Journal articles on the topic 'Sustainability Impacts Assessment Methods and Tools'
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Lee, So Young, José M. Díaz-Puente, and Pablo Vidueira. "Enhancing Rural Innovation and Sustainability Through Impact Assessment: A Review of Methods and Tools." Sustainability 12, no. 16 (August 13, 2020): 6559. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12166559.
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Assessing impacts in innovation contexts/settings with the aim of fostering sustainability requires tackling complex issues. Literature shows that key sources of this complexity relate to the need to integrate the local context; identify the underlying problems; engage key stakeholders; and reflect on their feedback throughout the innovation process. A systematic literature review on innovation impact assessment reveals that social impacts have been the most studied, thus, where promising methods and tools were used. Nevertheless, there are many unresolved issues beyond assessing social impacts in innovation processes. Literature highlights that building on co-creating innovation processes that respond to stakeholders’ real needs and context, and adapting to changing circumstances by integrating timely feedback from stakeholders are two critical challenges calling for a systems thinking approach. This study proposes Developmental Evaluation (DE) as a systemic approach to evaluation which supports adaptive development in complex environments and that adds value by integrating continuous feedback from diverse stakeholders. As a non-prescriptive evaluation approach in terms of methods and tools, DE can provide meaningful guidance to use diverse methods and tools in furthering ongoing development and adaptation in innovation processes by linking the evaluation activities—impact assessment among them—with the DE principles that are situational, adaptive and continuously responsive.
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Kocurova, Petra, Michal Faltejsek, and Roman Osika. "Transportation Factors in the Selected Methods of Sustainable Development Assessment Tools." International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa 47 (March 2020): 139–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/jera.47.139.
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The interests focus on the tools, used in the case of evaluating the sustainability in the mobility structures. In the present is sustainable development regular part of planning in every scale. According to growing development and innovations, it was necessary to ensure a sustainable framework of progress or traffic performance. Sustainable development goals were founded as a reaction to limited natural sources and also as a response to the human impact on nature. Evolution of those goals started with the environmental base and then had also been added social and economic aspects. A study wants to find sophisticated tools for the evaluation of sustainable development in urban structures. As was located, in Europe exist methods for assessment of sustainability (EIA, SEA, LCA, EF, ER, GP, CBA, CEA, MCDA, EA, SIA, SEIA, etc.). Although even their large amount, they are mostly based on just one section of SD. Other tools which are used, are methods for evaluation sustainability (BREEAM, CASBEE-UD, GBI, LEED, IGBC, SB tool, DGNB, etc.), where are also included other sections (environmental, economic, social). Assessment tools were described and preliminary compared in the context of the factors’ coverage.
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Zimek, Martina, Andreas Schober, Claudia Mair, Rupert J. Baumgartner, Tobias Stern, and Manfred Füllsack. "The Third Wave of LCA as the “Decade of Consolidation”." Sustainability 11, no. 12 (June 14, 2019): 3283. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11123283.
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Several authors have pointed out the importance of systems thinking, and have considered both environmental and social aspects (holistic perspective) of sustainability assessment in the past. Sustainability assessment tools which integrate different aspects (e.g., environmental/social aspects) in order to identify negative impacts have already been developed. Common tools used to assess environmental, social, or economic impacts include the life cycle assessment (LCA), social life cycle assessment (S-LCA), life cycle costing (LCC) and life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) approaches. The goal of the present study was to investigate how and to what extent the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social, economic; holistic sustainability perspective) have been integrated into the field of LCA. A topic modeling method was applied to examine whether the emphasis placed on integrating environmental, social, and economic aspects in sustainability assessment has resulted in a more comprehensive application of the LCA approach. The results show that topics related to energy and infrastructure are currently prevailing, and that topics related to methods have been decreasing since 1997. A minor discussion of social aspects and a lack of discussion on economic aspects were identified in the present study. These results do not support the predicted “decade of life cycle sustainability assessment.” Consequently, a new period of LCA extension and application is predicted, namely, the third wave of LCA as the “decade of consolidation.” During this period, the LCA framework will be enhanced to reduce existing practical and methodological difficulties and integrate environmental and social aspects in a sustainability assessment to support global sustainable development.
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Henke, Ilaria, Armando Cartenì, Clorinda Molitierno, and Assunta Errico. "Decision-Making in the Transport Sector: A Sustainable Evaluation Method for Road Infrastructure." Sustainability 12, no. 3 (January 21, 2020): 764. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12030764.
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The transport sector is often the center of political and scientific debate on sustainability due to negative externalities produced by the daily movement of goods and people which impact both on the environment and on quality of life. Great interest has therefore focused on impact estimation of transport infrastructures/services with respect to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Among the consolidated assessment methods, the cost–benefit analysis (CBA) is one of the quantitative tools representing the final stage (decision) in decision-making processes, which compares design alternatives and verifies the sustainability of a transport project. Recently the Italian Government proposed the national “Guidelines for Assessment of Investment Projects” based on CBA. The aim of this research is twofold: a) from a research point of view, to propose a sustainable evaluating method for impact assessment of the new transportation infrastructure aimed in performing both rational and shared decisions with the territories; b) for a practical point of view, to propose a first application of the CBA Italian guideline useful for the professional practice in the field of public investment evaluation. A quantitative impacts assessment of social, economic and environmental sustainability was performed for a revamping project of a new “greenway” in the south of Italy. Furthermore, also the social equity impacts produced by the new road infrastructure was also quantified, estimating the GINI indexes variation as a measure of effectiveness.
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Lynn Birkeland, Janis. "Positive development and assessment." Smart and Sustainable Built Environment 3, no. 1 (May 13, 2014): 4–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/sasbe-07-2013-0039.
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Purpose – There has been a tendency in sustainability science to be passive. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an alternative positive framework for a more active and direct approach to sustainable design and assessment that de-couples environmental impacts and economic growth. Design/methodology/approach – This paper deconstructs some systemic gaps that are critical to sustainability in built environment management processes and tools, and reframes negative “sustainable” decision making and assessment frameworks into their positive counterparts. In particular, it addresses the omission of ecology, design and ethics in development assessment. Findings – Development can be designed to provide ecological gains and surplus “eco-services,” but assessment tools and processes favor business-as-usual. Despite the tenacity of the dominant paradigm (DP) in sustainable development institutionalized by the Brundtland Report over 25 years ago, these omissions are easily corrected. Research limitations/implications – The limitation is that the author was unable to find exceptions to the omissions cited here in the extensive literature on urban planning and building assessment tools. However, exceptions prove the rule. The implication is that it is not too late for eco-positive retrofitting of cities to increase natural and social capital. The solutions are just as applicable in places like China and India as the USA, as they pay for themselves. Originality/value – Positive development (PD) is a fundamental paradigm shift that reverses the negative models, methods and metrics of the DP of sustainable development. This paper provides an example of how existing “negative” concepts and practices can be converted into positive ones through a PD prism. Through a new form of bio-physical design, development can be a sustainability solution.
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Ren, Zhong Ming, and Dai Zhong Su. "Comparison of Different Life Cycle Impact Assessment Software Tools." Key Engineering Materials 572 (September 2013): 44–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.572.44.
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The comparison of five popular life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) software tools was conducted, including CES EDUPACK, Solidworks Sustainability, Sustainable Minds, SimaPro, and Gabi. Six comparison criteria were used, regarding the function to define a product and its life cycle, LCIA methods employed in the software, availability for the user to modify/update the databases embedded in the software, and detail information and Presentation of the results. The comparison results provide useful information for the user to select suitable software tools for LCIA applications.
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Ustaoglu, Eda, and Marcus J. Collier. "Farmland abandonment in Europe: an overview of drivers, consequences, and assessment of the sustainability implications." Environmental Reviews 26, no. 4 (December 2018): 396–416. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/er-2018-0001.
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In the last decades, there have been large areas of agricultural land that were abandoned in Europe, producing significant social and environmental impacts. Land abandonment is a dynamic process, which is influenced by a complex range of drivers that vary over time and space. This process is driven by a combination of socio-economic, political, and environmental factors by which formerly cultivated fields are no longer economically viable under existing land-use and socio-economic conditions. The implications of land abandonment on biodiversity and other ecosystem services can be positive or negative depending on the conservation status of the area, agro-climatic conditions, and local factors. Therefore, the scope and extent of environmental impacts vary over time and location. Considering that land abandonment is a contentious issue in Europe, there is still growing need for research on this topic. This paper reviews (i) drivers and consequences of farmland abandonment in Europe, (ii) policy measures and tools developed by the European Union in relation to land abandonment process, (iii) the impacts and indicators that are used to assess ecosystem services that are related to land abandonment, and (iv) the methods by which socio-economic, environmental, and cultural values can be assessed. An overview of key impacts and indicators and the impact assessment methodologies will guide policy-making and planning processes that focus on sustainability impact assessment of land abandonment related to ecosystem services in Europe.
