Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sustainable decision-Making'

At every stage in life, living beings are faced with the issue of what to go for or which one to choose. Life always presents us with questions of multiple choices wherein we have to choose from very many choices or alternatives put before us. To every case, issue, or problem, there is usually one choice that will perfectly solve or attend to the issue or problem at hand as compared to the other ways available. This can be because it will save time, or human resources or financial resources and sometimes all of them than the other options. The ability to choose among alternatives is decision making.

Recently there has been some tendency of grows of transnational and foreign companies in which Ukrainians appear as managers. For the efficient work companies are looking of ways to understand the mysteries of our culture and put that understanding to good use in the marketplace. The best way to do this is to analyze the subculture or subgroups. This helps to understand the cultural issues in many cases. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/31207

This thesis describes emerging European Union challenges for environmental justice: public participation with transparent decision-making; and knowledge transfer of complex scientific information. It describes the Delphi technique, a pen-and-paper decision support framework developed during the late 1950s and 1960s and its potential to meet environmental justice challenges, if coupled with internet-based computer technologies; online computer mediated decision making (OCMDM). Through various case studies, mainly with one group of soil experts, a long term assessment of OCMDM is presented. This thesis argues that OCMDM provides a technologically flexible, relatively inclusive and efficient framework for discourse capture. However, from a social perspective, OCMDM is far from universally popular, mirroring long-held views of traditional pen-and-paper-based Delphis. At this time, the tool could not be recommended as a transferable panacea for public consultation. Nevertheless, a long-term study of user group engagement with the tool identifies significant utility for conflict resolution, with scope for application within contentious decision-making arenas, if utilised sparingly and thoughtfully. Criteria for successful 'real-world' acceptance of application and research with the tool are provided, together with examples of real-world decision-making arenas that meet them. Through analysis of participants' perceptions, a tantalising glimpse of potentially complex fractal-based decision processes is offered: honing and spiraling towards an ever-refining definition of a truth. This study suggests that this singular decision is itself only part of other archetypal honing-spiraling mechanisms of decision-making, either objectively or metaphorically; each of differing attractions and repulsion to an end user. By identifying some of these fundamental rules of participation, this study provides an opportunity to explore human interaction and decision-making with greater accuracy. There is considerable potential to eliminate most, if not all, OCMDM participant concerns.

As a result of digitalization, previously analog systems in the manufacturing industry have become digitalized, including the decision-making processes. Companies are, therefore,becoming more dependent on data for strategic decisions. However, because of the rapid development of digitalization, companies are left blindfolded in the path towards smarter manufacturing which often leads to unsuccessful technological implementations. Therefore, the thesis will explore this problem by asking: What are the required initiatives for successfully implementing digital data-driven decision-making to improve efficiency and sustainability by Swedish manufacturing companies? To answer the research questions, an exploratory multiple case study approach was conducted, where interviews with informants from the industry as well as researchers within the context of smarter manufacturing were made. The findings were then used to derive propositions which worked as the foundation of a conceptual model which functionality would be to illuminate the results in the form of a strategy map. Findings suggest that it is not always necessary for companies to implement technologies linked to large investments to enable digital data-driven decision-making. However, for those that do, there needs to be a clear organizational plan and agenda before executing theprojects since they otherwise often lead to insufficient results. That means, the technological aspects are often not the culprit in failed digital data-driven decision-makingprojects. Additional findings suggest that there are synergies connected to digital data-driven decision-making such as data-sharing possibilities that have the potential of becoming a major aspect within the context of sustainability and efficiency.
Som ett resultat av ökad digitalisering har analoga system i tillverkningsindustrin blivit digitaliserade, vilket inkluderar beslutsfattandet. Företag har därför börjat förlita sig alltmer på data för sina strategiska beslut. Men på grund av den snabba utveckling av digitalisering har tillverkningsföretagen lämnats utan klara riktlinjer för hur de bör gå tillväga för att implementera digitalt datadrivet beslutsfattande på ett effektivt men hållbart sätt. Avhandlingen kommer därför att undersöka detta problem genom att fråga: Vilka är de initiativ som krävs för att framgångsrikt implementera digital datadrivet beslutsfattande med målet att förbättra effektiviteten och hållbarheten hos svenska tillverkningsföretag? För att svara på forskningsfrågorna användes en undersökande metod med flerafallstudier, där intervjuer gjordes med informanter från industrin såväl som forskare inom ramen för smartare tillverkning. Resultaten användes sedan för att härleda förslag som därefter användes till konstruktionen av en konceptuell model vars huvuduppgift var att illustrera resultaten i form av en strategikarta. Slutsatserna pekar på att det inte alltid är nödvändigt för företag att implementera teknik kopplad till stora investeringar för att möjliggöra digitalt datadrivet beslutsfattande. Men för de som valt att implementera sådana system behövs en tydlig organisationsplan innan projekten genomförs eftersom de annars ofta leder till ofördelaktiga resultat. Detta tyder på att de tekniska aspekterna oftast inte är vad som orsakar misslyckade datadrivna beslutsprojekt. Dessutom tyder resultaten på att det finns synergier kopplade till digitalt datadrivet beslutsfattande, till exempel möjligheter att dela data som har potential att bli en viktig aspekt inom hållbarhet och effektivitet.

A major challenge for any manufacturer is including aspects of sustainable development in product design that are related to the social, environmental and economic impacts. Several methods and tools have been developed to facilitate sustainable product design, but they lack critical application of the ecological design (eco-design) process and economic costing, particularly during the conceptual design phase. This research overcomes these deficiencies by integrating eco-design approaches across all phases of product life cycle. These approaches were applied and tested in two case studies, which demonstrate that the tools developed can be used to reduce a product’s environmental and economic impacts while fulfilling customer needs. The integrated eco-design decision making (IEDM) methodology is proposed and developed in this study as a method for improving product sustainability. This is the principle contribution of this thesis to the field of sustainable product design. The IEDM applies environmental considerations across three stages of product development. The first stage is the life cycle assessment (LCA), which is used to identify critical areas in which the product’s environmental performance can be improved. The results of the LCA are then analysed in the second stage using an eco-design process (Eco-Process) model. This model identifies environmental concerns relating to the manufacturing process, product use, and end-of-life (EOL) strategy. These concerns are then addressed within the third stage, which uses an ecological house of quality (Eco-HoQ) embedded in an ecological quality function deployment (Eco-QFD) process. The ecodesign case-based reasoning (Eco-CBR) tool was also developed in this study to improve product design knowledge sharing. The development of the Eco-HOQ, which is integrated into the Eco-QFD process and part of the broader IEDM, is the second major contribution of this work. The Ecov HOQ is an extra “house” that can capture and manage sustainability considerations in a single place. This increases the relevance of the information used and produced in product design and encourages actions for improving sustainability at each phase of the Eco-QFD process. The Eco-QFD ensures that customer needs are incorporated within the context of sustainability. The eco-design case-based reasoning (Eco-CBR) tool was developed on the premise that if experiences from the Eco-QFD process can be captured in some useful form, designers can refer to and learn from past experiences. The Eco-CBR is an intuitive decision support tool that complements the IEDM framework and proposes solutions related to the social, environmental, and economic impacts of the product. The application of the entire IEDM framework, including the Eco-HoQ, Eco-QFD, and complementary Eco-CBR, is demonstrated in the case studies of single-use medical forceps and an office chair base. The case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of these tools when assessing a product’s sustainability, even when its design is altered. In addition, this methodology provides a complete view of the environmental performance and economic cost of these products over their entire life cycles in conjunction with an assessment of customer requirements. In summary, this thesis contributes significantly to the field of sustainable product design by proposing the integration of eco-design approaches at every stage of product development, including the critical conceptual phase. The approaches developed in this study will enable designers to improve product design, increase productivity, and reduce material usage and costs while meeting customer specifications.

Introduction The economic impact of environmental regulations in the manufacturing sector and the increasing costs of primary resources have pressured companies wishing to obtain competitive advantages to seek ways to rationalize these resources, either through changes in products specifications or in manufacturing process. These actions depend on solutions that should consider the limits set out in the interdependencies between economic, environmental and social areas, which comprise the so-called sustainability tripod. In this case, the guiding principle for decisions should follow the approach of sustainable development. For this purpose, a proper performance indicators evaluation of processes is a great step to improvement actions and decision making for modifications. Continuous improvement approaches and support of mathematical tools, such as the Discrete Event Simulation (DES) have been used for identifying waste on the shop floor and for cost analyses for manufacturing optimization (Standridge et al. 2006). One of the advantages resulting from the application of DES in corporations is its capability to include the impact of randomness in a system. All the dynamics and the non-deterministic nature of the parameters eliminate the use of static tools such as spreadsheets for solving many line design problems. Furthermore, all commercial simulation software provides detailed animation capabilities. The animation of the manufacturing process and flow can help engineers to visually detect problems or bottlenecks and also to test out alternate line designs. For this reason, the DES may be applied to generate requirements and sustainable systems specifications for manufacturing. However, the analyses results performed by using DES are not sufficient for the joint assessment of impacts on the three dimensions of sustainability (Johansson et al. 2010; Kuhl & Zhou 2009; Joschko et al. 2009). A tool widely used in the academic environment and by corporations to calculate pollutant emissions rates in the product life cycle is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This can supplement cost assessments performed with DES in the production process phase. This work discusses the combined use of DES with LCA to analyze production resources utilization in manufacturing systems. Towards this end, it seeks through a case study to analyze this joint use in decision-making for purchasing forklifts, according to sustainable premises.

Despite of significant role of collective decision making in strategic community development towards sustainability, this area is seen to be generally underestimated by community planners and ecovillage members, comparing with, for example, legal, financial and technological aspects of community life. This study aims to understand how Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) perspective can contribute to decision making procedures in ecovillages in Sweden. The research examines how decision making procedures work in ecovillages today and to which extent strategic component, viewed through SSD perspective, is currently incorporated. Secondly research explores how SSD perspective could possibly be incorporated into decision making procedures in ecovillages, in order to foster their development towards sustainability. To address this purpose decision making model was created, based on literature review; three ecovillage studies were conducted; and recommendations were offered, based on findings from literature and findings from current experience of selected ecovillages in Sweden.

