Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Environmentally sustainable engineering'

Thesis (Ph.D)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010.
Committee Chair: Bert Bras; Committee Member: David Rosen; Committee Member: Dayna Baumeister; Committee Member: Janet Allen; Committee Member: Jeannette Yen; Committee Member: Matthew Realff. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

This report was sponsored by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to determine if stream restoration structures could be used as scour countermeasures near state highways and bridges. Scour countermeasures that are effective in preventing erosion exist but that are not so friendly for aquatic organisms. UDOT is interested in finding a countermeasure that is both effective in preventing erosion while not harming aquatic organisms. Stream restoration structures are friendly for aquatic organisms but are prone to failure when flows exceed the design levels. David Rosgen has developed restoration structures that are friendly for aquatic organisms and that have provided streambank protection. These structures are the J-Hook vane, Cross-Vane and W-Weir. Based research done in this report, Cross-Vanes and W-Weirs are best suited to protect bridges because they will protect both sides of a stream bank. For these restoration structures to be reliable at higher flows and shear stresses experienced at bridges, they must follow the design criteria specified in this report. One of the most important design requirements is that the structures designed by David Rosgen have an attached floodplain where the structure meets the streambank. The floodplain disperses the energy of the flow, reducing shear stress. In the vicinity of some bridges, a floodplain cannot be implemented. In such cases, culverts can be installed at the floodplain level, that pass under the bridge to help reduce shear stresses, mimicking a floodplain. Cross-Vanes and W-Weirs can be used to protect bridges and other infrastructure. Based on modeling and comparing restoration structures to a labyrinth weir, they still have an impact on higher flows. At higher than design flows, such as experienced at bridges, the structures help to reduce shear stresses. To further investigate their use as a scour countermeasure near bridges, it is recommended that a structure be installed near a bridge following this report's design criteria. This will be determined depending on available funding.

This study endeavors to investigate the negative environmental impacts of the prevailing ICT design approaches and to explore some potential remedies for ICT design unsustainability from environmental and corporate sustainability perspectives. More specifically, it aims to spotlight key environmental issues related to ICT design, including resource depletion; GHG emissions resulting from energy-intensive consumption; toxic waste disposal; and hazardous chemicals use; and also to shed light on how alternative design solutions can be devised based on environmental sustainability principles to achieve the goals of sustainable technologies. The study highlights the relationship between ICT design and sustainability and how they can symbiotically affect one another. To achieve the aim of this study, an examination was performed through an extensive literature review covering empirical, theoretical, and critical scholarship. The study draws on a variety of sources to survey the negative environmental impacts of the current mainstream ICT design approach and review the potential remedies for unsustainability of ICT design. For theory, central themes were selected for review given the synergy and integration between them as to the topic under investigation. They include: design issues; design science; design research framework for ICT; sustainability; corporate sustainability; and design and sustainability. Findings highlight the unsustainability of the current mainstream ICT design approach. Key environmental issues for consideration include: resource depletion through extracting huge amounts of material and scarce elements; energy-intensive consumption and GHG emissions, especially from ICT use phase; toxic waste disposal; and hazardous substances use. Potential remedies for ICT design unsustainability include dematerialization as an effective strategy to minimize resources depletion, de-carbonization to cut energy consumption through using efficient energy required over life cycle and renewable energy; recyclability through design with life cycle thinking (LCT) and extending ICT equipment’s operational life through reuse; mitigating hazardous chemicals through green design - low or non-noxious/less hazardous products. As to solving data center dilemma, design solutions vary from hardware and software to technological improvements and adjustments. Furthermore, corporate sustainability can be a strategic model for ICT sector to respond to environmental issues, including those associated with unsustainable ICT design. In the same vein, through adopting corporate sustainability, ICT-enabled organizations can rationalize energy usage to reduce GHG emissions, and thereby alleviating global warming. This study provides a novel approach to sustainable ICT design, highlighting unsustainability of its current mainstream practices. Review of the literature makes an advance on extant reviews of the literature by highlighting the symbiotic relationship between ICT design and environmental sustainability from both research and practice perspectives. This study adds to the body of knowledge and previous endeavours in research of ICT and sustainability. Overall, it endeavours to present contributions and avenues for further theoretical and empirical research and development.
+46704352135/+212662815009

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008.
Committee Chair: Bras, Bert; Committee Member: Allen, Janet; Committee Member: Chameau, Jean-Lou; Committee Member: McGinnis, Leon; Committee Member: Paredis, Chris.

Prior to concerns of sustainability, almost all industrial engineering models tried to minimize cost or maximize profit. Sustainability awareness has recently forced the decision makers to also take into consideration such aspects as clean water use, or carbon dioxide emissions. In an effort to incorporate more aspects of sustainability in optimizing production efforts, we present a network model to handle trade-offs among dissimilar sustainability criteria. Since typically there are alternative choices for the various operations, the network allows parallel arcs between the same nodes. We also introduce the concept of generalized cost. Generalized cost is a vector quantity that includes not only a monetary measure, but also measures relevant to sustainability, such as carbon use or embodied energy. The approach leads to a multi-criteria decision making model, whose efficient frontier is obtained by the epsilon constraint method. Numerical work shows that the computational effort to obtain the efficient frontier is reasonable, allowing products of up to about a hundred activities to be solved with the current generation of personal computers.

The main goal of this study was to improve the contribution of higher education to sustainable development in Vietnam, specifically in the area of engineering education. The study mapped the current scenario of sustainable development and engineering in higher education in Vietnam as well as investigated how a cultural perspective may influence change strategies in higher education for sustainable development. This study addressed the need for empirical research on the education for sustainable development experience in Vietnam. It argued for and contributed to an emerging international dialogue about how to accelerate progress towards engineering curriculum transformation for sustainable development in different cultural contexts. Located in the interpretivist tradition, the study utilised a wide range of qualitative research techniques to collect and validate data including open-ended questionnaires, interviews, group discussions, participant observation and documentary review. Empirical data was generated between May 2010 and August 2012 in both Vietnam and the UK through three research stages. The first stage was informed by a qualitative survey which captured baseline data collected through a large group of stakeholders from different sectors and various levels of governance. The study mapped the current responses to sustainable development in Vietnam, and confirmed the need and expectation for change in Vietnamese engineering education towards sustainable development. Case study research was carried out at three Vietnamese engineering universities during stage two. The focus was on understanding the current processes and opportunities for curriculum change for sustainable development, as well as investigating how the specific contextual and cultural factors might influence the desired change. The study found evidence of issues which hampered the current efforts in education for sustainable development in the engineering universities in Vietnam. The analysis also provided insights into the Vietnamese values, attitudes and expectancies, and behavioural preferences which contributed to explaining why these issues existed.

The study identifies the major problems associated with the current approach to the planning and engineering of large development projects with respect to the objectives of sustainable development and the requirements of the environmental impact assessment process. The Great Whale Hydroelectric Project is used as an example to illustrate some of these deficiencies. The author argues that the economic and technical criteria traditionally used by engineers in designing projects are no longer sufficient to meet society's objectives, and that a new multidisciplinary approach must be adopted that allows for the accommodation of environmental and social factors from the very beginning of the planning and design process. A protocol is proposed as a structured approach to engineering for sustainable development and recommendations are made regarding the need to adapt engineering ethics and training to reflect this new reality.

