WorldWideScience

Sample records for sustainability assessment tools

  1. Using the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool to Assess and Plan for Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mainor, Avia; Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Maier, Ryan C.; Brossart, Laura; Luke, Douglas A.

    2014-01-01

    Implementing and growing a public health program that benefits society takes considerable time and effort. To ensure that positive outcomes are maintained over time, program managers and stakeholders should plan and implement activities to build sustainability capacity within their programs. We describe a 3-part sustainability planning process that programs can follow to build their sustainability capacity. First, program staff and stakeholders take the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool to measure their program’s sustainability across 8 domains. Next, managers and stakeholders use results from the assessment to inform and prioritize sustainability action planning. Lastly, staff members implement the plan and keep track of progress toward their sustainability goals. Through this process, staff can more holistically address the internal and external challenges and pressures associated with sustaining a program. We include a case example of a chronic disease program that completed the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool and engaged in program sustainability planning. PMID:24456644

  2. A critical review of seven selected neighborhood sustainability assessment tools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharifi, Ayyoob; Murayama, Akito

    2013-01-01

    Neighborhood sustainability assessment tools have become widespread since the turn of 21st century and many communities, mainly in the developed world, are utilizing these tools to measure their success in approaching sustainable development goals. In this study, seven tools from Australia, Europe, Japan, and the United States are selected and analyzed with the aim of providing insights into the current situations; highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures; and making recommendations for future improvements. Using a content analysis, the issues of sustainability coverage, pre-requisites, local adaptability, scoring and weighting, participation, reporting, and applicability are discussed in this paper. The results of this study indicate that most of the tools are not doing well regarding the coverage of social, economic, and institutional aspects of sustainability; there are ambiguities and shortcomings in the weighting, scoring, and rating; in most cases, there is no mechanism for local adaptability and participation; and, only those tools which are embedded within the broader planning framework are doing well with regard to applicability. - Highlights: ► Seven widely used assessment tools were analyzed. ► There is a lack of balanced assessment of sustainability dimensions. ► Tools are not doing well regarding the applicability. ► Refinements are needed to make the tools more effective. ► Assessment tools must be integrated into the planning process.

  3. A critical review of seven selected neighborhood sustainability assessment tools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharifi, Ayyoob, E-mail: sharifi.ayyoob@a.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp; Murayama, Akito, E-mail: murayama@corot.nuac.nagoya-u.ac.jp

    2013-01-15

    Neighborhood sustainability assessment tools have become widespread since the turn of 21st century and many communities, mainly in the developed world, are utilizing these tools to measure their success in approaching sustainable development goals. In this study, seven tools from Australia, Europe, Japan, and the United States are selected and analyzed with the aim of providing insights into the current situations; highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures; and making recommendations for future improvements. Using a content analysis, the issues of sustainability coverage, pre-requisites, local adaptability, scoring and weighting, participation, reporting, and applicability are discussed in this paper. The results of this study indicate that most of the tools are not doing well regarding the coverage of social, economic, and institutional aspects of sustainability; there are ambiguities and shortcomings in the weighting, scoring, and rating; in most cases, there is no mechanism for local adaptability and participation; and, only those tools which are embedded within the broader planning framework are doing well with regard to applicability. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Seven widely used assessment tools were analyzed. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer There is a lack of balanced assessment of sustainability dimensions. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Tools are not doing well regarding the applicability. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Refinements are needed to make the tools more effective. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Assessment tools must be integrated into the planning process.

  4. Development of Sustainability Assessment Tool for Malaysian hydropower industry: A case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina; Abu Sofian, Muhammad Irfan

    2018-04-01

    This research deals with the development of sustainability assessment tools as a medium to assess the performance of a hydropower project compliances towards sustainability practice. Since the increasing needs of implementing sustainability practice, developed countries are utilizing sustainability tools to achieve sustainable development goals. Its inception within ASEAN countries including Malaysia is still low. The problem with most tools developed from other countries is that it is not very comprehensive as well as its implementation factors are not suitable for the local environment that is not quantified. Hence, there is a need to develop a suitable sustainable assessment tool for the Malaysian hydropower industry to comply with the sustainable development goals as a bridging gap between the governor and the practitioner. The steps of achieving this goal is separated into several parts. The first part is to identify sustainable parameters from established tools as a model for comparison to enhance new parameters. The second stage is to convert equivalent quantification value from the model to the new developed tools. The last stage is to develop software program as a mean of gaining energy company feedback with systematic sustainable reporting from the surveyor so as to be able to integrate sustainability assessment, monitoring and reporting for self-improved reporting.

  5. Sustainability assessment in the 21. century. Tools, trends and applications. Symposium abstracts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2012-07-01

    Focus on sustainability of products and corporations has been increasing over the last decade. New market trends develop, engendering new tools and application areas with the purpose of increasing sustainability, thus setting new demands for industry and academia. The 2012 SETAC LCA Case Study Symposium focuses on the experiences gained in industry and academia on the application of LCA and on the application of new tools for sustainability assessment. These tools may relate to environmental 'footstep' assessments, such as carbon, water or chemical footprints, as well as life cycle oriented tools for assessing other dimensions of sustainability. (LN)

  6. Sustainability assessment in the 21. century. Tools, trends and applications. Symposium abstracts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2012-07-01

    Focus on sustainability of products and corporations has been increasing over the last decade. New market trends develop, engendering new tools and application areas with the purpose of increasing sustainability, thus setting new demands for industry and academia. The 2012 SETAC LCA Case Study Symposium focuses on the experiences gained in industry and academia on the application of LCA and on the application of new tools for sustainability assessment. These tools may relate to environmental 'footstep' assessments, such as carbon, water or chemical footprints, as well as life cycle oriented tools for assessing other dimensions of sustainability. (LN)

  7. Systematic Sustainability Assessment (SSA) Tool for Hydroelectric Project in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina

    2017-08-01

    Sustainably developed and managed hydropower has enormous potential to contribute to global sustainability goals. It is known that hydroelectricity contributing small amounts to greenhouse gas emissions and other atmospheric pollutants. However, developing the remaining hydroelectric potential offers many challenges, and public pressure and expectations on the environmental and social performance of hydroelectric tend to increase over time. This paper aims to develop Systematic Sustainability Assessment (SSA) Tool that promotes and guides more sustainable hydroelectric projects in the context of Malaysia. The proposed SSA tool which not only provide a quality and quantitative report of sustainability performance but also act as Self-Assessment Report (SAR) to provide roadmap to achieve greater level of sustainability in project management for continuous improvement. It is expected to provide a common language that allow government, civil society, financial institutions and the hydroelectric sector to talk about and evaluate sustainability issues. The advantage of SSA tool is it can be used at any stage of hydroelectric development, from the earliest planning stages right through to operation.

