In my keynote address to the annual Alberta Transportation Conference in Red Deer, Canada this week, I emphasized to the engineers in attendance that the design of a project in the 21st Century involves new considerations often overlooked or not thought of in the past. As engineers, we have chosen a profession that enhances the quality of life. The role and responsibility of the engineer has always been to protect the public health, safety and welfare. Thus, the main objective of engineers is to develop proper infrastructure for supporting the effort in achieving its welfare. However, today the engineer's role and responsibility goes beyond protecting today's public, but to the protection of future generations and the environment. New risks are emerging relative to how the engineer produces the design, including the assumptions thereto. Public works projects are constructed for the public welfare; thus consideration as to the project's long-term impact to the society and ultimate client objectives play an important part in the engineer's role and responsibility in designing the project.

Sustainable design is becoming the expected standard, not just a "green thought".

Fundamental components to sustainable development include: environmental protection, economic growth and social equity. The biggest impact to the sustainability concept is on how engineers, planners, designers and managers continue to deliver a best-practice solution to our clients. This includes considerations to asset management and the impact over time to the users of the project. Over the coming years, social impact is going to be a major consideration for all engineered projects. While environmental impact assessments are now common, we will begin to see social-economic and human impact assessments performed before projects can proceed.

Questions that engineers today should be asking include: Have the life-cycle costs been analyzed to determine the total cost of project delivery over its expected life? Have environmental factors been included in the valuation of assets and services? How does the project interact with the natural environment? Are there any concerns relative to the material or product proposed which may have potential future negative impacts on the project depending on the use application? How can the project be best integrated into the community? Will the health, diversity and values of the community be maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations?

Our role and responsibility as engineers is changing in the 21st Century. Sustainability is no longer the consideration of environmental impacts, but rather represents the best engineering approach and the recognition that no project exists in a vacuum but in a social and natural context that affects the project and is affected by it in turn.