Sustainability and its Applications

Our planet is not in good shape. The present situation of our environment is deplorable. Today, economies across the world are grappling with unprecedented challenges traversing social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability including climate change, natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, hunger and malnourishment, economic inequity, social insecurity, dwindling natural resources, ever-increasing demands on our energy and food supply, etc. The issue of sustainability is of increasing interest and importance to businesses, healthcare, government, public policy, planning, and other fields.

Sustainability has been a keyword in the 21th century because it is one of the global grand challenges. Sustainability is at the core of concepts such as sustainable development, sustainable cities, sustainable business, sustainable engineering, sustainable healthcare, sustainable manufacturing, sustainable agriculture, sustainable energy, sustainable software, sustainable design, sustainable living, etc. Sustainability is a holistic approach that addresses environmental, social, and economic issues in infrastructure design, construction, and maintenance.

This book is organized into nine chapters that summarize sustainability and its applications. It is a must-read book for anyone who wants to learn about the sustainability, which is undoubtedly one of the major global issues in the 21th century.