Infrastructure is the foundation and the basic framework which permits cities to function. However, there are significant infrastructure problems in North America. In cities across North America, the infrastructure is deteriorating. The efficiency of a community depends on the condition of its infrastructure. The health and welfare of the residents and the economy of a country requires an efficient and sound infrastructure. North America will not achieve prosperity if it allows its urban infrastructure to decay to the Developing World's levels.
Increased new sources of revenue need to be explored by political officials to pay for the cost of upgrading our infrastructure to an acceptable level. In addition, developing an effective management, approach is a long-term way to handle a problem as large and as serious as our current infrastructure crisis. Current engineering and construction practices have proved to be detrimental to our environment and depletion of natural resources. The future role of civil engineers should be the prevention of any damage to our environment and natural resources, and this can be achieved by incorporating sustainability into the current engineering and construction practices. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005.
Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xxiii, 306 p.; also includes graphics (some col.) Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-306). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

With exponential global population growth occurring and associated environmentally destructive consumption of natural resources, alternative materials that are fast growing and sustainable are being sought out to satisfy human needs. One material that is fast growing and sustainable that can be used to meet most basic needs of humans (i.e. shelter, food, tools) is the plant bamboo, of the grass family Poaceae. Bamboo was used in the past by native peoples who lived in the environment where bamboo natively grows (all continents except Europe and Antarctica) with proven success for uses such as shelter, piping, tools, wells, food, fencing, baskets and much more. These practices were mostly abandoned and deemed obsolete due to the introduction of long lasting ‘modern’ building materials of steel and concrete which gained popularity in the 1800s. Now, in the current century with much advancement in science, technology, and education, humanity is reconsidering many practices and returning to more ancient practices and ways that are better for human health, the environment, and overall sustainability. These environmental considerations are drivers of this research, which focuses on how to use bamboo for engineering applications. First, in order to use a material for engineering and design applications, a material must be destructively tested to attain material property values. Therefore, a critical examination of the bamboo mechanical property values published literature was performed. It was found that although many scientists all over the world have been working on mechanical property testing of bamboo, their results have been published in different journals, in different languages, and had not yet been aggregated and compared. This led to the first study in this work that analyzed mechanical property data from 43 bamboo peer-reviewed publications written in English, Spanish, and Portuguese (the three main languages in which bamboo literature is published). This study focused on aggregating mechanical property values, establishing a range of values for each property as well as an average, and correlating the difference in property values to bamboo variables stated in bamboo literature (age, bamboo species, density, moisture content, post-harvest treatment, and testing standard employed). The five mechanical properties reviewed were: shear strength, compressive strength, tensile strength, bending strength / modulus of rupture (MOR), and modulus of elasticity (MOE) and their average values were 9 MPa, 52 MPa, 159 MPa, 120 MPa, and 16 GPa, respectively. Although a thorough graphical set of analyses were performed attempting to correlate the difference in mechanical property values to the previously listed variables, and only main variables found to influence strength values were moisture content and specific testing standard employed. The results of the high range of mechanical property values with no variable with which to separate the results to lower the range, led to the second part of the research. It incorporated the high range of values reported in the literature but was able to establish safety factors and reduction factors alongside corresponding failure rates. This work allows for a designer to use bamboo culms choosing a failure rate he/she deems appropriate for structural bamboo construction. The analyses in this work were performed using Allowable Stress Design (ASD) and Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) equations applied to bamboo as well as Monte Carlo statistical analyses for verification. The raw data and statistically analyzed data of 25 publications were used for this analysis, yielding 3806 strength test values (shear strength, compressive strength, bending strength / modulus of rupture, and tensile strength). Shear strength safety factors ranged from 1.38-3.58 for failure ratios from 1:6-1:25000; compressive strength from 1.30-2.79; bending strength from 1.43-4.03; tensile strength from 1.66-7.43. No singular safety factor is suggested for design as that is due to the judgment of the designer of what failure ratio he/she deems appropriate for the specific application. Although many compression tests have been performed on bamboo, there are no known tests which destructively test bamboo after an extended period of time after harvesting (more than ~3 months). This experiment conducted a field experiment to test the functionality of using bamboo for the application of installing bamboo wells to provide groundwater. The bamboo tested in the third part of the study was of two species, Dendrocalamus giganteus and Dendrocalamus asper half of which were 1) air-dried in a laboratory for 3.5 years and the other half of which was 2) inserted in the ground as bamboo wells. The bamboo culms (or poles) had been separately treated in three different ways right after cutting: 1/3 with a borax and boric acid solution (most conventional treatment in the industry), 1/3 with coconut oil (experimental treatment in the literature), and 1/3 air-dried, a non-treated control. Bamboo wells are said to be used in ancient times as well as in more recent applications in the 1990s in India by small scale farmers. The publication of bamboo well studies have been very few and nearly no scientific analyses had been performed on them. Therefore, six bamboo wells were assembled and installed at the University of South Florida Geopark, the first of their kind in the U.S. These wells were half of species D. giganteus and half of species D. asper and also treated individually using the three different treatments described above. The wells were monitored for pH and presence of leached boron for a 3.5-year monitoring period and then removed. Upon removal, the bamboo well casings were examined for molds present as well as by mechanical compression testing to assess degradation in comparison to each other (of different treatments) and to air-dried control samples maintained in the laboratory for 3.5 years. The mold fc. Acrodictys was observed to cover the entire inner portion of the bamboo (inner diameter), from the surface level up to the water table. The lab air-dried control samples had compression strength and compressive modulus of elasticity values correlating to those found in the literature, 44-90 MPa (72 MPa average) and 15-31 GPa, respectively. Removed well samples exhibited compressive strengths and compressive modulus of elasticity values of 22-61 MPa (39 MPa average) and 7-25 GPa, respectively. This study revealed that bamboo wells were feasible and although their compressive strengths lowered by around a half after being in the ground for 3.5 years, their compressive strength and compressive modulus of elasticity values were still in the range of bamboo tested in the literature.

Water is becoming increasingly scarce; approximately 2 billion people currently live in annual water scarcity, and 3 to 4 billion people are expected to live in water scarcity by 2050 due to population growth alone. Therefore, there is need to determine suitable alternative drinking water sources. Alternative sources present different advantages in terms of supply, initial contamination, and variability. Different technologies may be most effective or sustainable for treating these alternative source waters depending on scale and application (e.g., toilet flushing, irrigation, or potable reuse). Previous reuse research has focused on biological treatment of greywater, passive treatment of stormwater, and reverse osmosis or advanced oxidation for wastewater effluent. The objectives of this dissertation were to (i) study the effectiveness of conventional drinking water treatment (CDWT) for potable reuse of alternative source waters and blends, (ii) compare the environmental sustainability of novel sorbents for micropollutant removal from wastewater effluent, (iii) develop an improved synthetic bathroom greywater that closes matches the characteristics and treatability of real bathroom greywater, and (iv) compare activated carbon and biochar for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal from raw and pretreated greywater.

Bench-scale experiments simulating CDWT achieved high turbidity removal in alternative source waters. Average maximum TOC removal with CDWT was 19%, 27% and 37% for greywater, wastewater effluent, and stormwater, respectively. However, no wastewater effluents and only one stormwater met drinking water regulations for disinfection byproduct formation control. Environmental sustainability was assessed using life cycle methodology. For micropollutant removal from wastewater effluent, wood-based biochar was more sustainable than activated carbon in most environmental impact categories. Higher adsorption capacity was associated with greater environmental benefits. A new synthetic bathroom greywater (SynGrey) was developed that closely matches the median characteristics of forty-nine real bathroom greywaters, and matched the treatability of real bathroom greywater in chlorination, biodegradation, and sorption. Five biochars were screened for greywater treatment, and activated carbon removed more DOC than the best biochar from raw, coagulated, aerated, and rainwater-blended greywater. This research will contribute to the selection and design of effective, sustainable treatment systems for potable and nonpotable reuse of alternative source waters.

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2009.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 115).
Everyday each member of the MIT community makes a decision about how they will travel to school or work. Using the Commuter Habit Survey and information regarding local bus services as guides, this report analyzes the existing transportation options available to MIT students, staff, and faculty. People are grouped by mode choice depending on whether they commute using public transit or private MIT shuttle service, walk, bike, drive, carpool, or use another mode entirely. Understanding these market groups help focus the recommendations of this report to maximize the service efficiency while also being budget conscious. In addition to researching MIT commuters' choices, an in-depth analysis was conducted for the MBTA bus routes that serve the MIT area of Cambridge and the MIT Shuttle services. Both services were evaluated in terms of on-time performance and MIT-affiliated ridership. Recommendations for the MBTA include route revisions on Route 64 and 70/70A, which increase access to Kendall Square and the MIT Campus, and service improvements on Route 1. Several alternatives are presented regarding methods to improve the MIT Daytime shuttle performance. The top recommendation focuses on utilizing EZ Ride in place of the Northwest Shuttle, an extended Boston Daytime route, and a more efficient Tech Shuttle route. In the future, MIT members should have online tools available to help plan their commute in an environmentally friendly and efficient manner.
by Aimee K. Beasley and Victoria H. Hsu.
M.Eng.