  8. A critical review of environmental assessment tools for sustainable urban design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ameen, Raed Fawzi Mohammed; Mourshed, Monjur; Li, Haijiang

    2015-01-01

    Cities are responsible for the depletion of natural resources and agricultural lands, and 70% of global CO 2 emissions. There are significant risks to cities from the impacts of climate change in addition to existing vulnerabilities, primarily because of rapid urbanization. Urban design and development are generally considered as the instrument to shape the future of the city and they determine the pattern of a city's resource usage and resilience to change, from climate or otherwise. Cities are inherently dynamic and require the participation and engagement of their diverse stakeholders for the effective management of change, which enables wider stakeholder involvement and buy-in at various stages of the development process. Sustainability assessment of urban design and development is increasingly being seen as indispensable for informed decision-making. A sustainability assessment tool also acts as a driver for the uptake of sustainable pathways by recognizing excellence through their rating system and by creating a market demand for sustainable products and processes. This research reviews six widely used sustainability assessment tools for urban design and development: BREEAM Communities, LEED-ND, CASBEE-UD, SBTool PT –UP, Pearl Community Rating System (PCRS) and GSAS/QSAS, to identify, compare and contrast the aim, structure, assessment methodology, scoring, weighting and suitability for application in different geographical contexts. Strengths and weaknesses of each tool are critically discussed. The study highlights the disparity in local and international contexts for global sustainability assessment tools. Despite their similarities in aim on environmental aspects, differences exist in the relative importance and share of mandatory vs optional indicators in both environmental and social dimensions. PCRS and GSAS/QSAS are new incarnations, but have widely varying shares of mandatory indicators, at 45.4% and 11.36% respectively, compared to 30% in

  9. A critical review of environmental assessment tools for sustainable urban design

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ameen, Raed Fawzi Mohammed, E-mail: MohammedAmeenRF@cardiff.ac.uk [BRE Centre of Sustainable Construction, School of Engineering, The Parade, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Karbala (Iraq); Mourshed, Monjur, E-mail: MourshedM@cardiff.ac.uk [BRE Centre of Sustainable Construction, School of Engineering, The Parade, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Li, Haijiang, E-mail: LiH@cardiff.ac.uk [BRE Centre of Sustainable Construction, School of Engineering, The Parade, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom)

    2015-11-15

    Cities are responsible for the depletion of natural resources and agricultural lands, and 70% of global CO{sub 2} emissions. There are significant risks to cities from the impacts of climate change in addition to existing vulnerabilities, primarily because of rapid urbanization. Urban design and development are generally considered as the instrument to shape the future of the city and they determine the pattern of a city's resource usage and resilience to change, from climate or otherwise. Cities are inherently dynamic and require the participation and engagement of their diverse stakeholders for the effective management of change, which enables wider stakeholder involvement and buy-in at various stages of the development process. Sustainability assessment of urban design and development is increasingly being seen as indispensable for informed decision-making. A sustainability assessment tool also acts as a driver for the uptake of sustainable pathways by recognizing excellence through their rating system and by creating a market demand for sustainable products and processes. This research reviews six widely used sustainability assessment tools for urban design and development: BREEAM Communities, LEED-ND, CASBEE-UD, SBTool{sup PT}–UP, Pearl Community Rating System (PCRS) and GSAS/QSAS, to identify, compare and contrast the aim, structure, assessment methodology, scoring, weighting and suitability for application in different geographical contexts. Strengths and weaknesses of each tool are critically discussed. The study highlights the disparity in local and international contexts for global sustainability assessment tools. Despite their similarities in aim on environmental aspects, differences exist in the relative importance and share of mandatory vs optional indicators in both environmental and social dimensions. PCRS and GSAS/QSAS are new incarnations, but have widely varying shares of mandatory indicators, at 45.4% and 11.36% respectively, compared to

  10. The Evolution of the Sustainability Assessment Tool SBToolPT: From Buildings to the Built Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guilherme Castanheira

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyses the current trends in sustainability assessment. After about 15 years from the launch of sustainability assessment tools, focused on buildings evaluation, the paradigm of sustainability assessment tools is changing from the building scale to the built environment scale. Currently European cities and cities around the world are concerned with sustainable development, as well as its evolution. Cities seek a way to adapt to contemporary changes, in order to meet the required needs and ensure population’s well-being. Considering this, the new generations of sustainability assessment tools are being developed to be used to guide and help cities and urban areas to become more sustainable. Following the trend of the most important sustainability assessment tools, the sustainability assessment tool SBToolPT is also developing its version for assessing the sustainability of the built environment, namely, the urban planning projects and the urban regeneration projects, to be developed in Portugal, the SBToolPT-UP. The application of the methodology to three case studies will demonstrate its feasibility; at the same time this will identify the best practices which will serve as reference for new projects, thereby assisting the development of the tool.

  11. The Evolution of the Sustainability Assessment Tool SBToolPT: From Buildings to the Built Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bragança, Luís

    2014-01-01

    This paper analyses the current trends in sustainability assessment. After about 15 years from the launch of sustainability assessment tools, focused on buildings evaluation, the paradigm of sustainability assessment tools is changing from the building scale to the built environment scale. Currently European cities and cities around the world are concerned with sustainable development, as well as its evolution. Cities seek a way to adapt to contemporary changes, in order to meet the required needs and ensure population's well-being. Considering this, the new generations of sustainability assessment tools are being developed to be used to guide and help cities and urban areas to become more sustainable. Following the trend of the most important sustainability assessment tools, the sustainability assessment tool SBToolPT is also developing its version for assessing the sustainability of the built environment, namely, the urban planning projects and the urban regeneration projects, to be developed in Portugal, the SBToolPT-UP. The application of the methodology to three case studies will demonstrate its feasibility; at the same time this will identify the best practices which will serve as reference for new projects, thereby assisting the development of the tool. PMID:24592171

  12. Key characteristics for tool choice in indicator-based sustainability assessment at farm level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fleur Marchand

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Although the literature on sustainability assessment tools to support decision making in agriculture is rapidly growing, little attention has been paid to the actual tool choice. We focused on the choice of more complex integrated indicator-based tools at the farm level. The objective was to determine key characteristics as criteria for tool choice. This was done with an in-depth comparison of 2 cases: the Monitoring Tool for Integrated Farm Sustainability and the Public Goods Tool. They differ in characteristics that may influence tool choice: data, time, and budgetary requirements. With an enhanced framework, we derived 11 key characteristics to describe differences between the case tools. Based on the key characteristics, we defined 2 types of indicator-based tools: full sustainability assessment (FSA and rapid sustainability assessment (RSA. RSA tools are more oriented toward communicating and learning. They are therefore more suitable for use by a larger group of farmers, can help to raise awareness, trigger farmers to become interested in sustainable farming, and highlight areas of good or bad performance. If and when farmers increase their commitment to on-farm sustainability, they can gain additional insight by using an FSA tool. Based on complementary and modular use of the tools, practical recommendations for the different end users, i.e., researchers, farmers, advisers, and so forth, have been suggested.

