Outreach

EPA is conducting extensive outreach programs to promote Green Engineering and to disseminate supplemental materials. Through its outreach efforts, EPA aims to create a scontinuous flow of information and ideas for new courses, case studies, approaches, and other Green Engineering-related material. Outreach will be conducted through multiple means:

• Green Engineering Website: EPA has constructed this website to disseminate new Green Engineering information to professors and students. Visitors to this site are encouraged to provide feedback on Green Engineering approaches; in addition, visitors should check back frequently for newly developed case studies, as well as links to sources of information and support for Green Engineering activities.
  


• National Conferences: EPA will conduct outreach for the Green Engineering Program at key national conferences of the following organizations:
  • American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)
    
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
    
  • National Pollution Prevention Rountable(s) (NPPR)
    
  • National Organization for the Professional Development of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE)
    
  • American Chemical Society , with support from EPA and NSF
    
  • Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP)

EPA will also present information on Green Engineering at international forums and conferences, including national and international conferences on sustainability, sustainable technology, and industrial ecology.

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In addition to hosting Academic Workshops and sponsoring the Chemical Engineering Summer School, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE ) also encourages the implementation of green engineering into the chemical engineering curriculum, by managing an incentives program geared towards professors and students who demonstrate innovative application of green engineering concepts, or novel use of green engineering education in current curricula.

One incentive program hosted by ASEE will be a poster contest judged by industry and panel for students at the AIChE meeting this fall. For more information about this program, contact Robert Hesketh , Chemical Engineering Department, Rowan University.

• ASEE Chemical Engineering Summer School: ASEE's 11th Chemical Engineering Summer School was held from July 27, 2002 to August 2, 2002, in Boulder, Colorado. This summer school is held for chemical engineering faculty every five years. More information, as well as a description of the agenda for the summer school, can be found at http://www.engin.umich.edu/dept/che/2002/ .
  


• Educator's Regional Workshops: The American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Chemical Engineering Division is hosting a series of academic workshops to convey green engineering concepts and demonstrate green engineering tools and models. Workshop materials, which include case modules, are available for the July, 2000 workshops.

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The Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) is helping to provide links between environmental engineering faculty and the Green Engineering program in order to develop and incorporate relevant green engineering materials for the environmental

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One of EPA's Chemical Engineering Branch (CEB) goals is to introduce a "green" philosophy into chemical engineering programs by developing core information on the subject. The first step in the achievement of this goal includes the development of a Green Engineering textbook, Green Engineering: Environmentally Conscious Design of Chemical Processes. Textbook and class outline were designed in a modular format -- allowing universities to

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Technology for a Sustainable Environment:
Supporting Green Engineering Research

EPA/NSF Partnership for Environmental Research
In 1994, EPA’s Office of Research and Development entered into a partnership with NSF to fund environmental research, as part of EPA's new Science to Achieve Results (STAR) research program. This partnership involves research on green engineering and green chemistry through an annual solicitation entitled "Technology for a Sustainable Environment."

Description of Technology for a Sustainable Environment
The Technology for a Sustainable Environment solicitation addresses the technological and environmental issues of design, synthesis, processing, production, and use of products in continuous and discrete manufacturing industries. Research proposals are invited that advance the development and utilization of innovative technologies and approaches directed at avoiding or minimizing the use or generation of hazardous substances.

The total number of grants awarded for this activity depends on the technical merit of the proposals (determined by external peer review), their relation to the agencies’ missions, and the financial support available to both EPA and NSF for this program. Projects selected for support may be funded individually either by EPA or NSF, or jointly by both agencies. Funding is at the option of the agencies, not the grantee.

Grant Research Area: Chemistry for Pollution Prevention
The long-range goal of this program activity is to develop safer commercial substances and environmentally-friendly chemical syntheses to reduce the risks posed by existing practices. Green chemistry, a fundamental approach to preventing pollution at the source, involves the design of chemicals and alternative chemical syntheses that do not utilize toxic feedstocks, reagents, or solvents, or do not produce toxic byproducts or coproducts. Appropriate areas of investigation include chemical synthesis and catalysis, analysis and detection, separation processes, and reaction mechanisms. The types of projects eligible for grants directly parallel the scope focus areas of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Program.