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-84).
This thesis considers several options for improving the sustainability of Kuwait's water supply system. The country currently relies heavily on desalination and brackish groundwater extraction. The options considered for increasing the flux of potable water into Kuwait include expanding the desalination capacity, importing water from other countries, expanding the uses of reclaimed wastewater, and rainfall harvesting. Options for water storage are also considered, including both aquifer and surface systems. Case studies are presented which demonstrate the potential for indirect potable use of Kuwait's highly purified wastewater, and the importance of a storage reservoir as part of such a system. In order to assess the feasibility of rainfall harvesting, a model was constructed to simulate the runoff processes in the Rawdhatain drainage basin in northern Kuwait. Due to the coarse resolution of the input data, reasonable results could not be obtained using the input parameters gathered from available data.
(cont.) However, through sensitivity analysis, it was discovered that relatively minor variations in soil properties throughout the watershed could produce significant volumes of runoff during extreme rain events. Storage was considered for the small lens of fresh groundwater beneath the Rawdhatain basin or in a surface reservoir constructed in the drainage depression there. All of these options should continue to be considered as Kuwait attempts to expand its water supply in a sustainable manner, though further study will be needed especially in order to understand the hydrologic system at Rawdhatain more thoroughly.
by Katharine A. Murtaugh.
M.Eng.

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (leaf 41).
One of the latest trends in engineering is sustainable design, which is designing so that resources are available for many generations to come. Sustainable design considers the ecological, economic, and socio-cultural environments and works to balance all three. Sustainable bridge design is still in development, and clear standards and recommendations have not been formalized as they have in building design. The U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEEDTM) Green Building Rating System evaluates sustainable building design by awarding points based on measurable criteria. The LEEDTM rating system deals with buildings, but a similar system could be developed that would apply to bridge design. This report proposes a rating system for sustainable bridge design based on current practices and emerging technologies. Three bridges (either new or under construction) were rated using the system and the results are presented. Also discussed are steps and obstacles for implementation.
by Lauren R. Hunt.
M.Eng.

In the past decades, the world has noticed complex changes in its climate. The resources available now as well as in the future could be said to be analogous to the decreasing circumference of a funnel. The wealthy population with the means to elect what goods they wish to consume are becoming aware of their impact both on nature as well as on the less fortunate people of the planet. As a consequence environmental and human-centered factors are of higher priority than ever before in the decisions made by companies, which in turn will decide the future. This thesis aims to investigate what set of criteria can be seen as most relevant for sustainable material selection at a manufacturing company. To be relevant for the future these design criteria are decided with a base in modern research from the past decade in the field of material selection. The company chosen as a case to study and collaborate with was IKEA Components AB. The research was conducted on-site at the company’s facilities in Älmhult, Småland, as well as at the Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Blekinge. The company vision for the future which IKEA is striving towards is focused on lowering carbon dioxide equivalents, from which a lion share of the emissions is a result of the material they are selecting for their products. Experts within various fields of the chosen company were consulted to gain perspective and knowledge while designing and testing prototypes of a tool to facilitate a sustainable material selection. The metal alloys were analyzed for toxicity based on the percentages of all elements they contained and scored based on chosen sustainability criteria. The plastics were judged on recyclability, renewability, and degradability apart from available numbers for emission factors. After this, the materials were placed in the excel tool which was then tested by engineers and evaluated in semi-structured interviews. Updates were made to make the tool as user-friendly as was possible and new tests were conducted. Overall, the tool was appreciated by the users who tested it and more improvements were planned to finalize the prototype. Results are detailed in the latter part of the report, discussing designs the engineers preferred over others, the current scale of sustainability tools used in the company and how the testers scored the tool. In the discussion, criteria are evaluated based on their multi-criteria compliance with sustainability factors. Drawing conclusions about the subject of sustainability criteria was accomplished by conducting literature studies in material criticality, making use of the methods for sustainable product development taught in the master of science, investigating material toxicity, testing solutions for sustainable material selection at a typical furniture component manufacturing company, receiving feedback from constructors and exploring connections for the selected methods to the principles of sustainability.

An increasing demand exists for the treatment of hypersaline industrial wastewaters such as those from the shale gas industry, seawater desalination plants, and thermoelectric power-generating facilities. Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging thermal-based desalination process, which can potentially treat hypersaline industrial wastewaters by exploiting low-grade or waste heat. High performance MD membranes are the key to the advancement and further commercialization of this emerging desalination technology. This research aims at (i) developing novel MD membranes with special surface wettability using advanced materials and surface engineering techniques and (ii) gaining fundamental understanding of the scaling and fouling mechanisms of the newly developed MD membranes.

Engineering the wettability of materials and interfaces can effectively be leveraged to membrane fabrication. Omniphobic membranes that resist wetting from both water and oil can extend MD applications for desalination of emerging high-salinity wastewaters containing diverse low surface tension contaminants. Fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena and relating such knowledge to membrane surface wettability are crucial to improving omniphobic MD membrane design and performance. This work elucidates the factors that determine surface omniphobicity of microporous membranes and evaluates the potential application of these membranes in desalination of low surface tension wastewaters by membrane distillation. Specifically, the effects of surface morphology and surface energy on membrane surface omniphobicity were systematically investigated by modifying a prototype glass fiber substrate with silica nanoparticles and fluoroalkylsilane. A re-entrant structure, defined as a nanoscale architecture with increased air to solid ratio, developed by the spherical silica nanoparticles was found to play a critical role in rendering the membrane surface omniphobic,

Electrospinning is a promising and versatile technique to fabricate omniphobic membranes, because electrospun nanofibers with cylindrical shape feature a re-entrant structure and could be further engineered for additional levels of re-entrant structures. This work presents a facile approach to fabricate a robust omniphobic membrane by exploiting the versatility of electrospinning, which allows the preparation of a nanofiber scaffold with targeted physical and chemical properties. The fabricated electrospun omniphobic MD membranes were evaluated in terms of wetting resistance to various low surface tension liquids and desalination performance with feed solutions of varying surface tensions.

Microporous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes have been widely used for MD applications because of their hydrophobic nature, excellent chemical compatibility, and facile processability. However, application of conventional hydrophobic PVDF membranes in MD is limited due to their susceptibility to wetting and fouling by low surface tension contaminants. This study presents scalable surface engineering of a conventional hydrophobic PVDF microporous substrate to produce an omniphobic membrane. Desalination performance of the fabricated omniphobic membrane was evaluated in direct contact membrane distillation with synthetic wastewaters containing low surface tension contaminants, including surfactants and mineral oil. The performance of the fabricated omniphobic membrane with produced water from the shale gas industry was further examined to highlight its potential application in desalinating complex, high salinity industrial wastewaters.

The performance of MD systems is hampered by fouling and inorganic scaling, particularly when a system treats hypersaline industrial wastewaters with high levels of total dissolved solids and organic matter. This dissertation research investigated fouling and scaling mechanisms of omniphobic membranes, focusing on the impact of surface chemistry. The omniphobic membranes were fouled by hydrophobic, low surface tension contaminants via attractive interactions, but further adsorption into the pores was prevented by a thermodynamic barrier created by a re-entrant structure, which sustains a metastable non-wetting condition. Also, the non-adhesive and slippery surface nature of the omniphobic membrane was shown to delay both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, demonstrating its potential for a high recovery MD system to treat hypersaline industrial wastewaters.

