Academic literature on the topic 'Sustainability Impacts Assessment'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the lists of relevant articles, books, theses, conference reports, and other scholarly sources on the topic 'Sustainability Impacts Assessment.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Journal articles on the topic "Sustainability Impacts Assessment"
1
Junne, Tobias, Sonja Simon, Jens Buchgeister, Maximilian Saiger, Manuel Baumann, Martina Haase, Christina Wulf, and Tobias Naegler. "Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Multi-Sectoral Energy Transformation Pathways: Methodological Approach and Case Study for Germany." Sustainability 12, no. 19 (October 6, 2020): 8225. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12198225.
Full textAbstract:
In order to analyse long-term transformation pathways, energy system models generally focus on economical and technical characteristics. However, these models usually do not consider sustainability aspects such as environmental impacts. In contrast, life cycle assessment enables an extensive estimate of those impacts. Due to these complementary characteristics, the combination of energy system models and life cycle assessment thus allows comprehensive environmental sustainability assessments of technically and economically feasible energy system transformation pathways. We introduce FRITS, a FRamework for the assessment of environmental Impacts of Transformation Scenarios. FRITS links bottom-up energy system models with life cycle impact assessment indicators and quantifies the environmental impacts of transformation strategies of the entire energy system (power, heat, transport) over the transition period. We apply the framework to conduct an environmental assessment of multi-sectoral energy scenarios for Germany. Here, a ‘Target’ scenario reaching 80% reduction of energy-related direct CO2 emissions is compared with a ‘Reference’ scenario describing a less ambitious transformation pathway. The results show that compared to 2015 and the ‘Reference’ scenario, the ‘Target’ scenario performs better for most life cycle impact assessment indicators. However, the impacts of resource consumption and land use increase for the ‘Target’ scenario. These impacts are mainly caused by road passenger transport and biomass conversion.
2
Petit, Sandrine, and Pia Frederiksen. "Modelling land use change impacts for sustainability assessment." Ecological Indicators 11, no. 1 (January 2011): 1–3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.08.001.
Full text
3
Yu, Haijiao, Zihan Yang, and Bo Li. "Sustainability Assessment of Water Resources in Beijing." Water 12, no. 7 (July 14, 2020): 1999. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w12071999.
Full textAbstract:
A sustainability assessment of water resources is essential for maintaining regional sustainable development. In this study, a comprehensive assessment of changes in the sustainability of the water resource system in Beijing from 2008 to 2018 was conducted on the basis of the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) model. To reflect the impacts of humans on the water consumption and pollution of water resources, the water footprint was considered. In addition, key factors that affect the sustainability of water resources were filtered by the modified entropy method. The results indicated that all drivers, pressures, states, impacts, and responses demonstrated increasing tendencies. As a result, a remarkable improvement in the sustainability of the water system, which was mitigated from an alert state to a good state, was achieved due to the comprehensive effect of the indexes. From these results, we inferred that the sustainability of regional water resources could only be achieved through a comprehensive consideration of regional social, economic, and environmental water systems and climate change. Therefore, formulating medium- and long-term urban, economic, and water development plans and adjusting medium- and short-term water utilization programs could contribute to the sustainable utilization of regional water resources.
4
Kovačič Lukman, Rebeka, Vasja Omahne, and Damjan Krajnc. "Sustainability Assessment with Integrated Circular Economy Principles: A Toy Case Study." Sustainability 13, no. 7 (March 31, 2021): 3856. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13073856.
Full textAbstract:
When considering the sustainability of production processes, research studies usually emphasise environmental impacts and do not adequately address economic and social impacts. Toy production is no exception when it comes to assessing sustainability. Previous research on toys has focused solely on assessing environmental aspects and neglected social and economic aspects. This paper presents a sustainability assessment of a toy using environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and social life cycle assessment. We conducted an inventory analysis and sustainability impact assessment of the toy to identify the hotspots of the system. The main environmental impacts are eutrophication, followed by terrestrial eco-toxicity, acidification, and global warming. The life cycle costing approach examined the economic aspect of the proposed design options for toys, while the social assessment of the alternative designs revealed social impacts along the product life cycle. In addition, different options based on the principles of the circular economy were analysed and proposed in terms of substitution of materials and shortening of transport distances for the toy studied.
5
Naegler, Tobias, Lisa Becker, Jens Buchgeister, Wolfgang Hauser, Heidi Hottenroth, Tobias Junne, Ulrike Lehr, et al. "Integrated Multidimensional Sustainability Assessment of Energy System Transformation Pathways." Sustainability 13, no. 9 (May 7, 2021): 5217. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13095217.
Full textAbstract:
Sustainable development embraces a broad spectrum of social, economic and ecological aspects. Thus, a sustainable transformation process of energy systems is inevitably multidimensional and needs to go beyond climate impact and cost considerations. An approach for an integrated and interdisciplinary sustainability assessment of energy system transformation pathways is presented here. It first integrates energy system modeling with a multidimensional impact assessment that focuses on life cycle-based environmental and macroeconomic impacts. Then, stakeholders’ preferences with respect to defined sustainability indicators are inquired, which are finally integrated into a comparative scenario evaluation through a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), all in one consistent assessment framework. As an illustrative example, this holistic approach is applied to the sustainability assessment of ten different transformation strategies for Germany. Applying multi-criteria decision analysis reveals that both ambitious (80%) and highly ambitious (95%) carbon reduction scenarios can achieve top sustainability ranks, depending on the underlying energy transformation pathways and respective scores in other sustainability dimensions. Furthermore, this research highlights an increasingly dominant contribution of energy systems’ upstream chains on total environmental impacts, reveals rather small differences in macroeconomic effects between different scenarios and identifies the transition among societal segments and climate impact minimization as the most important stakeholder preferences.
6
Mehrad, Ahmad Tamim. "Assessment of climate change impacts on environmental sustainability in Afghanistan." E3S Web of Conferences 208 (2020): 01001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202020801001.
Full textAbstract:
Climate change is a global phenomenon that became one of the most predominant environmental challenges facing our world today. Natural events and anthropogenic activities are responsible for increasing the negative impacts and risks associated with climate change. Developing countries in Asia and Africa are bearing much of the climate change burden due to rapid population growth, crop failures, and lack of required technological and financial resources to mitigate the risks. Afghanistan, like other developing countries, is highly vulnerable to the severe impacts of climate change. In Afghanistan, climate change is related to various adverse effects on water resources, agriculture, forests, biodiversity, increasing temperature, and changing the environmental landscape. This paper analyses the impact of climate change on environmental sustainability in Afghanistan.
7
ASPINALL, ALISON, JUDIE CUKIER, and BRENT DOBERSTEIN. "QUALITY OF LIFE ASSESSMENTS AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY: SKI TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN INVERMERE, BRITISH COLUMBIA." Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management 13, no. 02 (June 2011): 179–201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s1464333211003845.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of using quality of life assessments (QLA) to evaluate social sustainability and impacts of a hypothetical tourism development modelled after the currently-proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort. Results of this study indicated that there was a significant difference between the pre- and post-development scenarios on respondents' perceived quality of life: respondents perceived that their quality of life would be lower after the development of the resort. Also, respondents' general attitudes towards tourism development, and the specific Jumbo Glacier Resort project, had a statistically significant impact on their expected quality of life, and their interpretation of how tourism impacts their quality of life. The study suggests that quality of life assessment can make valuable contributions to the fields of social impact assessment and social sustainability analysis, and the results of such assessments can make valuable contributions to the fields of sustainable community development.
