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Tool Box:  Industrial Ecology

Industrial ecology focuses on the redesign of manufacturing. The design idea is to mirror production in nature. Nothing in a production process is "waste" and everything that comes out of the process is either a product for sale or an input for another manufacturing process. Another term for this is cradle-to-cradle manufacturing.

For additional information in Industrial Ecology, contact Sustainability Team members: Jay Moynihan Jerry Hembd

PowerPoint Presentations:

• Industrial Ecology and Manufacturing
  Presentation by Jay Moynihan (2007)
   

Recommended Reading:

• Industrial Metabolism: Restructuring for Sustainable Development Edited by Robert U. Ayres and Udo E. Simonis © The United Nations University, 1994.  On line book.

From the introduction:

"The term "metabolism," applied to a plant or animal, is a notion so familiar and comprehensive that it resists formal definition. Webster, nevertheless, defines it as "the sum total of the build-up and destruction of cell tissue; the chemical cellular changes providing the energies for the life process and the elimination of waste materials." It is, in other words, the totality of internal processes - both physical and chemical - that supply the energy and nutrients required by an organism as the conditions of life itself. These processes can be described, in the aggregate, in terms of the transformations of inputs (sunlight, chemical energy, nutrients, water, air) into biomass - the substance of the organism itself - and waste products.

Industrial metabolism, by analogy, is the set of physico-chemical transformations that convert raw materials (biomass, fuels, minerals, metals) into manufactured products and structures (i.e. "goods") and wastes. To an economist these processes, in the aggregate, are called "production." A further transformation of economic goods into services (and wastes) is also implied by the economic term "consumption." Thus industrial metabolism comprehends all the materials/ energy transformations that enable the economic system to function, i.e. to produce and consume."

Two important theoretical books for a "deep" understanding of topics such as sustainability, economic behavior, industrial ecology, and The Natural Step. Note: The Natural Step is not mentioned in either book.

• Information, Entropy, and Progress by Professor Robert U Ayres (1997)
  Available through your favorite book retailer.
  This book presents a look at evolution on several scales, from the earth and its geology and chemistry to living organisms to social and economic systems. In his analysis Ayres applies the principles of thermodynamics and the concepts of information gathering and self- organization.
  
   
• Nature: An Economic History by Geerat J. Vermeij (2006)
  Available through your favorite book retailer.
  "There are clear analogies between economics and biological evolution, but the thesis of this articulate essay is that both fields can and should be described in exactly the same terms in a single theoretical framework. In successive chapters describing consumption of resources, competition, organization, environment and geography.... with copious examples from paleontology, ecology, and economic history, the overarching common description of competition for locally scarce resources and differential success based on variation, leading to evolving adaptations and descent with modification. " (From publisher's description)

Additional Informative Sites:

• Waste=Food  (An inspiring documentary on the Cradle to Cradle design concept)
  Documentary about the work of German chemist, Michael Braungart, and the American designer-architect William McDonough. By Rob van Hattum (2006).  An explanation and look at some projects in the field of Industrial Ecology, aka Cradle to Cradle design.
   

• Interface Sustainability
  Interface's The Natural Step page

The following information is available here as a Word document

Industrial Ecology and Manufacturing Bibliography  --------Ver. 10152008----Jay Moynihan ($) means purchase, contracting, or paid subscription necessary Introduction: Industrial Ecology: An Environmental Agenda for Industry by Hardin Tibbs (1992) The Tibbs article, that kind of put it on the radar screen. Industrial Ecology: An Introduction.  National Pollution Prevention Center for Higher Education (1995) Industrial Ecology Selected Reading Materials National Pollution Prevention Center for Higher Education (1995)  The city that started it all:    Kalundborg Industrial Parks: Industrial Symbiosis    Lessons to be Learned (The Industrial Symbiosis at Kalundborg Denmark) (11/2006)    A good overview of the process of Kalundborg’s development, and lessons learned.  Textbook:    Industrial Ecology T. E. Graedel, B.R. Allenby,  American Telephone and Telegraph Company (2003)          Prentice Hall, Inc.  Journals:     ($) Journal of Industrial Ecology (Yale)     ($) Journal: Progress in Industrial Ecology  Professional association:    International Society for Industrial Ecology  Articles and other resources    Road Map to Natural Capitalism by A. Lovins, H. Lovins, P. Hawken Harvard Business Review (1999) Industrial Ecology: From Theory to Practice The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems National Academy Press (1994) Free on-line book, full text. ($) Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough, Michael Braungart (2002) A must read book. Indigo Development introduction to Industrial Ecology Free materials from a consulting firm. Emerging Role of EID in Asian Green Economy Dr. Anthony SF Chiu Green Growth, UN ESCAP (June 7, 2007) BITEC Bangkok (PPT-Handout) Interface, Inc. Site about their sustainability program.  The premier American corporation practicing industrial ecology.  Existing or Developing Eco-Industrial Parks in the U.S. Other resource lists:  Industrial Ecology: Resource List (1995)  Annotated Bibliography (1995)