Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-14T06:35:32.324Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Justice-Embedded Requirements Engineering (JERE) for system design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

Bettina K. Arkhurst  and
Katherine Fu
Bettina K. Arkhurst*
Affiliation:
Georgia Institute of Technology, United States of America
Katherine Fu
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States of America
*
Bettina@gatech.edu

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We have a unique opportunity to consider justice in our design of a cleaner energy system. This paper introduces the Justice-Embedded Requirements Engineering (JERE) process, which was created to enable engineers to consider project goals, requirements, and potential project impacts on historically marginalized, climate-vulnerable communities. Given JERE's focus on energy technologies, we demonstrate the process using a concentrating solar power example. JERE provides engineers with a tool to better ensure justice is embedded in the system design process from the beginning.

Keywords

requirements engineeringsustainable designsocio-technical systemsenergy justiceclean energy
Type
Systems Engineering and Design
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 4: DESIGN 2024 , May 2024 , pp. 2493 - 2502
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2024.

References

Albrechtslund, A. (2007), “Ethics and technology design”, Ethics and Information Technology, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 63–72, https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10676-006-9129-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldewereld, H., Dignum, V. & Tan, Y. (2015), “Design for values in software development”, Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design: Sources, Theory, Values and Application Domains, Springer, 831–845.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anaissie, T., Cary, V., Clifford, D., Malarkey, T. and Wise, S. (2021), Liberatory Design: Mindsets and Modes to Design for Equity, National Equity Project.Google Scholar
Arkhurst, B.K., Houghteling, C.R., Dutta, N.S., Clarke, A., Fu, K., Anderson, K. and Gill, E. (2023), “Evaluating energy justice metrics in early-stage science and technology research using the JUST-R metrics framework”, Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol. 11, https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1206013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, S., DeVar, S. and Parkash, S. (2019), The Energy Justice Workbook, Initiative for Energy Justice, p. 76.Google Scholar
Brown, M.A., Soni, A., Lapsa, M.V., Southworth, K. and Cox, M. (2020), “High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: Conclusions from a literature review”, Progress in Energy, IOP Publishing, Vol. 2 No. 4, p. 042003, https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2516-1083/abb954.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carbajo, R. and Cabeza, L.F. (2018), “Renewable energy research and technologies through responsible research and innovation looking glass: Reflexions, theoretical approaches and contemporary discourses”, Applied Energy, Vol. 211, pp. 792–808, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.11.088.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carley, S. and Konisky, D.M. (2020), “The justice and equity implications of the clean energy transition”, Nature Energy, Vol. 5 No. 8, pp. 569–577, https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-0641-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costanza-Chock, S. (2020), Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need, MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Das, M., Roeder, G., Ostrowski, A.K., Yang, M.C. and Verma, A. (2023), “What Do We Mean When We Write About Ethics, Equity, and Justice in Engineering Design?”, Journal of Mechanical Design, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. 145 No. 6, p. 061402, https://dx.doi.org/10.1115/1.4057056.Google Scholar
Davis, J. and Nathan, L.P. (2021), “Value Sensitive Design: Applications, Adaptations, and Critiques”, in van den Hoven, J., Vermaas, P.E. and van de Poel, I. (Eds.), Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design: Sources, Theory, Values and Application Domains, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp. 1–26, https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6994-6_3-1.Google Scholar
Ghazavi, V. (2018), “Systems Justice”, Journal of Design and Science, https://dx.doi.org/10.21428/108cfcb9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ho, C.K. (2016), “Review of avian mortality studies at concentrating solar power plants”, AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1734, AIP Publishing, https://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4949164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ho, C.K., Sims, C.A. and Christian, J.M. (2015), “Evaluation of Glare at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System”, Energy Procedia, Vol. 69, pp. 1296–1305, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2015.03.150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IEA. (2021), “Net Zero by 2050 – Analysis”, IEA, 11 May, available at: https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050 (accessed 17 April 2022).Google Scholar
Ikeme, J. (2003), “Equity, environmental justice and sustainability: incomplete approaches in climate change politics”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 195–206, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0959-3780(03)00047-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Ed.). (2023), “Summary for Policymakers”, Climate Change 2022 – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Working Group II Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 3–34, https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781009325844.001.Google Scholar