  13. Bridging the gap between LCA, LCC and CBA as sustainability assessment tools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoogmartens, Rob, E-mail: rob.hoogmartens@uhasselt.be [Hasselt University, Faculty of Business Economics, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Agoralaan, Building D, 3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium); Van Passel, Steven, E-mail: steven.vanpassel@uhasselt.be [Hasselt University, Faculty of Business Economics, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Agoralaan, Building D, 3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium); Van Acker, Karel, E-mail: karel.vanacker@lrd.kuleuven.be [Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001 Leuven (Belgium); Dubois, Maarten, E-mail: maarten.dubois@kuleuven.be [Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Policy Research Centre for Sustainable Materials, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001 Leuven (Belgium)

    2014-09-15

    Increasing interest in sustainability has led to the development of sustainability assessment tools such as Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA). Due to methodological disparity of these three tools, conflicting assessment results generate confusion for many policy and business decisions. In order to interpret and integrate assessment results, the paper provides a framework that clarifies the connections and coherence between the included assessment methodologies. Building on this framework, the paper further focuses on key aspects to adapt any of the methodologies to full sustainability assessments. Aspects dealt with in the review are for example the reported metrics, the scope, data requirements, discounting, product- or project-related and approaches with respect to scarcity and labor requirements. In addition to these key aspects, the review shows that important connections exist: (i) the three tools can cope with social inequality, (ii) processes such as valuation techniques for LCC and CBA are common, (iii) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is used as input in both LCA and CBA and (iv) LCA can be used in parallel with LCC. Furthermore, the most integrated sustainability approach combines elements of LCA and LCC to achieve the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). The key aspects and the connections referred to in the review are illustrated with a case study on the treatment of end-of-life automotive glass. - Highlights: • Proliferation of assessment tools creates ambiguity and confusion. • The developed assessment framework clarifies connections between assessment tools. • Broadening LCA, key aspects are metric and data requirements. • Broadening LCC, key aspects are scope, time frame and discounting. • Broadening CBA, focus point, timespan, references, labor and scarcity are key.

  14. Bridging the gap between LCA, LCC and CBA as sustainability assessment tools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoogmartens, Rob; Van Passel, Steven; Van Acker, Karel; Dubois, Maarten

    2014-01-01

    Increasing interest in sustainability has led to the development of sustainability assessment tools such as Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA). Due to methodological disparity of these three tools, conflicting assessment results generate confusion for many policy and business decisions. In order to interpret and integrate assessment results, the paper provides a framework that clarifies the connections and coherence between the included assessment methodologies. Building on this framework, the paper further focuses on key aspects to adapt any of the methodologies to full sustainability assessments. Aspects dealt with in the review are for example the reported metrics, the scope, data requirements, discounting, product- or project-related and approaches with respect to scarcity and labor requirements. In addition to these key aspects, the review shows that important connections exist: (i) the three tools can cope with social inequality, (ii) processes such as valuation techniques for LCC and CBA are common, (iii) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is used as input in both LCA and CBA and (iv) LCA can be used in parallel with LCC. Furthermore, the most integrated sustainability approach combines elements of LCA and LCC to achieve the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). The key aspects and the connections referred to in the review are illustrated with a case study on the treatment of end-of-life automotive glass. - Highlights: • Proliferation of assessment tools creates ambiguity and confusion. • The developed assessment framework clarifies connections between assessment tools. • Broadening LCA, key aspects are metric and data requirements. • Broadening LCC, key aspects are scope, time frame and discounting. • Broadening CBA, focus point, timespan, references, labor and scarcity are key

  15. ToSIA-A tool for sustainability impact assessment of forest-wood-chains

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lindner, M.; Suominen, T.; Palosuo, T.; Garcia-Gonzalo, J.; Verweij, P.J.F.M.; Zudin, S.; Päivinen, R.

    2010-01-01

    Within the forest sector, the sustainability concept has evolved from a narrow focus on sustainable wood production to a much broader evaluation of environmental, social, and economic sustainability for whole value chains. A new software tool – ToSIA – has been developed for assessing sustainability

  16. Performance Analysis of the Capability Assessment Tool for Sustainable Manufacturing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enda Crossin

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores the performance of a novel capability assessment tool, developed to identify capability gaps and associated training and development requirements across the supply chain for environmentally-sustainable manufacturing. The tool was developed to assess 170 capabilities that have been clustered with respect to key areas of concern such as managing energy, water, material resources, carbon emissions and waste as well as environmental management practices for sustainability. Two independent expert teams used the tool to assess a sample group of five first and second tier sports apparel and footwear suppliers within the supply chain of a global sporting goods manufacturer in Asia. The paper addresses the reliability and robustness of the developed assessment method by formulating the expected links between the assessment results. The management practices of the participating suppliers were shown to be closely connected to their performance in managing their resources and emissions. The companies’ initiatives in implementing energy efficiency measures were found to be generally related to their performance in carbon emissions management. The suppliers were also asked to undertake a self-assessment by using a short questionnaire. The large gap between the comprehensive assessment and these in-house self-assessments revealed the suppliers’ misconceptions about their capabilities.

  17. Healthcare Building Sustainability Assessment tool - Sustainable Effective Design criteria in the Portuguese context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castro, Maria de Fátima; Mateus, Ricardo; Bragança, Luís

    2017-01-01

    Tools and methods to improve current practices and quality in the healthcare building sector are necessary to support decision-making at different building life cycle phases. Furthermore, Healthcare Building Sustainability Assessment (HBSA) Methods are based on criteria organised into different levels, such as categories and indicators. These criteria highlight aspects of significant importance when designing and operating a sustainable healthcare building. To bring more objectivity to the sustainability assessments, the standardisation bodies (CEN and ISO) proposed core indicators that should be used in the evaluation of the environmental, societal and economic performances of buildings. Nevertheless, relying on state of the art analysis, it is possible to conclude that there are aspects of major importance for the operation of healthcare buildings that are not considered in the HBSA methods. Thus, the aim of this paper is to discuss the context of sustainability assessment methods in the field of healthcare buildings and to present a proposal for the incorporation of Sustainable-Effective Design (SED) criteria in a new HBSA method. The used research method is innovative since in the development of the list of sustainability criteria it considers the opinion of main healthcare buildings' stakeholders, the existing healthcare assessment methods and the ISO and CEN standardisation works in the field of the methods to assess the sustainability of construction works. As a result, the proposed method is composed of fifty-two sustainability indicators that cover the different dimensions of the sustainability concept to support decision making during the design of a new or retrofitted healthcare building in urban areas. - Highlights: •A new system to assess the sustainability of healthcare buildings is presented. •We propose a method to develop the list of sustainability indicators for hospitals. •We propose a new concept – Sustainable-Effective Design (SED

  18. LCA-IWM: A decision support tool for sustainability assessment of waste management systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boer, J. den; Boer, E. den; Jager, J.