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Hermann, Carsten. "Assessing Historic Places Regarding Risks and Vulnerabilities Associated with Climate Change to Inform Conservation Planning—Development of Assessment Methods in Northern Europe." Journal of Heritage Management 2, no. 1 (June 2017): 32–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2455929617726927.
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In the face of anthropogenic climate change, the management of cultural heritage must change the world over, in order to adapt historic places to the resulting impacts. Concepts for climate change mitigation and adaptation are well developed, but their application specifically in the context of the historic environment is limited. The number of methods and tools to assess the risks of climate change impacts on historic places and the vulnerabilities of these places to these risks is still small. In this article, three assessment methods will be discussed, which were developed through projects in Northern Europe: Cultural and Heritage Added Value to Regional Policies for Tourism and Sustainability (CHARTS) disseminated a risk and vulnerability assessment to investigate the impacts of climate change on the historic environment of Wales. The Aurland project, in Norway, piloted a site-specific assessment method through local and expert input. Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is reviewing its portfolio of historic places with a novel impact assessment and mapping method, using a geographical information system (GIS). This article discusses the differences of the approaches chosen by the projects to assess climate change impacts and plan adaptation measures. The article concludes with outlining a recently started project, Adapt Northern Heritage, involving HES and two Aurland partners, Riksantikvaren and the Norsk institute for kulturminneforskning, as well as Minjastofnun Íslands.
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Balkau, Fritz, Alberto Bezama, Noemie Leroy-Parmentier, and Guido Sonnemann. "A Review on the Use of Life Cycle Methodologies and Tools in Sustainable Regional Development." Sustainability 13, no. 19 (September 30, 2021): 10881. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su131910881.
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This review examines how life cycle methodologies are presently used by regional authorities in their sustainable development programmes. The review incorporates formal methods of life cycle assessment (LCA) as well as non-standardised approaches like life cycle management (LCM). The review describes the sustainability agenda facing regions, and a ‘life cycle toolbox’ that can be used at territorial level. Several parallel literature research methods were used to collect representative examples from around the world of regional life cycle approaches, identifying a variety of common and still-evolving methodologies used to address sustainability issues and applications. Results show that regional use of various life cycle methodologies from the toolbox is growing although scope is often constrained to short life chains, and with limited consideration of secondary (“spillover”) impacts. The conclusions confirm earlier findings that current life cycle tools are not always ideally structured for public sector organisations, with some not yet mature for addressing regional sustainability issues, such as biodiversity, land use and social impacts. Regional data aggregation is currently insufficient for certain methods. Further research is needed to adapt certain life cycle methodologies for regional application, but many available tools could already be further applied than is currently the case.
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Putri, A. A. A., R. Purwaningsih, and S. Hartini. "A comparison of rap-tourism method and multi attribute aggregation in sustainability assessment of tourist destination." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1098, no. 1 (October 1, 2022): 012046. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1098/1/012046.
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Abstract The development of the tourism industry causes emergence of positive and negative impacts on tourist destinations. The development of the tourism industry has led the government to implement the concept of sustainable tourism. To assist the implementation of sustainable tourism, it is important to know the sustainability status of tourist destinations. The measuring tools used for calculated sustainability index values and identification of sensitive indicators. The method used must be easy to use and provide accurate results. This study compares between the rap-tourism and the multi attribute aggregation method. The aim is to choose which method better in measuring sustainability status when the objects of measurement are a lot of tourist destinations, better means easy to use and represent indicators condition briefly. The results of the assessment using both methods obtain the same sustainability status but there are differences in the sustainability index value. These two methods also use different approaches in determining sensitive indicators that should be improved to increase the sustainability index of tourist destinations.
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Casamayor, Jose Luis, and Dai Zhong Su. "Environmental Impact Assessment of Lighting Products." Key Engineering Materials 486 (July 2011): 171–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.486.171.
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There is a growing demand for products with low environmental impact due to current and upcoming environmental regulations/policies and increased environmental consumer awareness. Thus, integration of tools, methods, techniques for sustainability into design processes is becoming essential to design greener products. This paper presents a novel environmental impact assessment of lighting products’ conducted at the design stage, with the support of Life Cycle Assessment methods and related tools including Software Simapro. Two lighting products are used in the assessment, the results showed that one of the lighting products had less (total) impact on the environment than the other one, the main difference of impact between both products was located at the manufacturing phase, and their transport and use phases have higher impact within the life-cycle of the products.
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Fauzi, Rizal Taufiq, Patrick Lavoie, Luca Sorelli, Mohammad Davoud Heidari, and Ben Amor. "Exploring the Current Challenges and Opportunities of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment." Sustainability 11, no. 3 (January 25, 2019): 636. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11030636.
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Sustainability decision making is a complex task for policy makers, considering the possible unseen consequences it may entail. With a broader scope covering environmental, economic, and social aspects, Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is a promising holistic method to deal with that complexity. However, to date, this method is limited to the hotspot analysis of a product, service, or system, and hence only assesses direct impacts and overlooks the indirect ones (or consequences). This critical literature review aims to explore the challenges and the research gaps related to the integration of three methods in LCSA representing three pillars of sustainability: (Environmental) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). The challenges and the research gaps that appear when pairing two of these tools with each other are identified and discussed, i.e., the temporal issues, different perspectives, the indirect consequences, etc. Although this study does not aim to remove the shadows in LCSA methods, critical research gaps are identified in order to be addressed in future works. More case studies are also recommended for a deeper understanding of methodological trade-offs that might happen, especially when dealing with the consequential perspective.
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Roos Lindgreen, Erik, Roberta Salomone, and Tatiana Reyes. "A Critical Review of Academic Approaches, Methods and Tools to Assess Circular Economy at the Micro Level." Sustainability 12, no. 12 (June 18, 2020): 4973. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12124973.
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Transitioning from the current linear economic development model to a circular economy (CE) is a hot topic in academic literature, public governance, and the corporate domain. Actors have implemented CE strategies to reduce their resource use and its associated impacts, while boosting economic competitiveness and generating positive social impact. Companies are identified as key actors in transitioning to a CE, and many academics have proposed tools to assess CE and guide them in this process. This paper critically reviews such academic ‘assessment approaches’ at the micro level in order to reflect on their key properties. Seventy-four approaches are inventoried through a systematic literature review of academic literature. A critical review framework is constructed and applied, containing four perspectives: A general perspective, a descriptive perspective (methodological aspects), a normative perspective (connections to Sustainable Development), and a prescriptive perspective (implementation-focused). Methodologically, the 74 approaches are highly diverse, having various connections to previously established methodologies. Eighteen of the reviewed assessment approaches include all three dimensions of Sustainable Development (SD), in addition to a ‘circular’ dimension. Roughly one quarter of the approaches apply a participatory design approach. Suggested key desired properties of CE assessment approaches include making use of existing assessment methodologies such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and a closer collaboration between science and practitioners to consider end-user needs in the design of CE assessment approaches.
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Pons-Valladares, Oriol, and Jelena Nikolic. "Sustainable Design, Construction, Refurbishment and Restoration of Architecture: A Review." Sustainability 12, no. 22 (November 22, 2020): 9741. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12229741.
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Considering the serious challenges our planet is facing, the building environment and construction sector must minimize their high negative impacts and maximize their contribution to sustainability. Many alternatives could promote this change, but to effectively optimize our architecture, we must take the step of quantifying and qualifying the sustainability of our constructions by choosing the best assessment alternative in each case. Many assessment methodologies and tools exist and there have been numerous reviews of them. The main objective and novelty of this review is to present an updated critical overview of all the sustainability evaluation alternatives developed in research studies in the fields of architectural design, construction, refurbishment and restoration. To achieve this, the analysis follows a specific methodology based on recent similar reviews. The result is a database with 1242 eligible documents analyzed in this review and attached as supplementary material available for future studies. As a main conclusion, rating tools and life cycle methods were found to be the most commonly applied methodologies, while the most recent tendencies use combined methods and probabilistic scenarios. This review could be useful to move towards a more sustainable building environment.
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Dmitrieva, T. E. "Resource efficiency assessment: trends and methods." Proceedings of the Komi Science Centre of the Ural Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2 (2021): 27–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.19110/1994-5655-2021-2-27-38.