This dissertation addresses the main challenges faced in the transition to a more sustainable energy sector by applying modelling tools that could design more effective managerial responses and provide policy insights. To mitigate the impact of climate change, the electric power industry needs to reduce markedly its emissions of greenhouse gases. As energy consumption is set to increase in the foreseeable future, this can be achieved only through costly investments in more efficient conventional generation or in renewable energy resources. While more energy-efficient technologies are commercially available, the deregulation of most electricity industries implies that investment decisions need to be taken by private investors with government involvement limited to setting policy measures or designing market rules. Thus, it is desirable to understand how investment and operational decisions are to be made by decentralised entities that face uncertainty and competition. One of the most efficient thermal power technologies is cogeneration, or combined heat and power (CHP), which can recover heat that otherwise would be discarded from conventional generation. Cogeneration is particularly efficient when the recovered heat can be used in the vicinity of the combustion engine. Although governments are supporting on-site CHP generation through feed-in tariffs and favourable grid access, the adoption of small-scale electricity generation has been hindered by uncertain electricity and gas prices. While deterministic and real options studies have revealed distributed generation to be both economical and effective at reducing CO2 emissions, these analyses have not addressed the aspect of risk management. In order to overcome the barriers of financial uncertainties to investment, it is imperative to address the decision-making problems of a risk-averse energy consumer. Towards that end, we develop a multi-stage, stochastic mean-risk optimisation model for the long-term and medium-term risk management problems of a large consumer. We first show that installing a CHP unit not only results in both lower CO2 emissions and expected running cost but also leads to lower risk exposure. In essence, by investing in a CHP unit, a large consumer obtains the option to use on-site generation whenever the electricity price peaks, thereby reducing significantly its financial risk over the investment period. To provide further insights into risk management strategies with on-site generation, we examine also the medium-term operational problem of a large consumer. In this model, we include all available contracts from electricity and gas futures markets, and analyse their interactions with on-site generation. We conclude that by swapping the volatile electricity spot price for the less volatile gas spot price, on-site generation with CHP can lead to lower risk exposure even in the medium term, and it alters a risk-averse consumer’s demand for futures contracts. While extensive subsidies have triggered investments in renewable generation, these installations need to be accompanied by transmission expansion. The reason for this is that solar and wind energy output is intermittent, and attractive solar and wind sites are often located far away from demand centres. Thus, to integrate renewable generation into the grid system and to maintain a reliable and secure electricity supply, a vastly improved transmission network is crucial. Finding the optimal transmission line investments for a given network is already a very complex task since these decisions need to take into account future demand and generation configurations, too, which now depend on private investors. To address these concerns, our third study models the problem of wind energy investment and transmission expansion jointly through a stochastic bi-level programming model under different market designs for transmission line investment. This enables the game-theoretic interaction between distinct decision makers, i.e., those investing in power plants and those constructing transmission lines, to be addressed directly. We find that under perfect competition only one of the wind power producers, the one with lower capital cost, makes investment and to a lower degree under a profit-maximising merchant investor (MI) than under a welfare-maximising transmission system operator (TSO), as the MI reduces the transmission capacity to increase congestion rent. In addition, we note that regardless of whether the grid expansion is carried out by the TSO or by the MI, a higher proportion of wind energy is installed when power producers exercise market power. In effect, strategic withholding of generation capacity by producers prompts more transmission investment since the TSO aims to increase welfare by subsidising wind and the MI creates more flow to maximise profit. Under perfect competition, a higher level of wind generation can be achieved only through mandating renewable portfolio standards (RPS), which in turn results also in increased transmission investment.

Waste is an inevitable output of our modern lives. Industrialisation and globalisation have facilitated society’s desire (and capacity) to consume more products than previous generations. Such increases in consumption are responsible for the increasing amounts of material that arise in the household waste stream, collected by local authorities. The term 'waste' has long been associated with disposal, despite the fact that 44% of household waste in the UK is now recycled. By thinking of household waste as a resource, it may be possible to extract value. Items that householders no longer require should not simply be discarded as waste but instead should be appreciated for the inherent value they possess and the new products they can become. However, implementing this paradigm is complicated by the variety of different materials in the waste stream, and the number of stakeholders responsible for its management. A central theme of the work presented in this thesis is the paradigm shift ‘From Waste to Resource’. This is important both for issues of resource security and sustainability. Indeed, whilst the times of ‘make do and mend’ can appear to be in the past, there is a great deal of interest in reusing and recovering material resources, especially if components or assemblages can be refurbished or ‘upcycled’. This research has developed a decision-making tool – The Local Authority Optimal Material Management Framework (LAOMMaF) – which can enable local authorities to assess the best way of managing their household ‘waste’. The LAOMMaF takes the user through the identification and quantification of the materials of interest, the determination of viable treatment options, and an options appraisal. The framework has been refined using five case studies: i) assessment of the optimal management of absorbent hygiene products, ii) quantification of waste as a material, through the development of a composition specification, iii) exploration of future waste and potential impacts on waste generation in Surrey, iv) assessment of management options for household wood waste using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making, and v) application of the revised LAOMMaF to assess the compliance of current collection systems in Surrey to the amended Waste Regulations (2011). By understanding the composition, amount and value of waste available to them, local authorities can take a more proactive approach in the ‘Waste Supply Chain’ to prevent the implementation of ‘sub-optimal’ management practices and the loss of valuable resources.

The construction industry has an obligation to respond to sustainability expectations of our society. Solutions that integrate innovative, intelligent and sustainability deliverables are vital for us to meet new and emerging challenges. Industrialised Building Systems (IBS), or known otherwise as prefabrication, employs a combination of ready-made components in the construction of buildings. They promote quality of production, enhance simplification of construction processes and minimise waste. The unique characteristics of this construction method respond well to sustainability. Despite the promises however, IBS has yet to be effectively implemented in Malaysia. There are often misconceptions among key stakeholders about IBS applications. The existing rating schemes fail to assess IBS against sustainability measures. To ensure the capture of full sustainability potential in buildings developed, the critical factors and action plans agreeable to all participants in the development processes need to be identified. Through questionnaire survey, eighteen critical factors relevant to IBS sustainability were identified and encapsulated into a conceptual framework to coordinate a systematic IBS decision making approach. Five categories were used to separate the critical factors into: ecological performance; economic value; social equity and culture; technical quality; and implementation and enforcement. This categorisation extends the "Triple Bottom Lines" to include social, economic, environmental and institutional dimensions. Semi-structured interviews help identify strategies of actions and solutions of potential problems through a SWOT analysis framework. These tools help the decision-makers maximise the opportunities by using available strengths, avoid weaknesses, and diagnose possible threats in the examined issues. The recommendations formed an integrated action plan to present information on what and how to improve sustainability through tackling each critical factor during IBS development. It can be used as part of the project briefing documents for IBS designers. For validation and finalisation the research deliverables, three case studies were conducted. The research fills a current gap by responding to IBS project scenarios in developing countries. It also provides a balanced view for designers to better understand sustainability potential and prioritize attentions to manage sustainability issues in IBS applications.

Introduction The economic impact of environmental regulations in the manufacturing sector and the increasing costs of primary resources have pressured companies wishing to obtain competitive advantages to seek ways to rationalize these resources, either through changes in products specifications or in manufacturing process. These actions depend on solutions that should consider the limits set out in the interdependencies between economic, environmental and social areas, which comprise the so-called sustainability tripod. In this case, the guiding principle for decisions should follow the approach of sustainable development. For this purpose, a proper performance indicators evaluation of processes is a great step to improvement actions and decision making for modifications. Continuous improvement approaches and support of mathematical tools, such as the Discrete Event Simulation (DES) have been used for identifying waste on the shop floor and for cost analyses for manufacturing optimization (Standridge et al. 2006). One of the advantages resulting from the application of DES in corporations is its capability to include the impact of randomness in a system. All the dynamics and the non-deterministic nature of the parameters eliminate the use of static tools such as spreadsheets for solving many line design problems. Furthermore, all commercial simulation software provides detailed animation capabilities. The animation of the manufacturing process and flow can help engineers to visually detect problems or bottlenecks and also to test out alternate line designs. For this reason, the DES may be applied to generate requirements and sustainable systems specifications for manufacturing. However, the analyses results performed by using DES are not sufficient for the joint assessment of impacts on the three dimensions of sustainability (Johansson et al. 2010; Kuhl & Zhou 2009; Joschko et al. 2009). A tool widely used in the academic environment and by corporations to calculate pollutant emissions rates in the product life cycle is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This can supplement cost assessments performed with DES in the production process phase. This work discusses the combined use of DES with LCA to analyze production resources utilization in manufacturing systems. Towards this end, it seeks through a case study to analyze this joint use in decision-making for purchasing forklifts, according to sustainable premises.

This paper explores how decision-making under uncertainty can address opportunities, risks, and uncertainties for sustainable development; how decision theory, resilience thinking, and scenario planning approaches can assist the decision-making process. The paper will focus on decision-making for sustainable development under uncertainty associated with energy development in Western Kazakhstan. The main goal of this work is to demonstrate how different decision-making approaches under uncertainty can facilitate sustainable development of the oil industry in the region. Recommendations for sustainable development are examined for how the different approaches can be used to better inform the recommendations.

In the energy field, the decisions need to take into consideration several factors such as the needs of the population, the environment, suitability, capital cost, sustainability, political goals and the actors involved, with their interests and preferences. The lack of homogeneity in all the factors that must be consider makes it necessary to design a process that guides the analysis process of any type of decision-maker. Decision analysis methods have been developed to aid decision-makers identify a problem, determine the criteria to be consider and their importance, recognize the stakeholders that need to be involved and pose the different alternatives to resolve or to best address the problem. These techniques range from simple to more mathematically oriented ones, from single criterion evaluation to multiple criteria, and from purely qualitative or quantitative to mixed techniques. Within the field of decision analysis, multi-criteria techniques are better suited to aid in decision situations in the energy field as these decisions require several considerations beside economic ones. This thesis uses theories and notions of decision analysis to construct a framework to be used in any energy related decision situations by non-experts. The framework tackles common challenges faced by multi-criteria decision analysis methods, including the identification of stakeholders and decision-makers, the aggregation of various decision-makers, preferences and heterogeneous inputs, and the selection of suitable criteria, alternatives and methods.

