minimized to

promote disassembly and value retention.

Principle 10: Design of products, processes, and systems must include integration and

interconnectivity with available energy and materials flows.

Principle 11: Products, processes, and systems should be designed for performance in a

commercial “afterlife”.
Principle 12: Material and energy inputs should be renewable rather than depleting.

(Anastas, P.T. and Zimmerman, J.B., 2003)

GREEN DESIGN IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

Every time you see a new building enter a skyline, chances are it incorporates

some type of green element into its design. When it comes to civil engineering, the term

“green” is not expressed or understood clearly, and many people have misconceptions

regarding implementing eco-friendly materials and design into a project. The good news

is that advances in technology allow buildings to be green in new and innovative ways.

Green design not only benefits the environment, but also provides value to the

owner or tenant because the buildings are much more efficient. Such designs include

wastewater reuse, rooftop gardens, and solar energy systems. Some of these details may

seem small at first, but the benefits of using them pay off in the long run.

As more developments include these measures, it can reduce the cost of

maintaining underground drainage systems within urban environments. This may reduce

the necessary capital expenditures by regulating entities within these watersheds.

When designing a new building, whether a skyscraper or modest apartment

complex, clients are asking engineers and architects to design more energy efficient

buildings. This push from the public means designers and engineers are at liberty to

integrate green initiatives into their building designs.

With city wide revitalizations efforts currently taking place, integrating green

technology into new and existing building will give cities not only a cleaner environment
but a better working ambience. In addition, tourist will have a cleaner city to visit and

remember for years to come. And as government entities begin to regulate eco-friendly

technologies.

(Chris Weigand, P.E., 2014)