Key principles for sustainable infrastructure

The engineering challenges discussed in Chapter 1 place a complex set of constraints on how future infrastructure projects are conceived, designed, built and operated. In approaching these challenges, we can be guided by our values and a consistent set of underpinning principles against which everyday engineering decisions can be tested. Values are simple. It should be the professional duty of all engineers to want their products and systems to contribute positively and safely to people's lives while avoiding environmental damage, and to be robust enough to continue to operate effectively over the long term. These aspirations are reflected in the Code of Professional Conduct of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE, 2008), which, at its simplest, requires practising engineers to behave honourably and ‘to do the right thing’. Furthermore, we should aspire to a positive attitude that aspires to achieving more than ‘do no harm’ – a minimum expectation currently enshrined in much European legislation.