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Resource efficiency is a key factor in the transition to a sustainable future. Its main objective is to decouple the depen-dence of economic activities and human well-being on the use of natural resources and environmental impacts. The author highlights the approximate stages of progress towards this goal in the frame of important international events and documents adopted within recent 15 years. These are – “Resource efficiency improvement as the main tool for sustainable development”; “Towards scenario of sustainability – increase of resource use efficiency and introduction of sustainable consumption and production patterns”; “A new green deal – decarbonization (achieving carbon neutrality) and a cyclical economy”. The features of Russian new climate agenda are shown. The paper presents the main indicators of resource productivity and intensity of resources use, decoupling and adjustment of the gross savings methods. The latter make it possible to assess the relationship between the economic result and environmental impact. Resource decoupling and impact decoupling have been tested in assessment of efficiency of forest and water resources use and the regional ecological situation. The author evaluated the method of calculation of adjusted net savings. The analysis of the World Bank scheme and methodological adaptations for the Russian regions and the Komi Republic allowed making a conclusion about the subjectivity of the results. At the same time, the methodological studies carried out on the regional valuation of the components of the net savings index – ecosystem services, depletion and regeneration of forest resources, damage to public health caused by environmental hazards is commendable and should be continued.
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Gladysz, Bartlomiej, Krzysztof Ejsmont, Aldona Kluczek, Donatella Corti, and Stanislaw Marciniak. "A Method for an Integrated Sustainability Assessment of RFID Technology." Resources 9, no. 9 (September 2, 2020): 107. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/resources9090107.
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Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has become a widely accepted manufacturing paradigm across a wide range of industries. It includes an array of various approaches, tools, techniques, and methods. They were known to researchers before, but when combined they build a new reality, which needs procedures for the assessment of technologies and manufacturing processes. Current assessment methods often fail to incorporate economic, environmental, and social impacts simultaneously in an integrated way. The potential implementation of a sustainability assessment procedure on a larger scale is seen for (well-developed) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The measures for assessment were identified through a literature review and validated by expert panels. Validation measures were quantified using multi-criteria decision making (AHP). Criteria ranking was used for reasoning if the assumed modular structure responded to the experts’ needs. To connect the existing research gap, a holistic and integrated assessment method for I4.0 applications, depicted in a structured way and tailored for RFID technology, is developed, which constitutes a research gap in current literature on this topic. Results showed that a modularized structure of approach (module—group of measures—measures [as indicators]) for RFID sustainability assessment, which depends on the complexity of this technology, may be a convenient method for assessment of I4.0 technologies. It was confirmed that all sustainability perspectives are important due to their contributions to supporting decisions and should be considered in the assessment of RFID. On the other hand, it can help managers and practitioners implement the assessment method in their practice to reduce pollution and save the environment.
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Jesus, José de, Karla Oliveira-Esquerre, and Diego Lima Medeiros. "Environmental model using life cycle assessment and artificial intelligence techniques to predict impacts on industrial water treatment." IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1250, no. 1 (July 1, 2022): 012002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/1250/1/012002.
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Abstract With the advancement of globalization, the growing demand for environmental resources in industrial processes and the increasing availability of data and information, the need to align data modeling concepts with Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques and existing environmental tools has emerged. From a sustainability perspective, life cycle assessment (LCA) is an extremely important tool in ensuring adequate practices in environmental thinking. It is through the life cycle assessment (LCA) that it is possible to measure the environmental impacts from products and processes, as well as to make projections that minimize these impacts. This research employed an artificial intelligence (AI) methods, namely adaptive neurofuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model, to predict life cycle environmental impacts in industrial water treatment using aluminum sulfate and Tannin-Base biocoagulant. The results show that different AI algorithms are used to build LCA models. The AI algorithms in the studies work from problem identification to the solution stage, so the integration between AI and LCA makes it possible to build predictive machine learning models to enable assertiveness in decision making.
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Kalvet, Tarmo, Maarja Olesk, Marek Tiits, and Janika Raun. "Innovative Tools for Tourism and Cultural Tourism Impact Assessment." Sustainability 12, no. 18 (September 10, 2020): 7470. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12187470.
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The importance of data and evidence has increased considerably in policy planning, implementation, and evaluation. There is unprecedented availability of open and big data, and there are rapid developments in intelligence gathering and the application of analytical tools. While cultural heritage holds many tangible and intangible values for local communities and society in general, there is a knowledge gap regarding suitable methods and data sources to measure the impacts and develop data-driven policies of cultural tourism. In the tourism sector, rapid developments are particularly taking place around novel uses of mobile positioning data, web scraping, and open application programming interface (API) data, data on sharing, and collaborative economy and passenger data. Based on feedback from 15 European cultural tourism regions, recommendations are developed regarding the use of innovative tools and data sources in tourism management. In terms of potential analytical depth, it is especially advisable to explore the use of mobile positioning data. Yet, there are considerable barriers, especially in terms of privacy protection and ethics, in using such data. User-generated big data from social media, web searches, and website visits constitute another promising data source as it is often publicly available in real time and has low usage barriers. Due to the emergence of new platform-based business models in the travel and tourism sector, special attention should be paid to improving access and usage of data on sharing and collaborative economy.
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Su, Daizhong, Jose L. Casamayor, and Xuemin Xu. "An Integrated Approach for Eco-Design and Its Application in LED Lighting Product Development." Sustainability 13, no. 2 (January 6, 2021): 488. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13020488.
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Lighting products are essential for our modern life nowadays, but they also produce high negative impacts on the environment. Although there are tools and methods available for reducing the environmental impact of lighting products, it is a challenging task to integrate them throughout the product development process. To overcome the challenge, this research developed an approach to integrate tools/methods relevant for the eco-design through product development process to reduce the environmental impact of lighting products. Six types of methods, such module design, and 30 tools, such as lifecycle assessment software packages, are considered in the integrated approach. The product specification with eco-constrains is established for implementation at each design stage to ensure the product eco-features. The approach was applied in the development of an LED table lamp which was then assessed in comparison with a benchmark LED lamp regarding environmental lifecycle impact and lighting performance. The comparative assessment results indicate that the LED lamp developed with this approach is much better than the benchmark lamp.
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Fusco, Emanuela Di, Alessandro Lenci, Tonino Liserra, Valentina Ciriello, and Vittorio Di Federico. "Sustainability Assessment of Urban Water Use from Building to Urban Scale in the GST4Water Project." Proceedings 2, no. 11 (August 1, 2018): 671. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2110671.
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The present paper illustrates some of results obtained in the GST4Water project concerning the development of appropriate metrics, methods and tools for the assessment of economic and environmental sustainability of urban water systems at different scales for a variety of stakeholders. At the household scale and based on data and algorithms to represent residential water demand, we reconstruct the behavior of domestic users and develop a suite of indicators accounting for consumption performances and sustainability, and a software tool geared at the needs of water consumers. Considering multiple scales ranging from household to urban, we develop a model based on urban metabolism, able to evaluate several performance indicators for both sustainability assessment and benchmark, comparing the impact of different management options for water demand and reuse.
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Streatfield, David, Pablo Andrade Blanco, Marcel Chiranov, Ieva Dryžaite, Maciej Kochanowicz, Tetiana Liubyva, and Yuliya Tkachuk. "Innovative impact planning and assessment through Global Libraries." Performance Measurement and Metrics 16, no. 2 (July 13, 2015): 177–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/pmm-04-2015-0011.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a range of innovative (for public library performance measurement and impact assessment) methods and tools developed by country teams as part of the Global Libraries (GL) initiative. Short reports are provided on: a return on investment study, a simplified data processing system for library managers and an online reporting system for public libraries in Ukraine; a study of the public image of Polish libraries in print mass media, two approaches to sustainability of performance measurement and impact assessment in Romania, through tools to conduct pop-up surveys and use of agricultural subsidies support data, assessments of changes in public library managers’ planning efforts in Poland and of their perceptions of libraries and their own role, using Modified Delphi forecasting, in Lithuania, two ways of focussing on the world of public library users by engaging non-profit organizations in library research in Poland and conducting impact studies in virtual environments in Chile. Design/methodology/approach – A range of methods and tools and their uses are described. Findings – No specific research findings are reported. Research limitations/implications – All of these tools and methods have been (or are being) trialed in national public library contexts; some have been developed over several years. Practical implications – Useful for people in other (non-GL) countries who may be contemplating public library evaluation at regional, national or local level or who are interested in performance measurement and impact evaluation. Social implications – This paper is part of a GL effort to share what participants have learnt about impact planning and assessment in public libraries with the wider international libraries community. Originality/value – The impact planning and assessment program of GL has been the largest sustained international public library evaluation program so far attempted. This paper reports on the more innovative evaluation activities undertaken at country level through this program.