This work presents pioneering advances in the development of novel MD membranes with special wettability for extended MD applications. The fundamental understanding of the interfacial phenomena, advanced materials, and surface engineering techniques as well as fouling and scaling mechanisms will shed light on the design parameters for high membrane performance and efficient process operation. These important insights can inform the realization of emerging membrane-based technologies for sustainable treatment of challenging industrial wastewaters. The implications of the results in this dissertation are potentially far-reaching; we anticipate that they will shape the discussion of next generation desalination technologies.

Treated sewage sludge is often reused as a fertilizer but several European countries are phasing out this option due to concerns about harmful substances in the sludge. Valuables in the sludge should still be recycled so the removal of the pollutants is necessary. The technology in sewage sludge treatment remained nearly unchanged in the past century. Adapting traditional treatments and combining them with upcoming ones can be a way to separate substances in sewage sludge. This work discusses examples of how treatment methods can be combined and which potential these treatment combinations may have. New tools for system analyses need to be developed to allow the integration and adaption of treatments into existing infrastructure.

The implementation of sustainable solvents and processes is critical to new developments in reducing environmental impact, improving net efficiency, and securing economic profitability in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. In order to address the challenge of sustainability, researchers have used switchable solvents for both reaction and separation by utilizing a built-in switch to undergo a step change in chemical and physical properties. This allows us to facilitate reactions in the solvent then activate the switch to enable separation and facile product recovery. Subsequently, we can recover the solvent for reuse and avoid energy- or waste-intensive separation processes; thus we are developing and using these switchable solvents as sustainable and environmentally benign alternatives to traditional processes. In this research, we enable the sustainable scale-up of a switchable solvent - piperylene sulfone - a "volatile" and recyclable DMSO replacement. In the development of this process, we improved the reaction performances and developed a green purification method. Furthermore, we enable and demonstrate the implementation of a Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reduction, a pharmaceutically relevant reaction, into a continuous flow platform. The innovation of continuous flow processes can replace traditional batch reaction technology, and is indeed a key research area that has been acknowledged by the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, we utilize the switchable sulfone solvents, piperylene and butadiene sulfone, for reaction and separation of HMF produced from monosaccharides as an alternative to a process which has been limited by an inefficient separation step.

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2009.
Includes bibliographical references (leaf 46).
This thesis compares two different rating programs for sustainable homes; The Code for Sustainable Homes in the United Kingdom, and LEED for Homes in the United States. The comparison is both in general and with respect to Icelandic homes. Iceland is a small market that currently does not have its own program to rate sustainable homes, and there is an ongoing discussion on whether a foreign program could be adopted in Iceland. The Code for Sustainable Homes and LEED for Homes are two of the most recognized rating programs in this area, and are therefore both possible candidates for adoption. It is shown in this thesis that both the rating programs in question are quite similar and target much the same areas, even though the emphasis on specific aspects might be different. Both these programs were created to be suitable for use in their home countries and focus on subjects that are important in these countries. This fact makes them less adaptable in Iceland, since Iceland differs in many respects from the United Kingdom and the United States. There are, however, many subjects targeted in these rating programs that do apply to Iceland and would be beneficial to adopt. This thesis is therefore not a decisive document on whether one program or the other, or even neither, could be adopted in Iceland, but could rather be an input in the current discussion on these matters.
by Margret Halla Bjarnadottir.
M.Eng.

Erosion is a serious concern across the US and the globe. One effective method to reduce soil erosion is to apply rolled erosion control products (RECPs). One material source for use in RECPs that has not been studied is low-value forest residuals (LVRs). The objectives of this study were to design RECPs out of four LVRs (leaf litter, willow whiplets, willow chips, spruce needles) and to assess their ability to reduce soil loss, control water quality (turbidity and total phosphorous), and enhance germination. LVR RECPs were tested using ASTM standards on bare, detritus, and burned soils. Leaf litter and spruce needle RECPs were highly effective at all three abilities, while the willow whiplet and chip RECPs were effective at reducing erosion, but less effective at controlling water quality and enhancing vegetation. Overall, the use of LVRs as a material source for RECPs shows great promise.

Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2009.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-118).
Sustainability is one of the greatest challenges we are faced with. To be successfully addressed, a variety of stakeholders, including business, must be involved. With this in mind, this thesis seeks to further our understanding of how a firm's response to sustainability can, in addition to making business sense, be effective and sustainable. This inevitably entails dealing with the classic tension between "passion" and "process." Therefore, the thesis explores how a balance between these two may be found by examining IBM's extensive and long-sustained environmental management experience. IBM has a recognized record of environmental responsibility that has matured over almost 40 years, surviving periods of great difficulty for the company. Its environmental sustainability program and its commitment to corporate responsibility, a continuum from legal and compliance activities to engagements that help the company develop value-creation opportunities, is clearly strategic. Its efforts - a combination of activities that address immediate and future business pressures - are in tune with what the literature considers to be "best practice" in environmental corporate sustainability. IBM's experience confirms both the importance of nourishing an emotional commitment to sustainability and of establishing a process - in its case, an environmental management system - that enables the company to systematically identify and manage the environmental impacts of its operations.
(cont.) On the one hand, its long-sustained record of environmental commitment, combined with its dedication to being a recognized environmental leader, has instilled a strong passion for sustainability across the company's organizations and employees. On the other hand, IBM's pursuit of a demonstrable record of performance, combined with a commitment to continuous improvement, has led to the development of a carefully designed, effective environmental management system. IBM seems to have optimized the balance between passion and process through a commitment to scientific, fact-based, decision-making, which has allowed the company to design and implement goals and procedures that will have the most impact given its resources and footprint.
by Paulina Ponce de León Baridó.
S.M.in Technology and Policy

The aim of the study was to evaluate the long-term environmental performance effectiveness of heating and cooling systems between ‘sustainable’ and conventional office buildings. The key research question that this study tried to answear is, ‘To what extent do sustainable office buildings remain sustainable in the long run?’ On this basis, two hypotheses (HP) were tested:  HP1: Sustainable buildings remain sustainable in the long run.  HP2: Current indicators fulfil the role for determining long term sustainability. From the sustainability point of view, this study focused only on the environmental aspect. The word ‘sustainable’ has been used for identifying office buildings where environmental aspects have been taken into consideration through sustainability approaches. In order to address the first hypothesis, initially this study used a case study comparison approach to compare ‘sustainable’ with conventional office buildings, by comparing building design and heating-cooling system characteristics. This helped to raise understanding of the environmental characteristics that classify an office building as sustainable. Two case studies were used:  The first case study comparison consists of a new ‘sustainable’ BREEAM excellent certified office building from 2009 and a conventional office building from the 1960s that had no refurbishments.  The second case study comparison consists of a refurbished ‘sustainable’ BREEAM excellent certified office building compared to a conventional office building from the 1950s that had an upgrade in the heating system. The study then focused on assessing the current environmental performance of heating and cooling between the case study buildings. Therefore Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) methods were used including site visits, interviews, recording of heating and cooling systems, collection of heating-cooling consumption data, conducting thermographic surveys, applying Heating Degree Data (HDD) Evaluation and undertaking Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA has played a key role in evaluating the long run environmental performance of heating and cooling systems. The LCA evaluated two performance indicators: a) energy consumption of heating and cooling for 2 years of operation and b) the raw-material consumption of heating and cooling system production. Further, hypothetical long run scenarios were developed to consider the consequences of the existing operational and embodied raw-material emissions in the long run. Sensitivity LCA analysis was also used in order to evaluate the environmental impacts of alternative scenarios of different low/zero carbon technologies if they were installed in the case study buildings. Uncertainty analysis was used to assess the significance of uncertainty in the data evaluated. The key outcome of this study was the need for developing a new Sustainability Indicator that can be used to support environment decision making in evaluating the long run environmental performance of heating and cooling systems in office buildings. The new indicator brings together all the research methods used in this study by developing further the existing energy indicator already integrated in existing Sustainable Assessment Methods (SAMs) and by developing a new indicator for raw-materials of heating and cooling systems. Suggestions for their integration on existing SAMs are also discussed. Finally the study ends with key conclusions and suggestions for further research.

