Creating Sustainable Society Track

Sparks fly in a circular motion inside an industrial room.

What is the Creating Sustainable Society Track?

This track is about life cycle analysis, assessment of the impact of non-renewable and renewable materials. Forest product and green building certification programs, governing standards, and legal issues are addressed in this area.

Researchers in a parking lot sorting through trash bags into waste and recycling.

Using a unique approach to biological systems analysis

03:30

Loading player for https://video.vt.edu/media/1_4pg8xkv1...

Close Video

Where is Creating Sustainable Society used?

Four researchers stand and crouch in a parking lot under the shade of trees and canopy tents behind large trash bags and small bins filled with used containers and discarded food. — Jennifer Russell, assistant professor of sustainable bio-materials at Virginia Tech, uses a unique approach to biological systems analysis. By looking at a facility as an organism, she compares the material inflows with the material outflows (trash) to determine the health of the facility.

Students learn in this track how to assess the sustainability of materials and energy as determined by competing societal interests, explain society’s need and demand for sustainable biomaterials and energy, identify and compare various systems for evaluating sustainable biomaterials, and describe the significant environmental, economic, and social influences on forest management, forest products utilization, and all green natural products.

Hands-on experience

Students during courses will have first-hand experience working with private companies, non-government organizations, and government agencies to plan for solving real world problems. The program caters to a cross section of students: those who have interests engineering, planning, science, business, renewable energy, biofuels, policy, and design work will all find the tract stimulating and interesting. You will gain skills and confidence in building management plans, innovative products, programs management, and developing strategies that support sustainability.