Dr.
Douglas Aghimien
Department of Civil Engineering Technology
University of Johannesburg
Doornfontein
MODULE OUTLINE
• Introduction to Sustainability
• Defining and Understanding the concept of sustainability and sustainable
development. Defining of sustainability related terms
• History of Sustainability
• History of Unsustainability, theoretical advances and institutionalisation of
sustainability
• Global Challenges as ‘Wicked’ Problems
• Principles and Concept of Sustainability
• Sustainability Issues – Social, Economic and Environment
• Frameworks for Strategic Sustainable Development
• Decision Making tools for sustainable development
• Role of the construction industry and civil engineers in sustainable
development
Assessments (continuous)
Test dates
Test 1 - 29th of August 2022 from 10:30 – 12:00
Test 2 - 17th of October 2022 from 10:30 – 12:00
Assignment Submission
26th October 2022
WHAT IS
SUSTAINABILTY
Overview of Sustainability
From the standard dictionary definitions of ‘sustainable’ or
‘sustainability’, sustainability does not have a rigid ‘one size fits all’
definition, it generally refers to the ability for something to last for a
long time or indefinitely .
➢ Oxford Dictionary (2011) defines sustainability as being “able to be
maintained at a certain rate or level”
➢ Cambridge Dictionary (2011) describes sustainability as something
that is “able to continue over a period of time”
➢ At its simplest level, something is sustainable if it is able to be
maintained over time
THE MISCONCEPTION
Sometimes, sustainability is mistakenly
assumed to refer only to the environment. It
has often been defined as how biological
systems endure and remain diverse and
productive.
But, the actual definition goes far beyond
those narrow parameters. In the context of
the built environment, the idea of
sustainability actually stems from the concept
of Sustainable Development
Defining Sustainability (cont’d)
Sustainability can be better understood by looking at its most
commonly accepted definition, published by the UN World
Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in
1987
The UN Report entitled ‘Our Common Future’ (often
described as the Brundtland Report) says …
“Sustainable development is a development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs”
Defining Sustainability (cont’d)
• From the WCED definition of sustainable development, the
importance of balancing the needs of people living today
(intra-generational equity) with the needs of people that
will live in the future (inter-generational equity) can be
seen.
• Therefore, in the delivery of civil engineering projects, care
must be taken not to exhaust the available resource to a
point whereby the ability of future generations to cater for
their own need is endangered.
Understanding Sustainability
• Sustainability does not refer to conserving an exact situation.
• We cannot know what the needs of future generations will be
- so the only thing we can do is to abstain from destroying
basic prerequisites for needs fulfillment which serve as a
basis for our offspring
• In order to do so, we will need to conserve and enhance our
resources
Understanding Sustainability (cont’d)
The WCED Report described 3 dimensions of sustainability also
known as the 3 pillars of sustainability. They are:
1. The environmental component which recognizes the
interdependence of living systems and finite natural
resources.
2. The economic component which defines the flow of human
capital and man-made resources as well as the parameters of
work and productive human activity.
3. The social component which refers to the relationships
between human institutions, systems and collective decision-
making.
Understanding Sustainability (cont’d)
➢ True sustainability requires the balance of environmental,
economic and social factors
➢ This is not a simple task
Understanding Sustainability (cont’d)
What happens when only 2 out of the
3 pillars are achieved?
Social + Economic = Equitable
Social + Environmental = Bearable
Economic + Environmental = Viable
Note: none of the above are true sustainability
Understanding Sustainability (cont’d)
Defining Related Terms
Natural resources
• Natural resources are mainly the natural goods, which are
easily accessible and available to humans in order to fulfill
their needs.
• They include the soil, the water, the atmosphere, the sunlight,
and even the biosphere.
Natural resources (cont’d)
• They are all sources of energy and therefore, in order to achieve
sustainable development the following objectives should be
met:
a) the exploitation of natural resources should not exceed the
possibility of their renewal
b) the minimization of the use of depletable natural resources
should be a priority, as well as the efforts to replace those
resources with renewable ones.
c) the disposal of waste on the environment should not exceed the
ability of their absorption.
Climate Change
• Climate change is the change in climate due to direct or indirect
human activities (UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change)
• Climate change can also be considered as a change in the
statistical properties of the climate system when we consider it
in long-term, regardless of the cause.
Biodiversity
• This is the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a
particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to
be important and desirable.
• Unfortunately, there is a reduction of biodiversity on the
planet, due to a number of causes such as 1. environmental
pollution, 2. deforestation, 3. desertification of soils.
Renewable Energy
• This is the energy from a source that is not depleted when used.
• The non-fossil renewable energy sources such as wind, solar
and geothermal energy, wave energy, tidal energy and water
power, all belong to the category of Renewable Energy Sources.
• Their use allows the reduction of emissions of gases that cause
the greenhouse effect, derived from the production and
consumption of energy.
Green Technology
• Green technology involves a continuously evolving set of
methods/processes and materials that address not only the
techniques for power generation but also the production of
non-toxic products.
• The inventions of this kind of technology are environmentally
friendly and often include energy efficiency, recycling, safety
and health, renewable resources etc.
Examples of "green technology" are solar cells and photovoltaics
Green Building
Green building refers to both a structure and the application
of processes that are environmentally responsible and
resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from
planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance,
renovation, and demolition.
Ecosystem
• An ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things
that work together in a system
• Ecosystems have no particular size - it can be as large as a
desert or a lake or as small as a tree - the water, water
temperature, plants, animals, air, light and soil all work
together.
• If there is not enough light or water or if the soil does not
have the right nutrients, the plants will die. If the plants
die, animals that depend on them will die. If the animals
that depend on the plants die, any animal that depend on
those animals will die…
