Carnegie Mellon Researchers Host Media Briefing To Help Make Engineers More Environmentally Savvy

July 17, 2006
Contact: Chriss Swaney
(412) 268-5776

PITTSBURGH—A collaborative research team led by Carnegie Mellon University’s Cliff Davidson will discuss a new way of educating engineers about thinking “green” and incorporating environmental and social constraints into major development projects. The media briefing is scheduled for noon, July 21 in the Dilks Library at Carnegie Mellon’s Roberts Engineering Hall.

The plan is part of a larger research effort under way at the new Center for Engineering Sustainability, which is supported by a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation and $350,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency. The center, which includes researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and Arizona State University, aims to help engineers better manage increased stress on the world’s limited resources.

“The whole idea is to get the nation’s 1,500 engineering programs to be more environmentally conscious,” said Davidson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “We need to challenge traditional notions of what engineers and developers think buildings and infrastructure should look like and how they should perform.”

Examples of such energy-conscious, forward-thinking designs include a tower in China owned by a tobacco company that is shaped like a cigarette pack and will breathe in air to push turbines that will power the entire building. A plan for a tripartite spire in Moscow aims to be not only the tallest building in Europe, but also the only modern skyscraper with a natural ventilation system, reducing heating demands in frigid Russian winters by 20 percent, according to industry analysts.

As the global population grows and standards of living improve, there will be increasing stress placed on the world’s limited resources, according to Carnegie Mellon researchers. And given the choice, people tend to procrastinate about annoying energy-saving tasks like adding insulation or switching to a car that gets better gas mileage, Davidson said.

In addition to the media briefing, more than 60 researchers will attend workshops covering everything from the challenges of industrial ecology to clean water and air issues.

About Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities. More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation. A small student-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between students and professors. While technology is pervasive on its 144-acre campus, Carnegie Mellon is also distinctive among leading research universities for the world-renowned programs in its College of Fine Arts. For more, see www.cmu.edu.