The housing and service sector in Sweden are estimated to be responsible for 40 % of the total primary energy usage (Energimyndigheten, 2011). There exist a lot of inventions that have the possibility to greatly improve the environmental performance of a building´s LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) (Swentec, 2012) (Rutqvist, 2008). In order to achieve implementation of new innovative sustainable installations in buildings it is important to understand the process during the investment decision. Understanding the decision making process used in practise, is the first step towards creating a strategy for how to get a new technology implemented. By conducting a survey including both contractors and developers in Sweden an overview of the building sectors standpoint on environmental sustainability is achieved. In order to refine the information and achieve a more detailed picture of the issue the survey was followed up by In-depth interviews.The findings show that valuation techniques are varying a lot between companies but surprisingly many of the companies do use inferior methods such as pay back-time for investment calculations. Overall in the construction business technical and economic risk aspects are not being valued explicitly but rather through the use of product ratings and brand promise of well-known suppliers. Negative externalities are not being included in the calculations and the valuation of intangibles is not done explicitly but rather seen as implicitly derived from the cost and value of sustainability certifications.

This thesis develops a framework for making ecologically sustainable decisions. It is an integrative thesis that draws its data from the fundamental concepts underlying the disciplines of psyschology, linguistics and biology. Its orientation is essentially theoretical, but its application is practical. It is presented in three parts. Part 1 sets out the theoretical context and proposes a basis for understanding decision-making processes in an interactive, evolutionary context. This part focuses particularly on subjective factors that play a role when an organism is in the process of making a decision. Part 1 provides an underpinning for the core of the thesis. Part 2 forms this core. It considers the context in which decisions are made and overviews current decision-making frameworks that aim at ecologically sustainable outcomes. It proposes a process of metabolic mapping of materials and energy flows across integrated socio-political bioregions as a basis for decision-making. Part 3 considers the implications of the approach in terms of its utility, reliability and validity. This part also looks at the role of ethics in decision-making and outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the new approach. The principle rinding is that research and decision-making are fundamentally distinct, often confused concepts. An integrative approach to decision-making is required to counter the increasing fragmentation in research and professional and administrative specialisation. A research tool that bridges the plethora of theoretical orientations is proposed. This involves the use of a semantic metalanguage to capture meaning in a rigorous and verifiable way. Such a metalanguage gives us a means of understanding the subjective experience of organisms, and in particular, their subjective perception of reality which guides their decision-making. A second finding is that, unlike research, which necessarily involves a process of context reduction, sound decision-making necessarily involves a process of context augmentation. And finally it proposes a method of metabolic mapping on a bioregional basis operating under the principle of subsidiarity as the most appropriate route towards sustainable decision-making.

Municipal solid waste treatment options are not necessarily pragmatic if their long-term benefits don’t mutually satisfy all related stakeholders such as industry, municipality, etc. Stakeholders are inclined to select an option with the maximized benefits and minimized lifecycle costs. A decision support framework is needed to identify and evaluate available waste treatment options under diverse multiple criteria and conflicting preferences of multiple stakeholders. This study developed a decision support framework that guides stakeholders to reach an agreement on the most sustainable and pragmatic waste treatment option. The framework compares lifecycle sustainability impacts of different waste treatment options and uses Analytical Hierarchy Process to determine a weighting scheme, which has an ability to combine diverse impacts based on stakeholders’ preferences. It also employs Game Theory to model stakeholders’ dialogues and behaviors in the group decision-making. The outcome of the framework is to recommend fair shares of costs and benefits to assist stakeholders in reaching a mutually agreeable solution. The application of the developed framework is demonstrated through a case study of waste treatment in Metro Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada), where the industry and the municipality are proposing the production of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). Results show that both industry and the municipality may benefit from RDF and waste-to-energy options, respectively; however as a compromised solution, the industry should pay a tipping fee to access the required amount of solid waste from the Metro Vancouver to substitute the use of fossil fuels with RDF. Uncertainty is unavoidable due to the inherent complexity in the methods and input data, and should be acknowledged to enhance the reliability in decision-making process. Most common uncertainties encountered in such environmental management problems are in cost and benefit estimates, and stakeholders’ ability in verbalizing their preferences, and their knowledge about each other’s priorities. The decision support framework used sensitivity analysis, Fuzzy Set Theory, and Bayesian Games to study the uncertainty impacts on the decision-making process.
Graduate Studies, College of (Okanagan)
Graduate

The audience for this research is fellow researchers and others helping product developers to start including sustainability when they are selecting product concepts. The aims of the research were to understand the needs of product developers integrating sustainability into concept selection and what might be done to help them. The research approach was to iterate between the three studies of design research methodology. The first study focused on understanding the challenges that product developers face when integrating sustainability into concept selection. The aim of the second study was to identify potential support to help product developers to deal with the challenges.  And the third study was to try out the potential support to see if it actually helps product developers address the challenges they face. These studies were executed through reviewing literature and exploring two cases. The results led to a focus on supporting the decision-making process and supporting analysing with  respect to social sustainability.  Selecting concepts is a complex decision made under challenging conditions. Bringing in the complex, new and unfamiliar aspects of sustainability can make good decision-making even more challenging. When integrating sustainability, two particular barriers to good concept selection decision-making are errors due to illusory correlation and confirmation bias. Despite the challenges, how good you are at making decisions matters. And a good decision-making process drives good decisions. This is especially relevant when bringing in complex and unfamiliar aspects, such as sustainability.  A likely candidate for helping product developers achieve a good decision-making process when integrating sustainability is active, value-focused decision-support. In other words, structuring the process into bite-sized steps and using particular techniques to avoid bias. At each step, decision-makers’ focus is anchored by the things that stakeholders value as important.   Further research is required to investigate the details of how to employ these process-support approaches in the particular context of integrating sustainability into concept selection decision-making. In addition to a process, complicated selection decisions demand analysis. Support for analysing concepts with respect to social sustainability was identified as a gap. We explored a potential approach that might contribute to this analysis, but found that it was not useful for the particular decision in hand.  This opened up some interesting questions for further research.

Sustainable development is a multi-faceted and complex proposition, investigating such a goal required a grounded study capable of analysing real world issues. Managing such a highly diverse region as Western Sydney with its multiple demands is complicated by the plethora of government administration agencies. Contemporary land use planning policies and decisions appear frequently at odds with community values and aspirations for the region. Evidence presented in this research suggests a declining natural resource base that manifests itself in an insidious cost impost to the public sector while the benefits accrue to the private sector.Eventual developments in the resolution and maintenance of the functional integrity of the natural systems in Western Sydney may demand a major paradigm shift in economic and social policy. This research suggests that a precautionary based approach to thresholds of harm in the Western Sydney region is long overdue. Tools developed in this study appear capable of clarifying the evident land use planning paradoxes and may assist in negotiating sustainable outcomes by fostering a collaborative learning process between decision makers, experts and the community.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study reports on the results of a triangulated inquiry into the processes and outcomes of wind energy decision-making in Kansas. Specifically, key informant interviews were conducted with local stakeholders and decision-makers in three Kansas counties. In the same counties, focus groups were conducted with community members. Finally, state-level stakeholders, including government officials, wind industry representatives and advocacy group representatives were interviewed about their perceptions regarding community collaboration in wind energy decision-making. Data were analyzed using an inductive approach to thematic analysis. Results were discussed in terms of emergent themes within counties or groups and as a result of cross-cutting analyses. Thematic analysis led to the development of a communication grid with axes for consultation and information that impact satisfaction with wind energy decision-making and the sustainability of communities and Kansas‟ wind energy industry. Four paradigms, three actual and one theoretical, emerged from the data and prior research. Implications for sustainable wind development in Kansas are discussed.
Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Elliot School of Communication

Abstract: The complexity of environmental, social, economical, and technological objectives creates a challenge for decision makers when prioritizing the right measures that will move a project or organization toward sustainability at least cost. Currently there are methods or tools available to assist in this decision making and through a strategic approach potentially enhance the process. The focus of this thesis is to evaluate how the quantitative nature of economic detail as a tool which has been informed by a strategic sustainable framework can contribute to the complex decision making process for sustainable development when prioritizing measures. A two- step matrix format is used to represent the proposed approach. The complexity of sustainable development issues for decision makers within Sweden’s energy sector provides a suitable case study to explain this approach. Karlskrona, Sweden district heat was chosen. The results revealed an enhanced decision making process utilizing the proposed approach in district heat thus ensuring organizational and social profitability as defined by, static and dynamic efficiency and equitable allocation. The thesis concludes that the suggested approach has the potential to enhance the decision making process for strategic sustainable development when prioritizing measures in district heat and may be universal in its application in many other sectors. However, further validation of the approach through testing in real life situations is recommended.

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This thesis aims at investigating the challenges and barriers of reducing car dependency culture to achieve urban sustainability in Egypt. This is operationalised by identifying different policy options and theoretically examining a nested-case study empirically. A more important purpose behind this academic enterprise was to find more robust and nuanced explanations of the constant failure of the transport planning system in Egyptian cities. The adoption of a cultural-oriented analytical framework to examine decision-making processes demonstrated a way forward in the re-evaluation of current transport policy directions in Egypt. The research applies qualitative methods to a nested case study in Alexandria through the Sustainable Urban Transport Project, 2032. The rigorous data-collection methods included extensive documentary analysis, elite interviews, semi-structured interviews and non-participant observations. The results obtained from applying these unconventional methods of social and political sciences in transport planning studies show the richness of these research methods in providing comprehensive explanations. This research illustrates the value of placing policy and transport-planning-related studies into the centre of different research positions. The main contributions of this research are grounded on a number of key research findings. First, the development of a cultural-oriented analytical framework based on the central thesis of polyrationality. Second, the research pioneers the approach of identifying the relevant stakeholders and contexts in transport decision-making processes in Egypt which serves as a basis for other future transport-related research for Egypt. This research builds the foundation for conducting multidisciplinary research for transport planning studies. The final contribution of this research suggests the need for mediators or policy analysts who have relevant education and knowledge in the transport planning sector to influence the decision-making processes.