8
Ahmadian F.F., Alireza, Taha H. Rashidi, Ali Akbarnezhad, and S. Travis Waller. "BIM-enabled sustainability assessment of material supply decisions." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 24, no. 4 (July 17, 2017): 668–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-12-2015-0193.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose Enhancing sustainability of the supply process of construction materials is challenging and requires accounting for a variety of environmental and social impacts on top of the traditional, mostly economic, impacts associated with a particular decision involved in the management of the supply chain. The economic, environmental, and social impacts associated with various components of a typical supply chain are highly sensitive to project and market specific conditions. The purpose of this paper is to provide decision makers with a methodology to account for the systematic trade-offs between economic, environmental, and social impacts of supply decisions. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes a novel framework for sustainability assessment of construction material supply chain decisions by taking advantage of the information made available by customized building information models (BIM) and a number of different databases required for assessment of life cycle impacts. Findings The framework addresses the hierarchy of decisions in the material supply process, which consists of four levels including material type, source of supply, supply chain structure, and mode of transport. The application is illustrated using a case study. Practical implications The proposed framework provides users with a decision-making method to select the most sustainable material alternative available for a building component and, thus, may be of great value to different parties involved in design and construction of a building. The multi-dimensional approach in selection process based on various economic, environmental, and social indicators as well as the life cycle perspective implemented through the proposed methodology advocates the life cycle thinking and the triple bottom line approach in sustainability. The familiarity of the new generation of engineers, architects, and contractors with this approach and its applications is essential to achieve sustainability in construction. Originality/value A decision-making model for supply of materials is proposed by integrating the BIM-enabled life cycle assessment into supply chain and project constraints management. The integration is achieved through addition of a series of attributes to typical BIM. The framework is supplemented by a multi-attribute decision-making module based on the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to account for the trade-offs between different economic and environmental impacts associated with the supply decisions.
9
Shah, Binita, and Seema Unnikrishnan. "Sustainability assessment of gas based power generation using a life cycle assessment approach." Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal 29, no. 5 (August 13, 2018): 826–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/meq-02-2018-0034.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose India is a developing economy along with an increasing population estimated to be the largest populated country in about seven years. Simultaneously, its power consumption is projected to increase more than double by 2020. Currently, the dependence on coal is relatively high, making it the largest global greenhouse gas emitting sector which is a matter of great concern. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the environmental impacts of the natural gas electricity generation in India and propose a model using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Design/methodology/approach LCA is used as a tool to evaluate the environmental impact of the natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant, as it adopts a holistic approach towards the whole process. The LCA methodology used in this study follows the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards (ISO 14040: 2009; ISO 14044: 2009). A questionnaire was designed for data collection and validated by expert review primary data for the annual environmental emission was collected by personally visiting the power plant. The study follows a cradle to gate assessment using the CML (2001) methodology. Findings The analysis reveals that the main impacts were during the process of combustion. The Global warming potential is approximately 0.50 kg CO2 equivalents per kWh of electricity generation from this gas-based power plant. These results can be used by stakeholders, experts and members who are authorised to probe positive initiative for the reduction of environmental impacts from the power generation sector. Practical implications Considering the pace of growth of economic development of India, it is the need of the hour to emphasise on the patterns of sustainable energy generation which is an important subject to be addressed considering India’s ratification to the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This paper analyzes the environmental impacts of gas-based electricity generation. Originality/value Presenting this case study is an opportunity to get a glimpse of the challenges associated with gas-based electricity generation in India. It gives a direction and helps us to better understand the right spot which require efforts for the improvement of sustainable energy generation processes, by taking appropriate measures for emission reduction. This paper also proposes a model for gas-based electricity generation in India. It has been developed following an LCA approach. As far as we aware, this is the first study which proposes an LCA model for gas-based electricity generation in India. The model is developed in line with the LCA methodology and focusses on the impact categories specific for gas-based electricity generation.
10
Brusselaers, Nicolas, Selamawit Mamo Fufa, and Koen Mommens. "A Sustainability Assessment Framework for On-Site and Off-Site Construction Logistics." Sustainability 14, no. 14 (July 13, 2022): 8573. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14148573.
Full textAbstract:
Urban areas pay increasing attention to new construction and infrastructure works, mainly due to the rapid global rise in urbanisation. In the long run, these works have a positive correlation with the economic and social attractiveness of cities. Construction strongly relies on logistics activities, which cannot be neglected in the environmental equation. An important aspect in tackling the negative effects of construction logistics (CL) lies in understanding the source and mitigation potential of the impacts incurred. However, currently, limited robust impact assessments are available for this sector. Given the lack of these rigorous assessments, it is difficult to evaluate the environmental criteria concerned, especially when comparing innovative CL solutions. In this paper, we present a holistic sustainability assessment framework designed for CL activities based on life cycle approaches, which covers four main iterative steps: (1) goal and scope definition, (2) data identification and availability, (3) scenario and setup evaluation and (4) environmental impact assessment. To measure both the off-site and on-site CL impact, two distinct and complementary methodologies are used: External Cost Calculations and Life Cycle Assessment. The framework was implemented on a pilot case in the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium). It provides a holistic view of CL impacts for policy evaluations and implementations on the project, portfolio or city level. The results show that off-site zero-emission construction vehicles are the way forward if cities want to achieve environmental goals by 2035. However, market readiness for high-capacity vehicles must be considered. Otherwise, the positive effects on air pollution, climate change and noise are offset by a saturation of the road transport network and its associated congestion and infrastructure damage costs.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Sustainability Impacts Assessment"
1
Findler, Florian, Norma Schönherr, Rodrigo Lozano, and Barbara Stacherl. "Assessing the Impacts of Higher Education Institutions on Sustainable Development - An Analysis of Tools and Indicators." MDPI AG, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11010059.
Full textAbstract:
Many higher education institutions (HEIs) have started to incorporate sustainable
development (SD) into their system. A variety of sustainability assessment tools (SATs) have been
developed to support HEIs to systematically measure, audit, benchmark, and communicate SD efforts.
In recent years, stakeholders have increasingly asked HEIs to demonstrate their impacts on SD. These
impacts are the direct and indirect effects an HEI has outside of its organizational boundaries on
society, the natural environment, and the economy. This study analyzes to what extent SATs are
capable of measuring the impacts that HEIs have on SD. A mixed-method approach, using descriptive
statistics and an inductive content analysis, was used to examine 1134 indicators for sustainability
assessment derived from 19 SATs explicitly designed for application by HEIs. The findings reveal that
SATs largely neglect the impacts HEIs have outside their organizational boundaries. SATs primarily
use proxy indicators based on internally available data to assess impacts and thus tend to focus on
themes concerning the natural environment and the contribution to the local economy. Updating
existing SATs and developing new ones may enable HEIs to fully realize their potential to contribute
to SD.
2
Ortiz, Rodríguez Oscar Orlando. "Sustainability assessment within the residential building sector: a practical life cycle method applied in a developed and a developing country." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/8582.
Full textAbstract:
More than ever, the residential building sector is concerned with improving the social, economicand environmental indicators of sustainability. In order to overcome the increasing concern of today's
resource depletion, environmental considerations and to address sustainability indicators, a practical
life cycle method has been proposed to decision making integrating environmental and socioeconomical
aspects to analyse the impact of sustainability within the residential building sector using
two practical life cycle methods. One method is the Material and Energy Analysis (MEA) which is
suggested as an appropriate tool to provide a systematic picture of the direct and physical flows of the
use of natural resources and the other is the environmental management tool of Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) as a complement to evaluate environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of the
system.
Furthermore, the method provides sustainability information that facility an adequate decision
making towards sustainable development at macro and micro levels. Sustainability assessment at
macro level is determined by exogenous variables that can influence the development of a country.
Meanwhile sustainable at the micro level is made within the limits of the whole building life cycle,
starting from the construction, use (operation and maintenance) and finishing with the end-of-life
phase. To illustrate it, a case study has been carried out based on the application to two buildings, one
located in Barcelona, Spain and one situated in Pamplona, Colombia. Then, the main objective of this
thesis is to propose a practical life cycle method including environmental and socio-economical
aspects to evaluate indicators that explicitly measure the residential building sector's impacts. This
thesis has also provided initiatives for residential dwellings to reduce environmental impacts and assist
stakeholders in improving customer patterns during the dwelling life cycle.
