Global environmental crisis has been a laughing stock and ignored for decades. No doubt a concept and challenge that is now critical and important. Big changes are required for big problems. Especially when over 7 billion people have been living carefree on this planet, using non-renewable resources to thrive and survive.
With global warming escalating, the outcome may include rising sea level, flooding, weather extremity, drought, species extinction, and large health impacts in the world such as asthma, pneumonia, heart problems, cancer, neurological disorders, brain damage, and even premature death built overtime.
Climate change hazards are being reviewed on a national level now that uniting countries with one goal is of priority – to stop this catastrophe. According to NOAA’s 2020 Annual climate report, the combined land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit ( 0.08 degrees Celsius) per decade since 1880; however, the average rate of increase since 1981 (0.18°C / 0.32°F) has been more than twice that rate.
Even in the manufacturing industry, there are various ways to reduce global warming and support net-zero emission to decarbonisation.
The industry plays a huge role in restoring balance in the environment. Within the supply chain, when manufacturing and production companies set out environmental, social, and governance goals, positive impacts are evident through an indirect domino effect. Attracting companies and consumers that are ultimately walking towards the same goal.
This not only helps the company thrive in this new market, but also turn production to a more sustainable way.
UNESCO explains sustainable engineering as “the process of using resources in a way that does not compromise the environment or deplete the materials for future generations.”
Engineering is an applicable aspect in our everyday lives. Anywhere, everywhere, and in everything. Some of which includes architectural, machinery manufacturing, transportation equipment, IT, biomedical, and many other sectors of industry. Through different environments, engineering is adapted to increase product and service sustainability, and ultimately to retain more customers and create sustainable changes.
Sustainable engineering influences three main dimensions: economical, social and environmental. The key task is to maintain a proper balance between all three of them.
Source: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/eme807/node/688
Apart from green initiatives being beneficial for the climate change regulation, they are proven profitable for businesses. This is why investors are more likely to work with companies that are heading towards environment-friendly and sustainable optimisation.
The abovementioned improvement wouldn’t occur without a forward-thinking development of technologies. The goal is to increase affordability of sustainable optimisation. According to Deloitte, 5-10% reduction in build cost and 10-20% reduction in operational cost are possible due to digital transformation. According to an AVEVA survey, 85% of industrial leaders want to drive sustainability by increasing their investment in digital transformation.
Sustainable improvements will benefit mainly in energy consumption, waste, and emissions reduction. When combined with other modern technologies such as AI, cloud computing and data analytics, transitions and efficient management will be more achievable. It will also improve system relation and engagement between coworkers, optimising each workflow phase for faster and better processes.
Sustainable engineering includes the scope of several common global focuses such as food production, housing, waste disposal, storage, and management, pollution reduction, water supplies, energy generation and consumption, transportation, natural resource restoration, industrial and manufacturing processes improvement.
The importance of sustainable engineering eventually narrows down to providing new solutions for our daily life without harming the environment, maintaining a healthy level of climate control as well as renewing the existing social lifestyle to build better sustainable goals.
To achieve this, few methodological steps include:
- Data collection includes surveys from sources and sites along with assessments, third party reports and existing measurements.
- Environmental Impact Assessment Is required to understand the feasibility of each and every plan, with the completed phase of data collection, it’s time to analyse and evaluate the operation.
- Report Conclusion will help clear out the action steps required and the underlying reason of each conclusion including costs, plans, environment, social, economical factors and considerations as well as the roles of each stakeholder.
- Public Relation is a form of communication with the local residents and surrounding organisations and business that may be affected by the project implementation. IF there are significant or considerable impact to the local community, the company must be held accoutable to create a counter-intuitive plan to minimise or even eliminate the impact or damage.
- Commencement date is important for investors, managers, and supervisors that executes the project, ensuring ROI, and timeframe requirements are met on time.
- Advisory is crucial when building in a new location. Consult and build relaitonships with local and central authorities to ensure your sustainable plan will be implemented with no hindrance or monopoly.
Eventually, generating a balanced solution for all aspects and goals of a sustainable engineering still requires plenty of coordination, communication, and experimentation. Considering the fact that many regulations and policies are still in the making, it’s possible to take it as an advantage for your company’s success. Be aware of the challenges, consequences, and outcome your engineering business may have without the right sustainable automation. Losses of revenues can go over 7-8 figures.
Ti2 is a perfect option for complete turn-key solutions and specialised integration. With our expertise and experience, you can attain sustainable engineering and automation through electrical and software design, hardware/software/mechanical/electrical integration, Industrial Systems Programming (PLCs, HMI’s, soft PLCs, Robotics, Servo Controllers), project specification & management, up to testing and commissioning.
For the administration of compatible devices, Ti2 partners with CODESYS, allowing, for example, the storage of projects in source and binary code via web browser and their download to connected devices. The platform is hosted in a public cloud. The communication between the cloud and the controllers is done through a special software Edge Gateway, whose security features have been rated A+ by SSL Labs. This connection can thus be used to communicate securely with devices integrated in the Automation Server without the need for additional VPN tunnels or firewalls, e.g. for displaying web visualisations or for debugging/updating the application software on the device.
At least 400 device manufacturers from different industrial sectors offer intelligent automation devices with a CODESYS programming interface. These include devices from global players such as Schneider Electric, Beckhoff, WAGO or Festo, but also niche suppliers of industrial controllers. Consequently, more than 100,000 of end users such as machine or plant builders around the world employ CODESYS for different automation tasks and applications.
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Article inspired by AVEVA, Deloitte, researchgate, Oxford, AVEVA, UNESCO, and Ti2.