Sustainable pavement management implies maintaining acceptable condition of pavements while also considering the tradeoff between cost, environmental impacts and social impacts of pavement investments. Typical pavement management practices only consider economic considerations, and environmental mitigation techniques are employed after the selection of the maintenance action is complete. This dissertation presents a series of papers that demonstrate the impact of decision making on the environmental impact of the pavements both at the project and network levels of pavement management. An analysis was conducted of two models that relate pavement properties to vehicle rolling resistance and fuel consumption. These models were used, along with other tools to evaluate the impact of including the use phase of a pavement into pavement lifecycle assessments. A detailed project level lifecycle assessment was conducted, and it was found that the vehicles on the pavement during the use phase contribute the most to environmental pollutants by a significant margin over other phases of the lifecycle. Thus, relatively small improvements in the factors which contribute to rolling resistance may significantly influence the environmental impacts of the pavement. Building on this, a network level lifecycle assessment method was proposed to probabilistically quantify energy consumption for a given set of expected maintenance actions. It was shown that, although maintenance actions require a certain amount of energy consumption, this energy can be offset by improved road conditions leading to reduced rolling resistance. However, this tradeoff of reduced energy consumption also includes increased costs for a given network condition. In other words, the lowest energy consumption values did not tend to fall along the line defined by minimizing the cost divided by the pavement condition. In order to demonstrate how this tradeoff should be addressed, a novel decision analysis framework was developed, and implemented on a specific pavement network. Finally, a survey of transportation professionals was evaluated to determine their optimal points within the solution space defined by minimizing costs and energy consumption while maximizing pavement condition. It was found that the solution space could be greatly reduced by implementing their responses using the proposed decision analysis framework.
Ph. D.

En réponse à une demande institutionnelle, réorientée par les conclusions d'une étude exploratoire et confirmée par une revue de littérature, cette thèse cherche à répondre à la question de recherche suivante : comment rendre possible la prise de décision d'adopter une veille stratégique (VS) ? Ce travail suit un modèle multipapier dans lequel chaque étude contribue à répondre à la question de recherche principale. Notre première étude (chapitre 2) nous a permis de comprendre que les pressions institutionnelles ont une influence sur la décision mentale d'adopter ou pas une VS. Les chapitres 3 et 4 ont contribué à essayer et à améliorer une méthode de ciblage permettant d'identifier les besoins en information pour la VS. En outre, ces améliorations ont permis l'introduction de deux nouveaux concepts pour aider les praticiens à identifier leurs priorités pour faire de la VS. Les deux études sont fortement liées. Le troisième chapitre contribue à identifier les parties prenantes et les thèmes susceptibles de représenter les besoins d'information des gestionnaires dans un contexte spécifique. Le chapitre 4 reprend ces éléments et les combine avec des considérations temporelles et une autoévaluation de capacité d'anticipation dans un système type salle de réunion avec le but de faciliter le ciblage et d'identifier les priorités pour la VS. Dans le chapitre 5, nous avons étudié les interactions dans les réunions collectives de ciblage afin de comprendre la contribution de ces activités au développement de la capacité d'absorption organisationnelle. Nos travaux ont permis d'identifier les thèmes à négocier afin de faciliter l'activité de ciblage et de produire des résultats qui représentent les besoins d'information de l'organisation dans son ensemble. Enfin, nous présentons nos contributions théoriques, à la recherche, et à la pratique
This dissertation addresses the question of how to enable decision-making to adopt Strategic Scanning (S.Scan). This work was motivated by an institutional request, reoriented by the findings from our exploratory study and supported by literature lack. This document follows a multi-paper model in which each connected study contributes to answer our main research inquiry. Our first study, Chapter 2, allowed us to understand that institutional pressures have an influence into the mental adoption of S.Scan. Chapter 3 and 4 focus into trial and allow the improvement of Target method aiding the identification of information needs for S.Scan. In addition, these improvements let to introduce two new concepts to S.Scan, helping practitioners identify their scan priorities. These studies are strongly linked, on one side, Chapter 3 contributes to identify the stakeholders and topics likely to represent information needs for managers in a particular context; on the other side, Chapter 4 combines the previous information with temporal considerations and a self-perceived anticipatory capacity within a meeting room system with the aim to facilitate S.Scan targeting and identifying scan priorities. In Chapter 5, we studied the interactions in collective targeting meetings in order to understand the contributions of such activities to develop organizational absorptive capacity. This work allowed the understanding of the main themes to be negotiated in order to ease the activity of targeting and to produce results, which represent the information needs of the organization as a whole. Finally, we present our: theoretical, research, and practice contributions

Humankind is facing global ecological problems and resulting from these social issues, while continually destroying the ecosystems which are the life-support mechanisms of the planet and human civilization. The socio-economic system is largely influenced by top-down decision making. Political decisions are a high leverage in sustainability issues, but contemporarily they are conducted in the reductionist way, focusing on short-term profit and jeopardizing the planet and people in the long run. The thesis explores the ways of integrating more holistic approach into political decision making. The study describes the connection between cognitive processes (e.g. learning or decision making) and somatic experiences: human decisions are considered a dynamic product of interaction between the cognition, body and environment. The theory of deep learning helps to understand how decision making can be transformed, and embodied cognitive science explains what facilitates the process of deep learning. The study develops the concept of “body-environment dialogue” — the somatic and cognitive integration of an agent and the context through which the agent receives non-verbal information processed then into the agent’s inner knowledge. The way of processing the information, unlike analytical thinking, is grounded into mindfulness and reflection. It results in the holistic insight about the global socio-ecological system and its interconnections, awakes intrinsic values and causes the change in one’s decisions and actions. Embodied experiences and connection with natural environment are considered the ways to facilitate deep learning which, in turn, affects decision making. The empirical part of the research tests the possibility to affect decision making through embodied contact with nature and the local context. The experimental study project based on 3-day outdoor experiential course demonstrates a certain change in the participants’ decision making as well as illustrates the challenges and drawbacks of such approach.

Growth in aviation has resulted in large airports that can be described as Airport Metropolises. This thesis reviews a variety of sustainable energy options that are suitable for such airports, and presents a decision support framework that can be used to guide decision makers towards the adoption of sound sustainable energy projects and practices. The thesis demonstrates use of the decision support framework via a number of case studies and outlines a methodology which could be incorporated within a Decision Support System.