The findings of this thesis state that the appropriate combination of building materials,
improvement in behaviours and patterns of cultural consumption, and the application of government
codes would enhance decision-making in the residential building sector towards sustainability. The
difference in consumption in Colombia and Spanish dwellings is not only due to the variation in results
for bio-climatic differences but also because of the consumption habits in each country. The
importance of consumption habits of citizens and the need to decouple socio-economic development
from energy consumption are sought for achieving sustainability from a life cycle perspective. There is
a crucial necessity to provide satisfaction to basic needs and comfort requirements of population with
reasonable and sustainable energy consumption.
Therefore, there is no doubt that applying environmental managements tools as Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) and Material and Energy Analysis (MEA) to the full building life cycle can be very
important for reducing environmental loads and thereby improving sustainability indicators. Then, any
improvement in building sustainability is oriented generally to building materials, energy use and waste
management in all phases of the building life cycle, having always in mind that building has to be
xxviii
accessible from an economical and social part of view. The type of standard dwelling varies
substantially depending on the geographic location where it is built. Climate, technological, cultural,
socio-economical differences clearly define the standard of a building in any context and in any region.
This leads to important differences in the LCA results and it means that any extrapolation of existing
European LCA data to the case of a developing country would imply important errors. However, the
function is always the same, to provide protection and housing for its habitants.
Hoy en día, el sector residencial busca mejorar los indicadores de sostenibilidad en los aspectos
sociales, económicos y ambientales. Con el fin de considerar la creciente preocupación del
agotamiento de los recursos naturales y buscar reducir las emisiones adversa al medio ambiente, un
método practico basado en el ciclo de vida se ha propuesto para la evaluación socio-económica y
evaluación del impacto ambiental en sector residencial utilizando dos métodos. El primero es el
Análisis de Materiales y de Energía (AME) que proporciona una visión sistemática de los flujos
directos e indirectos de la utilización de los recursos naturales y el segundo método es el Análisis del
Ciclo de Vida (ACV) como complemento para evaluar los impactos ambientales en todo el ciclo de
vida del sistema.
Adicionalmente, el método proporciona información de sostenibilidad permitiendo la adecuada
toma de decisiones hacia el desarrollo sostenible en los niveles macro y micro. Evaluación de la
Sostenibilidad en el nivel macro está determinado por variables exógenas que influyen en el
desarrollo de un país. Mientras tanto, sostenibilidad en el nivel micro hace referencia dentro de los
límites de todo el ciclo de vida de una vivienda, comenzando por la fase de construcción, uso
(operación y mantenimiento) y terminando con la fase final. Para ilustrarlo, un caso de estudio ha sido
llevado a cabo en la aplicación de dos edificios, uno situado en Barcelona, España y otro situado en
Pamplona, Colombia. Por consiguiente, el objetivo principal de esta tesis es proponer un método que
tenga en cuenta los aspectos medio-ambientales y socio-económicos que tiendan a mejorar la
sostenibilidad y que explícitamente midan los impactos del sector de residencial. Esta tesis también propone iniciativas de mejora en las viviendas residenciales que conlleven a reducir los impactos ambientales y asistir a los agentes involucrados del sector.
Las conclusiones de esta tesis soportan que la combinación adecuada de materiales de
construcción, el buen comportamiento en los patrones de consumo, y la aplicación de códigos y leyes mejoraran los aspectos sostenibles en el sector de la construcción. La diferencia en el consumo en las viviendas de Colombia y en las Españolas no sólo se debe a la variación de las diferencias bioclimáticas,sino también por los hábitos de consumo en cada país. Se puede observar la importancia de los hábitos de consumo de los ciudadanos y la necesidad de disociar el desarrollo socioeconómico del consumo de energía. Existe una necesidad fundamental de dar satisfacción a las necesidades básicas y requerimientos de confort de la población con un consumo energético razonable y sostenible.Por lo tanto, no hay duda de que la aplicación de herramientas medioambientales como el análisis del ciclo de vida (ACV) y análisis de materiales y energía (AME) es muy importante para minimizar el impacto ambiental y buscar mejorar los indicadores de sostenibilidad. Queda implícito entonces que cualquier mejora en la sostenibilidad está orientado generalmente a la selección apropiada de materiales de construcción, el uso eficiente de energía y la correcta gestión de residuos en todas las fases del ciclo de vida del edificio, teniendo siempre en cuenta que el edificio tiene que ser accesible desde una parte económica y social. El tipo de vivienda estándar varía sustancialmente dependiendo de la ubicación geográfica donde se construya. Aspectos como el clima, la tecnología, la cultura y las diferencias socio-económicas definen claramente el nivel de un edificio en cualquier contexto y en cualquier región. Esto da lugar a importantes diferencias en los resultados del ACV y significa que cualquier extrapolación de datos europeos existentes del ACV para el caso de un paísen desarrollo implicaría errores importantes. Sin embargo, la función es siempre la misma,proporcionar protección y vivienda para sus habitantes
3
Sánchez, Royo Begoña. "AN APPROACH TOWARDS HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Politècnica de València, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/12269.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis uses the case study of the Fallas festival in the city of Valencia (Spain), to
assess the value of intangible cultural heritage. Within this framework the thesis
explores a number of different issues: for example how social agents frame different
qualities and benefits of cultural heritage in order to describe the value and claims for
funding the arts. It finds that value assessment for claiming funds presents many
challenges such as: identifying the values of the heritage in question; describing them;
and ranking them according to their contribution to the public welfare. It examines the
methodological techniques for assessing heritage values and goes on to discuss a
number of tools that are, or could be, used for assessment.
The thesis also explores how public bodies legitimise cultural funding. It examines the
role of non-government arts organisations in supporting the arts. It proposes the
analysis of donor decisions through a multi-attribute technique where donors state their
importance to donor situations under specific conditions or attributes. Finally, it
describes how the stakeholder approach can be applied for searching new ways of
funding festivals. It also considers how intangible cultural heritage goods can be
assessed within the process of cost-benefit evaluation. It also analyses how public
bodies, as the principal supporters of culture, deal with the problem of valuing
intangibles on social investments.
The study uses the Fallas festival to test the research hypothesis. It uses a number of
economic and statistical techniques to evaluate the Fallas Festival, these include
Contingent Valuation, Choice Experiment and Descriptive and Multiatribute Statistics.
The statistical techniques reveal that historical benefits are intrinsically valuable in the
Fallas festival. The historical value that the members of the neighbourhood
associations place on the Fallas festival justify that local social agents should support
this festival.Sánchez Royo, B. (2011). AN APPROACH TOWARDS HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/12269
Palancia
4
Zhu, Chao. "Food Waste Treatment Options at the University of Cincinnati: Life Cycle Assessment and Economic Evaluation." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1397233639.
Full text
5
Prescott, Steven George. "Exploring the sustainability of open-water marine, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, using life-cycle assessment." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/28269.