    2007-01-01

    The paper outlines the most significant result of the project 'The use of life cycle assessment tools for the development of integrated waste management strategies for cities and regions with rapid growing economies', which was the development of two decision-support tools: a municipal waste prognostic tool and a waste management system assessment tool. The article focuses on the assessment tool, which supports the adequate decision making in the planning of urban waste management systems by allowing the creation and comparison of different scenarios, considering three basic subsystems: (i) temporary storage; (ii) collection and transport and (iii) treatment, disposal and recycling. The design and analysis options, as well as the assumptions made for each subsystem, are shortly introduced, providing an overview of the applied methodologies and technologies. The sustainability assessment methodology used in the project to support the selection of the most adequate scenario is presented with a brief explanation of the procedures, criteria and indicators applied on the evaluation of each of the three sustainability pillars

  19. Critical review of decision support tools for sustainability assessment of site remediation options.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huysegoms, Lies; Cappuyns, Valérie

    2017-07-01

    In Europe alone, there are more than 2,5 million potentially contaminated sites of which 14% are expected to require remediation. Contaminated soil and groundwater can cause damage to human health as well as to valuable ecosystems. Globally more attention has been paid to this problem of soil contamination in the past decades. For example, more than 58 000 sites have been remediated in Europe between 2006 and 2011. Together with this increase in remediation projects there has been a surge in the development of new remediation technologies and decision support tools to be able to match every site and its specific characteristics to the best possible remediation alternative. In the past years the development of decision support tools (DST) has evolved in a more sustainable direction. Several DSTs added the claim not only to denote effective or technologically and economically feasible remediation alternatives but also to point out the more or most sustainable remediation alternatives. These trends in the evaluation of site remediation options left users with a confusing clew of possibly applicable tools to assist them in decision making for contaminated site remediation. This review provides a structured overview on the extent decision support tools for contaminated site remediation, that claim to assist in choosing the most sustainable remediation alternative, actually include the different elements of sustainability proposed in our assessment framework. The review contains an in-depth analysis of thirteen tools specifically developed to assess the sustainability of site remediation alternatives. This analysis is based on six criteria derived from the definition of sustainable development of the Brundtland report. The six criteria were concretized by using the three pillars of sustainability, applied to site remediation according to the SuRF-UK framework, two criteria derived from Life Cycle Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis, and an 'User friendly' criterion

  20. A Critique of the Application of Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment Tools in Urban Regeneration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luke Boyle

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment Tools (NSA tools are fast becoming the principal framework for urban planners and developers for promoting urban sustainability. The majority of NSA tools promote a specific type of urban development that effectively excludes regeneration projects from the urban sustainability conversation. Given that the world’s megacities are mostly built, it is argued that it is essential that strategies for global sustainability consider that urban development is focussed internally to address existing, under-serviced communities in particular need of meaningful intervention and sustainable redevelopment frameworks. The paper uses existing knowledge on NSA tools to highlight the shortcomings of outcomes-based approaches to urban governance and builds the case that the technocratic “one-size-fits-all” approach adopted by many tools inadequately accounts for underlying institutional, social and economic arrangements that influence urban development, making them inappropriate for application in both planned and existing communities. The paper proposes that urban redevelopment strategies need to be derived from the urban realities of a particular place or context. Such strategies must be grounded in principles of urban governance, participatory action and an understanding of market dynamics. Without these collaborative procedural frameworks, urban regeneration projects will continue to inadequately transition towards more comprehensive sustainability.

  1. Tools for sustainability assessment in island socio-ecological systems: an application to the Canary Islands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel Banos-González

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available An integral dynamic model, in combination with other methods (indicators, policy and scenario analysis, is presented as a tool for sustainability assessment in island socio-ecological systems (SES. The Fuerteventura sustainability model (FSM, tested for the 1996-2011, allows a better understanding of the dynamic interactions between sustainability indicators and other factors of this island. The FSM was first applied to analyse the vulnerability of this island to climate change for the 2012-2025 period; results point to the need for urgent measures to mitigate its effects on some of the analysed indicators. A set of policy measures was then assessed from the behaviour of nine indicators and their sustainability thresholds. Finally, the FSM facilitated the development of a dynamic model of the island of El Hierro, extrapolating the features common to both SES. We propose this to be a useful tool for the quantitative sustainability assessment and the management of real island socio-ecological systems

  2. Integration of life cycle assessment software with tools for economic and sustainability analyses and process simulation for sustainable process design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kalakul, Sawitree; Malakul, Pomthong; Siemanond, Kitipat

    2014-01-01

    The sustainable future of the world challenges engineers to develop chemical process designs that are not only technically and economically feasible but also environmental friendly. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for identifying and quantifying environmental impacts of the chemical product...... with other process design tools such as sustainable design (SustainPro), economic analysis (ECON) and process simulation. The software framework contains four main tools: Tool-I is for life cycle inventory (LCI) knowledge management that enables easy maintenance and future expansion of the LCI database; Tool...... and/or the process that makes it. It can be used in conjunction with process simulation and economic analysis tools to evaluate the design of any existing and/or new chemical-biochemical process and to propose improvement options in order to arrive at the best design among various alternatives...

  3. Sustainability Assessment Using a Unit-based Sustainability ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A sustainability assessment study was performed with three teaching departments at Rhodes University – Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, Anthropology, and Accounting. The assessment used a Unit-based Sustainability Assessment Tool (USAT) and was guided by systems thinking and the ontological framework ...

  4. Towards sustainability in cold chains: Development of a quality, energy and environmental assessment tool (QEEAT)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gwanpua, S.G.; Verboven, P.; Brown, T.; Leducq, D.; Verlinden, B.E.; Evans, J.; Van Der Sluis, S.; Wissink, E.B.; Taoukis, P.; Gogou, E.; Stahl, V.; El Jabri, M.; Thuault, D.; Claussen, I.; Indergård, E.; M. Nicolai, B.; Alvarez, G.; Geeraerd, A.H.

