Unit 1: Politics, Science, and Business of Sustainability

Study Questions

When reading, viewing, and listening, consider the following questions. You will need to do your own research to find some of the answers.

1. What is dematerialization?
2. What are some tools are available to conduct electronic meetings instead of traveling to meetings and conferences? How effective are these tools? How much energy do they save? What is the overall effect of using electronic meeting tools?
3. What is a variable-speed drive (VSD) ? How does it reduce energy use?
4. What are RFID tags? How are they used?
5. What is the difference between GIS and GPS? How to they increase efficiency?
6. What is a smart building?
7. What is a smart grid?
8. What are some alternative energy sources?

Note: These are not the discussion forum questions for Section 1.3. Use them for personal study, and you can post comments/queries related to these questions in the General Discussion Forum.  Be sure to use a brief descriptive title for your posting.