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Perlingeiro, Rogério Moreno, Mayra Soares Pereira Lima Perlingeiro, Christine Kowal Chinelli, Elaine Garrido Vazquez, Eduardo Linhares Qualharini, Assed N. Haddad, Ahmed W. A. Hammad, and Carlos Alberto Pereira Soares. "Sustainable Assessment of Public Works through a Multi-Criteria Framework." Sustainability 12, no. 17 (August 25, 2020): 6896. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12176896.
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Enhancing the sustainability of public works has been a key agenda in recent years for many governmental organizations. Public works contribute significantly to a large portion of engineering works and have great potential to impact the sustainability of cities. Thus, evaluating the sustainability of these projects is highly relevant, mainly regarding their impacts on environmental, social, and economic aspects. There are currently assessment systems and methods with different scopes and approaches. Yet, there remains uncertainty when it comes to considering public works’ sustainability and how useful criteria can be incorporated into the proposed assessment tasks to ensure such a goal. This study contributes to filling this gap by developing, through an extensive and detailed bibliographic research, a flexible and comprehensive framework composed of 214 criteria distributed across nine categories that measure the degree of sustainability of public works, with emphasis on economic, social and environmental goals. The proposed framework can act as a practical tool, functioning as a checklist applicable to all types of public construction works, and at any stage of the lifecycle. Evaluation of the framework by professionals indicated its suitability when encompassing sustainability objectives, its viability, and its ease of use.
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Chandrasekaran, Vidhyalakshmi, and Jolanta Dvarionienė. "A Review of the Environmental Impact of Buildings with an Emphasis on Performance Assessment Tools and Their Incorporation of LCA." Advances in Civil Engineering 2022 (March 14, 2022): 1–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/9947920.
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Background. The environmental performance of buildings has been a focus of interest over the years in the building sector. Numerous building environmental assessment tools (BEA) have evolved to follow the lead of sustainability by updating categories and criteria from a lifecycle perspective. Therefore, it is timely to review the existing methods that already integrated LCA in their processes. The purpose of this study unfolds in three ways: (1) to review the existing BEA methods and LCA studies in residential buildings, (2) to compare the most adopted BEA methods, and (3) to study the integration of LCA and sustainability aspects applied within each selected BEA method. Methods. Scopus and Web of Science databases were searched for articles published between August 2010 and August 2021 in English. To identify studies and to conduct this review, four keywords, namely “Building Assessment Tools,” “Residential Building,” “LCA,” and “Sustainability” (and their derivatives), were used. The articles were searched so that all four keywords or at least a derivative of each keyword would appear. Furthermore, the outcomes of the database search were categorized as LCA and BEA for the review. Moreover, the seven most adopted rating systems were selected for review and comparison based on (1) the scope of buildings assessed, (2) lifecycle phases assessed, (3) assessment criteria, and (4) the user of tools. Findings. Of the 42 articles that met the enclosure criteria, 20 articles covered the environmental impact and 22 articles covered LCA. The review reveals that most of the analyzed systems focus more on the operational stage than on the other stages. Each BEA method is diverse in terms of its users, criteria, and regions and creates a niche among assessment methods. Conclusions. The main conclusion of this study is that a great deal of work is required to achieve the goal of making the existing “environmental” building assessment tools more sustainable. At the same time, a focus on the better implementation of LCA functionalities at each stage and a complement by integrating socioeconomic-based LCA models were also required.
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Buse, Chris G., Aita Bezzola, Jordan Brubacher, Tim K. Takaro, Arthur L. Fredeen, and Margot W. Parkes. "Cumulative Impacts of Diverse Land Uses in British Columbia, Canada: Application of the “EnviroScreen” Method." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 18 (September 6, 2022): 11171. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811171.
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(1) Objectives: Cumulative impacts refer to the legacies of land use decisions on environmental, community and health values. New integrative impact assessment tools are required to assess cumulative impacts on diverse values to meet sustainability goals in the 21st century. In this contribution, the CalEnviroScreen methodology-a screening tool capable of merging environmental, socioeconomic and health data-is applied to Local Health Areas in British Columbia, Canada. (2) Methods: The CalEnviroScreen is a method that standardizes environmental, socioeconomic and health data to depict an indicator’s percentile rank in the distribution of all units of analysis. The method combines indicators to measure four dimensions of pressure: environmental exposures, environmental effects, socioeconomic conditions, and sensitive populations (i.e., health outcomes). We create two versions of EnviroScreen: one following the CalEnviroScreen suite of indicators, and another that uses nuanced indicators to approximate the realities of industrial land uses present in British Columbia. BCEnviroScreen scores are plotted by race/ethnicity to understand potential racial inequities in cumulative exposures. (3) Results: The BCEnviroScreen has a greater likelihood of quantifying the cumulative impacts of diverse industries and land uses present across resource-dependent parts of the province, relative to the more urban-centric CalEnviroScreen indicator suite. Analyzing the distribution of BCEnviroScreen scores by race/ethnicity suggests that visible minority populations may be inequitably exposed to cumulative impacts in BC. (4) Conclusion: EnviroScreen tools hold significant potential to influence Canadian environmental health policy. This research demonstrates the applicability of the tool to British Columbia and other jurisdictions, illustrates how indicators can be tailored to better represent regional context, and shows how the tool can be used to screen for potential environmental health injustices.
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Watson, K. J., and S. G. Wiedemann. "Review of Methodological Choices in LCA-Based Textile and Apparel Rating Tools: Key Issues and Recommendations Relating to Assessment of Fabrics Made From Natural Fibre Types." Sustainability 11, no. 14 (July 15, 2019): 3846. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11143846.
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Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a key tool for determining environmental impacts for textiles and apparel and is the basis for the publicly available Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI) developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). This paper reviews and evaluates the Higg MSI with respect to rating of fabrics made from natural fibre types, with the aim of providing a constructive analysis of methodological issues identified by comparison with the International Standards and LCA guidelines. The major issues identified by the review were: (1) lack of sufficient guidance for comparative analysis and public disclosure; (2) incomplete system boundaries and the choice of functional unit; (3) the choice of attributional LCA methods and variable methods applied for handling multi-functionality; (4) use of generalised data and small datasets, without reported sensitivity or uncertainty; (5) exclusion of important impact categories, choice of LCIA methods and lack of coverage of non-LCA assessed issues; and (6) the choice of the weighting and normalisation approach. This review found that the provision of, and adherence to the appropriate standards and best practice in LCA would rectify most of these issues. To achieve the laudable aims of the Higg MSI, further development and refinement is needed to ensure robust information is provided to improve the sustainability of textiles.
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Baldoni, Edoardo, Silvia Coderoni, Elisa Di Giuseppe, Marco D’Orazio, Roberto Esposti, and Gianluca Maracchini. "A Software Tool for a Stochastic Life Cycle Assessment and Costing of Buildings’ Energy Efficiency Measures." Sustainability 13, no. 14 (July 16, 2021): 7975. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13147975.
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This article presents a novel software tool for the assessments of life-cycle environmental impacts and costs, which is aimed to support decision-making in the design phase of retrofit interventions in the building sector. By combining Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) calculations and functionalities, this tool allows evaluating the long-term trade-offs between economic and environmental performance of investment projects in energy efficiency for buildings, while accounting for uncertainties in input parameters and economic scenarios. A major novelty of the software tool is the stochastic nature of both the LCC and LCA dimensions. The LCA is implemented with Monte-Carlo methods, while the LCC accounts for the probabilistic interdependence of macroeconomic variables over time. The software also includes advanced specific tools for parametrization and sensitivity analysis. Exemplary applications are presented in order to illustrate the novelty and the functionalities of the software tool.
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Martín-Gamboa, Mario, Luis C. Dias, Paula Quinteiro, Fausto Freire, Luís Arroja, and Ana Cláudia Dias. "Multi-Criteria and Life Cycle Assessment of Wood-Based Bioenergy Alternatives for Residential Heating: A Sustainability Analysis." Energies 12, no. 22 (November 19, 2019): 4391. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en12224391.
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Moving towards a global bioeconomy can mitigate climate change and the depletion of fossil fuels. Within this context, this work applies a set of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tools to prioritise the selection of five alternative bioenergy systems for residential heating based on the combination of three commercial technologies (pellet, wood stove and traditional fireplace) and two different feedstocks (eucalypt and maritime pine species). Several combinations of MCDA methods and weighting approaches were compared to assess how much results can differ. Eight indicators were used for a sustainability assessment of the alternatives while four MCDA methods were applied for the prioritisation: Weighted Sum Method (WSM), Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), Elimination and Choice Expressing Reality (ELECTRE), and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE). Regarding the sustainability performance indicators, the highest environmental impacts were calculated for the fireplace alternatives, and there was not a best environmental option. Also, no clear trend was found for the economic and social dimensions. The application of MCDA tools shows that wood stove alternatives have the best sustainability performance, in particular wood stove with combustion of maritime pine logs (highest scores in the ranking). Regarding the worst alternative, fireplaces with combustion of eucalypt logs ranked last in all MCDA rankings. Finally, a sensitivity analysis for the weighting of the performance indicators confirmed wood stoves with combustion of maritime pine logs as the leading alternative and the key role of the analysts within this type of MCDA studies.
