Beyond Compliance and toward Sustainability: Advantages of Systems Environmental Engineering

New technologies are not only critical in supporting military and industrial success, but also play a significant role in advancing sustainable development. With the current global economic challenges, effective tools and partnerships which streamline the design and dissemination of these technologies are more important than ever. Accordingly, the systems environmental engineering approach utilized by the Urban Operations Laboratory (UOL), [comprised of M2 Technologies, Kansas State University, and CABEM Technologies], has facilitated innovative research, training, assessment, and product design for DoD and other stakeholders. Through strategic life-cycle environmental assessments (LCEA); programmatic environment, safety, and occupational health evaluations (PESHE); Health Hazard Assessments; and other proactive studies and reports, UOL has helped foster successful development and deployment of non-lethal technologies. More specifically, these efforts provide a framework for addressing complex environment, safety, and occupational health (ESOH) risks that affect personnel, infrastructure, property, and natural/cultural resources. Integrated analyses (comprehensive and transdisciplinary) involving flexible groups of subject matter experts, are employed in support of public and private collaborations with a focus on inputs, hazards, and constraints. This paper highlights the UOL process which can translate into advantages for a variety of projects (e.g., environmental, water, energy, infrastructure, etc.).