The protection of public health is the basis behind any waste management system while its sophistication is dictated by environmental impact concerns and constraints on the ideal solution. Waste management systems can and should be designed from a sustainable basis. This thesis examines the theoretical basis of sustainable waste management systems and explores their application in Trinidad and Tobago. The transformation of Trinidad's existing waste management system into one which is sustainable begins with a thorough characterization of the existing formal and informal waste management sectors. Their linkages are identified and understood, leading to recommendations towards the alteration of the existing policy/legislation basis, system structure and operations to create a sustainable system. The resources and expertise are in place to complete such a transformation and the resulting system will benefit the nation; converting an antiquated policy of environmental neglect into that which will provide for the earth and future generations.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2018.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 113-119).
Feeding the world's growing population in an environmentally sustainable way is a complex social and engineering challenge. In this thesis, we develop a novel method for assessing the number of people that can be fed sustainably in a particular region for given natural resources and diet (the carrying capacity). A quantitative assessment of carrying capacity provides insight into the food security of the study region as well as the stress on the environmental system; in addition, this methodology can be used to assess the carrying capacity under a variety of policy interventions such as increasing yields, changing diets, or expanding irrigation infrastructure. The carrying capacity assessment uses optimization methods that find the cropping pattern that maximizes population subject to land, water, and diet constraints, considering a range of rainfed and irrigated crops. A data fusion procedure estimates the regional water and land resources needed to assess carrying capacity by combining measurements from diverse hydrologic and agronomic sources, including remote sensing data. Our carrying capacity methodology is illustrated with a case study of food security in China. China has historically been largely food self-sufficient, although its food imports have been increasing since the year 2000. We find that the population in China was well below the country's carrying capacity in the year 2000 given the diet and yields in that year. However, the population's changing diet - especially the growing preference for meat - is exacting a growing toll on land and water resources. We find that under a more recent diet (2013), China is not likely to be food self-sufficient, even with major investments in irrigated agriculture, without substantial increases in crop yield.
by Tiziana Smith.
Ph. D.

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-41).
The dawn of the new millennium has brought to light the environmental concerns of global warming, pollution, limited landfill space, and depleting natural resources. These concerns, compounded by the growing global population, have peaked interests in sustainability. In order to accommodate the world's people, industrialization and urbanization is at an all-time high, making the construction industry one of the biggest consumers of energy and resources and one of the biggest producers of waste. With its versatility and low cost of materials, construction, and maintenance, concrete has emerged as the material of choice for new construction in the 20th and 21st centuries. With over 10 billion tons of concrete being produced annually, the concrete industry is the largest consumer of natural resources and one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. In order to reduce the harmful impacts of such a valuable construction material, it is imperative that the concrete industry take strides to become a "green" material.
(cont.) This paper outlines strategies to reduce the environmental impacts of concrete through recycling, conservation, industrial ecology, and creating more durable structures. Not only do these methods contribute to the reduction of carbon-dioxide emissions through reducing Portland cement production and saving valuable natural resources by conserving water and using alternatives to natural aggregates in concrete mix-designs, but they also strive to create more durable structures to minimize the need for future construction.
by Lauren Midori Kuntz.
M.Eng.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2019
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 118-125).
Estimates suggest that the world needs a 50% increase in food production to meet the demands of the 2050 global population (Tilman et. al. 2011). Cropland expansion is unlikely to be sufficient, and yield improvements that require more inputs may lead to more environmental damage. This work focuses on reallocating limited land and water resources to optimize cropping patterns. By combining optimization methods, surrogate modeling, global data sources, data assimilation, and hydrologic modeling, we identify opportunities for increasing food-crop production and cash-crop revenue, while maintaining sustainability constraints that limit cropland expansion and prevent groundwater depletion. We apply the framework in India's Krishna river basin and find that reallocating resources to meet or exceed current production can lead to 96% gain in net revenue as resources over an estimated current baseline. Resources in this case are moved to high-yielding cash crops. Imposing a self-sufficient southern diet which depends on rice reduces the gains to 77% while imposing a self-sufficient national diet with more emphasis on wheat eliminates all net revenue gains to the region. The approach described in this thesis, highlights the trade-offs between food production, cost and environmental impacts in achieving specified food-security objectives. This research contributes to the field in two ways: 1) it provides a novel method for combining remotely sensed data, surrogate models and optimization to understand agricultural trade-offs, and 2) it furthers the discussion on food and water security and sustainable resource management by demonstrating that resource reallocation with sustainability constraints provides revenue gains in certain situations.
by Anjuli Jain Figueroa.
Ph. D.
Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Sustainable development through sustainable engineering is a promising strategy for combating unsustainable patterns of population growth, resource consumption, and environmental degradation. For sustainable engineering to alleviate global problems, however, improvements in undergraduate education are required to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to engage in sustainable design. Consequently, the goal of this dissertation is to assess and improve sustainability education in civil and environmental engineering (CEE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Three phases of inquiry were conducted to (1) examine the current status of CEE sustainability education, (2) use assessment results to develop a pedagogically-innovative sustainability module, and (3) investigate the impacts of implementing the module into select CEE courses on student learning. Several key findings resulted from this work. First, the Sustainability Tool for Assessing Universities’ Curricula Holistically (STAUNCH®) suggested that integration of sustainability into the curriculum was incomplete and favored environmental sustainability. Second, CEE seniors’ conceptual understanding of sustainability, based on concept map results, was found to be generally correct, although limited in comprehensiveness, connectedness, and balance. Third, examination of capstone project reports (2002 and 2011) using the novel Sustainable Design Rubric revealed little change in the students’ sustainable design abilities over the past decade, due potentially in part to students simply “meeting the expectations” of project sponsors. Based on these insights, a five-part, learning-cycle-based sustainability module was developed and implemented in CEE capstone and cornerstone design courses. Higher learning gains for cornerstone students, as compared to seniors, supports future integration of the module into cornerstone design courses. While project results are especially important for CEE at Georgia Tech, other programs and institutions may benefit from the development and improvement of sustainability knowledge assessment tools, as well as the empirically-informed and theoretically-grounded sustainability module.

Modern coal preparation facilities incorporate a wide array of solid-solid and solid-liquid separation processes for rejecting mineral matter to meet market specifications. The coarse mineral matter is typically placed into engineered refuse piles whereas the fine refuse is either stored in impoundments or co-disposed with the coarse refuse. The discharge water from the refuse material represents an environmental concern due to the potential release of trace elements, and the subsequent elevation of total dissolved solids and conductivity. The research findings reported in this dissertation addresses sustainable coal processing waste disposal through using strategies aimed at minimizing the environmental impacts. To provide an accurate and inexpensive method to assess the potential environmental effects of a given waste material, a conductivity screening-level test was modified to incorporate the impact of particle surface area. The test was used on various waste streams as well as the particle size and density fractions of each waste stream to identify environmentally sensitive components that can be separated from the bulk and isolated to prevent negative environmental impacts. The results were subsequently evaluated for long term mobility of trace elements under different disposal scenarios: (i) static leaching tests designed to simulate the quiescent conditions in a stable impoundment, and (ii) a dynamic test to simulate waste materials exposed to the atmosphere in variable wet/dry storage conditions. The results indicated that liberating, separating and isolating the highest density fractions (>2.68 SG) which represents less than 5% of the coal refuse materials results in significant abatement of total dissolved solids and conductivity. Required modifications of the coal processing plants were suggested to segregate and subsequently isolate the environmentally sensitive fractions from the remaining refuse material.

The world population of the 21st century is facing an increasingly challenging energy landscape and declining water quality and availability, further compounded by a rapidly expanding global population against the backdrop of climate change. To meet the challenges of the water-energy nexus in a sustainable manner, existing methods need to be advanced and new technologies developed. Osmotically-driven and ion-exchange membrane processes are two classes of emerging technologies that can offer cost-effective and environmentally sensible solutions to alleviate the pressure on our water and energy demands. The objective of this thesis is to advance forward osmosis (FO), pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), and reverse electrodialysis (RED) for the sustainable production of water and energy.