Today, the fashion industry is responsible for 4 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere and 20-35 per cent of the microplastics in the ocean. It is thereby a highly debated industry when it comes to environmental sustainability. Different actors in the sector are stressing how reducing the ecological impact of the business is a matter of staying competitive forward. Many actors in the industry are trying to change towards reducing its effects on the environment. Still, complex global supply chains and business models such as ‘fast fashion’, i.e. fashion produced under short cycles, make it difficult. For an industry that wants to reduce its impacts on the environment, including a worldwide complex supply chain, and customer demand for ecommerce is increasing every day, adopting sustainable decision packaging suctions is essential. Our research shows that the investigated companies have prioritised sustainability aspects for their garments; however, sustainability focus on packaging can sometimes fall behind, and external guidance is sometimes needed. This research will investigate how an incumbent packaging firm can influence its customers in the fashion industry to make more sustainable decisions regarding packaging. It will be done by a digital platform that performs lifecycle assessments (LCA) in the early stage of the development process. Our research will investigate how this platform can create maximum value for its customers in the fashion industry. Hence, this research includes interviews with and reviews of actors in the industry to explore what drives and institutional logics (parameters) affect how different actors in the fashion industry are approaching sustainability today. Findings show that there exist drivers and institutional logics in these company cases. The most extensive drivers are standards and regulations, consumer awareness, competitive advantage and top management. The study further suggests that larger actors seem to be more affected by external factors such as standards and regulations and public pressure. Smaller actors seem to be more affected by internal drivers, such as top management and originality. This research proposes that some influential institutional logics affect how companies are approaching sustainability. The results reveal that companies with prices in the mid-market segment, headquarter location in Europe, product type sportswear, and high revenue are working more than other actors in the industry when it comes to sustainability today. During this research, it was possible to see that some barriers exist to become more sustainable. These include uncertainty and lack of knowledge, lack of transparency, increased costs, complex supply chain, packaging being less prioritised in working with sustainability, the functionality of sustainable packaging being rarely something that could be compromised. After the data collection, conclusions regarding the platform’s ability to influence customers in the fashion industry to make more sustainable decisions regarding their packaging solutions could be made. These include that the platform should be transparent, the magnitude of data, and well incorporated in the upcoming sales- and design process. However, it is shown that using LCA in a platform like this is helpful as a guiding tool and as a first initial conversation when developing a product. Further earlier scholars agree that sustainability aspects should be included in such an early stage as possible in the development process to ensure the most sustainable product during its lifetime possible. Furthermore, those companies without any person responsible for sustainable packaging or key performance indicators (KPIs) focusing on this specific area might be more interested in such a platform. This study will contribute to research by serving as a foundation for other actors looking into the possibilities of implementing a platform to guide and influence their customers to make more sustainable decisions, indicating what functional applications should be included and whatcustomers to target in such platform. Further research should investigate this topic on a broader scale, looking into a more extensive and more diverse sample and a possible application of this study in other industries.
Modeindustrin står idag för 4 procent av de globala utsläppen av växthusgaser i atmosfären och 20–35 procent av mikroplaster i haven. Det är därför en högt debatterad bransch när det kommer till just hållbarhet. Flera aktörer i sektorn, trycker på att företag i branschen måste förändras för att kunna vara konkurrenskraftig framåt. Därför arbetar många företag just nu med att reducera sitt klimatavtryck. Trots det, har branschen ofta en global och komplex leverantörskedja med affärsmodeller som inkluderar vad som på engelska benämns ’fast fashion’, mode som produceras under korta cykler, vilket gör det svårt för företag inom branschen att verkligen bli hållbara. Modeindustrin har många gånger viljan och intentionerna att minska sin klimat påverkan, men tillsammans med en komplex leverantörskedja och ökad efterfrågan på e-handel, är det extra viktigt att kunna ta hållbara beslut när det gäller förpackningar. Denna studie visar att de undersökta företagen i modeindustrin har prioriterat arbetet med hållbarhet främst i delar som tillhör produktionen av kläder. Emellertid kan hållbarhetsfokuset gällande förpackningar falla i skymundan, då kan en extern konsultering vara till hjälp. I denna studie kommer vi att undersöka hur ett etablerat företag inom pappersförpackningsindustrin kan uppmuntra och influera sina kunder inom modeindustrin att ta mer hållbara beslut gällande förpackningar. Det kommer att göras möjligt genom en digital plattform som erbjuder livscykelanalys (LCA) i en tidig del av produktutvecklingsprocessen. Vår studie kommer vidare att undersöka hur denna plattform kan skapa maximalt värde för dess användare. Därför innehåller denna studie intervjuer med, och undersökning av, företag i modeindustrin för att kunna förstå vad som driver dem till att vara mer hållbara samt vilka institutionella parametrar som påverkar hur hållbara olika företag i branschen är. Resultatet visar att det finns drivkrafter och institutionella parametrar när det kommer tillhållbarhet hos dessa företag. De funna drivkrafterna är standarder och regelverk, konsumentmedvetenhet, konkurrenskraft, offentliga påtryckningar, företagsledning, originalitet och övriga externa intressenter, så som aktieägare och kundinflytande. Studien antyder vidare att större aktörer verkar vara mer påverkade av externa faktorer som standarder och regelverk och offentliga påtryckningar. Medan mindre aktörer verkar vara mer påverkade av interna drivkrafter, såsom företagsledning och originalitet. Denna forskning föreslår att det finns vissa inflytelserika parametrar som påverkar hur företag arbetar med hållbarhet. Resultatet visar att företag med priser i mellansegmentet, med huvudkontor i Europa, med sportkläder och med hög omsättning arbetar mer med hållbarhet än andra aktörer i branschen. Det visade sig även under denna studie att det finns vissa hinder för företag att vara mer hållbara. Dessa inkluderar osäkerhet och brist på kunskap, brist på transparens, ökade kostnader, komplex leverantörskedja, att förpackningar är mindre prioriterat i hållbarhetsarbetet samt att funktionalitet av förpackningar sällan är något som kan tummas på. Efter datainsamlingen kunde slutsatser om plattformens förmåga att influera kunder inom modebranschen att fatta mer hållbara beslut om deras förpackningslösningar göras. Dessa inkluderar att plattformen ska vara transparent, inneha stor mängd data av produktbibliotektet och vara väl införlivad i den kommande försäljnings- och designprocessen. Det visades dock att användning av LCA i en sådan plattform är främst till hjälp som ett vägledande verktyg och vid ett första inledande samtal vid produktutvecklingen. Vidare, är tidigare forskning överens om att hållbarhetsaspekter bör ingå i ett så tidigt skede som möjligt i utvecklingsprocessen för att säkerställa en så hållbar produkt som möjligt under hela dess livstid. Dessutom kan de företag som saknar en profession som är ansvarig för hållbara förpackningar eller saknar nyckeltal (KPI) som fokuserar på detta specifika område vara mer intresserade av en sådan plattform. Denna studie bidrar till forskningen genom att fungera som en god grund för andra organisationer som ser på möjligheterna med att implementera en plattform för att vägleda och uppmuntra sina kunder att fatta mer hållbara beslut, vilket visar vilka funktionella applikationer som ska inkluderas och vilka kunder att rikta in sig på en sådan plattform. Ytterligare forskning bör undersöka detta ämne i bredare skala, undersöka ett mer omfattande och mer varierande urval och en eventuell applicering av studien inom andra branscher.

There is growing interest in the assessment of products from a life cycle perspective. Product life cycles are often dominated by extensive chemical supply chains that lead up to the materials contained in the products and the overwhelming contribution that the production of these chemicals make to the overall life cycle due to their energy intensity. Hence, chemical engineers are uniquely positioned to carry out significant components of this assessment because of their skills in chemical process design and analysis. Furthermore, the complexity and extent of life cycle concerns creates opportunities for new process systems tools to be developed to support product design and analysis. The specific thesis objectives are threefold. The first is to develop a systematic methodology to optimize material selections for a product based on life cycle inventory (LCI) characteristics. The second is to use this methodology combined with sustainability assessment standards to assess whether these standards are congruent with life cycle assessment. The third is to develop an approach to design product sustainability assessment standards that are clear and consistent with life cycle principles. The overall contributions will be in the applied domain of life cycle assessment and its integration into standards setting, and in contributions to optimization tools and methods. The three objectives will be illustrated in the domain of carpet systems. Previous research has generated a substantial database of gate-to-gate (GTG) life cycle inventories for various chemicals that make up carpet, extending from the inputs to the final carpet mill back to the natural resources such as oil, natural gas and mined calcium carbonate. Carpet recycling is a promising alternative approach for reducing life cycle impacts and is being practiced at a growing scale in the U.S. This thesis uses the specific individual LCI gate-to-gate blocks for virgin materials and for important carpet recycling and general polymer recycling processes. A database for the GTG LCI will be used to construct a virtual chemical tree that automatically that represents the potential cradle-to-gate (CTG) use of resources. The alternatives for each possible route for the product will be generated, and optimization approaches will be applied to optimize the performance of the carpet system according to life cycle objectives. Sustainability assessment standards are currently being developed for a range of building products, such as carpet, resilient flooring, commercial textile coverings and office furniture. This activity has been stimulated through the considerable success of the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED standard. The LEED Standard is points-based: the building design and construction earns points for having certain attributes or promoting certain activities. The points are totaled and then the building earns a rating based on the total being above a certain threshold. The second thesis objective is met through extending the LCI optimization methodology to represent point-based standards. A product can then be optimized to maximize the number of points it earns or to minimize its life cycle attributes. This approach can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of an emerging carpet sustainability standard, NSF-140, in integrating LCI into the standard. The last objective, standard design, is approached through designing the tables that award points in the standard to be consistent with life cycle information. Certain minimum principles of consistency are articulated and then the designs shown to be consistent with these principles in the case that the life cycle impact assessment method maps the life cycle inventory to impact through a linear weighting.

Sustainable design provides an holistic, life-cycle approach by which design engineers can minimise negative impacts and maximise positive impacts, thus ensuring that current industrial progress is not achieved at the expense of future generations. In the context of sustainable design, large made-to-order (LMTO) product sectors must address some unique issues: " The design process may be in the order of years, involving the client, the design contractors, co-venturers, suppliers and regulators. 9 The one-off nature of the design may limit the opportunity for reuse of design knowledge. 11 The existenceo f the possibility of catastrophico ut-of-envelopee ventsl eading to large scale safety and environmental impacts. " There is potential for high energy and resource consumption. " . Some LMTO products may cause local and transboundary environmental impacts. 0 There may be long term, post-decommissioning impacts. 0 Some aspects of the product life-cycle may give rise to impacts on social welfare. Engineering design is a process of decision making both during option synthesis and option selection. The first part of this research examined the current integration of environmental objectives and attributes with industrial design decision making processes using qualitative research methods. In particular, design selection was considered as the case-study focused on the activities of two case-study design contractors. The second part of the research proposed a framework to assist the consideration of environmental and societal impacts using transparent, systematic methodologies based on Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) approaches. Two MADM methods were compared in relation to a case-study regarding the selection of an option for a produced water treatment system; Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Concordance and Discordance Analyses by Similarity to Ideal Solution (CODASID). Due to the subjectivity and uncertainty associated with information relating to sustainable design, a fuzzy set-based methodology was also investigated. In order to simulate the intuitive processes of human decision makers, the application of linguistic terms to evaluate sustainable design attributes was explored. This method was applied to a group decision making case-study to determine the best option for replacing a heat exchanger situated in a pond water cooling system. Comparisons were made between the fuzzy MADM method and the decision obtained from a group-based discussion. Finally, the third part of the research specifically addressed perceived risk attributed by the public to proposed large made-to-order products or processes, accommodating the societal element of sustainable design. Public risk perception was decomposed into measurable indices which were suitable for application to the fuzzy MADM method. The final aggregated evaluation, representing the overall perceived risk associated with the product in question, was then examined under different tolerance scenarios in order to make an informed judgement with respect to product viability. These three core research elements provide the foundation for managing the environmental and societal aspects of sustainable engineering design of large made-toorder products, thus providing an important addition to the wider concept of integrated product design.