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Strid, Anna, Elinor Hallström, Ulf Sonesson, Josefin Sjons, Anna Winkvist, and Marta Bianchi. "Sustainability Indicators for Foods Benefiting Climate and Health." Sustainability 13, no. 7 (March 24, 2021): 3621. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13073621.
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New methods for combined evaluation of nutritional and environmental aspects of food products are needed to enable a transformation of dietary guidelines integrating both health and environmental perspectives. We evaluated two sustainability aspects; nutrition and climate impact, of foods commonly consumed in Sweden and the implications of using parallel or integrated assessments of these two aspects, also discussing the usability and suitability of these food sustainability indicators in relation to Swedish dietary guidelines, industry food product development, and consumer communication. There were large differences in both nutrient density and climate impact among the different foods. The parallel assessment easily visualized synergies and trade-offs between these two sustainability aspects for the different foods. Coherence with dietary guidelines was good, and suitability and usability deemed satisfying. The integrated indicator showed better coherence with dietary guidelines than indicators based solely on nutrient density or climate impact; however, the difficulty to interpret the score limits its usability in product development and consumer communication. With both methods, advantageous as well as less advantageous plant-based and animal-based food alternatives were suggested. The two alternative methods evaluated could serve as useful tools to drive individual and societal development towards more sustainable food production and consumption.
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Al Khafaji, Ibtisam Abdulelah Mohammed, and Raz Kamaran. "The Influence of Spatial Flexibility to improve Sustainability of Interior Design by Using Smart Technology (Case study –Future Smart home in Iraq)." European Journal of Sustainable Development 8, no. 4 (October 1, 2019): 438. http://dx.doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2019.v8n4p438.
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Technological progress is an endless accelerating phenomenon. It becomes a major aspect of our wellbeing and influences our everyday life as well as our use of architectural spaces. A professional career in Interior Design is more challenging today than ever. It combines the creative, the aesthetic, the innovative, and the practical to create the important stages upon which people live their lives. This pragmatic approach found a considerable positive impact on enhancing overall building flexibility and sustainability by using smart technology. Literatures displayed that both terms –flexibility and sustainability -are used almost to the same extent. In general, developing space flexibility is one of the main ways to achieve Sustainability to ensure efficient space utilization. The objectives of this research is to explain how smart interior design can improve spatial flexibility of inner spaces and to evaluate whether flexibility had a positive impacts toward sustainability (case study: Iraqi houses). A literature review in the disciplines of, smart home technology, spatial flexibility and Interior design sustainability have been done, then we used virtual reality methods and self –assessment practical tools to improve better understanding and to test hypothesis. Results explained that smart design improve spatial flexibility by and ensure efficient space utilization (sustainable inner spaces).Keywords: Flexibility, Sustainability, Smart Technology, Smart Interior Design, Smart Homes
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Pelling, Mark. "Measuring Urban Vulnerability to Natural Disaster Risk: Benchmarks for Sustainability." Open House International 31, no. 1 (March 1, 2006): 125–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ohi-01-2006-b0015.
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The Millennium Declaration and the Hyogo Framework for Action point towards the need for methods to identify urban vulnerability to disaster risk as a pre-cursor for the development of benchmarks with which to track policy progress for urban sustainability and risk reduction. This paper responds to this call by assessing the state of the art in urban vulnerability and risk assessment tools. It presents a review of the conceptual frameworks, methodologies and comparative advantages of ten tools. These are categorised into deductive and inductive approaches, with inductive approaches in turn separated into those that use social-survey and participatory methods. The tools examined vary in the focus of their interests between those concerned with the vulnerability of places (cities or buildings) and people (either as predefined vulnerable social groups or identified through household livelihood sustainability). The paper calls for a deeper conversation between the emerging community of practitioners working on urban disaster risk management and the existing urban development community. For example, disasters are typically defined as exceptionally large, single events, which adds to analytical clarity, but misses the cumulative impact of multiple small, local events on household sustainability and urban infrastructure, ultimately distorting planning guidance. There is also a need for natural hazard specific vulnerability assessment tools to be interpreted alongside, or to incorporate social, economic and political sources of danger to livelihoods and human health. For forward looking policy relevance, tools are also needed that can assess adaptive or coping capacity. This is essential for the building of a holistic approach to urban risk management. An approach that coherently tackles the multiple hazards and vulnerabilities faced by urban dwellers, and seeks to avoid the shifting of risk burdens between populations and the movement of people from one kind of threat to another.
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Apellániz, D., S. Aziz, M. Weber, E. Brechenmacher, S. Ogarkova, and C. Gengnagel. "Integration of life-cycle assessment in a multimodal building design approach." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1078, no. 1 (September 1, 2022): 012089. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1078/1/012089.
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Abstract Decades of rapid and widespread digitization of our living and working environments have not yet brought about a comprehensive qualitative improvement of our built environment in terms of sustainability and functional and aesthetic performance. The designs of the future must be much more consistently concerned with optimizing the multimodal performance of human spaces. This paper presents a design approach to implement and combine life-cycle assessment with different simulation methods such as energy efficiency, daylight analysis, acoustics, noise insulation, structural analysis and fire protection in order to provide the designer with tools to evaluate how architectural decisions affect the building performance and its environmental impacts. This approach was applied by the architecture students of a master course at the Universität der Künste Berlin. They were given the program of a building to be constructed in the Siemensstadt in Berlin and they implemented this methodology to come up with different sustainable designs. This paper also discusses the results of this course and empathizes how the implementation of simulation tools does not constrain the possibilities of the design process, but it enriches it and leads to a more sustainable built environment.
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Molina, José-Luis, Santiago Zazo, Ana-María Martín-Casado, and María-Carmen Patino-Alonso. "Rivers’ Temporal Sustainability through the Evaluation of Predictive Runoff Methods." Sustainability 12, no. 5 (February 25, 2020): 1720. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12051720.
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The concept of sustainability is assumed for this research from a temporal perspective. Rivers represent natural systems with an inherent internal memory on their runoff and, by extension, to their hydrological behavior, that should be identified, characterized and quantified. This memory is formally called temporal dependence and allows quantifying it for each river system. The ability to capture that temporal signature has been analyzed through different methods and techniques. However, there is a high heterogeneity on those methods’ analytical capacities. It is found in this research that the most advanced ones are those whose output provides a dynamic and quantitative assessment of the temporal dependence for each river system runoff. Since the runoff can be split into temporal conditioned runoff fractions, advanced methods provide an important improvement over classic or alternative ones. Being able to characterize the basin by calculating those fractions is a very important progress for water managers that need predictive tools for orienting their water policies to a certain manner. For instance, rivers with large temporal dependence will need to be controlled and gauged by larger hydraulic infrastructures. The application of this approach may produce huge investment savings on hydraulic infrastructures and an environmental impact minimization due to the achieved optimization of the binomial cost-benefit.
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Panameño, Ronald, Carlos Mario Gutiérrez-Aguilar, Beatriz Elena Angel, Sandro Fábio-César, and Asher Kiperstok. "Cleaner Production and LCA as Complementary Tools in Environmental Assessment: Discussing Tradeoffs Assessment in a Case of Study within the Wood Sector in Brazil." Sustainability 11, no. 18 (September 14, 2019): 5026. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11185026.
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Cleaner production has been used for several years in Latin America to minimize waste generation while reducing material and energy consumption. Despite those environmental benefits, its implementation may sometimes lead to changes in products or processes whose environmental performance can yield either positive or negative outputs when examined within a broader context, meaning it is necessary to complement cleaner production with other environmental tools that can provide environmental assessments. This paper presents a combination of cleaner production with life cycle assessment (LCA) applied within the wood industry in a case study in Salvador, a state of Bahia (Brazil), regarding the production of two models of wooden chairs. The study selected life cycle assessment as a scientific tool to quantify the environmental impacts of the models having ILCD 2011 midpoint and cumulative energy demand methods. The results confirmed the presence of environmental tradeoffs among the models that were not considered during the cleaner production program implemented. This paper also includes a proposal of a flowchart to guide the implementation of cleaner production when deciding to implement changes in material, energy source, processes, final destination, or lifespan of the product evaluated, identifying the stages where environmental assessment like life cycle assessment may be required to address tradeoffs.