A main hindrance restricting the progress of osmotically-driven membrane processes, FO and PRO, is the absence of adequate membranes. This work demonstrates the fabrication of thin-film composite polyamide FO membranes that can attain high water flux and PRO membranes capable of achieving power density of 10 W/m², twice the benchmark of 5 W/m² for PRO with natural salinity gradients to be cost-effective. A membrane fabrication platform based on mechanistic understanding of the influence of membrane transport and structural parameters on process performance was developed. The morphology and microstructure of the porous support layer, and hydraulic permeability and salt selectivity of the polyamide active layer were specifically tailored by thoughtful control of the fabrication and modification conditions.

The Gibbs free energy from the mixing of river water with seawater can potentially be harnessed for clean and renewable energy production. This work analyzed the thermodynamics of PRO power generation and determined that energy efficiencies of up to ∼91% can theoretically be attained. The intrinsic limitations and practical constraints in PRO were identified and discussed. Using a tenth of the annual global river water discharge of 37,000 km ³ for PRO could potentially produce electricity for over half a billion people, ascertaining natural salinity gradients to be a sizeable renewable source that can contribute to diversifying our energy portfolio.

However, fouling of the membrane support layer can diminish the PRO productivity by detrimentally increasing the hydraulic resistance. Analysis of the water flux behavior and methodical characterization of the membrane properties shed light on the fouling mechanism and revealed the active-support layer interface to play a crucial role during fouling. A brief osmotic backwash was shown to be effective in cleaning the membrane and achieving substantial performance recovery.

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an ion-exchange membrane process that can also extract useful work from salinity gradients. This dissertation research examined the energy efficiency and power density of RED and identified a tradeoff relation between the two performance parameters. Energy efficiency of ∼33-44% can be obtained with technologically-available membranes, but the low power densities of < 1 W/m² is likely to be impede the realization of the process. To further advance RED as a salinity energy conversion method, ion-exchange membrane technology and stack design need to be advanced beyond their current limitations.

When analyzed with simulated existing state-of-the-art membranes, PRO exhibited greater energy efficiencies (54-56%) and significantly higher power densities (2.4-38 W/m²) than RED (18-38% and 0.77-1.2 W/m ²). The drawback of RED is especially pronounced at large salinity gradients, where the high solution concentrations overwhelm the Donnan exclusion effect and detrimentally diminish the ion exchange membrane permselectivity. Additionally, the inherent different in driving force utilization (osmotic pressure difference for PRO and Nernst potential for RED) restricts RED from exploiting larger salinity gradients to enhance performance. Overall, PRO is found to be the more favorable membrane-based technology for accessing salinity energy.

This work presents pioneering advances for forward osmosis and pressure retarded osmosis membrane development. The fundamental studies of the osmotically-driven membrane processes and ion-exchange membrane processes yielded significant findings that enhanced our mechanistic and thermodynamic understanding of the technologies. The important insights can serve to inform the realization of the emerging membrane-based technologies for the sustainable production of water and energy. The implications of the thesis are potentially far-reaching and are anticipated to shape the discussion on FO, PRO, and RED.

The South African consulting engineering industry faces a challenge of relevance, particularly in the wake of government infrastructure investment through the planned National Development Plan and other current infrastructure plans. This challenge is even more so for small consulting engineering businesses within the industry who experienced a decline in earnings by ten percent in the first six months of 2013 as compared to the last six months of 2012 (Consulting Engineers South Africa, 2013:38). Government, as a job creator, has a duty to ensure that the conditions that these businesses operate in are favourable to them in order for the businesses to remain sustainable. Factors that contribute to the sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses need to be identified. Amathole District Municipality (ADM) situated in the Eastern Cape Province and which is the second largest province in South Africa but the second poorest (Eastern Cape Socio Economic Council (ECSECC), 2011:15 cited in Mtshibe, 2013:1) is one of those job creators. According to the Amathole District Municipality (ADM) (2013:38), the district, which comprises of seven local municipalities, is the 3rd largest economy in the province after the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality and Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, contributing twelve percent to the provincial economy. Figures published in the Division of Revenue Bill, 2014 (RSA, 2014:236) indicate infrastructure development allocations totalling R1.34 billion budgeted to the ADM for the next three years. This translates to job opportunities for the consulting engineering industry of this region. However, the latest ADM SMME procurement data reveals that in the past five years, only a small percentage of tenders awarded were to small consulting engineering businesses with a majority going to medium to large well-established enterprises (ADM, 2014). These results pose a serious challenge for policy makers who have a duty to ensure that work opportunities do not disadvantage emerging small businesses. The main objective of this study was to gain an understanding of the antecedents that impact on the sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses within the Amathole District Municipality. This was done by identifying antecedents to sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses through a detailed literature review. This literature review identified the competitive environment, regulatory environment and policy environment (independent variables) as being antecedents to sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses (dependant variable). In testing the above research objective, the researcher used statistical analysis methods to reach a conclusion with regard to these antecedents. The positivistic research paradigm (quantitative method) was selected in testing this research objective through the use of hypothesis testing. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires distributed to 100 small consulting engineering businesses using the databases of both the Amathole District Municipality and Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA). Out of the selected sample of 100 small consulting engineering businesses, only 81 responses were received, thus representing an eighty-one percent response rate which is considered adequate. The collected data was then analysed using inferential and confirmatory statistical analysis methods. The analysis was presented in the form of graphs and tables. The results of the empirical survey identified rival competitor influence, the competitive environment and policy environment as being antecedents to sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses within the Amathole District Municipality. Based on these findings, recommendations were made to the management of the Amathole District Municipality in an endeavour to make the environment within which small consulting engineering businesses operate more favourable for the businesses to be sustainable. Suggestions for future research were also made as a way to help in addressing some of the challenges that are faced by the engineering industry.

Dealing with municipal solid waste has become a problematic issue in the United Kingdom (UK). With actions to mitigate the potentially adverse impacts of climate change debate and space for, and costs of, landfill becoming critical, a landfilldominated strategy is no longer acceptable. In this context, the attitudes and behaviour of young adults, particularly university students, who often have little experience of taking responsibility for waste management activities, have not been studied in great detail. Since the 1960s, the UK higher education system has expanded six fold to >2.4 million students. The overall production of waste at Higher Education institutions (HEIs) is therefore very large and presents significant challenges as the associated legislative, economic and environmental pressures can be difficult to control and manage. Therefore, a comprehensive research focusing on university students is urgently required. Changing the way HEIs deal with their waste is an important issue because of fast-changing legislation and increasing costs. The solution is a new approach to waste management: a revolutionary change in the way that HEIs think, the way HEIs act and the way HEIs handle their waste. This has massive implications for the Higher Education (HE) sector. It means developing extensive institution-wide infrastructure to provide greater flexibility and user-centric solutions to suit the need of students and staff. It also means that HEIs work together and potential collaboration between HEIs and Local Authorities (LAs) to maximise resource efficiency, meet future legislative requirements and achieve their corporate responsibilities and commitments. This thesis reports on a study of waste management practices at HEIs in the UK. The issue was approached from both a theoretical and a practical standpoint. The study used the University of Southampton (UoS) as a case study and examined how waste recycling projects can be developed effectively using infrastructure, service provision and behavioural change techniques as part of a wider research programme investigating waste management in medium- and high-density housing. The study clearly showed that there was potential for significantly improving reuse and recycling at university halls of residence (HoR) and that more convenient and higher quality infrastructure and service provision resulted in higher recycling rates. Furthermore, students have lifestyles that impact significantly on waste arisings and consequently on waste management operations at HoR (and probably at HEIs and student-dominated residential areas). For schemes to be successful at HEIs, they must be based on a thorough understanding of students’ recycling behaviour, and their perceptions of the barriers to recycling. The key to unlocking behaviour change lies in the provision of appropriate infrastructure and effective service provision alongside a targeted behaviour change programme. Mass media coverage especially the Internet has a rising influence on university students’ environmental knowledge while environmental education at school has become the secondary source of information. The results also revealed that university students possessed less knowledge than they believed which makes informative behavioural interventions a vital component of effective recycling schemes at HEIs

