background

Sustainable development aims for a future where products are 100% recyclable, where manufacturing itself has a zero net impact on the environment, and where complete disassembly of a product at its end of life is routine. What needs to be in place for this vision of the future to become a reality? Certainly there needs to be a trusted system of measures to support the nations’ ability to monitor energy consumption, hazardous materials usage, and carbon output throughout the life cycle of manufactured goods, from raw material extraction through production and use of products, including ultimate disposal, recycling, remanufacturing or reclamation. There needs to be in place a measurement methodology to assign the energy and environmental costs at each stage of a product’s life cycle.

Information must be available at the early design stages about the eventual environmental costs of each design decision for a new product, and the decisions taken must themselves be recorded to support fair and equitable tracking. Information must be available at the end of a product’s life to know how to properly dispose of or reclaim it. There is a need for new developments such as richer manufacturing and design standards that support energy and environmental information, better sensors and measurement technologies to monitor impacts on the environment, and methodologies for tracing life-cycle costs to a trusted infrastructure of measurements and standards that our economies can depend upon.

Ensuring a sustainable future requires a systems approach. Sustainable systems are characterized by interlinked interactions at various levels spanning economic, ecological and societal issues. Emphasis on interactions within and across these levels is critical to the fundamental understanding of sustainable design and manufacturing systems, because tackling any one of the issues in isolation can result in unintended consequences along other dimensions. The primary goal of a systems approach is to capture and formalize descriptions of these processes and interactions. Because of the complexity of these systems, simulation and modeling will play a large part in understanding the overall impact of changes in any one part.

The future dominance of issues surrounding energy production, environmental impact and greenhouse gases is hard to overstate. Global investments in sustainable energy (including wind, solar, and water power) more than doubled from 2004 to 2006, to $70.9 billion, according to a 2007 report by the United Nations Environment Program. Recent directives from the European Union (EU) such as Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regarding hazardous and toxic materials have substantially impacted many manufacturing industries. The greenhouse gas emissions trading mechanism concept has resulted in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In 2006, the EU ETS market traded 1,101 MtCO2e (Millions of tons of carbon dioxide equivalent). The carbon market grew in value to an estimated US$30 billion (€23 billion) in 2006, three times greater than the previous year. It seems likely that some form of carbon emission trading system will be put in place in the U.S., creating a marketplace valued at $80B - $250B.

India and the US have been working together in several sectors, such as power, IT and textiles. This workshop would develop not only long term strategies for both the countries to achieve sustainable societies but also open up new areas for further research on sustainability. There are several lessons on sustainability that India and the US could learn from each other by research collaboration and exchange of knowledge. There have been many long-term bilateral agreements in the past between India and the US that have propelled government authorities, researchers and industrialists to work hand in hand on various international issues for the betterment of both countries. India and the US are currently supporting emerging research areas such as sustainability to help the two countries in several ways. This workshop should help create a platform to share such important issues that have long-term implications on the countries’ infrastructure development and economy. This workshop would help initiate and catalyze dialogues for developing long-term strategies for the two countries to achieve more sustainable societies and open up new areas for further research on sustainability.

Purpose

Another key result of this workshop will be the creation of a bilateral forum which would act as a focal point for research engineers, scientists, industrialists, environmentalists, social entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and legislators to exchange views and develop viable solutions at the system level that could be adapted either in India or in the US in order to achieve a more sustainable society. To achieve this result, the workshop will focus on the following:

Form strategies for curriculum development incorporating knowledge on how sustainable systems could be developed. This would better equip upcoming engineers with the knowledge of designing and developing sustainable products and enacting sustainable systems.
Discuss and formalize suggestions to the countries’ governments regarding possible policies that could be enacted to create a more sustainable society.
Catalyze mobilization and transfer of sustainable urban and rural technologies between companies of both nations.
Discuss advanced technologies such as nano- and advanced materials which could possibly contribute to the development of a more sustainable future.

Clearly there are many scientific and technological advances that are needed in a global effort as significant as sustainable development. A major goal of this workshop is to increase awareness about sustainable systems among researchers, government policy makers, industrialists and students.