Les villes sont les lieux de la plus grande concentration d'activités sociales et économiques. La logistique est l'une des plus importants éléments de la durabilité et de l'économie d’une la ville. Pour la logistique urbaine, il est nécessaire de prendre en compte les caractéristiques de la ville et les objectifs de toutes les parties prenantes (expéditeurs, destinataires, transporteurs, prestataires de services logistiques, résidents, gouvernement de la ville). Les plans de logistique urbaine durable pourraient avoir un impact significatif sur la qualité de la vie en milieu urbain. L'évaluation d'initiatives de logistique de ville durable (SCLI) telles que les centres de distribution urbains, la tarification de la congestion, le délai de livraison et les restrictions d'accès est un problème complexe, car plusieurs critères et contraintes subjectifs et objectifs doivent être pris en compte. Les administrations municipales investissent dans des initiatives de logistique urbaine durable telles que les centres de distribution urbains, la tarification de la congestion, le calendrier de livraison et les restrictions d'accès afin d'améliorer les conditions de transport de marchandises dans les villes et de réduire leurs impacts négatifs sur les citoyens et leur environnement. Cependant, il y a toujours des risques dynamiques associés à la sélection. L’analyse des risques des initiatives de logistique urbaine est une tâche complexe en raison de la multiplicité des facteurs de risque et de leurs dépendances. Bien qu'il n'y ait pas beaucoup d'études sur les risques liés à la logistique urbaine, aucune attention n'a été portée à l'analyse des risques liés à la logistique urbaine en prenant en compte les dépendances entre les facteurs de risque et leurs critères. Considérer les dépendances entre les facteurs de risque pourrait conduire à une analyse plus précise des risques et augmenter le taux de réussite de la sélection des initiatives de logistique urbaine. Méthodes: pour résoudre ce problème, nous proposons un outil avancé d'aide à la décision appelé «cartescognitives floues» (FCM), capable de gérer les risques associés à des systèmes aussi complexes. La FCM représente avec précision le comportement de systèmes complexes et peut prendre en compte les incertitudes, les informations imprécises, les interactions entre les facteurs de risque, la rareté de l'information et les opinions de plusieurs décideurs. En outre, il pourrait être appliqué à différents problèmes de prise de décision liés aux initiatives de logistique de ville durable (SCLI). Par conséquent, l'outil proposé aiderait les praticiens à gérer les risques liés à la logistique urbaine d'une manière plus efficace et proactive et offrirait de meilleures solutions d'atténuation des risques. Dans les études précédentes, les méthodes de décision multicritères étaient principalement utilisées pour l'évaluation, la comparaison et la sélection d'initiatives logistiques de villes en fonction des effets obtenus ou prévus résultant de leur introduction dans divers environnements urbains. Afin d'évaluer l'adéquation des solutions conceptuelles aux exigences des différentes parties prenantes et conformément aux attributs spécifiques de l'environnement urbain, il convient de définir des solutions conceptuelles associant différentes initiatives de logistique urbaine en utilisant un processus artificiel; outils de renseignement, y compris la FCM.
Les villes sont les lieux de la plus grande concentration d'activités sociales et économiques. La logistique est l'une des plus importants éléments de la durabilité et de l'économie d’une la ville. Pour la logistique urbaine, il est nécessaire de prendre en compte les caractéristiques de la ville et les objectifs de toutes les parties prenantes (expéditeurs, destinataires, transporteurs, prestataires de services logistiques, résidents, gouvernement de la ville). Les plans de logistique urbaine durable pourraient avoir un impact significatif sur la qualité de la vie en milieu urbain. L'évaluation d'initiatives de logistique de ville durable (SCLI) telles que les centres de distribution urbains, la tarification de la congestion, le délai de livraison et les restrictions d'accès est un problème complexe, car plusieurs critères et contraintes subjectifs et objectifs doivent être pris en compte. Les administrations municipales investissent dans des initiatives de logistique urbaine durable telles que les centres de distribution urbains, la tarification de la congestion, le calendrier de livraison et les restrictions d'accès afin d'améliorer les conditions de transport de marchandises dans les villes et de réduire leurs impacts négatifs sur les citoyens et leur environnement. Cependant, il y a toujours des risques dynamiques associés à la sélection. L’analyse des risques des initiatives de logistique urbaine est une tâche complexe en raison de la multiplicité des facteurs de risque et de leurs dépendances. Bien qu'il n'y ait pas beaucoup d'études sur les risques liés à la logistique urbaine, aucune attention n'a été portée à l'analyse des risques liés à la logistique urbaine en prenant en compte les dépendances entre les facteurs de risque et leurs critères. Considérer les dépendances entre les facteurs de risque pourrait conduire à une analyse plus précise des risques et augmenter le taux de réussite de la sélection des initiatives de logistique urbaine. Méthodes: pour résoudre ce problème, nous proposons un outil avancé d'aide à la décision appelé «cartescognitives floues» (FCM), capable de gérer les risques associés à des systèmes aussi complexes. La FCM représente avec précision le comportement de systèmes complexes et peut prendre en compte les incertitudes, les informations imprécises, les interactions entre les facteurs de risque, la rareté de l'information et les opinions de plusieurs décideurs. En outre, il pourrait être appliqué à différents problèmes de prise de décision liés aux initiatives de logistique de ville durable (SCLI). Par conséquent, l'outil proposé aiderait les praticiens à gérer les risques liés à la logistique urbaine d'une manière plus efficace et proactive et offrirait de meilleures solutions d'atténuation des risques. Dans les études précédentes, les méthodes de décision multicritères étaient principalement utilisées pour l'évaluation, la comparaison et la sélection d'initiatives logistiques de villes en fonction des effets obtenus ou prévus résultant de leur introduction dans divers environnements urbains. Afin d'évaluer l'adéquation des solutions conceptuelles aux exigences des différentes parties prenantes et conformément aux attributs spécifiques de l'environnement urbain, il convient de définir des solutions conceptuelles associant différentes initiatives de logistique urbaine en utilisant un processus artificiel; outils de renseignement, y compris la FCM.
The cities are the places of the largest concentration of social activities and economic. Logistics is one of the most important for the sustainability and the economy of the city. Inselecting the city logistics concept, it is necessary to consider the characteristics of the city and the goals of all the stakeholders (shippers, receivers, carriers, logistics service providers, residents, city government). Sustainable city logistics (SCL) plans could significantly affect the quality of life in the urban environment. Evaluating sustainable city logistics initiatives (SCLI) such as urban distribution centres, congestion pricing, delivery timing and access restrictions is a complex problem since several subjective and objective criteria and constraints should be considered. Municipal administrations are investing in sustainable city logistics initiatives (SCLI) such as urban distribution centres, congestion pricing, delivery timing and access restrictions in order to improve the condition of goods transport in cities and reduce their negative impacts on citizens and their environment. However, there is always some dynamic risks associated that should be selected. Risk analysis of sustainable city logistics initiatives is a complex task due to consisting of many risk factors with dependencies among them. Although there are no lots of studies on sustainable city logistics risks, no attention has been paid to the risk analysis of sustainable city logistics by considering the dependencies among risk factors and their criteria. Considering the dependencies among risk factors could lead to more precise risks analysis and increase the success rate of selecting sustainable city logistics initiatives. Methods: To address this, we are proposing an advanced decision support tool called "Fuzzy Cognitive Maps" (FCM) which can deal with risks of such complicated systems. FCM represents the behaviour of complex systems accurately and is able to consider uncertainties, imprecise information, the interactions between risk factors, information scarcity, and several decision maker's opinions. In addition, it could be applied to different decision makings problems related to sustainable city logistics initiatives (SCLI). Therefore, the proposed tool would help practitioners to manage sustainable city logistics risks in a more effective and proactive way and offer better risk mitigation solutions. In previous studies, multi-criteriadecision-making methods are mainly used for the evaluation, comparison and selection of individual sustainable city logistics initiatives in relation to the achieved or planned effects resulting from their introduction in various urban environments. In order to assess the suitability of the conceptual solutions to the requirements of different stakeholders, and in accordance with the specific attributes of the urban environment, there is the definition of conceptual solutions that combine different sustainable city logistics initiatives by using an artificial; intelligence tools including FCM.
The cities are the places of the largest concentration of social activities and economic. Logistics is one of the most important for the sustainability and the economy of the city. Inselecting the city logistics concept, it is necessary to consider the characteristics of the city and the goals of all the stakeholders (shippers, receivers, carriers, logistics service providers, residents, city government). Sustainable city logistics (SCL) plans could significantly affect the quality of life in the urban environment. Evaluating sustainable city logistics initiatives (SCLI) such as urban distribution centres, congestion pricing, delivery timing and access restrictions is a complex problem since several subjective and objective criteria and constraints should be considered. Municipal administrations are investing in sustainable city logistics initiatives (SCLI) such as urban distribution centres, congestion pricing, delivery timing and access restrictions in order to improve the condition of goods transport in cities and reduce their negative impacts on citizens and their environment. However, there is always some dynamic risks associated that should be selected. Risk analysis of sustainable city logistics initiatives is a complex task due to consisting of many risk factors with dependencies among them. Although there are no lots of studies on sustainable city logistics risks, no attention has been paid to the risk analysis of sustainable city logistics by considering the dependencies among risk factors and their criteria. Considering the dependencies among risk factors could lead to more precise risks analysis and increase the success rate of selecting sustainable city logistics initiatives. Methods: To address this, we are proposing an advanced decision support tool called "Fuzzy Cognitive Maps" (FCM) which can deal with risks of such complicated systems. FCM represents the behaviour of complex systems accurately and is able to consider uncertainties, imprecise information, the interactions between risk factors, information scarcity, and several decision maker's opinions. In addition, it could be applied to different decision makings problems related to sustainable city logistics initiatives (SCLI). Therefore, the proposed tool would help practitioners to manage sustainable city logistics risks in a more effective and proactive way and offer better risk mitigation solutions. In previous studies, multi-criteriadecision-making methods are mainly used for the evaluation, comparison and selection of individual sustainable city logistics initiatives in relation to the achieved or planned effects resulting from their introduction in various urban environments. In order to assess the suitability of the conceptual solutions to the requirements of different stakeholders, and in accordance with the specific attributes of the urban environment, there is the definition of conceptual solutions that combine different sustainable city logistics initiatives by using an artificial; intelligence tools including FCM.

