The idea that a system design must be sustainable as regards its impact on environmental concerns throughout its life cycle, as much as meeting the customer's requirements, is not new to Systems Engineering. However, in recent years, society's awareness about sustainability issues has increased and numerous papers, books, and conferences have dealt with this important subject. The current paper examines the way in which the system engineering community should be prepared in an age where there is a strong social demand to build systems according to an approach that takes both social and environmental variables into account. The paper focuses on the issue of the sustainable design of systems and presents several principles of sustainable design. The second part of the paper presents a case study that relates to the designing of a groundwater preservation system, as an example of implementing some principles of sustainable design. The paper advances the systems engineering body of knowledge by gathering principles for the sustainable design of systems.
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