You are on page 1of 1

Spring 2012 ENVE4506 Application of Sustainability Principles and Environmental Regulation to Engineering Practice J.

Perlinger Wednesday, April 4th Discussion, 1:05-1:55 pm Objective: The objective of this discussion is to employ the type of systems thinking employed in green design to evaluate sustainable solutions to the problems of imaginary inhabitants of an imaginary island country, Tala Island. Description of the problem that the island inhabitants face: The inhabitants of the country of the Tala Island initially were split equally, i.e., half of the inhabitants lived in north, half lived in south. The halves are split both culturally and geographically (by a high mountain range, which divides the country east-to-west, and by the Poongaza River, which runs adjacent to the mountain range). The north had an aquifer to provide the inhabitants with water, but the south had rights to the river. Until 30 years ago, the two groups were approximately equally rich, but when a severe hurricane struck the south island, many people were forced to move to the north. The northern half of the country is more industrial and urban. It contains the capital city and coal reserves that are mined for energy use in the north and for export to neighboring islands. The problem that the north has is that as a result of the population increase following the hurricane, demand for aquifer water has increased, and there are signs of contamination from a nearby landfill. For the north, clean water is a growing concern. The southern half of the country lost infrastructure from the hurricane 30 years ago, and therefore it has lower economic status. However, it owns the rights to river, and therefore has plenty of fresh water. The south operates on an agricultural economy and grows and exports rare melons. The problem that the south has is that it relies on the north to meet its energy needs to improve its infrastructure. Questions/Talking Points: 1. Draw causal loop diagrams for the inhabitants of the north and south, respectively, that demonstrate the unsustainable current situations of the two systems. 2. Consider the following technological solutions to the problems of the south and north, respectively. Which of these solutions does the group conclude will be most (a) effective (at solving the problem) in the short-term and (b) sustainable in the long-term for the north and south, respectively? Why? Consider the triple bottom line in your discussion. a. North - desalination plant, water from river owned by South, rainwater harvesting, other b. South hydroelectric power, solar power, coal power from North, algae to biodiesel, wind turbines, other 3. Draw causal loop diagrams for the inhabitants of the north and south, respectively, that demonstrate the sustainable future situations of the two systems that includes the technological solution you selected in #2. 4. Discuss non-technological solutions to the problems of the north and south (e.g., increased tourism in the south), or combinations of non-technological and technological solutions that might be more successful than technological solutions only. 5. Discuss the effect of neighboring populations and exports to them on the problems of the north and south, respectively, as well as on the solutions to the respective problems. E.g., could the two halves find sustainable solutions with the neighboring populations to solve their respective problems? 6. Questions/talking points from Group Leader.

Acknowledgement: Kimberly Landick provided an earlier version of the problem statement and the technological solution ideas as a part of a ENVE4506 sustainable engineering project in 2009.

You might also like