Seeking Synergy Between Technological and Ecological Systems for Sustainable Engineering

寻求技术和生态系统之间的协同作用以实现可持续工程

• 批准号: 1336872
• 负责人: Bhavik Bakshi
• 金额: $ 23.32万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1336872&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Seeking; Synergy; Between; Technological; Ecological

1336872 (Bakshi) and 1334083 (Daily). Even though all human activities depend on goods and services obtained from nature, modern technological advances and prosperity have resulted in increasing ignorance of this dependence, leading to severe degradation in the ability of ecosystems to provide services for sustaining human activities and well-being. This research is a step toward restoring this connection, and is based on the premise that understanding and accounting for the interaction and interdependence between technological and ecological systems can result in new insights about the sustainability of human activities, and the discovery of innovative designs based on synergies between technological and ecological systems. This work will develop the new framework of techno-ecological synergy (TES) that integrates data and models of technological and ecological systems at multiple spatial scales. Relevant information will be obtained from engineering models, life cycle inventories, input-output models, and ecological data and models. Such information will be used to develop TES models at spatial scales such as local, regional, and national. Design of synergies will be enabled by a multiobjective optimization framework that will combine process and input-output models of technological and ecological systems. As a way of developing this framework, these methods will be applied to assessing the sustainability of The Ohio State University campus based on its demand and supply for ecosystem services. Strategies will be suggested for enhancing campus sustainability and for meeting the University President?s commitment of carbon neutrality. The proposed activities will bring together the expertise of leaders in Sustainable Engineering and Ecosystem Services. Understanding the synergy between existing systems is expected to result in a novel approach for assessing system sustainability. TES models at a spatial scale will indicate the extent of overshoot between the demand and supply for individual ecosystem services. This will provide insight into the options and appropriate scale for closing material cycles, and encourage the development of "islands of sustainability." Such models across scales will be used to develop hybrid models that consider the entire life cycle, supporting ecosystems, and their capacity. Designing techno-ecological synergy will expand the design space to include innovative solutions that are beneficial to the economy and the environment. These solutions cannot be found by traditional engineering design since it ignores the role of ecosystems. A unique feature of the optimization framework will be its ability to utilize process models from existing software and input-output models built from economic and environmental data. Through this work, methods for ecosystem services modeling will expand their reach into industrial supply chains, life cycles, and technology design and assessment. Application to campus sustainability will advance methods for developing green buildings and sustainable habitats. Application of the proposed framework to the OSU campus will provide unique opportunities for education and outreach to students, staff and faculty, and to enhance public engagement with science and technology. This will be enabled by working with the campus Office of Energy Services and Sustainability, and two student groups: the local chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World, and the Ecological Engineering Society. The results of this work will be disseminated by means of on-campus exhibits organized by these groups; web-based tools to explore campus sustainability options; short courses to policy makers and engineers, organized by the Natural Capital Project and the MIT Summer Program, respectively; elective courses and graduate student training; and through academic publications and presentations. Involvement of underrepresented minorities and women will be ensured not just through graduate student recruitment, but also via the student groups associated with this work. The proposed framework will open many new avenues for further work such as the effect of techno-ecological synergies on the resilience of spatial regions, integration with social and behavioral aspects, etc. This work will contribute to reestablishing a mutually beneficial connection between technology and ecology, which is needed for keeping engineering and other human activities within ecological constraints, and to ensure human well-being and sustainability.

1336872（Bakshi）和1334083（每日）。尽管所有人类活动都依赖于从大自然获得的货物和服务，但现代技术进步和繁荣导致人们越来越忽视这种依赖性，导致生态系统为维持人类活动和福祉提供服务的能力严重退化。这项研究是朝着恢复这种联系迈出的一步，其前提是理解和解释技术和生态系统之间的相互作用和相互依赖关系，可以对人类活动的可持续性产生新的见解，并发现基于技术和生态系统之间协同作用的创新设计。这项工作将开发新的技术生态协同框架，在多个空间尺度上整合技术和生态系统的数据和模型。将从工程模型、生命周期清单、投入产出模型以及生态数据和模型中获得相关信息。这些信息将被用来开发空间尺度的TES模型，如地方，区域和国家。协同作用的设计将通过一个多目标优化框架来实现，该框架将把技术和生态系统的联合收割机过程和投入产出模型结合起来。作为发展这一框架的一种方式，这些方法将被应用于评估的可持续性的俄亥俄州州立大学校园的基础上，其需求和供应的生态系统服务。将提出策略，以提高校园的可持续发展和会议的大学校长？的碳中和承诺。拟议的活动将汇集可持续工程和生态系统服务领域领导者的专业知识。 了解现有系统之间的协同作用，预计将导致一种新的方法来评估系统的可持续性。空间尺度上的TES模型将显示单个生态系统服务的需求和供应之间的超调程度。这将为关闭材料循环提供深入的选择和适当的规模，并鼓励发展“可持续性岛屿”。“这些跨尺度的模型将用于开发考虑整个生命周期、支持生态系统及其能力的混合模型。设计技术生态协同效应将扩大设计空间，纳入对经济和环境有益的创新解决方案。传统的工程设计无法找到这些解决方案，因为它忽略了生态系统的作用。优化框架的一个独特之处是能够利用现有软件中的流程模型以及根据经济和环境数据建立的投入产出模型。通过这项工作，生态系统服务建模方法将扩展到工业供应链、生命周期以及技术设计和评估。应用于校园可持续发展将推进发展绿色建筑和可持续栖息地的方法。将拟议的框架应用于俄勒冈州立大学校园将为学生、教职员工和教师提供独特的教育和外联机会，并加强公众对科学和技术的参与。这将通过与校园能源服务和可持续发展办公室以及两个学生团体合作来实现：可持续发展世界工程师的当地分会和生态工程学会。这项工作的成果将通过以下方式传播：这些团体组织的校园展览;探索校园可持续性备选办法的网络工具;自然资本项目和麻省理工学院暑期方案分别为决策者和工程师组织的短期课程;选修课程和研究生培训;以及通过学术出版物和演讲。代表性不足的少数民族和妇女的参与将不仅通过招收研究生，而且通过与这项工作有关的学生团体来确保。拟议的框架将为进一步的工作开辟许多新的途径，如技术生态协同作用对空间区域的弹性，与社会和行为方面的整合等的影响，这项工作将有助于重新建立技术和生态之间的互利联系，这是保持工程和其他人类活动在生态约束，并确保人类福祉和可持续性。