Principles and Practices

Class Assignment

1. First, describe a biological engineering application or tool you want to develop and why. This could be inspired by an idea for your HTGAA class project and/or something for which you are already doing in your research, or something you are just curious about.

Bioengineered construction materials are interesting to me for their potential to greatly reduce the footprint that a building goes through throughout its lifecycle. From the extraction of natural materials to the transportation of it to the renovation to the disposal of it, there are many ways to improve upon this process by incorporating microorganisms that can do things such as self-heal walls, provide structural support or decrease carbon usage.

1. Next, describe one or more policy goals related to ensuring that this application or tool contributes to an "ethical" future, like ensuring non-malfeasance (preventing harm). Break big goals down into two or more specific sub-goals. Below is one example framework (developed in the context of synthetic genomics) you can choose to use or adapt, or you can develop your own. The example was developed to consider policy goals of ensuring safety and security, alongside other goals, like promoting constructive uses, but you could propose other goals for example, those relating to equity or autonomy.

2. Is the material safe? Will it affect the people living around it?

The safety of the material in construction is one of the main goals. Materials like asbestos, lead paint or fiberglass commonly used in buildings are examples of how these building materials can be toxic to the residents. Is it worth doing this research at the expense of potentially introducing something toxic we don’t know about?

2.WIll production of this material cause further environmental issues?

Will the materials/microorganisms needed to make this lead to more issues down the chain? Too much mining of timber, which is better for the environment than concrete, will still causes damage to ecosystems?

3.Will the material provide ethical living conditions?

Will the use of the material lead to decreased or worse living conditions. Will there need to be new standards or considerations with the use of this new material?

4.Who will be able to use the material(resource inequality)?

Who will be allowed to use the material? Do certain buildings deserve or need the material more? Should everyone be allowed to ask for it? For only public use or private uses as well? How accessible will this material be?

1. Next, describe at least three different potential governance "actions" by considering the four aspects below (Purpose, Design, Assumptions, Risks of Failure & “Success”). Try to outline a mix of actions (e.g. a new requirement/rule, incentive, or technical strategy) pursued by different "actors" (e.g. academic researchers, companies, federal regulators, law enforcement, etc). Draw upon your existing knowledge and a little additional digging, and feel free to use analogies to other domains (e.g. 3D printing, drones, financial systems, etc.).

   • Purpose: What is done now and what changes are you proposing?
   • Design: What is needed to make it “work”? (including the actor(s) involved - who must opt-in, fund, approve, or implement, etc)
   • Assumptions: What could you have wrong (incorrect assumptions, uncertainties)?
   • Risks of Failure & “Success”: How might this fail, including any unintended consequences of the “success” of your proposed actions?

   Editing the building standards to accommod1ate for certain levels of testing and certifications for the material to meet before putting it in use.

   Editing building codes to require some use of a sustainable material in a certain part or certain amount in the building.

   Incentive such as subsidized housing for people to become more familiar living in buildings with the new materials.

   Private companies can apply to use the material through proposals of how exactly they will be using it.

2. Next, score (from 1-3 with, 1 as the best, or n/a) each of your governance actions against your rubric of policy goals. The following is one framework but feel free to make your own:

1. Last, drawing upon this scoring, describe which governance option, or combination of options, you would prioritize, and why. Outline any trade-offs you considered as well as assumptions and uncertainties. For this, you can choose one or more relevant audiences for your recommendation, which could range from the very local (e.g. to MIT leadership or Cambridge Mayoral Office) to the national (e.g. to President Biden or the head of a Federal Agency) to the international (e.g. to the United Nations Office of the Secretary-General, or the leadership of a multinational firm or industry consortia). These could also be one of the “actor” groups in your matrix.

Based on the scoring, a combination of building standards/test/certifications to ensure the safety of the material both in the lab and in tests in buildings as well as a building code or incentive promoting the use of the material would really boost applications of the material that would in the long term help greatly with reducing the carbon footprint associated with all facades of sourcing, mining, fixing, demolishing the materials. I could see a lot of pushback on using the materials especially if it costs a lot more money for developers to explore rather than sticking with the most common and cheap materials.

Weekly Assignment