INDO-U.S. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FORUM
About the workshop Background and purpose Organizers Schedule Date and venue Participants About IUSSTF About Bangalore Contact us Privacy Policy / Security Notice / Accessibility Statement Disclaimer NIST is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce Technical inquiries: webmaster@cme.nist.gov Date created: 03/02/2009 Last updated: 08/20/2009	Background of this workshop Sustainable development aims for a future where products are 100% recyclable, where manufacturing itself has a zero net impact on the environment, and where complete disassembly of a product at its end of life is routine. What needs to be in place for this vision of the future to become a reality? Certainly there needs to be a trusted system of measures to support the nations’ ability to monitor energy consumption, hazardous materials usage, and carbon output throughout the life cycle of manufactured goods, from raw material extraction through production and use of products, including ultimate disposal, recycling, remanufacturing or reclamation. There needs to be in place a measurement methodology to assign the energy and environmental costs at each stage of a product’s life cycle. Information must be available at the early design stages about the eventual environmental costs of each design decision for a new product, and the decisions taken must themselves be recorded to support fair and equitable tracking. Information must be available at the end of a product’s life to know how to properly dispose of or reclaim it. There is a need for new developments such as richer manufacturing and design standards that support energy and environmental information, better sensors and measurement technologies to monitor impacts on the environment, and methodologies for tracing life-cycle costs to a trusted infrastructure of measurements and standards that our economies can depend upon. Ensuring a sustainable future requires a systems approach. Sustainable systems are characterized by interlinked interactions at various levels spanning economic, ecological and societal issues. Emphasis on interactions within and across these levels is critical to the fundamental understanding of sustainable design and manufacturing systems, because tackling any one of the issues in isolation can result in unintended consequences along other dimensions. The primary goal of a systems approach is to capture and formalize descriptions of these processes and interactions. Because of the complexity of these systems, simulation and modeling will play a large part in understanding the overall impact of changes in any one part. The future dominance of issues surrounding energy production, environmental impact and greenhouse gases is hard to overstate. Global investments in sustainable energy (including wind, solar, and water power) more than doubled from 2004 to 2006, to $70.9 billion, according to a 2007 report by the United Nations Environment Program. Recent directives from the European Union (EU) such as Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regarding hazardous and toxic materials have substantially impacted many manufacturing industries. The greenhouse gas emissions trading mechanism concept has resulted in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In 2006, the EU ETS market traded 1,101 MtCO2e (Millions of tons of carbon dioxide equivalent). The carbon market grew in value to an estimated US$30 billion (€23 billion) in 2006, three times greater than the previous year. It seems likely that some form of carbon emission trading system will be put in place in the U.S., creating a marketplace valued at $80B - $250B. India and the US have been working together in several sectors, such as power, IT and textiles. This workshop would develop not only long term strategies for both the countries to achieve sustainable societies but also open up new areas for further research on sustainability. There are several lessons on sustainability that India and the US could learn from each other by research collaboration and exchange of knowledge. There have been many long-term bilateral agreements in the past between India and the US that have propelled government authorities, researchers and industrialists to work hand in hand on various international issues for the betterment of both countries. India and the US are currently supporting emerging research areas such as sustainability to help the two countries in several ways. This workshop should help create a platform to share such important issues that have long-term implications on the countries’ infrastructure development and economy. This workshop would help initiate and catalyze dialogues for developing long-term strategies for the two countries to achieve more sustainable societies and open up new areas for further research on sustainability. Purpose Another key result of this workshop will be the creation of a bilateral forum which would act as a focal point for research engineers, scientists, industrialists, environmentalists, social entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and legislators to exchange views and develop viable solutions at the system level that could be adapted either in India or in the US in order to achieve a more sustainable society. To achieve this result, the workshop will focus on the following: Form strategies for curriculum development incorporating knowledge on how sustainable systems could be developed. This would better equip upcoming engineers with the knowledge of designing and developing sustainable products and enacting sustainable systems. Discuss and formalize suggestions to the countries’ governments regarding possible policies that could be enacted to create a more sustainable society. Catalyze mobilization and transfer of sustainable urban and rural technologies between companies of both nations. Discuss advanced technologies such as nano- and advanced materials which could possibly contribute to the development of a more sustainable future. Clearly there are many scientific and technological advances that are needed in a global effort as significant as sustainable development. A major goal of this workshop is to increase awareness about sustainable systems among researchers, government policy makers, industrialists and students.
	Indo-US Workshop on Designing Sustainable Products, Services and Manufacturing Systems