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and, Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-114).
by Maia A. Hansen.
M.B.A.
S.M.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The apparent conflict between development activities and the need to preserve environmental integrity, here called the environmental dilemma, serves as the point of departure for this study. With engineers in general, and civil engineers in particular, being major role players in development activities, this study turns particular attention to the role they do, and should play with respect to the environmental dilemma.1 The study commences with an overview of the traditional ethical and environmental ethical theories, but this does not produce an unambiguous, master solution to the environmental dilemma. However, on a more pragmatic level, and based largely on its undeniable widespread popularity, the concept of sustainable development surfaces as the most promising strategy. Notwithstanding its popularity it remains a vague and contestable concept. This is born out by the numerous definitions and interpretations accorded to sustainable development in the literature. In order to lend more rigour to the concept, this study firstly suggests an ethical foundation for it, and secondly proposes a framework through which a fuller understanding of it may be articulated. The ethical foundation is based on the value of beneficence, which is rooted in the reciprocal altruism that is part of our evolutionary heritage, and which has been further reinforced by widespread cultural appropriation. Moderated by the equally widely held value of fairness, and the principles of holism and biocentrism, it is argued that beneficence, as a basic and near universal societal value, is well suited to be the moral underpinning for sustainable development. The sustainability framework, as it is proposed in this study, is hierarchically structured so that it is more monistic and prescriptive at its higher levels, while at the lower levels it is more pluralistic and pragmatic. At the highest level of the framework sustainable development is irrevocably bound to the vision of a sustainable society. At the next level the values that underpin sustainable development, beneficence, fairness and respect for life, are found. At the following levels the message of the vision and the values of sustainable development is expanded further through three foundational and eighteen subsidiary principles, the latter being expressed in categories that represent the dimensions of sustainable development. This study recognises four dimensions within sustainable development, these 1 It needs to be noted that in this study the environment is (frequently) broadly interpreted so as to include social concerns as well as those related to the natural environment. being the environmental,2 the social, the economic and the institutional dimensions. These dimensional categories are not mutually exclusive but are rather used as categories of convenience. The framework is concluded, at the lowest levels, with measurement themes and applications, also dimensionally categorised. With this expanded understanding of sustainable development as background, the study proceeds to an overview of the legal and policy framework of South Africa with respect to the environment and sustainable development. This is followed by two case studies that attempt to discern the sustainability challenges evident in local development practice. The first of these case studies deals with the proliferation of golfing estate developments in the Southern Cape, and the second with the proposed construction of a national toll road through the Wild Coast area of the Transkei. The study then turns its focus to the engineering profession in South Africa, with particular reference to the civil engineering discipline. After reviewing engineering codes of conduct from a number of countries, particularly with respect to their environmental and/or sustainability prescriptions, a proposal for a South African version of such a code is put forward. As it turns out this suggested code leans heavily on the previously proposed sustainability framework. Finally civil engineering education in South Africa is assessed with respect to environmental and/or sustainability requirements, and the conclusion is that sustainable development, in its fullest sense, might be best served by the introduction of a unique educational programme focussed specifically on sustainability engineering.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die konflik wat skynbaar bestaan tussen ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite en die behoefte om die integriteit van die omgewing te bewaar, hier genoem die omgewingsdilemma, dien as die vertrekpunt van hierdie studie. In ag genome dat ingenieurs in die algemeen, en siviele ingenieurs in die besonder, hoofrolspelers is in ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite, word aandag hier spesifiek geskenk aan die rol wat hulle speel, en behoort te speel, met betrekking tot die omgewingsdilemma.3 Hierdie studie begin met ‘n oorsig van die tradisionele teorieë in etiek en omgewingsetiek, maar dit lewer nie ‘n eenduidige meester-oplossing vir die omgewingsdilemma nie. Egter op ‘n meer pragmatiese vlak, en grootliks gebaseer op die onteenseglike populariteit van die konsep, het volhoubare ontwikkeling as ‘n belowende strategie na vore gekom. Desnieteenstaande die hierdie populariteit, bly die konsep van volhoubare ontwikkeling vaag en omstrede. Die veelvuldige definisies en interpretasies wat in die literatuur aan die konsep toegesê word, dien as bewys hiervan. Om meer krag aan die konsep te verleen word daar in hierdie studie, eerstens ‘n etiese fondament ter ondersteuning van volhoubare ontwikkeling, en tweedens ‘n raamwerk waardeur dit beter verstaan kan word, voorgestel. Die etiese fondament is gebaseer op die waarde van welwillendheid. Hierdie waarde is gewortel in die wederkerige altruïsme wat deel uitmaak van ons evolusionêre erfenis, en verder in die samelewing gevestig is deur wydverspreide kulturele toe-eiening. Daar word geredeneer dat welwillendheid, bemiddel deur die ewe wydonderskrewe waarde van billikheid, en die beginsels van holisme en biosentrisme, as ‘n basiese en ‘n byna universele maatskaplike waarde, besonder geskik is om vir volhoubare ontwikkeling die morele onderbou te wees. Die volhoubaarheidsraamwerk, soos dit in hierdie studie voorgestel word, is hiërargies gestruktureer sodat die hoër vlakke meer monisties en voorskriftelik is, terwyl die laer vlakke meer pluralisties and pragmaties is. Op die hoogste vlak van die raamwerk word volhoubare ontwikkeling onlosmaaklik gekoppel aan die visie van ‘n volhoubare gemeenskap. Op die volgende vlak word die waardes wat volhoubare ontwikkeling fundeer, naamlik welwillendheid, billikheid en respek vir lewe, gevind. In die daaropvolgende vlakke word die boodskap van die visie en die waardes van volhoubare 3 Daar moet kennis geneem word dat die omgewing in hierdie studie (dikwels) breed geïnterpreteer word, en dus sosiale kwessies sowel as dié van die natuurlike omgewing insluit. ontwikkeling uitgebou deur drie basiese en agtien aanvullende beginsels, waarvan laasgenoemde uitgedruk word in kategorieë wat die dimensies van volhoubare ontwikkeling weergee. Hierdie studie onderskei vier dimensies in volhoubare ontwikkeling, naamlik die omgewings-,4 die sosiale, die ekonomiese en die institusionele dimensies. Hierdie dimensionele kategorieë is nie onderling uitsluitend nie, maar word eerder as kategorieë van gerief aangewend. Die raamwerk word op sy laagste vlakke voltooi deur metingstemas en toepassings wat ook dimensioneel gekategoriseer is. Met hierdie uitgebreide begrip van volhoubare ontwikkeling as agtergrond, is die studie voortgesit met ‘n oorsig van die Suid-Afrikaanse wetlike en beleidsraamwerk ten opsigte van die omgewing en volhoubare ontwikkeling. Dit is opgevolg deur twee gevallestudies wat poog om die uitdagings wat volhoubaarheid in plaaslike onwikkelingspraktyk hou, te skets. Die eerste van hierdie gevallestudies het die die vinnige vermeerdering van gholf-landgoedere in die Suid-Kaap aangespreek, terwyl die tweede gehandel het oor die voorgestelde konstruksie van ‘n nasionale tolpad deur die Wildekus-area van die Transkei. Die fokus van die studie verskuif hierna na die ingenieursprofessie in Suid-Afrika, met spesifieke verwysing na die siviele ingenieursdissipline. Nadat verskeie ingenieursgedragskodes van ‘n aantal lande oorweeg is, veral met betrekking tot hul omgewings- en volhoubaarheidsvoorskrifte, is ‘n Suid- Afrikaanse weergawe van so ‘n gedragskode voorgestel. Uiteraard leun hierdie kode swaar op die volhoubaarheidsraamwerk wat vroeër voorgestel is. Ten laaste word siviele ingenieursopleiding in Suid-Afrika beoordeel ten opsigte van omgewings- en volhoubaarheidsvereistes, en die slotsom is dat volhoubare ontwikkeling, ten volste begryp, ten beste uitgebou sal kan word deur die instelling van ‘n unieke opvoedingsprogram wat spesifiek gefokus is op volhoubaarheids-ingenieurwese.

