Quantitative methods to assess sustainability (Polytechnical Foundation)

• Describe and critically reflect on the environmental, social, and economic considerations and challenges to creating ‘sustainable engineering solutions’ in practice across multiple geographical and temporal scales.
• Critically evaluate sustainability in current practice across the three Sustainability Pillars; environment, society and economy
• Analyze and quantify, from a life cycle perspective, the sustainability of a chosen product or service through a group case study using the sustainability tools introduced during the course.
• Apply current state-of-the-art tools to quantify sustainability whilst considering the complex interlinkage of sustainability challenges currently faced within climate change and the sources impacting climate change, effects on human health and the environment, effects on biodiversity of ecosystems, and the scarcity of certain resources.
• Explain the uncertainties associated with sustainability assessments.
• Explain the importance of a systemic perspective when assessing the sustainability of all technology and practices considering the current and future technological, environmental, social, and economic landscape.
• Describe main components of an absolute environmental sustainability assessment.
• Critically engage with the principles of life cycle assessment (LCA) in practice by evaluating the outputs of several life cycle assessments.
• Describe the principle of Circular Economy and how that affects societal flows of resources.

Terms, definitions and units describing sustainability, impact challenges to sustainable engineering solutions (Emission and climate change, Impacts on human, environment, scarcity of resources), social and economic dimensions of sustainable development, absolute environmental sustainability assessment, circular economy (definitions, reasons, and drivers), principle of life cycle assessments, quantitative tools for evaluating sustainability.

• 6 – 20 (Fri 13-17)

The student is expected to study video lectures and read articles before the in-class teaching. In order to create time for active learning with exercises together with the teachers. The in-class teaching is therefore focused on studying exercises and doing calculations on sustainability. Supervision and feedback in the in-class teaching will be with teaching assistants (13 out of 13 weeks), module teacher (10 out of 13 weeks) and case study teachers (3 out of 13 weeks).

Maximum: 700.

Please be aware that this course has a limited number of seats available. If there are too many applicants, a pool will be created for the remainder of the qualified applicants, and they will be selected at random. You will be informed 8 days before the start of the course, whether you have been allocated a spot.