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Mortey, Eric Mensah, Kouakou Lazare Kouassi, Arona Diedhiou, Sandrine Anquetin, Mathieu Genoud, Benoit Hingray, and Didier Guy Marcel Kouame. "Sustainable Hydroelectric Dam Management in the Context of Climate Change: Case of the Taabo Dam in Côte D’Ivoire, West Africa." Sustainability 11, no. 18 (September 5, 2019): 4846. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11184846.
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Management of hydroelectric dams is an aspect of sustainability that comes with resolving problems locally. The use of global indicators has not been a sustainable solution, thus the need for local indicators. Besides, current sustainability assessment tools lack the integration of climate, making assessments in a climate change context impossible. In this paper, we present management and sustainability assessment in a climate change context using sustainability indicators. We modeled a change in the climate using normal, moderate, and extreme climate conditions defined by Standardized Precipitation Indices (SPI) values. Out of 36 years analyzed, 24 years fall in the near-normal climate regime, and the remaining 12 years in moderate and extreme conditions, making near-normal climate regime the basis for managing the Taabo Dam. The impact of climate, techno-economic, and socio-environmental indicators on sustainability were investigated, and the results were analyzed according to scenarios. Climate adaptation shows higher sustainability indices than techno-economic and socio-environmental scenarios. Probability matrices show high and low values, respectively, for environmental and flooding indicators. Risk matrices, on the other hand, show that even with small probability values, risks still exist, and such small probabilities should not be taken as an absence of risk. The study reveals that sustainability can be improved by integrating climate into existing assessment methods.
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Green, Caroline, Owen Molloy, and Jim Duggan. "An Empirical Study of the Impact of Systems Thinking and Simulation on Sustainability Education." Sustainability 14, no. 1 (December 30, 2021): 394. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14010394.
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Education for sustainable development (ESD) is considered vital to the success of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Systems thinking has been identified as a core competency that must be included in ESD. However, systems thinking-orientated ESD learning tools, established methods of the assessment of sustainability skills, and formal trials to demonstrate the effectiveness of such learning tools are all lacking. This research presents a randomised controlled trial (n = 106) to investigate whether an innovative online sustainability learning tool that incorporates two factors, systems thinking and system dynamics simulation, increases the understanding of a specific sustainability problem. A further aim was to investigate whether these factors also support the transfer of knowledge to a second problem with a similar systemic structure. The effects of the two factors were tested separately and in combination using a two-by-two factorial study design. ANOVA and related inferential statistical techniques were used to analyse the effect of the factors on sustainability understanding. Cohen’s d effect sizes were also calculated. Simulation alone was found to increase ESD learning outcomes significantly, and also to support the transfer of skills, although less significantly. Qualitative feedback was also gathered from participants, most of whom reported finding systems thinking and simulation very helpful.
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Sevigné-Itoiz, Eva, Onesmus Mwabonje, Calliope Panoutsou, and Jeremy Woods. "Life cycle assessment (LCA): informing the development of a sustainable circular bioeconomy?" Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 379, no. 2206 (August 2, 2021): 20200352. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0352.
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The role of life cycle assessment (LCA) in informing the development of a sustainable and circular bioeconomy is discussed. We analyse the critical challenges remaining in using LCA and propose improvements needed to resolve future development challenges. Biobased systems are often complex combinations of technologies and practices that are geographically dispersed over long distances and with heterogeneous and uncertain sets of indicators and impacts. Recent studies have provided methodological suggestions on how LCA can be improved for evaluating the sustainability of biobased systems with a new focus on emerging systems, helping to identify environmental and social opportunities prior to large R&D investments. However, accessing economies of scale and improved conversion efficiencies while maintaining compatibility across broad ranges of sustainability indicators and public acceptability remain key challenges for the bioeconomy. LCA can inform, but not by itself resolve this complex dimension of sustainability. Future policy interventions that aim to promote the bioeconomy and support strategic value chains will benefit from the systematic use of LCA. However, the LCA community needs to develop the mechanisms and tools needed to generate agreement and coordinate the standards and incentives that will underpin a successful biobased transition. Systematic stakeholder engagement and the use of multidisciplinary analysis in combination with LCA are essential components of emergent LCA methods. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bio-derived and bioinspired sustainable advanced materials for emerging technologies (part 1)’.
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Suzigan, Luis H., Carlos Rosano Peña, and Patricia Guarnieri. "Eco-efficiency Assessment in Agriculture: A Literature Review Focused on Methods and Indicators." Journal of Agricultural Science 12, no. 7 (June 15, 2020): 118. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jas.v12n7p118.
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Combining economic performance with environmental and social concern has been a developing topic in recent decades. Eco-efficiency analysis is a widely applied tool to assess the efficiency of agricultural systems, while increasingly considering their environmental and social impact. The main objective of this article is to accomplish a literature review on the application of eco-efficiency analysis in agricultural systems, focusing on methods and indicators that are most regarded for the quantitative assessment of agricultural eco-efficiency. The literature review found two main methods most widely applied to assess eco-efficiency: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which are often combined. LCA is generally focused on the assessment of the environmental impacts of products and practices. DEA is mostly used to measure the eco-efficiency of decision-making units, such as farms, regions, or countries, and has no subjective focus on neither technical nor environmental performance. Both methods share a wide range of economic and environmental indicators but fail to incorporate the social dimension of sustainability into the eco-efficiency analysis. A simple framework, based on Data Envelopment Analysis, is offered to assess the eco-efficiency of the Brazilian agriculture, aiming at identifying the benefits and limitations of the analysis.
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Achour, Nebil, Efthimia Pantzartzis, Federica Pascale, and Andrew D. F. Price. "Integration of resilience and sustainability: from theory to application." International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment 6, no. 3 (September 14, 2015): 347–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijdrbe-05-2013-0016.
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Purpose – This study aims to explore the challenges associated with the integration of resilience and sustainability, and propose a workable solution that ensures resilient and sustainable buildings. Recent research outcomes suggest that the number of natural hazards, both environmental and geophysical, will increase due to the effect of global warming. Various approaches have been investigated to reduce environmental degradation and to improve the physical resilience to natural hazards. However, most of these approaches are fragmented and when combined with cultural barriers, they often result into less-efficient assessment tools. Design/methodology/approach – The primary source of information used to develop this paper has been research publications, policy papers, reports and tool guidelines. A set of questions were developed to guide the review which was complemented with information distilled from the HFA 2005-2015 to develop an integration process to evaluate 10 international sustainability appraisal tools. Findings – The major finding of this research is that, from a technical point of view, resilience and sustainability could be integrated. However, it requires a long and thorough process with a multidisciplinary stakeholder team including technical, strategic, social and political parties. A combination of incentives and policies would support this process and help people work towards the integration. The Japanese model demonstrates a successful case in engaging stakeholders in the process which led to the development of a comprehensive appraisal tool, CASBEE®, where resilience and sustainability are integrated. Practical implications – Although data have been sought through literature review (i.e. secondary data), the research is expected to have significant impact, as it provides a clear theoretical foundation and methods for those wishing to integrate resilience within current sustainability appraisal tools or develop new tools. Social implications – This paper provides original concepts that are required to reduce fragmentation in the way resilience and sustainability are addressed. It sets up a new research agenda which has the potential to have a strong impact due the fact that sustainability and resilience are getting higher on the political priority scale. Originality/value – This paper provides findings of an original idea to reduce fragmentation in the way resilience and sustainability are addressed. It sets up a new research agenda which has the potential to have a strong impact due the fact that sustainability and resilience are getting higher on the political priority scale.
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Jamoussi, Bassem, Asad Abu-Rizaiza, and Ali AL-Haij. "Sustainable Building Standards, Codes and Certification Systems: The Status Quo and Future Directions in Saudi Arabia." Sustainability 14, no. 16 (August 19, 2022): 10314. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su141610314.
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Sustainable building practices are a response to environmental issues. Businesses and industries are assessing how their activities affect the environment. The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries have significant impacts on the environment and economy, while the industry is considered one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and has, therefore, been highlighted by researchers as a key area of intervention with a great potential to reduce environmental impacts. This paper critically reviews and evaluates the current state of sustainable building certification systems with the purpose of having a good understanding of the status quo and possibilities for future directions in Saudi Arabia. It reviews the academic literature on Saudi Arabia’s green/sustainable building codes, standards, certification systems, methods and tools. It starts by addressing sustainability in the broadest sense. Then, it investigates sustainability strategies and evaluates the building certification systems in Saudi Arabia, followed by an introduction to the new practice of sustainable healthcare building assessment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and building information modelling (BIM) techniques have also been investigated. The paper introduces the updated Saudi Building Code (SBC) with further evaluation of the Saudi Green Building Code (SBC 1001-CR). Finally, the paper clearly highlights the key role of sustainable building practices and the need to develop a certification system that considers the new trends and the local context.