    2014-01-01

    Quantification of the impact of refrigeration technologies in terms of the quality of refrigerated food, energy usage, and environmental impact is essential to assess cold chain sustainability. In this paper, we present a software tool QEEAT (Quality, Energy and Environmental Assessment Tool) for

  5. Criticism on Environmental Assessment Tools

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abdalla, G.; Maas, G.J.; Huyghe, J.; Oostra, M.; Saji Baby, xx; Bogdan Zygmunt, xx

    2011-01-01

    Using environmental assessment tools to assess the sustainability of buildings, homes and mixed- use area is increasing. Environmental tools assign scores to projects using some sustainability (sub) aspects according to design and realization documents and evidences. Six European sustainable urban

  6. The Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) — A new assessment tool for evaluating the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Phillips, Jason, E-mail: jp1@tiscali.co.uk

    2016-01-15

    Evaluating sustainability from EIA-based assessments has been problematic at best. This is due to the use of reductionist and qualitative approaches which is dependent upon the perspective of the assessor(s). Therefore, a more rigorous and holistic approach is required to evaluate sustainability in a more consistent way. In this paper, a matrix-based methodology in order to assess the indicated level and nature of sustainability for any project, policy, indicators, legislation, regulation, or other framework is described. The Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) is designed to evaluate the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability occurring in respect the fundamental and complex geocybernetic paradigms. The GAM method is described in detail in respect to the theory behind it and the methodology. The GAM is then demonstrated using an appropriate case study — Part 1 of the UK Climate Change Act (2008) concerning carbon budgets and targets. The results indicate that the Part 1 of Act may not achieve the desired goals in contributing towards sustainable development through the stated mechanisms for carbon budgets and targets. The paper then discusses the broader context of the GAM with respect to the core themes evident in the development and application of the GAM of: sustainability science; sustainability assessment; application value of the GAM; and future research and development. - Highlights: • A new assessment tool called the Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) described. • GAM evaluates the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability. • GAM demonstrated by application to Part 1 of the UK Climate Change Act (CCA). • Part 1 of CCA has significant flaws in achieving a sustainable pathway. • GAM offers a potentially useful tool for quantitatively evaluating sustainability.

  7. The Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) — A new assessment tool for evaluating the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, Jason

    2016-01-01

    Evaluating sustainability from EIA-based assessments has been problematic at best. This is due to the use of reductionist and qualitative approaches which is dependent upon the perspective of the assessor(s). Therefore, a more rigorous and holistic approach is required to evaluate sustainability in a more consistent way. In this paper, a matrix-based methodology in order to assess the indicated level and nature of sustainability for any project, policy, indicators, legislation, regulation, or other framework is described. The Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) is designed to evaluate the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability occurring in respect the fundamental and complex geocybernetic paradigms. The GAM method is described in detail in respect to the theory behind it and the methodology. The GAM is then demonstrated using an appropriate case study — Part 1 of the UK Climate Change Act (2008) concerning carbon budgets and targets. The results indicate that the Part 1 of Act may not achieve the desired goals in contributing towards sustainable development through the stated mechanisms for carbon budgets and targets. The paper then discusses the broader context of the GAM with respect to the core themes evident in the development and application of the GAM of: sustainability science; sustainability assessment; application value of the GAM; and future research and development. - Highlights: • A new assessment tool called the Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix (GAM) described. • GAM evaluates the level and nature of sustainability or unsustainability. • GAM demonstrated by application to Part 1 of the UK Climate Change Act (CCA). • Part 1 of CCA has significant flaws in achieving a sustainable pathway. • GAM offers a potentially useful tool for quantitatively evaluating sustainability.

  8. Assess your competitor collaboration to advance sustainability : an assessment tool

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    DiVito, Lori; Garima, Sharma

    2016-01-01

    If your company is currently collaborating with competitors in order to advance sustainability, this tool will help you think about how to take that collaboration to the next level and achieve better results. If you’re still at the planning stages, this tool can help you reflect on where you would

  9. Environmental Comfort Indicators for School Buildings in Sustainability Assessment Tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana Santos Saraiva

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Decades ago, the only requirement to construct a building was to give men the right conditions for the execution of their work or leisure activities. With the development of knowledge about the internal and external environments of buildings, other requirements have been added such as the issue of user comfort. New construction techniques have been incorporated and new products have been created to improve internal environment comfort. This research addressed the importance of using indicators related to environmental comfort in sustainability assessment tools applied to school buildings. It also considered the importance of environmental issues for the good performance of human beings, and the harmonious coexistence of the comfort indicators indoor air quality, thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustic comfort and ergonomic comfort based on data gathered in research carried out with users of high schools (only students. This research was carried out in two different cities of different countries, Guimarães (Portugal and Juiz de Fora (Brazil, that have similar characteristics of teaching standards and climate conditions (temperature and air humidity. In this study, interviews were made through questionnaires and, later, the information collected was analyzed. This study demonstrates the need to include an ergonomic indicator for school buildings in sustainability assessment tools.

  10. An Assessment Tool to Integrate Sustainability Principles into the Global Supply Chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Jesús Muñoz-Torres

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The integration of sustainability principles into the assessment of companies along the supply chains is a growing research area. However, there is an absence of a generally accepted method to evaluate corporate sustainability performance (CSP, and the models and frameworks proposed by the literature present various important challenges to be addressed. A systematic literature review on the supply chain at the corporate level has been conducted, analyzing the main strengths and gaps in the sustainability assessment literature. Therefore, this paper aims to contribute to the development of this field by proposing an assessment framework a leading company can adopt to expand sustainability principles to the rest of the members of the supply chain. This proposal is based on best practices and integrates and shares efforts with key initiatives (for instance, the Organizational Environmental Footprint from the European Commission and United Nations Environment Programme and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry UNEP/SETAC; moreover, it overcomes important limitations of the current sustainability tools in a supply chain context consistent with the circular economy, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, planetary boundaries, and social foundation requirements. The results obtained create, on the one hand, new opportunities for academics; and, on the other hand, in further research, the use of this framework could be a means of actively engaging companies in their supply chains and of achieving the implementation of practical and comprehensive CSP assessment.