Full textAbstract:
Among efforts to develop sustainable approaches towards the intensive rearing of finfish within open marine waters, is the development of integrated aquaculture techniques. Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA), has been promoted as a way to reduce unwanted environmental impacts associated with the intensive production of marine finfish within net-pens. The principle aim of this concept, is the bioremediation of nutrient discharges from fish aquaculture. This is to be achieved by integrating fish cultivation with the growing of species from lower trophic levels, which use the nutrient discharges as a food source. Many studies have been performed that investigate the ability of various species of macroalgae to remove dissolved nutrient discharges, and the ability bivalves to remove solid-bound nutrients, presented as either fish faeces, or an enhanced production of phytoplankton that may be promoted by nutrients emitted by fish-farms. IMTA has also been suggested as a means to improve overall productivity per unit of feed applied to fish, through the conversion of nutrient emissions into additional biomass, such as the tissues of macroalgae or bivalves. Within the research community which focuses upon the environmental impacts of aquaculture, there is a growing awareness that sustainable solutions to aquaculture production cannot be realised through a focus restricted to the growing-phase, and to a limited set of environmental impacts which may this activity may produce. This is because changes to a specific production phase often promote changes at phases located elsewhere along a products value chain. Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA), is a method employed for modelling the environmental impacts that may potentially be generated across the value chain of a product. It is particularly useful for identifying instances of environmental impact shifting; a term used to describe situations where efforts to reduce the contribution of a specific production phase towards one or more environmental impacts, has the effect of either displacing this contribution to another phase, or increases the contribution of production towards different environmental impacts. Despite its apparent suitability, LCA has not previously been fully applied to the environmental impact modelling of open-water IMTA systems. The work presented in the following thesis advances this research front, by using LCA to explore the potential for environmental problem shifting occurring as a consequence of replacing intensive monoculture production, with IMTA. Comprehensive datasets have been acquired from the Chilean aquaculture industry, describing the production of aquafeed and Salmo salar, as well as for the production of the Phaeophytic macroalga, Macrocystis pyrifera, and the molluscan bivalve, Mytilus chilensis. Using LCA methodology, the production of salmon feed, and the production of S.salar, M.pyrifera and M.chilensis, have been assessed for their capacity to contribute towards a variety of global-scale, environmental impacts. IMTA consisting of either S.salar and M.pyrifera, S.salar and M.chilensis, or all three of these species, and combined at ratios required for a bioremediation efficiency of 100 %, 50%, or 20 % of either nitrogen or phosphorous emission from fish, is compared to the monoculture production of S.salar. The comparison is based upon a standardised functional unit, with each species produced through IMTA, being modelled as part of the reference flow required to fulfil the functional unit. Monoculture is compared to IMTA upon the basis of nutritional function, by using a functional unit of mass-adjusted protein content, and mass-adjusted economic value. The use of economic value is based upon the ‘best-case’ assumption, that it serves as a proxy for the total nutritional function that each product offers to human society. The LCAs presented in this study have produced a number of results. Salmon ingredients derived from agricultural crops and animals account for the majority (between 71 % to 98 %) of contributions towards the impacts of compound salmon feed. In general, agricultural crops ingredients contribute more to these impacts than do agricultural animal ingredients, and account for between 31 % and 87 % of the contributions from all ingredients and inputs. In contrast, the combined supply of fish meal and fish oil from capture fisheries is responsible for between 0.13 % and 11 % of all impacts. Vegetable oil accounts for the vast majority of contributions from ingredients derived from agricultural crops. Vegetable oil is modelled as a 50 : 50 blend of sunflower oil and rapeseed, oil, but sunflower oil accounts not only for most of the contributions from vegetable oil, it is responsible for over 50 % of the contributions that all agricultural crop based ingredients contributes towards some impact categories. Replacing sunflower oil with rapeseed oil reduces the contributions of salmon feed by between 6 % and 24 % across 10 out of the 11 impact categories. When compared upon the basis of equal weight, the contributions of fish oil are between 18 % and 99 % lower than those from rapeseed oil. The production of feed is responsible for the majority of contributions (between 32 % and 86 % ) to all impacts of salmon grow-out production. The production of salmon-smolts accounts for between 3 % and 18 %. The majority (64 %) of contributions towards the eutrophication potential of salmon production are from nutrient emissions, which are the result of fish metabolism, whilst nutrients released through the production of feed, the majority of these being from the agricultural production of crop and animals, account for 32 %. Feed production is also a major contributor to the impacts of land-based smolt production, but these contributions (between 12 % and 37 % across all impact categories) are of a lower magnitude than those from the supply of feed to the grow-out phase. Inputs of salt, and inputs of both electricity produced in a diesel power generator and obtained from the national electricity network, are also notable contributors (between 5 % and 67 %, 4 % and 29 %, and 2 % 47 %, respectively) towards the impacts of smolt-production. The main contributors towards the potential impacts of kelp grow-out production (excluding eutrophication potential) are the supply of infrastructure (between 14 % and 89 %), operation of a diesel-powered motorboat for maintenance purposes (between 1 % and 89 %), and the supply ‘of seeded cartridges’ (between 9 and 49 %). The major contributors from the production of ‘seeded cartriges’ in a land-based facility are the supply of electricity from the national electricity network, the supply of fresh water, and the treatment of waste water. The impact potentials of producing seed in this facility might be reduced if the scale of operation is increased. Removal of nitrogen and phosphorous upon the harvesting of kelp is calculated based upon kelp tissue contents of these nutrients. The harvesting of 200 tonnes ha / yr-1, results in a eutrophic potential with a negative value (-376.51 kg of phosphate equivalents). The removal of such a quantity of nutrients might be beneficial if the local marine environment is at risk of hypernutrification, but when no such problem is present, the potential for undesirable consequences of nutrient sequestration should be considered. The major contributor towards the impacts of mussels is the provision of infrastructure (between 25 % and 99.5 %, excluding eutrophication potential). Infrastructure is also responsible for the majority of contributions from mussel seed production. The provision of cotton mesh bags, which are used to aid attatchment of seed to drop-ropes in the grow-out phase, account for between 37% and 99 % of the contributions from the infrastructure from the grow-out phase. This result suggest that either the impacts of mussel production can be reduced by using an alternative material with lower environmental impact potentials, or the inventory data describing the producing of cottonmesh bags requires some improvement. The outcomes of the LCAs of the different IMTA scenarios, are interesting. The results show that choice of species, and the ratios of their combination as required for the different efficiencies of bioremediation, can have a significant effect upon the comparison between IMTA and monoculture.The study demonstrates a potential for environmental problem shifting as being a consequence of IMTA, especially when the functional unit is mass-adjusted economic value. As bioremediation efficiency increases, contributions towards eutrophication decrease. However, this reduction is achieved at the cost of increasing the contributions of IMTA towards those impact categories, such as ‘ozone layer depletion,’ for which it has a greater contribution than does monoculture. In general, it cannot be concluded from these results that open-water IMTA represents a more sustainable alternative to the monoculture production of Atlantic salmon. The sustainability of IMTA is shown to be dependent upon a variety of trade-offs, between individual environmental impacts, and between these impacts and the nutritional function that the system is capable of providing.
6
Azimoh, Chukwuma Leonard. "Sustainability and development impacts of off-grid electrification in developing countries : An assessment of South Africa's rural electrification program." Doctoral thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Framtidens energi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-30762.
Full textAbstract:
Previous studies have shown that provision of sustainable electricity supply to rural households is essential to bring development to off-grid populations. For this reason, most developing countries put large efforts into rural electrification programs to stimulate development and reduce poverty. However, to be sustainable these programs need to recover costs, which poses a challenge to remote low income populations. This often forces governments and other institutions involved in rural electrification to subsidize the electricity production. It also affects the choice of technology and places a barrier on the level of energy provided in line with the ability to pay for services. As a result of this, most programs have failed to achieve the desired objectives, as the technologies used often do not support income generating activities that could increase the payment capabilities of the beneficiaries and contribute to development. This thesis is focused on the rural electrification program of South Africa, the country in sub-Saharan Africa that has the highest access to electricity. It investigates the success elements that influence the sustainability of rural electrification programs and their contributions to socio-economic development. This was achieved by evaluating the South African program that provides solar home systems to off-grid communities, and a hybrid solar-wind mini-grid project in South Africa. The study also draw lessons from other rural electrification programs in neighbouring countries, i.e. an evaluation of a hybrid solar-diesel mini-grid system in Namibia, and a review of two systems, a hybrid solar-biomass mini-grid project in Botswana and a hydro mini-grid program in Lesotho. The study revealed that hydro based hybrid mini-grid systems provide the most cost effective way of bringing energy services to rural settlements. Regardless of technology, successful programs depend on adequate support from the government, implementation of a progressive tariff system that allows the high consuming high income earners and businesses, to cross subsidize the low consuming , low income users. It shows that it is more likely for rural electrification programs to survive if the design considers the existing businesses, population growth and the corresponding load increase. The thesis further shows that provision of sufficient energy to induce income generating activities is essential to decrease the need for subsidies and to ensure the sustainability of programs. In addition, availability of spare parts and a capable management team is essential for the successful operations and maintenance of these systems.
7
Lara, Cervantes René Fernando. "Assessment of Policy Changes of the Impacts of Urbanization, Economic Growth and Decentralization of Water Services with Regard to Water Quality in Mexico." Doctoral thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2011. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-264067.
