Engineering Fundamentals: An Introduction to Engineering, 4th ed.c

3.16 Indoor Air Quality Standards in the United States 81

as it passes through some cleaning system. There are various methods that deal with air con-

taminant removal, including absorption, catalysis, and use of air filters.

Finally, you can bring the indoor air quality issues to the attention of friends, classmates,

and family. We all need to be aware and try to do our part to create and maintain healthy indoor

air quality.

Lauren Heine, Ph.D.

I became an Environmental Engineer

because I was interested in waste manage-

ment and in preserving the environment. I

earned a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmen-

tal Engineering at Duke University. My

advisor encouraged me to explore some

non-traditional coursework including ethics and envi-

ronmental chemistry and toxicology. I quickly became

hooked on solving interdisciplinary problems — a natu-

ral extension of environmental engineering.

After graduating, I became a Fellow with the American

Association for the Advancement of Science at the US

Environmental Production Agency (US EPA). I chose to

work at the Green Chemistry Program in the Office of

Pollution Prevention and Toxics. On my first day in the

office, one of the Branch Chiefs at US EPA asked me how

it felt to know that my degree was obsolete. I must have

looked pretty puzzled. He continued, explaining that envi-

ronmental engineering is about cleaning up waste at the

end of the pipe, but the future is about designing problems

out from the start. While of course my mind was trying to

figure out how he intended to design out human biologi-

cal waste, his words made a lot sense to me.

While in the Green Chemistry Program at USEPA

I had the opportunity to work with one of the visionary

co-authors of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. I

also became intrigued with the work of the founders of

Cradle-to-Cradle design. I felt inspired and challenged to

bring these big ideas into practice in the world. My role

was to find ways to translate the big vision and principles

of Green Chemistry and Cradle-to-Cradle design into

real products and processes. Both approaches advocate

using design to avoid problems of waste and toxics in

the first place and to create synergistic benefits by design-

ing sustainable material and product systems.

I started by helping to create a new non-profit orga-

nization in Portland, OR that focused on working with

organizations to eliminate waste and toxics through engi-

neering solutions. It was great fun to work with a range

of individuals from commercial printers, to manufactur-

ers of silicon wafers, lighting fixtures, storm water treat-

ment technology and anaerobic digesters on dairy farms.

I was at the forefront of the sustainability wave. I am

amazed now as I look back and remember how at first

people were very resistant to the idea that industry could

strive to be simultaneously profitable and benign to the

environment. People assumed it would be too expensive

but instead, many found that it could save money by:

1. avoiding costs to manage waste and toxics, and


2. driving innovation for the development of new
   products.

Since then I have worked with other environmental

organizations including Green Blue Institute and Clean

Production Action. Finding like-minded colleagues who

enjoy creating change is fun and challenging. I led the

creation of CleanGredients, a database of green chemi-

cals for use in designing environmentally safer cleaning

products. With Clean Production Action, I co-authored

the Green Screen for Safer Chemicals, a method to help

organizations identify safer chemical alternatives.

Along the way, I learned conflict mediation. I did

not foresee how valuable that training would become.

It taught me to appreciate and engage stakeholders

from very different sectors and to focus on solutions.

Using conflict mediation and facilitation skills along

with environmental engineering and chemistry, I found

wonderful opportunities to create solutions with other

scientists and engineers from government, environ-

mental organizations, and industry leading to products

Professional Profile

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).

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