  11. Solution spaces for decision-making-a sustainability assessment tool for city-regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiek, Arnim; Binder, Claudia

    2005-01-01

    The sound development of city-regions presents a major planning challenge, as these regions are and will be the living spaces for the majority of the population. Therefore, a key question is how city-regions can be managed so that they develop in a sustainable way. Although Environmental Impact Assessment, Integrated Assessment, and other currently used approaches provide significant inputs for managing transition-processes towards sustainability, they must be extended to respond to three major deficiencies, which are (i) using lists of isolated indicators (ii) not performing a consistency analysis of the targets to be achieved, and (iii) not utilizing the potential of transdisciplinary approaches. The authors present an approach to constructing Sustainability Solution Spaces for Decision-Making (SSP). This approach fulfils the systemic, normative, and procedural requirements of an appropriate sustainability assessment as elaborated in the technical literature. It provides a consistent set of targets considering the systemic relations among the indicators representing the city-region. This gives the decision-makers a concise guideline for sustainable decisions and makes them aware of the synergistic and contradictory effects of their decisions. The modular tool is first depicted as a general procedure and later differentiated into two transdisciplinary approaches, a participatory and an expert approach

  12. Measuring sustainability as a programming tool for health sector investments: report from a pilot sustainability assessment in five Nepalese health districts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarriot, Eric; Ricca, Jim; Ryan, Leo; Basnet, Jagat; Arscott-Mills, Sharon

    2009-01-01

    Sustainability is a critical determinant of scale and impact of health sector development assistance programs. Working with USAID/Nepal implementing partners, we adapted a sustainability assessment framework to help USAID test how an evaluation tool could inform its health portfolio management. The essential first process step was to define the boundaries of the local system being examined. This local system-the unit of analysis of the study-was defined as the health district.We developed a standardized set of assessment tools to measure 53 indicators. Data collection was carried out over 4 weeks by a Nepalese agency. Scaling and combining indicators into six component indices provided a map of progress toward sustainable maternal, child, health, and family planning results for the five districts included in this pilot study, ranked from "no sustainability" to "beginning of sustainability."We conclude that systematic application of the Sustainability Framework could improve the health sector investment decisions of development agencies. It could also give districts an information base on which to build autonomy and accountability. The ability to form and test hypotheses about the sustainability of outcomes under various funding strategies-made possible by this approach-will be a prerequisite for more efficiently meeting the global health agenda.

  13. Conceptualising sustainability assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pope, Jenny; Annandale, David; Morrison-Saunders, Angus

    2004-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is being increasingly viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainability. However, this is a new and evolving concept and there remain very few examples of effective sustainability assessment processes implemented anywhere in the world. Sustainability assessment is often described as a process by which the implications of an initiative on sustainability are evaluated, where the initiative can be a proposed or existing policy, plan, programme, project, piece of legislation, or a current practice or activity. However, this generic definition covers a broad range of different processes, many of which have been described in the literature as 'sustainability assessment'. This article seeks to provide some clarification by reflecting on the different approaches described in the literature as being forms of sustainability assessment, and evaluating them in terms of their potential contributions to sustainability. Many of these are actually examples of 'integrated assessment', derived from environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA), but which have been extended to incorporate social and economic considerations as well as environmental ones, reflecting a 'triple bottom line' (TBL) approach to sustainability. These integrated assessment processes typically either seek to minimise 'unsustainability', or to achieve TBL objectives. Both aims may, or may not, result in sustainable practice. We present an alternative conception of sustainability assessment, with the more ambitious aim of seeking to determine whether or not an initiative is actually sustainable. We term such processes 'assessment for sustainability'. 'Assessment for sustainability' firstly requires that the concept of sustainability be well-defined. The article compares TBL approaches and principles-based approaches to developing such sustainability criteria, concluding that the latter are more appropriate, since they avoid many

  14. Towards sustainability in cold chains : development of a quality, energy and environmental assessment tool (QEEAT)

    OpenAIRE

    Gwanpua , S.G.; Verboven , P.; Brown , T.; Leducq , D.; Verlinden , B.E.; Evans , J.; Van Der Sluis , S.; Wissink , E.B.; Taoukis , P.; Gogou , E.; Stahl , V.; El Jabri , M.; Thuault , D.; Claussen , I.; Indergard , E.

    2014-01-01

    International audience; Quantification of the impact of refrigeration technologies in terms of the quality of refrigerated food, energy usage, and environmental impact is essential to assess cold chain sustainability. In this paper, we present a software tool QEEAT (Quality, Energy and Environmental Assessment Tool) for evaluating refrigeration technologies. As a starting point, a reference product was chosen for the different main food categories in the European cold chain. Software code to ...

  15. Establishing Design Strategies and an Assessment Tool of Home Appliances to Promote Sustainable Behavior for the New Poor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jui-Che Tu

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Environmental benefits related to home appliance life cycles depend on how these products are used. Designing home appliances that promote sustainable behavior is an effective way to reduce environmental impacts. This study aimed to increase relevant opportunities for promoting sustainable behavior practices on the new poor through home appliances, which is rarely discussed in the fields of design for sustainable behavior (DfSB and product design. In particular, relevant assessment tools or indicators are lacking in DfSB, and people’s use of home appliances is generally unsustainable. Therefore, repertory grid technology was used to understand the perceptions of the new poor, develop an assessment tool, and construct design strategies for home appliances that promote sustainable behavior. Data were collected from the new poor and from designers. Through cluster and principal component analyses, three strategy types were proposed that corresponded to different product features, suggestions, and guidance. In addition, the effectiveness and potential of an assessment tool were demonstrated using the Wilcoxon rank test. The findings could be used by designers, retailers, and green marketers to propose effective product design programs that promote sustainable behavior of the new poor during product use.

  16. Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marzia Traverso

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is nowadays accepted by all stakeholders as a guiding principle for both public policy making and corporate strategies. However, the biggest challenge for most organizations remains in the real and substantial implementation of the sustainability concept. The core of the implementation challenge is the question, how sustainability performance can be measured, especially for products and processes. This paper explores the current status of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA for products and processes. For the environmental dimension well established tools like Life Cycle Assessment are available. For the economic and social dimension, there is still need for consistent and robust indicators and methods. In addition to measuring the individual sustainability dimensions, another challenge is a comprehensive, yet understandable presentation of the results. The “Life Cycle Sustainability Dashboard” and the “Life Cycle Sustainability Triangle” are presented as examples for communication tools for both experts and non expert stakeholders.

  17. Assessing the sustainability of small wastewater systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hoffmann, Birgitte; Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Elle, Morten

    1999-01-01

    The authors present a planning tool for comparing and assessing the sustainability of different wastewater systems. The core of the planning tool is an assessment method based on both technical and social elements. The point of departure is that no technique is inherently sustainable or ecological...... in itself, but that the sustainability of the total system of technologies for a particular settlement in a given location must be assessed in a holistic and transparent manner. A pilot case is used to demonstrate the structure and the results of the assessment method. The assessment method is still under...

  18. A Strategy For Teaching Sustainability Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Stig Irving

    2010-01-01

    of their decisions. Our strategy for the teaching address three target groups and follows two routes.  One route provides in-depth education for students aiming to specialise in quantitative sustainability assessment. A variety of courses ranging from production level through company level to society level...... will be offered.  The second route aims to present concepts of sustainability and potential impacts of the specific technology field as well as methods and tools for specific domains, i.e. nano technology. It is targeted two groups of students at the different technological domains at DTU; those specifically...... for that technology domain and introduces quantitative tools to assess sustainability. The proposed strategy embeds sustainability throughout the engineering curriculum....

