Place and Time - Sustainable Design: The Science of Sustainability and Green Engineering - page 164

So another way to think about these environmental media is that they are
compartments, each with boundary conditions, kinetics, and partitioning re-
lationships within a compartment or among other compartments. Chemicals,
whether nutrients or contaminants, change as a result of the time spent in
each compartment. The green designer's challenge is to describe, character-
ize, and predict the behaviors of various chemical species as they move through
the media.
Soil bacteria and fungi are particularly adaptable to highly concentrated waste
environments, such as those in wastewater treatment tanks and hazardous waste
reactors. Most university environmental engineering programs now have a cadre
of experts in microbiology and biochemistry. Even those in the more phys-
ical realms of environmental engineering, such as system design, ultraviolet
and ozonization disinfection controls, and exposure assessment, have a working
knowledge of microbiology. This will undoubtedly increase in the decades ahead.
When something is amiss, the cause and cure lie within the physics, chemistry, and
biology of the system. It is up to the professionals to apply the principles properly.
The eminent engineer Ross McKinney has constantly reminded us to look
under our feet for answers to the most perplexing environmental problems. He
was talking about using soil bacteria to break down even the most recalcitrant
pollutants. But he was also reminding us that engineers are highly creative people.
As another pioneer in environmental engineering, AarneVesilind, often says,
engineers “do things.” 5 Both McKinney and Vesilind are telling us that in the
process of our doing things, we should be observant to new ways of doing those
things. The answer can be right under our feet.
Green design presents something of a paradox to engineers. We do not want
to expose our clients or ourselves to unreasonable risks, but we must to some
extent “push the envelope” to find better ways of doing this, so we tend to
suppress new ways of looking at problems. However, facts and theories may be
so overwhelmingly convincing that we must change our world view. Thomas S.
Kuhn refers to this as a paradigm shift . 6 Scientists are often very reluctant to accept
these new ways of thinking (Kuhn said that such resistance can be “violent”).
In fact, even when we do accept them, they are often not dramatic reversals
(revolutions) but modifications of existing designs (evolutions). Some say that the
bicycle was merely a mechanically re-rendering of the horse (e.g., the saddle seat,
the linear and bilaterally symmetrical structure, the harness-like handle bars), as
was the automobile.
Integrating the advice of Kuhn, McKinney, and Vesilind leads to something
akin to: “Yes, go with what works, but be aware of even the most subtle changes
in what you are doing today versus what you did successfully yesterday. And do
not disregard the importance of common sense and rationality in green design.”
The answers are often readily available, cheap, and feasible, but it takes some
practice and a willingness to admit that there is a better way to do it.