ASHRAE - FUNDAMENTALS SI CH 35
Sustainability
| Organization: | ASHRAE |
| Publication Date: | 1 January 2017 |
| Status: | inactive |
| Page Count: | 12 |
scope:
DEFINITION
Sustainability is defined in the ASHRAE GreenGuide (ASHRAE 2013), in general terms, as "providing for the needs of the present without detracting from the ability to fulfill the needs of the future," a definition very similar to that developed in 1987 by the United Nations' Brundtland Commission (UN 1987). Others have defined sustainability as "the concept of maximizing the effectiveness of resource use while minimizing the impact of that use on the environment" (ASHRAE 2006) and an environment in which "… an equilibrium … exists between human society and stable ecosystems" (Townsend 2006).
Sustaining (i.e., keeping up or prolonging) those elements on which humankind's existence and that of the planet depend, such as energy, the environment, and health, are worthy goals.
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