  19. Tools and methodologies to support more sustainable biofuel feedstock production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dragisic, Christine; Ashkenazi, Erica; Bede, Lucio; Honzák, Miroslav; Killeen, Tim; Paglia, Adriano; Semroc, Bambi; Savy, Conrad

    2011-02-01

    Increasingly, government regulations, voluntary standards, and company guidelines require that biofuel production complies with sustainability criteria. For some stakeholders, however, compliance with these criteria may seem complex, costly, or unfeasible. What existing tools, then, might facilitate compliance with a variety of biofuel-related sustainability criteria? This paper presents four existing tools and methodologies that can help stakeholders assess (and mitigate) potential risks associated with feedstock production, and can thus facilitate compliance with requirements under different requirement systems. These include the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT), the ARtificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) tool, the Responsible Cultivation Areas (RCA) methodology, and the related Biofuels + Forest Carbon (Biofuel + FC) methodology.

  20. Assessing Sustainability Curriculum: From Transmissive to Transformative Approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaard, Greta C.; Blades, Jarod; Wright, Mary

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to describe a two-stage sustainability curriculum assessment, providing tools and strategies for other faculty to use in implementing their own sustainability assessments. Design/methodology/approach: In the first stage of the five-year curriculum assessment, the authors used an anonymous survey of sustainability faculty…

  1. Modeling a Decision Support Tool for Buildable and Sustainable Building Envelope Designs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natee Singhaputtangkul

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability and buildability requirements in building envelope design have significantly gained more importance nowadays, yet there is a lack of an appropriate decision support system (DSS that can help a building design team to incorporate these requirements and manage their tradeoffs at once. The main objective of this study is to build such a tool to facilitate a building design team to take into account sustainability and buildability criteria for assessment of building envelopes of high-rise residential buildings in Singapore. Literature reviews were conducted to investigate a comprehensive set of the sustainability and buildability criteria. This also included development of the tool using a Quality Functional Deployment (QFD approach combined with fuzzy set theory. A building design team was engaged to test the tool with the aim to evaluate usefulness of the tool in managing the tradeoffs among the sustainability and buildability criteria. The results from a qualitative data analysis suggested that the tool allowed the design team to effectively find a balance between the tradeoffs among the criteria when assessing multiple building envelope design alternatives. Main contributions of using this tool are achievement of a more efficient assessment of the building envelopes and more sustainable and buildable building envelope design.

  2. Exploring the use of tools for urban sustainability in European cities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Ole; Elle, Morten

    2007-01-01

    This paper outlines the main findings from case studies analysed within the Practical Evaluation Tools for Urban Sustainability (PETUS) project, about the practical use of tools for sustainable urban development in European cities. The paper looks across 60 case studies and identifies the main...... drivers for using tools, the benefits gained by using them and discusses why, in genera, there is limited use of available tools. The main question raised by the PETUS project was, ' why are so few tools for urban sustainability being used, when so many are available?' Recent years have shown a growing...... number of theoretical tools to assess and evaluate urban sustainability. However, experience also shows that only a few of such tools are being used in practice. The paper outlines the motivations for actors to use tools, the benefits achieved and the barriers for using tools. From this, different...

  3. A critical review of reductionist approaches for assessing the progress towards sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gasparatos, Alexandros; El-Haram, Mohamed; Horner, Malcolm

    2008-01-01

    The increasing prominence of Sustainable Development as a policy objective has initiated a debate on appropriate frameworks and tools that will both provide guidance for a shift towards sustainability as well as a measure, preferably quantitative, of that shift. Sustainability assessment has thus the challenging task of capturing, addressing and suggesting solutions for a diverse set of issues that affect stakeholders with different values and span over different spatial and temporal scales. However sustainability assessment is still not a mature framework in the sense that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) are. This paper aims to provide suggestions for improving the sustainability evaluation part of a sustainability assessment. In particular it will provide a comprehensive review of different sustainability evaluation tools (from a reductionist perspective) as well as the feasibility of incorporating them within a sustainability assessment framework. Reviewed tools include monetary tools, biophysical models and sustainability indicators/composite indices that have been developed within different disciplines such as economics, statistics, ecology, engineering and town planning

  4. SustainPro - A tool for systematic process analysis, generation and evaluation of sustainable design alternatives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carvalho, Ana; Matos, Henrique A.; Gani, Rafiqul

    2013-01-01

    the user through the necessary steps according to work-flow of the implemented methodology. At the end the design alternatives, are evaluated using environmental impact assessment tools and safety indices. The extended features of the methodology incorporate Life Cycle Assessment analysis and economic....... The software tool is based on the implementation of an extended systematic methodology for sustainable process design (Carvalho et al. 2008 and Carvalho et al. 2009). Using process information/data such as the process flowsheet, the associated mass / energy balance data and the cost data, SustainPro guides...... analysis. The application and the main features of SustainPro are illustrated through a case study of ß-Galactosidase production....

  5. Approaches for assessing sustainable remediation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Søndergaard, Gitte Lemming; Binning, Philip John; Bjerg, Poul Løgstrup

    Sustainable remediation seeks to reduce direct contaminant point source impacts on the environment, while minimizing the indirect cost of remediation to the environment, society and economy. This paper presents an overview of available approaches for assessing the sustainability of alternative...... remediation strategies for a contaminated site. Most approaches use multi-criteria assessment methods (MCA) to structure a decision support process. Different combinations of environmental, social and economic criteria are employed, and are assessed either in qualitative or quantitative forms with various...... tools such as life cycle assessment and cost benefit analysis. Stakeholder involvement, which is a key component of sustainable remediation, is conducted in various ways. Some approaches involve stakeholders directly in the evaluation or weighting of criteria, whereas other approaches only indirectly...

  6. A framework for guiding sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coteur, Ine; Marchand, Fleur; Debruyne, Lies; Dalemans, Floris; Lauwers, Ludwig

    2016-01-01

    Responding to future challenges and societal needs, various actions are taken in agriculture to evolve towards more sustainable farming practices. These actions imply strategic choices and suppose adequate sustainability assessments to identify, measure, evaluate and communicate sustainable development. However, literature is scarce on the link between strategic decision making and sustainability assessment. As questions emerge on how, what and when to measure, the objective of this paper is to construct a framework for guiding sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making. Qualitative research on own experiences from the past and a recent project revealed four categories of actual needs farmers, advisors and experts have regarding sustainability assessment: context, flexibility, focus on farm and farmer and communication. These stakeholders' needs are then incorporated into a two-dimensional framework that marries the intrinsic complexity of sustainability assessment tools and the time frame of strategic decision making. The framework allows a farm-specific and flexible approach leading to harmonized actions towards sustainable farming. As this framework is mainly a procedural instrument to guide the use of sustainability assessment tools within strategic decision making, it fits to incorporate, even guide, future research on sustainability assessment tools themselves and on their adoption on farms. - Highlights: • How to link sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making is unclear. • Two-dimensional framework incorporating stakeholders' needs regarding sustainability assessment • Linking complexity of sustainability assessment tools and the time frame of strategic decision making • Farm-specific and flexible approach to harmonize action towards sustainable farming