Jenkins, K., McCauley, D., Heffron, R., Stephan, H.R. and Rehner, R. (2016), “Energy justice : a conceptual review”, Energy Research and Social Science, Vol. 11, pp. 174–182, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.ERSS.2015.10.004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, K., Sovacool, B.K., Mouter, N., Hacking, N., Burns, M.-K. and McCauley, D. (2021), “The methodologies, geographies, and technologies of energy justice: a systematic and comprehensive review”, Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 16, p. 043009, https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd78c.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, K.E., Spruit, S., Milchram, C., Höffken, J. and Taebi, B. (2020), “Synthesizing value sensitive design, responsible research and innovation, and energy justice: A conceptual review”, Energy Research & Social Science, Elsevier, Vol. 69, p. 101727, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101727.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavi, E. and Reich, Y. (2024), “Cross-disciplinary system value overview towards value-oriented design”, Research in Engineering Design, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 1–20, https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00163-023-00418-2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCauley, D. and Heffron, R. (2018), “Just transition: Integrating climate, energy and environmental justice”, Energy Policy, Vol. 119, pp. 1–7, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.ENPOL.2018.04.014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mok, L. and Hyysalo, S. (2018), “Designing for energy transition through Value Sensitive Design”, Design Studies, Vol. 54, pp. 162–183, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2017.09.006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MPH@GW. (2020), “Equity vs. Equality: What's the Difference? | Online Public Health”, GW-UMT, 5 November, available at: https://onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/equity-vs-equality/ (accessed 11 January 2022).Google Scholar
National Academies of Sciences, E. (2021), Accelerating Decarbonization of the U.S. Energy System, https://dx.doi.org/10.17226/25932.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, R., Macnaghten, P. and Stilgoe, J. (2012), “Responsible research and innovation: From science in society to science for society, with society”, Science and Public Policy, Vol. 39 No. 6, pp. 751–760, https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scs093.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van de Poel, I. (2013), “Translating Values into Design Requirements”, in Michelfelder, D.P., McCarthy, N. and Goldberg, D.E. (Eds.), Philosophy and Engineering: Reflections on Practice, Principles and Process, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp. 253–266, https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7762-0_20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van de Poel, I. (2015), “Design for Values in Engineering”, in van den Hoven, J., Vermaas, P.E. and van de Poel, I. (Eds.), Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design: Sources, Theory, Values and Application Domains, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp. 667–690, https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6970-0_25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van de Poel, I., Nihlén Fahlquist, J., Doorn, N., Zwart, S. and Royakkers, L. (2012), “The Problem of Many Hands: Climate Change as an Example”, Science and Engineering Ethics, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 49–67, https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11948-011-9276-0.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Romero-Lankao, P., Rosner, N., Brandtner, C., Rea, C., Mejia-Montero, A., Pilo, F., Dokshin, F., et al. (2023), “A framework to centre justice in energy transition innovations”, Nature Energy, Nature Publishing Group, pp. 1–7, https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01351-3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Schomberg, R. (2012), “Prospects for technology assessment in a framework of responsible research and innovation”, in Dusseldorp, M. and Beecroft, R. (Eds.), Technikfolgen abschätzen lehren: Bildungspotenziale transdisziplinärer Methoden, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden, pp. 39–61, https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-93468-6_2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sovacool, B.K., Heffron, R.J., McCauley, D. and Goldthau, A. (2016), “Energy decisions reframed as justice and ethical concerns”, Nature Energy, Nature Publishing Group, Vol. 1 No. 5, pp. 1–6, https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2016.24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stilgoe, J., Owen, R. and Macnaghten, P. (2013), “Developing a framework for responsible innovation”, Research Policy, Vol. 42 No. 9, pp. 1568–1580, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2013.05.008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunter, D.A., Castellanos, S. and Kammen, D.M. (2019), “Disparities in rooftop photovoltaics deployment in the United States by race and ethnicity”, Nature Sustainability, Nature Publishing Group, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 71–76, https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0204-z.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thew, S. and Sutcliffe, A. (2018), “Value-based requirements engineering: method and experience”, Requirements Engineering, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 443–464, https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00766-017-0273-y.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vezzoli, C., Ceschin, F., Osanjo, L., M'Rithaa, M.K., Moalosi, R., Nakazibwe, V. and Diehl, J.C. (2018), Designing Sustainable Energy for All: Sustainable Product-Service System Design Applied to Distributed Renewable Energy, Springer Nature.CrossRefGoogle Scholar