Do We Need New Classes of Methods, Tools and Standards?

Comments from industrial contacts suggest that chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and related industries routinely consider issues concerning sustainability early in their process development. Even though sustainability studies are made at various stages of the process and/or product development, it is not clear if they all use similar sets of standards and/or which currently available methods and tools they commonly employ? Are the available data, models and design-analysis methods sufficient, or, Is there a case for a new set of standards, methods and tools that can help to achieve sustainable development? Should the focus of research be changed to make a greater impact related to sustainability? The answers to the above questions will be presented based on review of published papers, comments from industrial contacts and our own research activities.