Session 7

System Implementation

Four presentations comprising Session 7 exposed participants to concepts and expectations to be integrated into sustainable business. The first presentation by Janet Peargin from Chevron introduced and gave meaning to the soundbite phrases “do more with less” and “footprint optimization”. Two key concepts were addition of Transparency to the familiar triple-bottom-line components of Societal-Environmental-Economic (SEE) aspects of an asset and designing for win-win benefits achieved through integrated long-term planning and design decisions informed by SEE and life-cycle analysis (LCA). Tatiane Marin from University of São Paulo delivered the second presentation describing the role of small-scale mining in the Circular Economy and challenges that it faces with the cost of regulatory compliance. Surviving with scant resources for compliance limits their ability to prove reserves that are needed to attract investors or larger mining companies. The third presentation by Mark Caffarey from Umicore outlined the history of the ewaste market and described its growing challenges. He used the canary metaphor from early mining to detect danger related to declining precious metal content in electronics induced by miniaturization of devices and convergence of their capabilities. Noting that collection of e-devices is a major challenge as the recycling value declines and the labor needed for separating valuable components increases, transitions in the ewaste business require increasing innovation skills because of its multidisciplinary nature and the diversity of its numerous stakeholders. Kimberly Martin from Arizona State University concluded Session 7 with a discussion about a concealed component of some buildings—deep foundations—and alternatives for enhancing the overall sustainability of buildings. Innovations to foundation materials, designs, and construction methods tend to be met with barriers related to cost-only focus for selection, new technologies slowing the permitting process, accepted technologies being patented, and lack of rewards for those who develop incremental improvements.