Full textAbstract:
The thesis studies the case of water quality in Mexico as a crucial factor to prevent water scarcity. This is an important issue for Mexico since more than half of its territory is arid or semi-arid; moreover, the most productive regions are located in areas with significant water resources stress. In this regard, the current situation of water scarcity is studied from the changes in water management derived from the evolution of institutions in the country. The institutional changes were analyzed mostly in the transition from a centralized water supply and sanitation services with strong state intervention to the decentralization of such services that were transferred to municipalities. Decentralization was addressed by analyzing the performance of water supply and sanitation services in urban areas that are expected to continue growing in the near future. The literature shows that the decentralization process has been partial and has not improved as expected the performance of water supply and sanitation services, moreover, due to political reasons, limited human and financial resources it introduced more challenges to the accomplishment of sustainable water management. More importantly, the federal government is still the main agent for the development of the water sector in Mexico. The next part of the analysis consist of a quantitative and qualitative evaluation regarding water quality for the three most productive Hydrological-Administrative Regions (HARs) of Mexico in the period of 2003-2013. The HARs chosen are the HAR VI Río Bravo, HAR VIII Lerma Santiago Pacific and HAR XIII Waters of the Valley of Mexico which are very similar in terms GDP share and water stress degree. Through OLS regression models for each HAR the impacts of demographic, economic, water supply and sanitation services aspects were tested to known their effects on water quality. In order to improve the discussion of the results, additional to the comparison with the results of the literature review, three experts were asked to answer a questionnaire about the regressions outcome. The discussion showed different impacts of the independent variables in the dependent variable of each HAR, sometimes leading to unexpected results. The main conclusions of the thesis relate to the improvement of decentralization of water and sanitation services, to the need to improve data for future analyses and pay more attention to water quality issues. In this regard, decentralization requires to consider contextual differences in order to seize its advantages to improve the performances of water supply and sanitation services, moreover, at the operative level water management decisions must be taken without political interests involved. The statistical analyses stressed the need to develop more reliable data about water management issues to improve the understanding of factors that could potentially affect water quality. In this regard, the creation of useful statistical indicators to assess the evolution towards sustainability in water management. The considerations for future research must consider more seriously water quality issues. This topic has been often ignored, however, it is crucial for water scarcity abatement.
8
Heckert, Megan. "The Economic, Environmental, and Social Justice Impacts of Greening Vacant Lots: An Integrated Spatial Assessment of Urban Revitalization and Sustainability Outcomes." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2012. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/176217.
Full textAbstract:
Urban StudiesPh.D.
Many cities in the US and around the world are facing a dual challenge of promoting both urban revitalization and urban sustainability. Increasingly, cities are exploring greening initiatives - through which vegetation is planted and maintained - targeting vacant land as a potential means of addressing both of these challenges. This research is a sustainability-based assessment of the impacts of a Philadelphia, PA-based program that uses greening as an interim management strategy for vacant land. I use quantitative spatial analysis techniques to measure economic, environmental, and social justice impacts of the Philadelphia Land Care (PLC) program, which `treats' vacant land by removing debris, bringing in topsoil, planting grass and trees, putting up a split-rail fence and providing regular maintenance during the growing season. The analysis is shaped by the concept of sustainability which posits that to be sustainable, development must incorporate and balance economic development, environmental preservation and social justice. This research seeks to answer a series of questions about the economic, environmental, and social justice impacts of the PLC program, ultimately assessing not only the extent to which it exhibits impacts along these three dimensions of sustainability but also whether or not the impacts vary for different locations, and also questions the extent to which there may be tradeoffs between the different potential impacts of the program. This dissertation addresses several gaps in the urban greenspace literature including an assessment of the effect of location on the impacts of greenspaces and an assessment of the extent to which temporary greenspaces have the same impacts of more permanent greenspaces. It also addresses questions in urban revitalization and sustainability about the potential role of greening programs in meeting these challenges. Ultimately, the PLC program is shown to increase surrounding property values, improve environmental conditions, and increase equity in access to greenspace in Philadelphia. These benefits are not uniform, however, and differ for neighborhoods across the city. The research indicates the potential for greening programs such as PLC to help cities address pressing economic, environmental, and social concerns, but highlights the need to understand the tensions and tradeoffs between different forms of program impacts.
Temple University--Theses
9
ZUCCHINELLI, MARIA. "ASSESSMENT OF WATER FOOTPRINT METHODOLOGIES TO EVALUATE THE IMPACTS OF FOOD PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION ON WATER RESOURCES." Doctoral thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10280/95713.
Full textAbstract:
La produzione globale di cibo provoca impatti sia sull’ ambiente che sulla salute umana. Tra le molteplici sfide che la comunità globale deve affrontare, le risorse di acqua dolce della Terra sono state identificate come pericolosamente soggette a una crescente pressione sia in termini quantitativi che qualitativi. Una profonda comprensione del nesso acqua-cibo è pertanto cruciale per lo sviluppo sostenibile.
Nella presente tesi è stato applicato il concetto di Water Footprint (WF) calcolata attraverso differenti metodologie – ovvero attraverso approcci di tipo volumetrico e per la quantificazione dei potenziali impatti – al fine di stimare gli impatti sul consumo di acqua conseguenti produzione e consumo di cibo. Per valutare diverse tecniche di produzione, sono state confrontate le prestazioni ambientali di due vigneti coltivati con metodi di agricoltura convenzionale e biologica. Inoltre, sono stati studiati gli impatti sulle risorse idriche in relazione a diversi scenari di consumo alimentare in Italia e Danimarca, per indagare come le scelte alimentari dei consumatori rappresentino una strategia di riduzione degli impatti sull’ acqua. Nel calcolo degli impatti ambientali, i risultati hanno evidenziato il ruolo chiave dell'origine dei prodotti alimentari consumati, insieme alla tipologia dei prodotti e la riduzione di sprechi alimentari.Global food production has increasingly affected both the environment and human health in substantial and remarkable ways. Among the many concerns global community has to face, Earth’s freshwater resources have been identified as dangerously subject to increasing pressure in the form of consumptive water use and pollution. A deep understanding of the water-food nexus is crucial to support the exploration of more suitable avenues for a sustainable development. In this work, the concept of water footprint (WF) presented by different methodologies – volumetric and impacts oriented approach – has been applied to link impacts on water consumption to the food production and consumption. With regard to the study of the production side, comparison of environmental performances of two vineyard where conventional and organic viticulture were applied, has been performed. Additionally, impacts on water resources related to different Italian and Danish dietary patterns have been investigated to understand the positive impacts that demand-side solutions can have. The studies highlighted that the origin of consumed foodstuffs played a key role in the calculation of local environmental impacts. Finally, the analysis showed that consumer’s choices could tackle environmental impact on water use by changing their consumption patterns, selecting less water-demanding products and reducing food waste.
10
Celedón, Cruz Liliana Isabel. "A sustainability assessment in the production of heavy-duty trucks : A case study at Scania: investigating the reduction of environmental impacts through design customization and LCA." Thesis, KTH, Hållbar utveckling, miljövetenskap och teknik, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-287370.
