Foundations of Transdisciplinary Engineering Theory: Sustainable Airport Application

Abstract

A number of basic foundational concepts are presented in order to help develop a clearer idea of what Transdisciplinary Engineering is from a theoretical perspective, including: 1) a Transdisciplinary Architectural Framework (TAF), 2) founding Transdisciplinarity Principles (TPs), 3) a Transdisciplinary Knowledge Ontology (TKO), 4) Transdisciplinary Process Integration (TPI), and 5) analysis and the Transdisciplinarity Integration Rating (TIR). A case study is presented that addresses the sustainability analysis associated with the design and characterization of airports, this being highly transdisciplinary in nature. This involved a number of core elements in the valuation and allocation of associated Key Performance Indicators, including green marketing and carbon foot-printing, as well as action characteristics that present the basis for a ‘Strategic Action Selection process framework’. The relevance of the Transdisciplinary theory is therefore tested against a real-world case study/application in order to test both the consistency and usefulness of such a conceptualization of the tenements of Transdisciplinarity and ultimately, is used to determine a number innovative sustainable design actions and implementations.