Established 1999 Website css.snre.umich.edu | Director Greg Keoleian Date founded 1999 | |
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Focus Research, Sustainability Formerly called National Pollution Prevention Center Location University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA | ||
Center for sustainable systems
The Center for Sustainable Systems (CSS) is a research center in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. CSS focuses broadly on systems analysis as it relates to sustainability, often utilizing life cycle assessment (LCA) and other life cycle methodologies. In March 1999, CSS was officially established out of the National Pollution Prevention Center.
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History
The Center for Sustainable Systems (CSS) was established in March 1999 in the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) at the University of Michigan. CSS is an evolution of the National Pollution Prevention Center (NPPC) that was created by an EPA competitive grant in October 1991. The NPPC collaborated with faculty from a wide range of disciplines across campus and with other leading programs throughout the U.S. In 1997, NPPC’s Advisory Board approved a transition plan to launch CSS to better focus its mission on systems analysis and sustainability.
Mission Statement
The Center for Sustainable Systems develops and applies life cycle and systems analysis methods, models, and metrics for advancing sustainability and transforming systems to better meet human needs. These tools are at the core of our interdisciplinary research and education mission and provide a framework for engaging diverse stakeholders from private and public sectors to solve sustainability challenges.
Vision Statement
The Center for Sustainable Systems will be a global leader in systems-based approaches to sustainability through creative and effective teaching and research. Our vision is to foster the adoption of systems thinking and tools by students, researchers, consumers, business, and policymakers for a sustainable future. We measure success by our research innovations, the accomplishments of the students we train, the designs and technologies that we improve, the policies that we help shape and ultimately the systems that we help transform.
Research
Since its inception as the NPPC, CSS has completed more than 150 research projects on topics such as renewable energy, hydrogen infrastructure, transportation, green buildings, consumer products and packaging. A complete list of projects and publications is listed on CSS’s website. Methods and tools employed in these research endeavors include life cycle assessment, life cycle design, life cycle costing and life cycle optimization.
Education
CSS contributes to interdisciplinary education at undergraduate, graduate and professional levels at the University through curriculum development, internships, research opportunities and special workshops in the areas of industrial ecology and sustainability. One of the primary goals of the CSS education program is to enhance the current curriculum at the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) and the interdisciplinary content of graduate programs at the University.
Engineering Sustainable Systems Dual Degree Program
CSS helped to create the Engineering Sustainable Systems (ESS) dual degree program launched in the fall of 2007 at the University of Michigan. The program confers a Master of Science (M.S.) degree from the School of Natural Resources and Environment and a Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) from the College of Engineering. Students in the ESS Program specialize in Sustainable Energy Systems, Sustainable Design & Manufacturing Systems, or Sustainable Water Systems.
Certificate Program in Industrial Ecology (PIE)
Established in September 1999 with support from CSS, this 15 credit hour specialization certificate is designed to provide an interdisciplinary emphasis on industrial ecology and is available to graduate students from any program at U-M and as well as recent Master's graduates. PIE aims to provide students with the fundamental skills and knowledge of industrial ecology methods and applications and to prepare them to design and manage natural and industrial systems to meet human needs in an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable manner.
Peter M. Wege Lecture
Each year CSS invites an internationally recognized expert to deliver the Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability. This Lecture Series addresses critical sustainability challenges facing society in the 21st century including: energy security and declining fossil resources, global climate change, freshwater scarcity, ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss; and sustainable development strategies for mobility, buildings, and other complex systems for meeting human needs in both developed and developing countries. Past speakers include Al Gore in 2005 and the Dalai Lama in 2008.
Factsheets
CSS has developed a set of factsheets that present succinct overviews of the environmental impacts of particular systems. The systems examined in the fact sheets range from municipal solid waste and renewable energy systems to biodiversity and social development. The factsheets are reviewed and updated annually.