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Paramitadevi, Yudith Vega, Beata Ratnawati, Agus Jatnika Effendy, Syarif Hidayat, Mochamad Arief Budihardjo, Bimastyaji Surya Ramadan, Dimas Ardi Prasetya, and Ivone Wulandari Budiharto. "Ecological assessment of different electrokinetic remediation strategies: a pilot scale study." Journal of Degraded and Mining Lands Management 10, no. 2 (January 1, 2023): 4119. http://dx.doi.org/10.15243/jdmlm.2023.102.4119.
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The electrokinetic remediation method can function as a primary or secondary technology and can be applied in conjunction with other physical and biological methods, such as soil washing, phytoremediation, and bioremediation. Environmental impacts arising from the electrokinetic remediation process can be determined using life cycle assessment analysis (LCA) or other tools. This study compared the conventional electrokinetic remediation strategy with two hybrid strategies: electrokinetic-phytoremediation (EKR-Phyto) and electrokinetic-bioremediation (EKR-Bio). The environmental performance of the three strategies is then tested through LCA analysis. The database used was The Ecoinvent, and the freeware software used during the inventory stage was OpenLCA. The impact assessment stage was used in the Recipe I (2016) midpoints, Available Water Remaining (AWARE) midpoint, Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change (IPCC) midpoint (2003), UNEP Society of Environmental Toxicology (USEtox) midpoint, and cumulative energy demand midpoint. The significance of the analysis results was not obtained for the GWP parameter but for the freshwater eutrophication parameter. Among the three strategies, the EKR-Phyto strategy showed the highest significance in eutrophication but the lowest significance in land change. Substitution of chemical fertilizers into natural fertilizers in the EKR-Phyto strategy can be an opportunity for environmental sustainability. The highest impact for ecological analysis of the three strategies was EKR-Phyto in terms of GWP, the sum of primary energy, Acidification Potential (AP), and Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (POCP).
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Aldhafeeri, Zaid M., and Hatem Alhazmi. "Sustainability Assessment of Municipal Solid Waste in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the Framework of Circular Economy Transition." Sustainability 14, no. 9 (April 23, 2022): 5093. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14095093.
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Life cycle assessment (LCA) tools can be used for the environmental assessment of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) systems. The present study aims to evaluate the impact of an MSWM system in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under three different scenarios based on the Strategy for 2045 of Riyadh. The current scenario (S0) considers that municipal solid waste (MSW) is landfilled, scenario one (S1) considers waste to energy (WtE) as the main treatment while dry recyclables and organic waste collection schemes are introduced, and scenario two (S2) considers dry recyclables and organic waste collection schemes at the maximum level while the residual portion is treated as WtE. The system boundaries include MSW treatment and disposal by recycling, incineration, composting, and landfilling methods. The scenarios were compared using SimaPro 9.1.1.1 software, and the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) V1.04/World (2010) H method was used to assess global warming, ozone formation (human health), fine particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, mineral resource scarcity, and fossil resource scarcity. S0 was found to be the scenario with the least impact if considering just the waste treatment. However, S1 and S2 allow material and energy recovery that avoids the impact of obtaining primary resources. S1 and S2 reduced greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions by 55% and 58%, respectively, compared to S0. According to the SV2030, 2% of the electricity generated by the Kingdom would have to come from WtE, but based on the calculations, the maximum electricity from waste would be obtained with S1 fully implemented and would contribute a maximum of 1.51% to Saudi Arabia’s electricity demand. This study contributes by providing useful insights that could help decision-makers to understand the potential environmental impacts by assessing each step considered by the Strategy for 2045 for Riyadh along with the consequences on material and energy supply by using the material and energy potential of MSW.
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Ugarelli, Rita, and Sveinung Sægrov. "Infrastructure Asset Management: Historic and Future Perspective for Tools, Risk Assessment, and Digitalization for Competence Building." Water 14, no. 8 (April 12, 2022): 1236. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w14081236.
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This article aims at analyzing the historic development of infrastructure asset management (IAM) resulting from the increase of challenges over time. Furthermore, it aims at suggesting the corresponding requirements for the enrichment of educational programs to provide the decision makers of tomorrow with the right competences. The evolution of IAM is here described as characterized by three periods introducing an increased complexity of analysis and thereby, a more powerful system for urban water management: (a) Data collection and development of computerized information systems including statistical methods for information management; (b) application of risk analysis including sources of hazards and their consequences; and (c) introduction of a holistic sustainable perspective including governance, social and economic aspects (circular economy), environmental impacts, and the condition of physical assets including digital systems. A variety of competencies are needed to obtain the safe management of urban water systems, in particular for the provision of water services in medium- and large-scale cities. Similar competencies are needed for other infrastructures, like buildings, roads and railroads, and IT systems. The elements of sustainability including risk assessment and digitalization should be incorporated in master programs for civil engineering world-wide. This paper is not designed as a scientific paper, but as inspirational for IAM practitioners and for the development of enriched educational programs of technical universities.
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Ssossé, Quentin, Johanna Wagner, and Carina Hopper. "Assessing the Impact of ESD: Methods, Challenges, Results." Sustainability 13, no. 5 (March 6, 2021): 2854. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13052854.
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Education for Sustainable Development (ESD; also often called Education for Sustainability (EfS)) is a key lever of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which emphasize the need for everyone to have the knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of creating a more sustainable world. However, while we can find examples of ESD across the globe, its potential to scale effectively and its impact on achieving the goals of sustainable development as compared with traditional curricula are often questioned. This literature review, at the crossroads of econometrics, educational sciences and psychology, aims to foster scaled ESD research and initiatives by offering a better understanding of the doubts that surround its potential impact. To that end, we (1) shed light on the methods and good practices for assessing this impact; (2) underline the specificity of the data to be collected in the context of these methods of assessment; and (3) outline the existing conclusions of impact studies dedicated to ESD that have served to highlight the limits and challenges for accurate measurement. These impact studies suggest that ESD will only achieve its objectives if pedagogical approaches are renewed. The inclusion of studies showing de facto poor results for ESD makes it possible to complete the picture of the endogenous and exogenous factors determining sustainable behavior that must be taken into account, both in the design of impact assessment tools and in the concrete implementation of ESD.
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Ashrafi, Baharak, Carola Neugebauer, and Michael Kloos. "A Conceptual Framework for Heritage Impact Assessment: A Review and Perspective." Sustainability 14, no. 1 (December 21, 2021): 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14010027.
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Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) has recently emerged as a conflict-solving tool to improve World Heritage (WH) conservation in line with sustainable development policies. The increasing number of requested HIAs for affected WH properties over the last years reveals that more attention is being paid to HIA as a practical tool to adequately support the protection and management of historic monuments and sites against new constructions and development. However, the application of integrated and systematic impact assessment methods within HIA still remains a key challenge in different HIA projects. Therefore, this paper contributes to the further development of a transparent and systematic procedure of HIA in accordance with Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). It also explores different standard methods of impact assessment in EIA and discusses their applicability to cultural World Heritage properties. Finally, the paper emphasizes a need for developing integrated impact assessment methods to address the multiple impacts of development projects. Such methodological enhancement can further contribute to mitigation strategies and decision-making to protect World Heritage properties within the context of sustainable development.
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Mostafa, Ahmed, and Heba Shaaban. "Chemometric Assisted UV-Spectrophotometric Methods Using Multivariate Curve Resolution Alternating Least Squares and Partial Least Squares Regression for Determination of Beta-Antagonists in Formulated Products: Evaluation of the Ecological Impact." Molecules 28, no. 1 (December 31, 2022): 328. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules28010328.
