ACEC launches guidance for engineering sustainable projects

The Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Canada (ACEC) has launched a report, the Sustainable Development for Canadian Consulting Engineers.

In addition to explaining the important role engineers play in ensuring our sustainable future, the report identifies proven practices and tools developed by the engineering community around the world on sustainable projects that meet the needs of our population over the long term.

Author Dr. John Boyd, P.Eng., Ph.D., is an internationally recognized authority on sustainability, who had a 35-year tenure with Golder Associates. “Canadian consulting engineers are among the best in the world,” he says. “We are ready to provide leadership in this vitally important area. Marrying economic growth with environmental protection is the challenge of this century. This report will provide vital guidance to our sector as it seeks to develop sustainable infrastructure solutions.”

Boyd participated in the development of the Project Sustainability Management System with FIDIC, the international federation of consulting engineers, and currently teaches a graduate course on sustainability for engineers at the University of Toronto.

In launching the report, John Gamble, President of ACEC, points out that the concept of sustainable development — the idea that we must improve resource efficiency and environmental protection while we build a world-class economy —is inherent in good engineering practice and has been embraced by the Canadian engineering community for decades. However, sustainability has not formally and explicitly been embedded in the way in which consulting engineers do their work in Canada.

The report can be downloaded from the ACEC website, click here.