Full textAbstract:
The transport sector is currently facing challenges to reduce environmental impacts during the vehicle’s operation due to its reliance on fossil fuels. The introduction of new technologies such as alternative fuels or battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are therefore rapidly growing because they can significantly reduce the vehicle’s tailpipe emissions. There is however the concern that these could transfer environmental burdens to other life cycle phases such as production. Therefore, a development towards sustainable transport will require more than just the development of alternative fuels or EVs, but also a more sustainable production. Considering that 80% of the product related environmental impacts are determined during the design phase of a product, the significance of product design is studied. Scania offers the opportunity to customize trucks with a high level of detail through customized design, also called S-order design. Design engineers want to know if their customized solutions have the potential to reduce environmental impacts within the production of a truck. Therefore, the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework is used to know the environmental impacts of a truck designed with S- and A-order design and to compare them in order to determine if there is an environmental performance difference between these two designs. The results show that the production of a truck with a S-order design has on average 3% lower environmental impacts on all impact categories than when it’s produced with an A-order design. This is due to the S-order design’s great level of flexibility to consider small details of the truck’s functionality. Nevertheless, this design flexibility can lead to multiple configurations for one truck, thus meaning that the results will vary from product to product since the customer decides the specifications of the truck. The main conclusion is that the early implementation of adaptations through S-order design in heavy truck development at Scania can potentially reduce resource consumption and environmental impacts, and aid to sustainable production.Transportsektorn står för närvarande inför utmaningar för att minska miljöpåverkan under fordonets drift på grund av dess beroende av fossila bränslen. Introduktionen av ny teknik som alternativa bränslen eller elektriska fordon (BEV) växer därför snabbt eftersom de avsevärt kan minska fordonets utsläpp från avgasröret. Det finns emellertid oro för att dessa skulle kunna överföra miljöbelastningar till andra livscykelfaser som exempelvis produktionen. Därför kommer en utveckling mot hållbara transporter att kräva mer än bara utveckling av alternativa bränslen eller eldrift, men också en mer hållbar produktion. Med tanke på att 80% av de produktrelaterade miljöeffekterna bestäms under en produkts designfas studeras därför produktens design. Scania erbjuder möjligheten att skräddarsy lastbilar med hög detaljnivå genom skräddarsydd design, även kallat S-orderdesign. Designingenjörer vill veta om deras skräddarsydda lösningar har potential att minska miljöpåverkan inom tillverkningen av en lastbil. En livscykelanalys (LCA) används därför för att känna till miljöpåverkan från en lastbil konstruerad med S- och A-orderdesign och för att jämföra dem för att avgöra om det finns en skillnad i miljöprestanda mellan dessa två konstruktioner. Resultaten visar att tillverkningen av en lastbil med S-orderdesign har i genomsnitt 3% lägre miljöpåverkan på alla kategorier av miljöpåverkan än en med A-orderdesign. Detta beror på S- orderdesignens stora flexibilitet för att ta hänsyn till små detaljer gällande lastbilens funktionalitet. Dock kan denna konstruktionsflexibilitet leda till flera konfigurationer för en lastbil, vilket innebär att resultaten kommer att variera från produkt till produkt eftersom kunden bestämmer lastbilens specifikationer. Huvudslutsatsen är att det tidiga genomförandet av anpassningar genom S- orderdesign vid utvecklingen av tunga lastbilar hos Scania potentiellt kan minska resursförbrukningen och miljöpåverkan och stöd till hållbar produktion.
Books on the topic "Sustainability Impacts Assessment"
1
Organisation for economic co-operation and development. Guidance on sustainability impact assessment. Paris: OECD, 2010.
Find full text
2
Gibson, Robert B. Sustainability assessment: Criteria and processes. London: Earthscan, 2005.
Find full text
3
1966-, Morrison-Saunders Angus, and Howitt Richard, eds. Sustainability assessment: Pluralism, practice and progress. New York: Routledge, 2011.
Find full text
4
1961-, Helming Katharina, Pérez-Soba Marta, and Tabbush P. M, eds. Sustainability impact assessment of land use changes. Berlin: Springer, 2008.
Find full text
5
Helming, Katharina, Marta Pérez-Soba, and Paul Tabbush, eds. Sustainability Impact Assessment of Land Use Changes. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78648-1.
Full text
6
Selma, Hassan, ed. Sustainability assessment: Making the world better, one undertaking at a time. London: Earthscan, 2005.
Find full text
7
Babu, Suresh Chandra. Impact assessment of research and technology development on agricultural production and sustainability. Lilongwe, Malawi: Bunda College of Agriculture, Rural Developmnt Dept., University of Malawi, in collaboration with Joint UNICEF/IFPRI Food Security Programme, 1994.
Find full text
8
Paul, Ekins, and Voituriez Tancrède 1968-, eds. Trade, globalization and sustainability impact assessment: A critical look at methods and outcomes. Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2009.
Find full text
9
International Association for Impact Assessment. Meeting. IAIA' 92: "industrial and Third World environmental assessment: the urgent transition to sustainability" : an international congress [held at] the World Bank, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. : abstracts and invited papers. Washington, D.C: World Bank Group, 1992.
Find full text
10
Butkeviciene, Egle. Citizen Science and Social Innovation: Mutual Relations, Barriers, Needs, and Development Factors. Lausanne: Frontiers Media, 2022.
Find full textBook chapters on the topic "Sustainability Impacts Assessment"
1
Handke, Volker, and Helga Jonuschat. "Assessment of Sustainability Impacts." In Flexible Ridesharing, 109–12. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11345-1_8.
Full text
2
Diaz-Chavez, Rocio. "Indicators for Socio-Economic Sustainability Assessment." In Socio-Economic Impacts of Bioenergy Production, 17–37. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03829-2_2.
Full text
3
Hansen, Anne Merrild. "Assessing social impacts and promoting sustainability." In Routledge Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment, 59–76. London: Routledge, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429282492-5.
Full text
4
Chandniha, Surendra Kumar, and M. L. Kansal. "Water Sustainability Assessment Under Climatic Uncertainty—A Case Study of Chhattisgarh (India)." In Climate Change Impacts, 231–61. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5714-4_19.
Full text
5
Demirel, H., M. Çetin, and N. Musaoglu. "Impacts Assessment of Newly Constructed Highways via Spatial Information Sciences." In Survival and Sustainability, 1409–20. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-95991-5_132.
Full text
6
Poulovassilis, A., P. Kerkides, S. Aggelides, T. Mimides, M. Psyhoyou, S. Alexandris, G. Kargas, and A. Sgoumbopoulou. "Assessment of Impacts of Irrigated Agriculture : A Case Study." In Sustainability of Irrigated Agriculture, 601–13. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 1996. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8700-6_38.
Full text
7
Held, Michael, and Michael Baumann. "Assessment of the Environmental Impacts of Electric Vehicle Concepts." In Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Management, 535–46. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1899-9_52.
Full text
8
Hacatoglu, Kevork, Marc A. Rosen, and Ibrahim Dincer. "An Approach to Assessment of Sustainability of Energy Systems." In Causes, Impacts and Solutions to Global Warming, 363–87. New York, NY: Springer New York, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7588-0_23.
Full text
9
Seidl, Roman, Silke Kuhn, Michael Elbers, Andreas Ernst, and Daniel Klemm. "Modelling Risk Perception and Indicators of Psychosocial Sustainability in Private Households: The Risk Perception Module in DeepHousehold." In Regional Assessment of Global Change Impacts, 347–53. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16751-0_44.
Full text
10
Ginters, Egils, and Emils Dimitrovs. "Latent Impacts on Digital Technologies Sustainability Assessment and Development." In Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 3–13. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72657-7_1.
Full textConference papers on the topic "Sustainability Impacts Assessment"
1
Clarke-Sather, Abigail R., Saleh Mamun, Daniel Nolan, Patrick Schoff, Matthew Aro, and Bridget Ulrich. "Towards Prospective Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment." In ASME 2020 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/detc2020-22526.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a well-established tool for measuring environmental effects of existing technology. While the most recent LCA research has focused on environmental impacts, in particular on the effects of climate change, there is growing interest in how LCA can be used prospectively. A 2019 workshop in Duluth, Minnesota sought to define the needs and priorities of prospective life cycle assessment from a perspective that considers diverse viewpoints. In that workshop, participants outlined frameworks for how sustainability impacts might figure into a prospective LCA tool focused on assessing technologies currently under development. Those frameworks included social and economic impacts, which were characterized alongside environmental impacts, with the goal of predicting potential impacts and developing recommendations for improving technologies. Cultural perspective, in particular the roots of the German circular economy, was explored and held up as a reminder that different communities are influenced by different sustainability concerns, leading to diverse policy and cultural prerogatives. The purpose of this paper is to catalyze conversation about how to frame methodologies of existing LCA tools that could be used in a prospective sustainability context.
2
Ginters, Egils, and Jagadeesh Chakkaravarthy Revathy. "Attributes of Digital Technologies and Related Impacts on Sustainability Assessment." In 2021 International Conference on Electrical, Communication, and Computer Engineering (ICECCE). IEEE, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/icecce52056.2021.9514094.
