Climate scientists have clarified the main causes of climate change, and the tight timescale within which humans must change behaviour, and implement effective solutions, wherever they are needed across the world. This book uncovers many of the powerful actions and uses them effectively to achieve sustainable human life, of improved quality, in a way that is affordable out of earned income for all humans, wherever they live. The ultimate solution to climate change lies not just in doing and consuming less but does instead entirely revolve around our ability to "out innovate" the problem. John F. Coplin, CBE, FREng, FCGI, has had a long and distinguished career in engineering and has operated and advised at all levels from heads of state, company chairs, engineering directors, government advisory boards, and on the shop floor. He is perfectly placed to take a wide-ranging approach, applying modern design and innovative engineering at a systemic level in order to provide novel approaches that will have far-reaching impact on reversing humankind’s impact on this planet. His projections and solutions are based on facts, reasonable calculations, and science learnt from nature. Unafraid to challenge current thinking, John looks at solutions across multiple sectors, including aviation, cars and domestic local transport, clean and renewable energy, food and agriculture, and housing and communities, and describes the particular potential of hydrogen as fuel. The book is written in a language for all. It is small enough to be used is a practical guide to where some of the most useful improvements are to be found and as a way to start important conversations.

Sustainable Engineering for Life Tomorrow examines the future of sustainable engineering and architecture. The contributors' analyses of sustainable solutions, such as wind and solar power, offer valuable insights for future policy-making, scholarship, and the management of energy-intensive facilities.

Engineering for Sustainable Communities: Principles and Practices defines and outlines sustainable engineering methods for real-world engineering projects.

Environmental engineers support the well-being of people and the planet in areas where the two intersect. Over the decades the field has improved countless lives through innovative systems for delivering water, treating waste, and preventing and remediating pollution in air, water, and soil. These achievements are a testament to the multidisciplinary, pragmatic, systems-oriented approach that characterizes environmental engineering. Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges outlines the crucial role for environmental engineers in this period of dramatic growth and change. The report identifies five pressing challenges of the 21st century that environmental engineers are uniquely poised to help advance: sustainably supply food, water, and energy; curb climate change and adapt to its impacts; design a future without pollution and waste; create efficient, healthy, resilient cities; and foster informed decisions and actions.

In 1999 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a landmark report, Our Common Journey: A Transition toward Sustainability, which attempted to "reinvigorate the essential strategic connections between scientific research, technological development, and societies' efforts to achieve environmentally sustainable improvements in human well-being."1 The report emphasized the need for place-based and systems approaches to sustainability, proposed a research strategy for using scientific and technical knowledge to better inform the field, and highlighted a number of priorities for actions that could contribute to a sustainable future. The past 15 years have brought significant advances in observational and predictive capabilities for a range of natural and social systems, as well as development of other tools and approaches useful for sustainability planning. In addition, other frameworks for environmental decision making, such as those that focus on climate adaptation or resilience, have become increasingly prominent. A careful consideration of how these other approaches might intersect with sustainability is warranted, particularly in that they may affect similar resources or rely on similar underlying scientific data and models. 
 To further the discussion on these outstanding issues, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on January 14â€"15, 2016. Participants discussed progress in sustainability science during the last 15 years, potential opportunities for advancing the research and use of scientific knowledge to support a transition toward sustainability, and challenges specifically related to establishing indicators and observations to support sustainability research and practice. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Scientific Principles to Guide Sustainable Design Decisions From thermodynamics to fluid dynamics to computational chemistry, this book sets forth the scientific principles underlying the need for sustainable design, explaining not just the "hows" of sustainable design and green engineering, but also the "whys." Moreover, it provides readers with the scientific principles needed to guide their own sustainable design decisions. Throughout the book, the authors draw from their experience in architecture, civil engineering, environmental engineering, planning, and public policy in order to build an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of sustainable design. Written to enable readers to take a more scientific approach to sustainable design, the book offers many practical features, including: Case studies presenting the authors' firsthand accounts of actual green projects Lessons learned from Duke University's Smart House Program that demonstrate the concepts and techniques discussed in the book Exercises that encourage readers to use their newfound knowledge to solve green design problems Figures, tables, and sidebars illustrating key concepts and summarizing important points For architects, designers, and engineers, this book enables them to not only implement green design methods, but also to choose these methods based on science. With its many examples, case studies, and exercises, the book is also an ideal textbook for students in civil and environmental engineering, construction, and architectural engineering.