SUMMARY

This case study is suitable for undergraduate courses consisting of 25–40 students majoring in geosciences and/or engineering. Depending on the course focus, this case study may serve as a standalone lecture or a lecture series.

INFORMATION LITERACY LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Develop an ability to identify standards applicable to the evolving needs of sustainable transportation appropriate for densely populated urban areas.
• Develop an ability to apply standards-based engineering design solutions in legacy transportation infrastructure that balance public health, environmental, and economic constraints.
• Develop an ability to collaborate as a team on the adoption and implementation of an environmental management system as prescribed by international standards in order to meet environmental objectives.
• Develop an ability to adopt and apply management tools as informed by mainstream international standards to accomplish a process cycle of plan, do, check, and act.

TARGET AUDIENCE

This case study is aimed at those in the discipline(s) of transportation engineering, environmental management, and/or sustainability. It is suitable for classes in geosciences and/or engineering.

DESCRIPTION OF LESSON

An opening lecture will focus on the large-scale adaptation of international environmental management standards. A case in point is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York City Transit (NYCT), the largest transit system in the United States and the first public transportation company in North America certified to the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems.

Since 1999, MTA NYCT’s Capital Program Management (CPM) has been certified under the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems (EMS) standard. In 2020, CPM underwent a major organizational transformation and is included in the new structure of Construction and Development that is responsible for projects for a wider range of MTA agencies. As of 2021, the scope of ISO certification continues to encompass planning, project development, design, and construction management of capital projects on the NYCT service territory. The certification is projected to extend to other MTA agencies, including MTA Long Island Railroad, Metro-North Railroad and Bridges, and Tunnels over the period 2021–2024.

The lecture covers the components of an environmental management system (EMS) that includes management tools, knowledge of environmental policy, aspects and impacts, monitoring and measuring (e.g., heating fuel usage, electrical consumption, saving water, greenhouse gas releases), and the plan-do-check-act sequence as per ISO 14001:2015.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the U.S. member body of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Upon request, ANSI has been authorized to provide complimentary access for students and faculty to selected standards currently available in the ISO collection, including ISO 14001:2015.

SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES

At the conclusion of the opening lecture, students are challenged through a series of images and animations to identify the application of the ISO 14001 EMS standard by MTA NYCT at different levels, ranging from baseline compliance to sustainability initiatives and mitigation measures. Breakout rooms consisting of 2–4 students will then focus on different components of MTA NYCT infrastructure. These include station and terminal environments, support structures such as substations, ventilation facilities, pumping facilities, transit infrastructure lines, and the necessary trackbed and rail system to propel trains that carry passengers from point to point within cities. Student groups may also focus on ancillary facilities such as train storage yards, maintenance shops, and bus depots. At the conclusion of the class, student groups report their findings to the whole class and relate any anticipated benefits of particular sustainability initiatives or mitigation measures that they were able to identify.

ASSESSMENT

A writing assignment will challenge students to explore the potential application of the ISO 14001 EMS standard in other contexts. Students are free to select urban environments from anywhere in the United States and internationally, as long as a preliminary literature review indicates that the ISO 14001 EMS standard has not been adopted to date. Students then make calculations and projections similar to the ones demonstrated through the opening lecture for MTA NYCT for their focus location. The deliverables include maps and other site-specific data, as well as volume projections of any greenhouse gas reductions or other environmental benefits through the potential adoption of an EMS. The scope of this writing assignment can be adjusted based on the scientific background of particular student groups and on the desired duration of this module.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This educational module was made possible by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) United States Department of Commerce (DoC) Standards Services Curricula Development (SSCD) Cooperative Agreement Program. NIST Award Number 70NANB16H266 for the period 11/01/2016—10/31/2018. Dr. Angelo Lampousis, Principal Investigator.

FURTHER READING

• T. Abdallah, “Chapter 9—Environmental management systems,” in Sustainable Mass Transit, T. Abdallah, ed. Elsevier, 2017, pp. 123–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-811299-1.00009-5.
• A. Lampousis, “On the pursuit of relevance in standards-based curriculum development: The CCNY approach,” Standards Engineering: The Journal of the Society for Standards Professionals, 69(4), July/August 2017, pp. 1–6.
• Environmental management systems—Requirements with guidance for use, ISO 14001:2015(en), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Geneva, Switzerland, reaffirmed 2021.