Full text
3
Vogel, Maria, and Edeltraud Guenther. "Sustainability assessment of maintenance based on concrete – a systematic review." In IABSE Symposium, Guimarães 2019: Towards a Resilient Built Environment Risk and Asset Management. Zurich, Switzerland: International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.2749/guimaraes.2019.1600.
Full textAbstract:
<p>This article explores and synthesizes relevant methods, issues, and findings of sustainability assessments applied to the maintenance and repair methods using concrete and cement-based materials. Our research questions are, firstly, which pillars of sustainability are addressed and which indicators are currently applied, and secondly, what possibilities exist to create an overall result for the assessment. We use a systematic literature review to summarize the knowledge and stimulate discussion on further methodological development in this field. Our review shows that sustainability assessment is applied with different levels of detail, quality, and methodological choices. Among environmental impacts, global warming is most frequently mentioned. Economic impacts are dominated by external costs that are often linked to social impacts. In general, the most critical issue is the long-term orientation of the planning of structures and measures.</p>
4
Viliani, Francesca, and Patrick Harris. "Assessment of Health Impacts on Local Communities is Fundamental for Sustainability." In SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability. Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/199487-ms.
Full text
5
Lammert, Dominic. "The Connection between the Sustainability Impacts of Software Products and the Role of Software Engineers." In EASE 2021: Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering. New York, NY, USA: ACM, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3463274.3463346.
Full text
6
Nagarajan, Hari P. N., and Karl R. Haapala. "Application of Sustainability Assessment to a Novel Plastic Recycling Process." In ASME 2015 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/detc2015-47937.
Full textAbstract:
Plastic waste can be handled with several traditional waste management strategies, including landfilling, incineration, and recycling. Several novel strategies for recycling plastic waste have been proposed and researched for practical use, however the sustainability of the novel processes have not been analyzed in detail. This paper outlines a strategy for recycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste through pyrolysis. A sustainability assessment of the process is conducted to analyze the environmental, economic, and social performance of recycling PET waste into crude oil. Environmental performance is evaluated using life cycle assessment, and the ReCiPe, cumulative energy demand (CED), and cumulative exergy demand (CExD) impact assessment methods. Net present value analysis is used to assess the economic impacts of the process. To complete a holistic sustainability assessment, social benefits and impacts are presented through a qualitative review of the process. In addition, an environmental impact analysis of the production of virgin PET using the recovered crude oil is presented and compared with traditional virgin PET production in terms of sustainability performance metrics. CED and CExD impact results emphasize the conceivable evidence of plastic waste as an energy source. The research highlights the use of standardized impact assessment methods to realize the environmental, economic, and social benefits of recycling PET into crude oil. Furthermore, a review of various process improvements broadens the potential for optimization of the novel process to further elucidate the benefits of plastic recycling.
7
Arushanyan, Yevgeniya, Elisabeth Ekener-Petersen, Asa Moberg, and Vlad C. Coroama. "A framework for sustainability assessment of ICT futures. Scenarios and sustainability impacts of future ICT- societies." In EnviroInfo and ICT for Sustainability 2015. Paris, France: Atlantis Press, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.2991/ict4s-env-15.2015.1.
Full text
8
Eastlick, Dane D., and Karl R. Haapala. "Increasing the Utility of Sustainability Assessment in Product Design." In ASME 2012 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/detc2012-71144.
Full textAbstract:
Design engineers are seeking effective ways to make informed decisions regarding product sustainability. Several attempts have been made to identify sustainability metrics, assess sustainability impacts, or support decisions based on sustainability, but none fully support product designers in a way that provides for robust sustainable manufacturing decisions. Sustainability assessments can provide quantitative performance data for design variants, but in many cases, the most sustainable alternative remains uncertain. Adequate support for sustainable manufacturing activities should address each step in the decision making process with enough detail to accurately capture manufacturing impacts. The methods selected throughout the process should consider the specific needs of sustainability related issues and provide transparent, easily understood, efficient solutions. A process is outlined to assist product designers, and a demonstration of the process is given for the production of a titanium component to discuss its utility.
9
Singh, Kuldip, and Jatinder Madan. "Sustainability Performance Assessment of Alternate Machining Technologies." In ASME 2015 International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/msec2015-9402.
Full textAbstract:
A method to assess and compare sustainability performance of alternative machining technologies is presented in this paper. The alternative machining technologies use different techniques for cooling of the tool and work-piece interface. The paper considers three technologies, conventional flood machining (CFM) that uses cooling lubricant fluids (CLFs), cryogenic machining (CryoM) and near dry machining (NDM). An overall sustainability score (OSS) has been proposed that represents sustainability, taking into account three important factors, namely (i) machining cost (ii) quality and (iii) environmental impacts. OSS is used to compare alternative machining technologies with an objective to find the most sustainable machining process. A turning operation case study is conducted to showcase the effectiveness of the proposed method.
10
Walters, Justin, Amin Mirkouei, and Georgios Michail Makrakis. "A Quantitative Approach and an Open-Source Tool for Social Impacts Assessment." In ASME 2022 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/detc2022-89196.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract Social impact analysis urgently needs attention in various sectors due to its critical roles in enhancing sustainability benefits. Properly assessing social impacts requires a consistent set of guidelines and requirements to reduce the practitioners’ bias. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a widely recognized method that can be utilized to quantitatively assess three dimensions of sustainable development in an integrated manner. This study proposes an open-source tool for social impact analysis, that particularly evaluates work environment health impacts, following the LCA-defined principles, framework, requirements, and guidelines for sustainability assessment. The proposed tool in this study can quantify the social impacts and determine the categories that are being affected either negatively or positively. In addition, this study provides an overview of the existing social impact assessment approaches, identifies the critical challenges of the current techniques, and highlights opportunities for continued research to achieve more effective solutions. As of yet, a reliable and open-source tool has not been achieved to help decision-makers in both academia and industry. Thus, we developed a web-based tool for assessing social impacts in eight domains by allowing the use of multiple metrics and comparing two processes.
Reports on the topic "Sustainability Impacts Assessment"
1
Mehta, Goverdhan, Alain Krief, Henning Hopf, and Stephen A. Matlin. Chemistry in a post-Covid-19 world. AsiaChem Magazine, November 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.51167/acm00013.
Full textAbstract:
The long-term impacts of global upheaval unleashed by Covid-19 on economic, political, social configurations, trade, everyday life in general, and broader planetary sustainability issues are still unfolding and a full assessment will take some time. However, in the short term, the disruptive effects of the pandemic on health, education, and behaviors and on science and education have already manifested themselves profoundly – and the chemistry arena is also deeply affected. There will be ramifications for many facets of chemistry’s ambit, including how it repositions itself and how it is taught, researched, practiced, and resourced within the rapidly shifting post-Covid-19 contexts. The implications for chemistry are discussed hereunder three broad headings, relating to trends (a) within the field of knowledge transfer; (b) in knowledge application and translational research; and (c) affecting academic/professional life.
2
Reynolds, Christian, Susan Moore, Philipa Denton, Ross Jones, Cicely Abdy Collins, Charlotte Droulers, Libby Oakden, et al. A rapid evidence assessment of UK citizen and industry understandings of sustainability. Food Standards Agency, June 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.46756/sci.fsa.ihr753.
Full textAbstract:
The main research question addressed is: What does sustainability mean to UK citizens when it comes to food and diet? The report addresses the following secondary questions: How does the UK academic literature define sustainability, ‘sustainable food’ and ‘sustainable diet’? How do citizens’ perceptions compare to the academic definition? What does sustainability mean to industry when it comes to food and diet? A number of sub-questions and themes were explored to answer the main research question, such as understanding and importance of sustainability and its impact on food choices, trade-offs, drivers and barriers to sustainable food choices and differences across demographic groups
3
Prasad, Sridevi, Jane Hammaker, Katherine Quant, and Douglas Glandon. Use of performance-based contracts for road maintenance projects: a rapid evidence assessment. International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.23846/w0054.
