New book expands on concept of sustainability

Brad Allenby, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, has recently co-authored a book that combines concepts of sustainable engineering with his pioneering work in industrial ecology.

"Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Engineering," co-written with Tom Graedel, a professor in Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, is the first book to fully integrate the two fields.

Industrial ecology broadens the scope of the sustainability concept, Allenby says.

“It looks, for instance, at economic, technological and industrial systems and their interaction with environmental and social systems,” he says.

From that point of view, Allenby says, “You look at a factory not only from merely an economic perspective, but from the perspective of its overall impact on environmental and social systems. You look at things like its carbon emissions and how the factory uses resources, and how they are tied to design choices and manufacturing practices.”

Allenby is writing a second book, "The Theory and Practice of Sustainable Engineering," which is designed to provide students a comprehensive introduction to the subject.

The books “are going to further solidify ASU’s leadership in both sustainability and industrial ecology,” says Paul Westerhoff, interim director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment.