Abstract
What is a carbon footprint? Where does the number come from, and what does it mean? What do greenhouse gases and water use have to do with human factors design, which traditionally focuses on human capabilities and limitations? In the bigger picture, if the environment that supports human life and human activity is destroyed, the finer points of ergonomic design will not really matter that much. Designing for the environment is designing with human capabilities and limitations in mind.
The Sustainability Practitioner’s Guide to Input-Output Analysis and The Sustainability Practitioner’s Guide to Multi-Regional Input-Output Analysis provide insight into how carbon footprints and embodied water calculations are made. Sustainability can mean different things to different people. The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) has evolved several definitions, including the definition of sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” One way to measure sustainability is to calculate the carbon footprint, which reflects the consumption of energy as fossil fuel use.
The concept of measuring fossil fuel use is very simple but quickly becomes complicated in the global marketplace, with its lengthy supply chains. Input-output tables have been used since the 1950s to quantify imports and exports in all sectors of the economy as well as to calculate national gross domestic products. By associating fossil fuel use with each sector’s imports and exports, one can estimate the carbon footprint of that sector. The data also can be aggregated by country. Embodied water in products can be estimated by using the basic economic data in input-output tables.
Why should the human factors designer care about sustainability? In the global marketplace, designing for human capabilities and limitations needs to include consideration of energy use and water consumption in (a) source of material (recycled or virgin), (b) manufacturing process, (c) packaging and delivery, (d) product use, and (e) end of life (reuse, recycle, discard). The designer specifies materials and how they are put together, which in turn often determines how – or if – the product can be reused and/or recycled. Although the human factors designer may not perform the sustainability analysis, it is extremely important to understand the process and be knowledgeable enough to discuss options with those who specialize in evaluating energy and water use throughout the life cycle of a product or service.
The Sustainability Practitioner’s Guide to Input-Output Analysis discusses the basics of input-output methodology and provides insight into teaching it to students and groups of practitioners. The Sustainability Practitioner’s Guide to Multi-Regional Input-Output Analysis describes different global approaches to quantifying energy and water use as well as attributing responsibility for consuming these resources and the resulting greenhouse gases.
I do not recommend reading either book from cover to cover. The chapters in each book are written by a variety of authors, and each chapter stands on its own. However, each chapter complements other chapters, which, taken together, provide a comprehensive understanding of the interdependence of trade, environment, and human well-being. I do recommend both books as a reference for understanding carbon footprint and embodied water calculations.
Footnotes
Mary V. O’Reilly is adjunct professor in the Environmental Health and Toxicology Department of the SUNY School of Public Health and also teaches industrial ecology in the business track of Empire State College. Her doctorate is from the University of Michigan. She is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and a Certified Professional Ergonomist and a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association.