This book demonstrates how the inclusion of nature in engineering decisions results in innovative solutions that are economically feasible, ecologically viable, and socially desirable. It advances progress toward nature-positive decisions by protection and restoration of ecosystems and respect for ecological boundaries. The topic of this book is an active area of academic research, and leading companies are including goals associated with ecosystem services in their sustainability plans. This book is the first collection of methods and applications that explicitly include the role of nature in supporting engineering activities and describes the role that ecosystems play in supporting technology and industry. It describes approaches, models, applications, and challenges for innovation and sustainability that will be useful to students and practitioners. 

This book is a unique, multidisciplinary effort to apply rigorous thermodynamics fundamentals, a disciplined scholarly approach, to problems of sustainability, energy, and resource uses. Applying thermodynamic thinking to problems of sustainable behavior is a significant advantage in bringing order to ill-defined questions with a great variety of proposed solutions, some of which are more destructive than the original problem. The articles are pitched at a level accessible to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in courses on sustainability, sustainable engineering, industrial ecology, sustainable manufacturing, and green engineering. The timeliness of the topic, and the urgent need for solutions make this book attractive to general readers and specialist researchers as well. Top international figures from many disciplines, including engineers, ecologists, economists, physicists, chemists, policy experts and industrial ecologists among others make up the impressive list of contributors.

Drawing on multidisciplinary perspectives from engineering, economics, business, science, and human behavior, this text presents an unrivalled introduction to how engineering practice can contribute to sustainable development. Varied approaches for assessing the sustainability of engineering and other human activities are presented in detail, and potential solutions to meet key challenges are proposed, with an emphasis on those that require engineering skills. Each concept and approach is supported by mathematical representation, solved problems, real-world examples, and self-study exercises. Topics covered range from introductory material on the nature of sustainability, to more advanced approaches for assessment and design. Prerequisites for each chapter are clearly explained so the text can be adapted to meet the needs of students from a range of backgrounds. Software tutorials, project statements and solutions, lecture slides, and a solutions manual accompany the book online, making this an invaluable resource for courses in sustainable engineering, as well as a useful reference for industry practitioners.

This book is a unique, multidisciplinary, effort to apply rigorous thermodynamics fundamentals, a disciplined scholarly approach, to problems of sustainability, energy, and resource uses. Applying thermodynamic thinking to problems of sustainable behavior is a significant advantage in bringing order to ill defined questions with a great variety of proposed solutions, some of which are more destructive than the original problem. The articles are pitched at a level accessible to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in courses on sustainability, sustainable engineering, industrial ecology, sustainable manufacturing, and green engineering. The timeliness of the topic, and the urgent need for solutions make this book attractive to general readers and specialist researchers as well. Top international figures from many disciplines, including engineers, ecologists, economists, physicists, chemists, policy experts and industrial ecologists among others make up the impressive list of contributors. About the Authors Bhavik R. Bakshi holds a dual appointment as a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The Ohio State University, and Vice Chancellor and Professor of Energy and Environment at TERI University, New Delhi. He is also the Research Director of the Center for Resilience at Ohio State. From 2006 to 2010, he was a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, India. He has written over 100 refereed publications in areas such as Process Systems Engineering and Sustainability Science and Engineering. Timothy G. Gutowski is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. He was the Director of MIT s Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity (1994-2004), and the Associate Department Head for Mechanical Engineering (2001-2005). From 1999 to 2001 he was the chairman of the National Science Foundation - Department of Energy panel on Environmentally Benign Manufacturing. He has written over 150 technical publications, and seven patents and patent applications. He is the editor of Advanced Composites Manufacturing (1997). Dusan P. Sekulic is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. He is a fellow of ASME. Dr. Sekulic is a consulting professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology, PR China. He is the author of over 150 refereed research publications, more than a dozen book chapters, and the author of the book Fundamentals of Heat Exchanger Design (jointly with R.K. Shah), published in English, and in Chinese. He is the editor of the books Advances in Brazing: Science, Technology and Applications and Fundamentals of Heat Exchanger Design (2003) co-edited with Ramesh K. Shah.