Environmental sustainability issues are being considered across many construction sectors, emerging from global concerns on resource depletion and CO2 emissions. Whilst construction sectors are minimising the environmental impact of their activities and the associated CO2 and GHG emissions, not many of these environmental issues are factored into the early design stage of bridges to facilitate design choices. Consequently, environmental impacts of bridge maintenance activities are not factored into the bridge design process. Doing so can potentially reveal the overall environmental performance of the bridge and enhance design choices. The LCA environmental tool is gaining ground across many construction sectors, because of its capacity to reveal the environmental impacts of process and services. LCA has been only minimally explored for bridges, and its integration into the early design process has not been seriously attempted. In fact, only a small volume of literature has considered LCA application to bridge maintenance activities, and that without considering the scope for influencing sustainable bridge design decisions through stakeholders’ input. The research was undertaken to provide insights and recommendations for incorporating LCA result of bridge maintenance methods at the early design stage to aid sustainable design choices. The study employed an explanatory mixed-method approach. The study conducted a thorough literature review to understand and explore the environmental aspect of sustainability in bridges and the trend and usefulness of LCA results in the bridge industry. Results revealed that not many environmental matters are considered for bridge design and maintenance, and that LCA application for bridges is limited to comparison of materials, components and structural types. As such, this study launches an LCA analysis of some major maintenance activities of concrete, steel, and masonry bridge, which is mainly assumed for other studies. Data required for the LCA analysis was derived from secondary sources (that is, literature) and verified by industry experts through an online survey. Purposive sampling strategy was employed in selecting relevant experts. Verified data were combined with primary data obtained in the SimaPro database used to conduct the LCA analysis. Results revealed expansion joint and bearing replacement as key sources for high environment impact in concrete and steel bridge, whereas saddling rehabilitation had the most impact for masonry bridge. The overall comparison revealed masonry bridge as the least environmentally impactful bridge on account of the selected maintenance actions. Through a semi-structured interview, the study presented the derived result to bridge design experts to verify and reveal the usefulness of the result. Experts revealed the emergence of masonry bridge (as the least impactful structure) as the major usefulness of the result. Any industry drive towards masonry bridges is, however, constrained by initial construction cost, span limitation and speed of completion. General findings from the study revealed that LCA incorporation into the design process will be a complex matter, as the design process is already intricate, and environmental concerns are not a major design criterion. The study therefore makes recommendations that can enhance the consideration of LCA, and consequently LCA of bridge maintenance actions, in the early design process. The thesis concludes by making detailed recommendations to policy makers, researchers, designers, and bridge owners.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicts that food supplies will need to increase by 70 percent by 2050. To cope with this, farmers and technologies must adapt to produce higher yields and do so in harsher conditions associated with climate change. The shifting view of ultraviolet radiation may be one of a system of management approaches that agriculture could sustainably adopt to improve crop production. While this technology sounds promising, whether or not farmers choose to adopt the technology, on what scale, or when, is often ambiguous. These decisions are dependent on social, economic, and biophysical factors that can be identified for UV radiation technology. This technology is not ready for full adoption, but there may be some feasible applications in higher value crops like fruit and vegetables.

Accommodating the continued increase in energy demand in the face of global climate change has been a worldwide concern. With buildings in the US consuming nearly 40% of national energy, a concerted effort must be given to reduce building energy consumption. As new buildings continue to improve their efficiency through more restrictive energy codes, the other 76.9 billion square feet of current building stock falls further behind. The rate at which current buildings are being retrofit is not enough and better tools are needed to access the benefits of retrofits and the uncertainties associated with them. This study proposes a stochastic method of building energy model calibration coupled with a monthly normative building simulation addressed in ISO 13890. This approach takes advantage of the great efficiency of Latin Hypercube Sampling and the lightweight normative building simulation method, to deliver a set of calibrated solutions to assess the effectiveness of energy conservation measure, making uncertainty a part of the modeling process. A case study on a mixed-use university building is conducted to show the strength and performance of this simple method. Limitations and future concerns are also addressed.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008.
Committee Chair: Adjo Amekudzi; Committee Member: Catherine Ross; Committee Member: Josias Zietsman; Committee Member: Michael Meyer; Committee Member: Randall Guensler.

Multiple strategic orientations are management philosophies and practices that assist organisations with internal preparation for quicker responses to external environmental changes. An organisations ability to integrate and foster a Sustainable Entrepreneurial Orientation (SEO) into their business strategies, organisational routines, culture and leadership values is yet to be studied. In view of this, this study responds to this unique research gap through exploring the critical resources and capabilities which enable organisations to intentionally foster SEO and identifying its linkage to strategic decision-making. Establishing which organisational components have considerable influence on SEO will enable organisations to recognise opportunities and constraints of their internal contexts and better equip themselves to enact sustainability and innovation focused activities in response to the grand economic, social and ecological challenges facing society and business. The choice of methodology is qualitative research which used one-on-one in-depth interviews with interview respondents in an emerging market context (South Africa) and a developed market context (Italy) which triangulated the data of this phenomenon. The results indicated that intangible, human-centred resources such as leadership, culture and human capital are the most critical resources for SEO to be fostered which must work systemically in combination with each other and through strategic decision-making organisations can gain competitive advantage, firm performance, new resources and capabilities and a continued licence to operate in society. Market context affects this relationship. The study generated the Integrated Sustainable Entrepreneurial Strategy (ISES) Model which can be used by strategic managers and executives to foster SEO within their organisations.
Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MBA
Unrestricted

Sustainability and specifically environmental stewardship are emerging as prominent issues in engineering decision-making. Despite this, the United States has neither a national policy on sustainability, nor a national sustainable transportation strategy. In many cases this has resulted in state DOTs basing their environmental practices on requirements set out previously by EPA regulations with little or no additional consideration of environmental effects. A survey conducted as part of this thesis revealed that environmental stewardship is not considered part of current DOT pavement management engineersâ job responsibilities, despite having duties such as pavement design and maintenance which can greatly affect the environmental impact of a project. Initial cost and engineering judgment were the most widely considered in decision-making, with LCCA also being considered at least some of the time by most respondents. Environmental impacts, on the other hand, are not often integrated into formal decision making and are more likely to be considered as a â tie breakerâ when alternatives have similar costs. The literature review also covered two distinct types of environmental decision support tools: Environmental Rating Tools and Environmental Impact Calculators. Rating Tools gather predominantly environmental impact information in order to award a score to a project. Environmental Calculators are software tools that use material or equipment inputs to estimate the amount of pollutants produced by a project. While a variety of environmental impact tools are currently available they suffer from drawbacks such as incomplete or unclearly defined LCA boundaries, consideration of only one environmental impact, subjectivity, lack of transparency, out-of-date databases, and an inability to perform probabilistic calculations. CO2e was the only environmental factor considered by nearly all Environmental Calculators reviewed as part of this thesis and was a major focus of the Rating Tools. The thesis proposes the framework for a tool that addresses some of the limitations of available tools and aids decision-makers in incorporating environmental factors into roadway decision-making. The proposed tool would address many of the limitations of previous environmental impact calculators and could be implemented without the need for extensive additional research. The tool would calculate emissions due to material extraction and production, emissions due to construction activities, resource consumptions, and emissions due to work zone delays. Emissions due to work zone delays are not considered by any other currently available tool. The tool would also perform probabilistic calculations and have a database which could be added to and updated by users. Additional products developed as part of this thesis are a review of currently available environmental impact tools and a Microsoft Excel workbook used to demonstrate the intended usage of the tool. It is concluded that the development of such a tool is necessary and feasible. The proposed tool would address limitations of available tools by considering more than one environmental impact, including the previously neglected impact of emissions due to work zone related delay, pairing a user-friendly interface with an editable database, and supporting probabilistic calculations. Recommended future research includes surveying state DOT engineers to determine the barriers delaying implementation of currently available environmental impacts tools. Further benefits could be realized by programming the proposed tool and building a database that reflects the materials, mixes, and construction activities available to a specific locality.
Master of Science

Background With large amounts of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in the waste streams, recycling of PVC and more sustainable processes have become increasingly important. The sustainable development of processes has received a lot of attention in the last decades because of the increasing environmental threat. It is also important to be efficient in order to stay competitive in the market. Traditional methods for improving efficiency like lean disregards the sustainable aspect. Green methods focus on environmental impact and omit efficiency. The concept of lean and green enables and ensures the integration of efficiency and sustainability. Firms need to improve their efficiency without sacrificing sustainability and environmental impact as a consequence of becoming more competitive. Therefore, there is a great need of support for decision-making regarding efficiency and sustainability. Objectives The objective of this thesis is to provide support for decision-making in recycling environments where the focus is to improve efficiency and sustainability performances simultaneously. This thesis aims to increase the knowledge regarding integration of efficiency and sustainability as support for decision-making. Methodology A model based on the concept of lean and green was developed with commonly used indicators to evaluate efficiency and sustainability. To examine the applicability of the model, a case study was conducted at a company on a PVC recycling process. Data was collected at the company to create different scenarios based on lean and green practices, which were analyzed using discrete event simulation. These scenarios were then evaluated through the model in order to improve efficiency and sustainability. Results The result showed a reduction in lead time of 55.99%. An increase in throughput and carbon dioxide savings of 30 970.85% respectively were depict due to the upscaling. An increase of 2 252.92% in total cost is needed for investment. An increase in water consumption of 7 584.89% and energy consumption of 1 733.71% was denoted as a consequence of the upscaling. Trade-offs between and within efficiency and sustainability were reviled. Conclusions The study presented a model which can be used as support for decision-making for recycling processes which integrates efficiency and sustainability. Efficiency and sustainability are integrated through the application of the concept lean and green. The model supports decision-making by clearly visualize and compare effects, trade-offs and consequences through several key performance indicators evaluating efficiency and sustainability on a PVC recycling process based on lean and green implementations. By comparing the different key performance indicators, the business can improve their performance.
Bakgrund Med stora mängder avfall bestående av polyvinylklorid (PVC) har återvinning av PVC och hållbara processer blivit allt mer viktiga. Hållbar processutveckling har fått ökad uppmärksamhet det senaste decenniet på grund av ett ökande miljöhot. Samtidigt är det lika viktigt att vara effektiv för att bibehålla konkurrensfördelar på marknaden. Traditionella metoder för att förbättra effektivitet som lean utesluter hållbarhets aspekter. Green metoder fokuserar på miljöpåverkan och bortser från effektivitet. Konceptet av lean och green möjliggör och försäkrar integrationen av effektivitet och hållbarhet. Företag måste förbättra sin effektivitet utan att uppoffra hållbarhet och miljöpåverkan som en konsekvens för att bli mer konkurrenskraftiga. Därför finns det ett stort behov av underlag för beslutsfattning som behandlar både effektivitet och hållbarhet. Syfte Syftet med studien är att tillhandahålla underlag för beslutsfattning inom återvinningsmiljöer med fokus på att förbättra effektivitet- och hållbarhetsprestationer simultant. Målet med studien är att öka kunskap om integrationen mellan effektivitet och hållbarhet som underlag för beslutsfattning. Metod En modell baserad på konceptet lean och green utvecklades genom användning av vanligt förekommande indikatorer för att utvärdera effektivitet och hållbarhet. För att undersöka applicerbarhet av modellen genomfördes en fallstudie på ett företag med en PVC återvinningsprocess. Data samlades in på ett företag för att skapa olika scenarion baserade på lean och greentillämpningar, vilka analyserades genom användning av diskret eventsimulering. Scenariona blev sedan utvärderade genom modellen för att se förbättringar av effektivitet och hållbarhet. Resultat Resultatet från fallstudien visar en minskning i ledtid på 55.99%. En ökning i genomströmning och koldioxid besparingar på 30 970.85% respektive påvisades på grund av upp skalningen. En ökning på 2 252.92% i total kostnad krävs för investering. En ökning i vattenkonsumtion på 7 584.89% och i energikonsumtion på 1 733.71% erhölls som en konsekvens av upp skalningen. Kompromisser både inom och mellan effektivitet och hållbarhet uppstod. Slutsatser Studien presenterar en modell som kan användas som underlag för beslutsfattning inom återvinningsprocesser vilken integrerar effektivitet och hållbarhet. Effektivitet och hållbarhet är integrerade genom applicering av konceptet lean och green. Modellen stödjer beslutsfattning genom att tydligt visualisera och jämföra effekter, kompromisser och konsekvenser genom flertalet nyckeltal som utvärderar effektivitet och hållbarhet av en PVC återvinningsprocess baserat på lean- och greenimplementeringar. Genom jämförelse av olika nyckeltal kan företag förbättra sin prestation.