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In this study, UV-spectrophotometry coupled with chemometrics has been utilized to enhance the sustainability of quality control analysis of beta antagonists. First, we developed and optimized two eco-friendly chemometric-assisted methods without preliminary separation utilizing (1) multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) and (2) well-established partial least squares regression (PLSR) multivariate calibration for the resolution and quantification of the most commonly prescribed beta antagonists in active pharmaceutical ingredients or commercial pharmaceutical products. The performance of the two proposed chemometric methods was computed and compared. Second, a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the eco-friendliness of the developed methods was performed utilizing the following greenness assessment tools: Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI), Analytical Eco-scale assessment (AES) tool, Raynie and Driver’s assessment tool and Analytical GREEnness Metric (AGREE). The models showed satisfactory recovery with a range from 99.83% to 101.12% for MCR-ALS and from 99.66% to 101.54% for PLSR. The optimized models were employed for green analysis of the investigated beta-blockers in single or co-formulated formulations without prior separation. The predictivity of the proposed MCR-ALS and the well-established PLSR method were very comparable. Nevertheless, the MCR-ALS method has the ability to recover the pure spectra of the studied analytes and the interferences as well. The proposed chemometric methods are fast, precise and do not need any sample pretreatment. In addition, they can be used as a benign substitute for the traditional methods used for the analysis of the investigated drugs in pharmaceutical products without harmful impacts on human health and the environment. They also provide advantages in terms of low solvent usage, reduced energy consumption and short analysis time, making them a safe and sustainable approach for quality control analysis.
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Pervaiz, Salman, Sathish Kannan, Ibrahim Deiab, and Hossam Kishawy. "Role of energy consumption, cutting tool and workpiece materials towards environmentally conscious machining: A comprehensive review." Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture 234, no. 3 (September 16, 2019): 335–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0954405419875344.
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Metal-cutting process deals with the removal of material using the shearing operation with the help of hard cutting tools. Machining operations are famous in the manufacturing sector due to their capability to manufacture tight tolerances and high dimensional accuracy while simultaneously maintaining the cost-effectiveness for higher production levels. As metal-cutting processes consume a great amount of input resources and generate some material-based waste streams, these processes are highly criticized due to their high and negative environmental impacts. Researchers in the metal-cutting sector are currently exploring and benchmarking different activities and best practices to make the cutting operation environment friendly in nature. These eco-friendly practices mainly cover the wide range of activities directly or indirectly associated with the metal-cutting operation. Most of the literature for sustainable metal-cutting activities revolves around the sustainable lubrication techniques to minimize the negative influence of cutting fluids on the environment. However, there is a need to enlarge the assessment domain for the metal-cutting process and other directly and indirectly associated practices such as enhancing sustainability through innovative methods for workpiece and cutting tool materials, and approaches to optimize energy consumption should also be explored. The aim of this article is to explore the role of energy consumption and the influence of workpiece and tool materials towards the sustainability of machining process. The article concludes that sustainability of the machining process can be improved by incorporating different innovative approaches related to the energy and tool–workpiece material consumptions.
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Ponomarenko, Tatyana, Marina Nevskaya, and Oksana Marinina. "An Assessment of the Applicability of Sustainability Measurement Tools to Resource-Based Economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States." Sustainability 12, no. 14 (July 10, 2020): 5582. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12145582.
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The concept of sustainable development (SD) is aimed at ensuring public well-being for the present and future generations. Hundreds of methods have been proposed for assessing and comparing the sustainable development of countries and analyzing their contribution to the future of the world. When applied to resource-based economies (RBEs), assessment tools do not take into account the value and impact of mineral resources on SD indicators. The purpose of the study is to reveal the limitations of applying some tools by taking into consideration the specific features of RBEs. Research methods include a correlation analysis between gross national income (GNI) per capita and aggregated indices (the Sustainable Society Index (SSI), the Human Development Index (HDI), and the Environmental Performance Index (EPI)), a comparative analysis of these indices and mining companies’ performance indicators. Object Eurasian RBEs were selected, but Norway was analyzed separately from the sample. The results of the study show that correlations between GNI per capita and SD indicators are heterogeneous. There is no statistically significant correlation between GNI per capita and SSI, a strong correlation with HDI, and a weak correlation with EPI. The EPI and SSI structures do not reflect the specific features of RBEs.
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Zhanbayev, Rinat, and Muhammad Irfan. "Industrial-Innovative Paradigm of Social Sustainability: Modeling the Assessment of Demoethical, Demographic, Democratic, and Demoeconomic Factors." Sustainability 14, no. 12 (June 14, 2022): 7280. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14127280.
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The article presents an analysis of tools for influencing the sustainable development of regions, considering their industry specifics, as well as ways to influence socioeconomic growth. The purpose of the article is to model the assessment of demoetic, demographic, democratic, and demoeconomical factors as the basis of the industrial and innovative paradigm of social sustainability. Achieving sustainability is possible only along the vector of harmony through the systemic combination 4D = “D + 3D”, namely, demoethics and demography, democracy, demoeconomy. Analysis of the existing processes of development and harmonization of society is implemented in the example of Kazakhstan. Research methods include integral analysis for ranking regions and correlation and regression modeling to assess the impact of factors on the process of sustainable development of society in a particular territory. The article hypothesizes that the creation of conditions for the development of the main regional industry will stimulate its sustainable and harmonious socioeconomic growth and provide the necessary level for the process of social harmonization. The findings show that the proposed approach made it possible to identify harmonious and disharmonious factors in the development of the region and to identify tools for influencing the process of sustainable development of society to increase the level of harmonious socioeconomic development of a particular region.
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Pirouz, Behrouz, Natale Arcuri, Behzad Pirouz, Stefania Anna Palermo, Michele Turco, and Mario Maiolo. "Development of an Assessment Method for Evaluation of Sustainable Factories." Sustainability 12, no. 5 (February 29, 2020): 1841. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12051841.
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The role of the industrial sector in total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and resource consumption is well-known, and many industrial activities may have a negative environmental impact. The solution to decreasing the negative effects cannot be effective without the consideration of sustainable development. There are several methods for sustainability evaluation, such as tools based on products, processes, or plants besides supply chain or life cycle analysis, and there are different rating systems suggesting 80, 140, or more indicators for assessment. The critical point is the limits such as required techniques and budget in using all indicators for all factories in the beginning. Moreover, the weight of each indicator might change based on the selected alternative that it is not a fixed value and could change in a new case study. In this regard, to determine the impact and weight of different indicators in sustainable factories, a multi-layer Triangular Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (TFAHP) approach was developed, and the application of the method was described and verified. The defined layers are six; for each layer, the pairwise comparison matrix was developed, and the total aggregated score concerning the sustainability goal for each alternative was calculated that shows the Relative Importance Coefficient (RIC). The method is formulated in a way that allows adding the new indicators in all layers as the verification shows, and thus, there are no limits for using any green rating systems. Therefore, the presented approach by TFAHP would provide an additional tool toward the sustainable development of factories.
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Kaushal, Vinayak, and Mohammad Najafi. "Comparative Assessment of Environmental Impacts from Open-Cut Pipeline Replacement and Trenchless Cured-in-Place Pipe Renewal Method for Sanitary Sewers." Infrastructures 5, no. 6 (June 15, 2020): 48. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures5060048.
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An environmental impact assessment (EIA) involves the evaluation of information about pipe raw materials, processes, and product manufacturing to obtain the associated emissions and ecological impacts. Open-cut (OC) pipeline replacement involves digging a trench along the length of the proposed pipeline, placing the pipe in the trench on suitable bedding materials, and then embedding and backfilling. The trenchless cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) method involves a liquid thermoset resin saturated material that is inserted into the existing pipeline by hydrostatic or air inversion or by mechanically pulling-in and inflating. The liner material is cured-in-place using hot water or steam or light cured using ultraviolet light, resulting in the CIPP product. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to present a literature review on the progress acquired over the years in understanding the environmental impacts from the OC and CIPP methods, (2) to analyze and compare the environmental impacts for small diameter sanitary sewers (SDSS) using USEPA’s tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts (TRACI) methodology from the SimaPro software, and (3) to identify the factors that influence the environment for the OC and CIPP methods. Published papers were identified that reported the environmental impacts from the OC and CIPP methods over a period from 1989 through to 2020. An actual case study based on the City of Pasadena, California, river basin was used to carry out an environmental analysis for small diameter OC and CIPP methods. The literature review suggests that the material production phase consumes a large amount of energy and is a major contributor of environmental impacts. Higher environmental impacts from the OC method are a result of longer project durations and more equipment requirements compared to the CIPP. The assessment results show that, on average, CIPP renewal caused 68% less environmental impact, 75% less impact on human health, and 62% less resource depletion as compared to the OC replacement for SDSS. The liner, felt, and resin influenced the environment the most for CIPP as compared to the OC method, where the power consumption of construction equipment and the pipe material had the greatest environmental impacts. It can be concluded that the comparison of the environmental impacts from pipeline renewal and replacement is an important element when considering a sustainable underground infrastructure development. The pipe material and outside diameter should be considered during the installation phase by OC and CIPP methods to allow a detailed evaluation and comparison of their sustainability impacts. This study can be further developed for analyzing the environmental impacts and associated costs of the OC and CIPP methods for sanitary sewers with different project and site conditions.