The ISPE Handbook: Sustainability considers sustainability in the context of our life sciences industry, although much of the content is relevant to any industry. It is the first handbook of its type rather than Baseline® Guide or Good Practice Guide that has been published by ISPE.

As an updatable source book with typical guidance in each of the key topic areas rather than set of a definitive guidance items it has been designed to be improved as new information, methods and technologies present themselves.

There are two key sections: Principles/Policy and Design/Engineering application. The first is about what sustainability is, legislative and regulatory impacts, and guidance on sustainability policy making. The second considers the impact of and provides indicative guidance on sustainable drug process and manufacture from facility location and design to equipment selection and use.

Who it is for: A broad spectrum from board to operations/facility manager; from project manager through design engineer and architect to site based equipment engineer as a flick through, pause-and-find tool in the resolution of a better way.

ISPE's first handbook is written to provide information at the front end of projects that will be useful to the project team in understanding sustainability criteria, with examples where considered useful. It is based on the premise that there is a viable path to achieving sustainability that corresponds to all of the precepts of the life sciences industry. This is an especially important ethical consideration for the healthcare industry, which has a focus centered on maintaining or improving the health of the patient.

Key objectives of this handbook are to:

• Provide a reference point for sustainability in the life sciences industry for project teams.
• Provide a global pharmaceutical sustainability baseline for the life sciences industry through promotion of the reduction of consumption of finite resources and consideration of the effects of environmental shifts.
• Respect the industry's advanced engineering traditions by providing an informative and easy-to-use document.
• Directions of research for project teams are given in each of the engineering areas from product development through to facility development.
• Provide a route map to understanding the legislative conditions worldwide that either exist at the time of writing or are understood to be in progress.