Aliniant-se amb l’ambiciós paquet energètic i climàtic de la UE 2030 per reduir les emissions d’efecte hivernacle i substituir les fonts de calor convencionals mitjançant la presència de participacions d’energia renovable per aconseguir una comunitat d’energia nul·la, les parts interessades del sector residencial s’enfronten a diversos aspectes tècnics, econòmics i ambientals. qüestions per assolir els objectius de la UE en un futur proper. Aquesta tesi se centra en dues transformacions estructurals claus necessàries per a una transició sostenible cap a la producció d’energia neta: el problema de les tecnologies d’energia amb baix carboni que representen els sistemes solars de calefacció urbana juntament amb l’emmagatzematge estacional d’energia i la seva aplicació per aconseguir edificis d’energia gairebé nul·la. L’abordatge d’aquests reptes s’inicia mitjançant l’ús del disseny i l’optimització de sistemes d’energia neta incorporats a l’aprenentatge automàtic i l’anàlisi de dades per desenvolupar eines d’enginyeria de processos assistits per ordinador. Aquestes eines ajudarien a abordar els reptes de les parts interessades, contribuint així a la transició cap a un futur més sostenible.
Alineándose con el ambicioso paquete de energía y clima de la UE 2030 para reducir las emisiones de efecto invernadero y reemplazar las fuentes de calor convencionales a través de la presencia de energía renovable para lograr una comunidad de energía neta cero, las partes interesadas en el sector residencial se enfrentan a varios problemas técnicos, económicos y ambientales. cuestiones para cumplir los objetivos de la UE en un futuro próximo. Esta tesis se centra en dos transformaciones estructurales clave necesarias para la transición sostenible hacia la producción de energía limpia: el problema de las tecnologías energéticas bajas en carbono que representan los sistemas de calefacción de distrito solar junto con el almacenamiento de energía estacional, y su aplicación para lograr edificios de energía casi nula. El abordaje de estos desafíos se inicia mediante el uso del diseño y la optimización de sistemas de energía limpia incorporados con el aprendizaje automático y el análisis de datos para desarrollar herramientas de ingeniería de procesos asistida por computadora. Estas herramientas ayudarían a abordar los desafíos de las partes interesadas, contribuyendo así a la transición hacia un futuro más sostenible.
Aligning with the ambitious EU 2030 climate and energy package for cutting the greenhouse emissions and replacing conventional heat sources through the presence of renewable energy share to achieve net-zero-energy community, the stakeholders at residential sector are facing several technical, economic, and environmental issues to meet the EU targets in the near future. This thesis is focusing on two key structural transformations needed for sustainable transition towards clean energy production: the low carbon energy technologies problem represented by the solar district heating systems coupled with seasonal energy storage, and its application to achieve Nearly Zero Energy Buildings. The Tackling for these challenges is instigated through using design and optimization of clean energy systems incorporated with machine learning and data analysis to develop Computer-Aided Process Engineering tools. These tools would help in addressing the stakeholder’s challenges, thus contributing to the transition towards a more sustainable future.

With the promotion of the 2030 sustainable development goals, more and moreEuropean countries started to highlight them in society, many European people alsoshowed that they are willing to purchase sustainable products, but theenvironmentally conscious consumers rarely translate “green” concerns andintentions into actual purchase behavior. This project is aimed to provide consumerswith comprehensive information about the products and find out the solution toencourage choosing sustainable products while purchasing home appliances. Nowadays home appliances are becoming a core area of consumption in bothdeveloped and developing countries, and it is one of the relevant areas ofintervention to ensure sustainable production (Hischier et al, 2020). Consumersbehavior has a big influence on the production, consumption and sustainability ofhome appliances, therefore it has been considered as the core studying field in thisproject. In order to have a better understanding of peoples current attitude towardssustainability and home appliances, an online survey was carried out with theconsideration of the purpose of this study and Theory of planned behavior (TPB)model. Then, by analysis of the customer journey map (CJM), the author found thepart with the most touchpoints, “information”. After brainstorming and benchmarking,a service design that focuses on Web User interface (UI) design wasproposed as the final proposal.

Buildings worldwide account for over a third of carbon emissions, which have a tremendous impact on climate changes. Meanwhile, their contribution in Hong Kong is much higher, being up to 60%. Therefore, low carbon building (LCB) has been regarded as an effective approach to reducing carbon emissions worldwide especially in Hong Kong. There have also emerged a wide range of measures for achieving LCBs. However, the effective utilization of LCB measures faces the challenge of identifying and selecting those proven to be environmentally, technically, financially and socially sustainable in the long term. This challenge is particularly significant at the design stage of LCBs due to the limited or unknown design information. These problems may be well addressed by the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). However, the current body of knowledge of LCB has two limitations. Firstly, most of previous research did not categorize the possible LCB measures from a systematic perspective, which results in fragmented evaluation. Secondly, the MCDA method still has not been widely used for solving the decision-making problems regarding LCB thus lacking the supportive information for its effective utilization. In addressing these limitations, this research aims to develop a MCDA model for the selection of appropriate LCB measures for office buildings in Hong Kong. Office buildings are a great representative of commercial buildings which contribute more than 60% of the carbon emissions of the building sector in Hong Kong. This research was carried out through the combination of a critical literature review, a questionnaire survey, a project case study and personal interviews. The literature review was focused on examining the frameworks for identifying LCB measures and selecting decision criteria. A questionnaire survey was carried out with 355 BEAM Professionals in Hong Kong, which expanded and verified the results from the literature review. The case study was conducted with an office building project using building performance simulation (BPS) for further investigation. The interviews were semi-structured in nature, carried out with 10 construction experts in Hong Kong. Through the research 10 LCB measures and 6 decision criteria for the LCB measure selection were identified, which were mostly used or considered for office buildings in Hong Kong. The developed MCDA model contains 5 modules that help to structure the decision-making process. The relative importance of the 10 LCB measures was obtained by a general implementation with proper weighting method and MCDA method. The results demonstrate the importance of lighting and building envelope for low carbon office building design and the need for accurate data for informed decision-making. Software eQuest was used for evaluating the carbon reductions in the case study building, and Software Visual PROMETHEE was adopted for selecting the best alternative among the LCB measures investigated. The developed MCDA model should support design decision-making for selecting appropriate LCB measures for office building projects. Despite the adopted multi-criteria decision-making, building energy regulations and government incentives in favour of building carbon reductions were mostly expected for delivering LCBs in Hong Kong.
published_or_final_version
Civil Engineering
Master
Master of Philosophy

Current methods for reaching and defining success in society are not sustainable. A major shift in society’s definition of economic success is required, and organizations represent a key leverage point in the transition to a sustainable economy. This research looks to practices within organizations with a sustainability purpose in an attempt to understand how their organizational culture creates an environment for continual strategic decision making towards sustainability. A combination of literature review and structured interviews were used to elicit the cultural practices of 18 organizations with a clear social and ecological sustainability purpose. The research confirmed the importance of organizational culture for maintaining alignment with a sustainability purpose by fostering motivation and commitment towards sustainability at both a collective and individual level in the organization. Eight overarching areas of practice were identified as being present in the organizations included in the study. The practices identified help organizations to act strategically and in the right direction towards sustainability on a daily basis, standing as a complement to the strategic prioritization model of the FSSD.

giancarlo@pucci.cr

Land is a finite natural resource that is increasingly getting exhausted as a result of land contamination. Land is made up of soil and groundwater, both of which have many functions for which we depend on, including provision of food and water, supporting shelter, natural flood defence, carbon sequestration, etc. Contaminants in land also pose a number of threats to public health and the environment; other natural resources; and have detrimental effects on property such as buildings, crops and livestock. The most effective method of dealing with these contaminants is to cleanup and return the sites to beneficial use. The cleanup process involves making a choice from amongst competing remediation technologies, where the wrong choice may have disastrous economic, environmental and/or social impacts. Contaminated land management is therefore much broader than the selection and implementation of remedial solutions, and requires extensive data collection and analysis at huge costs and effort. The need for decision support in contaminated land management decision-making has long been widely recognised, and in recent years a large number of Decision Support Systems (DSS) have been developed. This thesis presents the development of a Web-based knowledge-based DSS as an integrated management framework for the risk assessment of human health from, and sustainable management of, contaminated land. The developed DSS is based on the current UK contaminated land regime, published guidelines and technical reports from the UK Environment Agency (EA) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and other Government agencies and departments. The decision-making process of the developed DSS comprises of key stages in the risk assessment and management of contaminated land: (i) preliminary qualitative risk assessment; (ii) generic quantitative risk assessment; and (iii) options appraisal of remediation technologies and remediation design. The developed DSS requires site specific details and measured contaminant concentrations from site samples as input and produces a site specific report as output. The DSS output is intended to be used as information to support with contaminated land management decision-making.