The Planet has entered a new epoch - the Anthropocene; where human activities, such as mining for and burning of fossil fuels, land-use change, and industrialization are actively disrupting the planet’s state. The rate at which climate change is occurring as a result of human activity is unprecedented in recent millennia and poses many threats through drastic changes in rain fall patterns, rising sea level, retreating glaciers, and an increase in extreme weather events. Mountain ranges and the plant and animal species that thrive in specific ‘life zones’ on the mountain slope are particularly vulnerable to the threats posed by climate change. As temperatures increase, these ‘life zones’ will essentially shift upwards - and flora and fauna either adapt to warmer conditions, or migrate to avoid extinction. This begs the questions, where will species retreat to when there is nowhere further up the mountain to migrate? Assisted migration has been proposed as a potential solution for species unable to adapt to climate change or unable to migrate, and involves the deliberate interference of humans in relocating species to habitats, outside their historic range, in hopes of preventing the species from going extinct. I examined key patterns within assisted migration research from peer-reviewed literature, to highlight the current state of assisted migration research and debate. My aim is to identify whether research favored certain species or geographic locations, to highlight the ethical dilemmas associated with engineering nature, and the potential assisted migration has for sustainable development in mountain ranges. I conducted a literature review and content analysis of 68 journal articles. The results suggest that assisted migration research is heavily debated from scientific, ethical, political and economic perspectives; with a largely theoretical debate and with limited transfer into field experiments. Furthermore, there is an element of bias in research focusing on plant species of economic value as opposed to other species. Moreover, many ethical dilemmas in assisted migration research exist, but no consensus as to whether assisted migration is ethically justifiable. Lastly, I suggest there could be potential for assisted migration for sustainable development in mountain ranges, however there is a need for inter/transdisciplinary research to collaborate in implementing assisted migration.

Construction projects are complex endeavors that require the involvement of different professional disciplines in order to meet various project objectives that are often conflicting. The level of complexity and the multi-objective nature of construction projects lend themselves to collaborative design and construction such as integrated project delivery (IPD), in which relevant disciplines work together during project conception, design and construction. Traditionally, the main objectives of construction projects have been to build in the least amount of time with the lowest cost possible, thus the inherent and well-established relationship between cost and time has been the focus of many studies. The importance of being able to effectively model relationships among multiple objectives in building construction has been emphasized in a wide range of research. In general, the trade-off relationship between time and cost is well understood and there is ample research on the subject. However, despite sustainable building designs, relationships between time and environmental impact, as well as cost and environmental impact, have not been fully investigated. The objectives of this research were mainly to analyze and identify relationships of time, cost, and environmental impact, in terms of CO2 emissions, at different levels of a building: material level, component level, and building level, at the pre-use phase, including manufacturing and construction, and the relationships of life cycle cost and life cycle CO2 emissions at the usage phase. Additionally, this research aimed to develop a robust simulation-based multi-objective decision-support tool, called SimulEICon, which took construction data uncertainty into account, and was capable of incorporating life cycle assessment information to the decision-making process. The findings of this research supported the trade-off relationship between time and cost at different building levels. Moreover, the time and CO2 emissions relationship presented trade-off behavior at the pre-use phase. The results of the relationship between cost and CO2 emissions were interestingly proportional at the pre-use phase. The same pattern continually presented after the construction to the usage phase. Understanding the relationships between those objectives is a key in successfully planning and designing environmentally sustainable construction projects.

Impacts of climate change on the already severely strained freshwater resources of approximately 1000 inhabited islands in the Pacific Ocean are of great concern. The Western Pacific region is one of the world’s most vulnerable when it comes to risk of disaster particularly for the several of the low-lying coral islands. Impacts have already been felt regarding the security of water resources that would directly impact agriculture, forestry, tourism and other industry-related sectors. The ironic and tragic aspect of the environmental crisis of greenhouse emissions is the fact that those parts of the world least responsible for creating the water security issues are the first to suffer its consequences. Pacific Island Nations are responsible for only 0.03 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, and the average island resident produces only one-quarter of the emissions of the average person worldwide.

Utilizing the historical data, the evidence of change in water quality and access on Guam has been examined. All indicators except for the precipitation support the hypotheses that climate change trends are impacting Guam’s water security. This will eventually weaken Guam’s resilience. As a result of this research and its recommendations, a sustainable freshwater resources management plan, for a water-secured Guam can be produced. Adaptive management provided here is based on a process that can measure the resilience of Guam to the issue of water security.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, February 2002.
"January 2002."
Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-138).
Of the many daunting challenges the world's developing mega-cities face, perhaps none is more pressing than the urgent need to enhance the mobility of their citizens. An efficient flow of goods and people into around and through these urban nerve centers is vital to their global economic competitiveness, environmental health, and socioeconomic development. A lack of adequate mobility is characterized by a number of detrimental externalities. Chiefly, the ensnarement of vehicles in traffic congestion, an increase in air-borne pollutants and a higher cost of travel are symptoms of poor planning, inadequate investment, and ineffective governance. Innovative policies, regulations, and technologies must be employed that enable mobility without sacrificing quality of life, clean air, or investment in other sectors. The primary objective of this study is to assist municipal governments in the development of environmentally sustainable, socially equitable, and financially self-reliant transportation policies and systems. This objective will be achieved in three stages: I. This study will describe and assess a portfolio of urban transportation policies, regulations, and technologies, concentrating on those policies that make use of market forces to influence travel demand. II. Two urban transportation case studies will be developed: Singapore and Bogoti, Colombia. These cases will be used to illustrate the interactions of policies, regulations, and technologies and to demonstrate the important roles that institutional arrangements and public opinion can play as determinants of success or failure. III. Finally, from this analysis we will develop a series of urban transportation policy recommendations for the city of Guangzhou. Our recommendations are based on interviews with senior municipal officials, documents produced by the administration, the city's unique context, and the telling experiences of Singapore and Bogota. Three primary conclusions arise from this study. First, developing mega-cities cannot focus solely on the supply of additional infrastructure to address their mobility problems; they must also manage the demand side of the equation. Second, these cities must employ a broad mixture of demand-management measures simultaneously in order to significantly improve mobility. Third, these cities must develop adequate institutional capacity in order to design, implement, and enforce effective transportation policies and manage sustainable urban transportation systems.
by Benjamin Myles Cheatham.
S.M.

In this work, the effect of Fly Ash (FA) on fine sand and its suitability as a civil engineering material for construction of embankments is investigated. The thesis is concerned with the role of FA content in stabilised soil physical characteristics. The aim of the study presented in this thesis is to examine the suitability of class F FA as a construction material in geotechnical engineering projects. This is achieved through combination of experimental analysis and numerical simulations. Experimental analyses (in accordance with British Standards) were conducted by applying compaction, particle size distribution, bearing capacity tests and resilient modulus, derived from California Bearing Ratio (CBR), while numerical simulation was carried out using finite element and lagrangian finite difference analysis. For the purpose of this thesis, all the samples were tested before and after being treated with four different curing durations, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks, and three variations of FA content, 5%, 10% and 15%. The samples were also mixed with 3% of cement as the activator. In this thesis, the research aims and objectives are stated in the introduction chapter, followed by the literature review on FA, soil stabilisation and ground improvement. The research methodology and details about the materials used, are then presented and discussed. The numerical simulations and results are finally presented. FA stabilized samples, with an accurate mixture, were shown to have lower dry densities while producing higher strengths than the sand. Potentially making it an effective material suitable for use in embankment construction and projects alike.