Full textAbstract:
The authors of this paper, Use of performance-based contracts for road maintenance projects: a rapid evidence assessment, synthesize evidence from evaluations on the impact of performance-based contracts for road maintenance projects on cost savings, road quality, collaboration and direct user benefits. They also provide insights into the implementation, sustainability, and evaluation of these interventions, as well as a risk of bias assessment for each study. This work can help policymakers and practitioners determine the expected outcomes of their interventions and identify key barriers and facilitators of impact.
4
Van Hemelrijck, Adinda. Urban WASH Governance in Pakistan: Impact Evaluation of the Improving Urban WASH Governance and Accountability (IUWGA) project. Oxfam GB, November 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.21201/2019.5259.
Full textAbstract:
This evaluation is presented as part of the Effectiveness Review Series 2017/18. The Improving Urban WASH Governance and Accountability (IUWGA) project in Pakistan was selected for review under the ‘Sustainable Water’ thematic area. The overall objective of the project was to develop and pilot-test a local urban governance model that builds on a concept of collaborative rights and accountability relations as the basis for developing a new social contract between local authorities and citizens in new urban settlements. The model was piloted over a period of two years (April 2015 - March 2017) in two Union Councils in the Sindh and Punjab Province. This assessment focused on the effectiveness and likely sustainability of the participatory governance model relative to ‘equitable and sustainable access to water’. Participatory Impact Assessment and Learning Approach (PIALA) was used to rigorously assess the impact of system change and engage stakeholders in its processes. Find out more by reading the full report now.
5
Vonk, Jaynie. Sustainable Water and Sanitation in Zambia: Impact evaluation of the 'Urban WASH' project. Oxfam GB, February 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.21201/2021.7284.
Full textAbstract:
The ‘Urban WASH' project was implemented in George and Chawama compounds in Lusaka between July 2013 and June 2017 by Oxfam and Village Water Zambia. The project aimed to improve provision and sustainable management of WASH services by engaging citizens to hold duty bearers and service providers to account. Oxfam collaborated with local institutions on an array of activities, engaging stakeholders to create a conducive environment for service provision and improving capacities and practices. This Effectiveness Review evaluates the success of this project to increase the sustainability of water and sanitation systems and services. Using a quasi-experimental evaluation design, we assessed impact among households in the intervention communities and in a comparison community. We combined the household-level quantitative assessment with analysis of community-level qualitative Key Informant Interviews, carried out with relevant institutional representatives. Find out more by reading the full report now.
6
Paternina Blanco, Joshua, Elisabeth Windisch, Stephen Perkins, Asuka Ito, and Jonathan Leape. Open configuration options Decarbonising Transport in Latin American Cities: A Review of Policies and Key Challenges. Inter-American Development Bank, February 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0003987.
Full textAbstract:
This report is the first output of the Decarbonising Transport in Latin American Cities project (DTLA), developed jointly by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Transport Forum (ITF-OECD). As a result of this initiative, this first report describes a review of policies and key mobility challenges to deliver on a sustainable transport system. A second report provides a quantitative assessment tool that allows assessing the impact of transport CO2 reduction actions and respective scenarios to 2050. Both reports facilitate policy dialogue across all relevant stakeholders and supports peer learning and best practice exchange between the case study cities and beyond. Moreover, the reports bring out the need for rethinking decarbonization policies to consider their potential for achieving other benefits related with improving the quality of the transport services, closing gender equality gaps, and improving financial sustainability of current business models.
7
Rijnsdorp, A. D., P. Boute, J. Tiano, M. Lankheet, K. Soetaert, U. Beier, E. de Borger, et al. The implications of a transition from tickler chain beam trawl to electric pulse trawl on the sustainability and ecosystem effects of the fishery for North Sea sole: an impact assessment. IJmuiden,: Wageningen Marine Research, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.18174/519729.
Full text
8
Short, Samuel, Bernhard Strauss, and Pantea Lotfian. Emerging technologies that will impact on the UK Food System. Food Standards Agency, June 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.46756/sci.fsa.srf852.
Full textAbstract:
Rapid technological innovation is reshaping the UK food system in many ways. FSA needs to stay abreast of these changes and develop regulatory responses to ensure novel technologies do not compromise food safety and public health. This report presents a rapid evidence assessment of the emerging technologies considered most likely to have a material impact on the UK food system and food safety over the coming decade. Six technology fields were identified and their implications for industry, consumers, food safety and the regulatory framework explored. These fields are: Food Production and Processing (indoor farming, 3D food printing, food side and byproduct use, novel non-thermal processing, and novel pesticides); Novel Sources of Protein, such as insects (for human consumption, and animal feedstock); Synthetic Biology (including lab-grown meat and proteins); Genomics Applications along the value chain (for food safety applications, and personal “nutrigenomics”); Novel Packaging (active, smart, biodegradable, edible, and reusable solutions); and, Digital Technologies in the food sector (supporting analysis, decision making and traceability). The report identifies priority areas for regulatory engagement, and three major areas of emerging technology that are likely to have broad impact across the entire food industry. These areas are synthetic biology, novel food packaging technologies, and digital technologies. FSA will need to take a proactive approach to regulation, based on frequent monitoring and rapid feedback, to manage the challenges these technologies present, and balance increasing technological push and commercial pressures with broader human health and sustainability requirements. It is recommended FSA consider expanding in-house expertise and long-term ties with experts in relevant fields to support policymaking. Recognising the convergence of increasingly sophisticated science and technology applications, alongside wider systemic risks to the environment, human health and society, it is recommended that FSA adopt a complex systems perspective to future food safety regulation, including its wider impact on public health. Finally, the increasing pace of technological
9
Calahorra-Jimenez, Maria. Contracting Strategies: A Different Approach to Address Long-term Performance. Mineta Transportation Institute, July 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.31979/mti.2021.2130.
Full textAbstract:
For cost-efficiency, public safety, and sustainability, improving long-term performance in highway projects is imperative for public administrations. Project delivery and procurement methods provide an opportunity to align design and construction processes with this goal. While previous studies have explored whether project delivery methods impact the long-term performance of highway projects, these studies did not focus on how core elements within project procurement relate to long-term performance. Thus, to fill this gap, this research explores how and to what extent long-term evaluation criteria are considered in design-build best-value procurement of highway projects. To this end, the team conducted content analysis on 100 projects procured between 2009 and 2019 by 19 DOTs across the U.S. The analysis of 365 evaluation criteria found that (1) roughly 11% of them related to long-term performance. (2) The weight given to these criteria in the overall technical proposal was lower than 30%. (3) Sixty-five percent (65%) of long-term evaluation criteria focused on design while 15% related to materials and technology, respectively. The results of this study are a stepping stone to initiate a deep exploration of the relationship between procurement practices and actual project performance. Currently, as sustainability and life cycle assessments remain top concerns in infrastructure projects, this line of research may benefit DOTs and highway agencies across the U.S. and worldwide.
10
Calahorra-Jimenez, Maria. Contracting Strategies: A Different Approach to Address Long-term Performance. Mineta Transportation Institute, July 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.31979/mti.2022.2130.
Full textAbstract:
For cost-efficiency, public safety, and sustainability, improving long-term performance in highway projects is imperative for public administrations. Project delivery and procurement methods provide an opportunity to align design and construction processes with this goal. While previous studies have explored whether project delivery methods impact the long-term performance of highway projects, these studies did not focus on how core elements within project procurement relate to long-term performance. Thus, to fill this gap, this research explores how and to what extent long-term evaluation criteria are considered in design-build best-value procurement of highway projects. To this end, the team conducted content analysis on 100 projects procured between 2009 and 2019 by 19 DOTs across the U.S. The analysis of 365 evaluation criteria found that (1) roughly 11% of them related to long-term performance. (2) The weight given to these criteria in the overall technical proposal was lower than 30%. (3) Sixty-five percent (65%) of long-term evaluation criteria focused on design while 15% related to materials and technology, respectively. The results of this study are a stepping stone to initiate a deep exploration of the relationship between procurement practices and actual project performance. Currently, as sustainability and life cycle assessments remain top concerns in infrastructure projects, this line of research may benefit DOTs and highway agencies across the U.S. and worldwide.