Grant Amounts
In fiscal years 1995 through 1998, EPA and NSF awarded over $24 million for 82 research projects under the Technologies for a Sustainable Environment solicitation, most of which addressed green chemistry and processing. Award amounts typically range from $50,000 to $150,000 per award per year, and award durations are approximately two to three years. These figures may vary annually.

Eligibility
Eligible applicants include academic and nonprofit institutions located in the United States, and state or local governments. The following categories of individuals or groups may collaborate with eligible applicants:

personnel in profit-making firms functioning as nonfunded coinvestigators;
personnel in profit-making firms sub-contracting with an awardee institution;
personnel participating as coinvestigators with eligible institutions and who are associated with entities such as national laboratories and federally-funded research development consortia; and
non-EPA employees (certain limits apply).
The folllowing applicants are ineligible:
profit-making firms,
federal agencies, and
federal employees seeking to increase their agency’s appropriations.

Additional Information
Questions about the Technology for a Sustainable Environment solicitation should be directed to Steve Lingle at (202) 564-6821 or Barbara Karn at (202) 564-6824 of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. Additional information about the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Program is also available from Tracy Williamson of EPA's Industrial Chemistry Branch at (202) 564-8569 or from EPA's Pollution Prevention Clearinghouse at (202) 260-1023.
Download the Research Grant Opportunities Fact Sheet (PDF, 264 KB) or the
1999 TSE Interagency Announcement of Opportunity (PDF, 166 KB).

For more information about TSE and about the EPA/NSF partnership, visit http://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/epa/start.htm .

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American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)

In industry, the demand is growing for engineers who are trained to integrate green engineering into their daily practice. To help meet this need, EPA will be working with industry professionals and organizations such as the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The workshops will be based on the green engineering educational materials and will stress the practical applications and economic payback of pollution prevention activities. They will emphasize green approaches, software models, and tools rather than applied theory, and will present case studies directly applicable to the work of practicing engineers.

American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)

EPA’s partner, the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Chemical Engineering Division, is hosting a series of Academic Workshops to convey green engineering concepts and to demonstrate green engineering tools and models. ASEE also sponsors the Chemical Engineering Summer School, held every five years for faculty to improve chemical engineering education.

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Design for the Environment Program (DfE)

DfE works with industries, especially small businesses, to identify cost-effective pollution prevention strategies that reduce risks to workers and the environment. DfE helps businesses compare and evaluate the performance, cost, human health, and environmental risks associated with existing and alternative technologies. Businesses are learning that changing processes or chemicals on the front end is cheaper than incurring treatment and cleanup costs on the back end. DfE is currently partnering with five industry sectors:

• Screen Printing,
  
• Flexography,
  
• Lithography,
  
• Printed Wiring Boards and Electronics, and
  
• Garment and Textile Care.

Green Chemistry is the use of chemistry for pollution prevention. Green Chemistry encompasses all aspects and types of chemical processes that reduce risk to human health and the environment. Chemists can greatly reduce risk to human health and the environment by reducing or eliminating the use or generation of toxic substances associated with chemical design, manufacture, and use. The goal of EPA’s Green Chemistry Program is to foster the research, development, and implementation of innovative chemical technologies that accomplish pollution prevention in both a scientifically-sound and cost effective manner.

Toxic Release Inventory

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), published by the U.S. EPA, is a valuable source of information regarding toxic chemicals that are being used, manufactured, treated, transported, or released into the environment. Technical support for TRI is provided by EPA's Chemical Engineering Branch.

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If you would like to participate in EPA’s Green Engineering Program or obtain more information, please contact:

Sharon Austin
Green Engineering Program Coordinator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Chemical Engineering Branch (7406)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 564-8523
austin.sharon@epa.gov

Franklyn Hall (alternate contact)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Chemical Engineering Branch (7406)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 564-8522
hall.franklyn@epa.gov

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