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October 2006
Sehlin Lecture: Incorporating sustainability into infrastructure
The current approach to development is unsustainable, and we are consuming the earth’s natural resources beyond its capability to regenerate them. Sustainable development, along with security and stability, are the most critical issues facing the civil engineering profession and the societies it serves. These are the findings of the “Protocol for Engineering a Sustainable Future for the Planet,” a plan recently issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, and the Institution of Civil Engineers in the United Kingdom.
Richard N. Wright will discuss a U.S. initiative for improving infrastructure sustainability at the 21st Annual Katherine and Arthur Sehlin Lecture, November 8 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Civil Engineering Building, Minneapolis east bank campus. Wright is currently a guest researcher and was the founding director of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
ASCE and 14 other national infrastructure societies and organizations are developing the Practice, Education, and Research for Sustainable Infrastructure (PERSI) initiative. Wright will talk about this initiative, which is designed to promote the advancement and incorporation of concepts and knowledge of sustainability into the standards and practices used throughout the life cycle of infrastructure systems. Infrastructure includes all modes of transportation, buildings, communications, energy generation and distribution, water resources, and waste treatment.
A reception in the rotunda of the CE Building follows the public lecture. For more information, contact Cass Erickson of CE at 612-626-7549, erick242@umn.edu.