  7. A framework for guiding sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coteur, Ine, E-mail: ine.coteur@ilvo.vlaanderen.be [Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)-Social sciences Unit, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, box 2, 9820 Merelbeke (Belgium); Marchand, Fleur [Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)-Social sciences Unit, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, box 2, 9820 Merelbeke (Belgium); University of Antwerp, Ecosystem Management Research Group and IMDO, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk (Belgium); Debruyne, Lies; Dalemans, Floris [Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)-Social sciences Unit, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, box 2, 9820 Merelbeke (Belgium); Lauwers, Ludwig [Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)-Social sciences Unit, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, box 2, 9820 Merelbeke (Belgium); University of Ghent, Department of Agricultural Economics, Coupure Links 53, 9000 Ghent (Belgium)

    2016-09-15

    Responding to future challenges and societal needs, various actions are taken in agriculture to evolve towards more sustainable farming practices. These actions imply strategic choices and suppose adequate sustainability assessments to identify, measure, evaluate and communicate sustainable development. However, literature is scarce on the link between strategic decision making and sustainability assessment. As questions emerge on how, what and when to measure, the objective of this paper is to construct a framework for guiding sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making. Qualitative research on own experiences from the past and a recent project revealed four categories of actual needs farmers, advisors and experts have regarding sustainability assessment: context, flexibility, focus on farm and farmer and communication. These stakeholders' needs are then incorporated into a two-dimensional framework that marries the intrinsic complexity of sustainability assessment tools and the time frame of strategic decision making. The framework allows a farm-specific and flexible approach leading to harmonized actions towards sustainable farming. As this framework is mainly a procedural instrument to guide the use of sustainability assessment tools within strategic decision making, it fits to incorporate, even guide, future research on sustainability assessment tools themselves and on their adoption on farms. - Highlights: • How to link sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making is unclear. • Two-dimensional framework incorporating stakeholders' needs regarding sustainability assessment • Linking complexity of sustainability assessment tools and the time frame of strategic decision making • Farm-specific and flexible approach to harmonize action towards sustainable farming.

  8. Opportunities and challenges for multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hugo F. Alrøe

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The focus of the Special Feature on "Multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability" is on the complex challenges of making and communicating overall assessments of food systems sustainability based on multiple and varied criteria. Four papers concern the choice and development of appropriate tools for making multicriteria sustainability assessments that handle built-in methodological conflicts and trade-offs between different assessment objectives. They underscore the value of linking diverse methods and tools, or nesting and stepping their deployment, to help build resilience and sustainability. They conclude that there is no one tool, one framework, or one indicator set that is appropriate for the different purposes and contexts of sustainability assessment. The process of creating the assessment framework also emerges as important: if the key stakeholders are not given a responsible and full role in the development of any assessment tool, it is less likely to be fit for their purpose and they are unlikely to take ownership or have confidence in it. Six other papers reflect on more fundamental considerations of how assessments are based in different scientific perspectives and on the role of values, motivation, and trust in relation to assessments in the development of more sustainable food systems. They recommend a radical break with the tradition of conducting multicriteria assessment from one hegemonic perspective to considering multiple perspectives. Collectively the contributions to this Special Feature identify three main challenges for improved multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability: (i how to balance different types of knowledge to avoid that the most well-known, precise, or easiest to measure dimensions of sustainability gets the most weight; (ii how to expose the values in assessment tools and choices to allow evaluation of how they relate to the ethical principles of sustainable food systems, to societal

  9. Selecting the sharpest tools to explore the food-feed-fuel debate: Sustainability assessment of family farmers producing food, feed and fuel in Brazil

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Florin, M.J.; Ittersum, van M.K.; Ven, van de G.W.J.

    2012-01-01

    Continuing interest in sustainable biofuel production is linked with sustainable farming and begs for insights from farming systems research on sustainability assessment and the role of family farms. The aims of this work were two-fold. First, to present a tools and methods selection framework

  10. Multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessment of farming systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Passel, Steven, E-mail: Steven.vanpassel@uhasselt.be [Hasselt University, Faculty of Business Economics, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Agoralaan, Building D, 3590, Diepenbeek (Belgium); University of Antwerp, Department Bioscience Engineering, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Meul, Marijke [University College Ghent, Department of Biosciences and Landscape Architecture, Campus Schoonmeersen, Building C, Schoonmeersstraat 52, 9000, Gent (Belgium)

    2012-01-15

    Sustainability assessment is needed to build sustainable farming systems. A broad range of sustainability concepts, methodologies and applications already exists. They differ in level, focus, orientation, measurement, scale, presentation and intended end-users. In this paper we illustrate that a smart combination of existing methods with different levels of application can make sustainability assessment more profound, and that it can broaden the insights of different end-user groups. An overview of sustainability assessment tools on different levels and for different end-users shows the complementarities and the opportunities of using different methods. In a case-study, a combination of the sustainable value approach (SVA) and MOTIFS is used to perform a sustainability evaluation of farming systems in Flanders. SVA is used to evaluate sustainability at sector level, and is especially useful to support policy makers, while MOTIFS is used to support and guide farmers towards sustainability at farm level. The combined use of the two methods with complementary goals can widen the insights of both farmers and policy makers, without losing the particularities of the different approaches. To stimulate and support further research and applications, we propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We give an overview of sustainability assessment tools for agricultural systems. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer SVA and MOTIFS are used to evaluate the sustainability of dairy farming in Flanders. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Combination of methods with different levels broadens the insights of different end-user groups. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments.

  11. Multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessment of farming systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Passel, Steven; Meul, Marijke

    2012-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is needed to build sustainable farming systems. A broad range of sustainability concepts, methodologies and applications already exists. They differ in level, focus, orientation, measurement, scale, presentation and intended end-users. In this paper we illustrate that a smart combination of existing methods with different levels of application can make sustainability assessment more profound, and that it can broaden the insights of different end-user groups. An overview of sustainability assessment tools on different levels and for different end-users shows the complementarities and the opportunities of using different methods. In a case-study, a combination of the sustainable value approach (SVA) and MOTIFS is used to perform a sustainability evaluation of farming systems in Flanders. SVA is used to evaluate sustainability at sector level, and is especially useful to support policy makers, while MOTIFS is used to support and guide farmers towards sustainability at farm level. The combined use of the two methods with complementary goals can widen the insights of both farmers and policy makers, without losing the particularities of the different approaches. To stimulate and support further research and applications, we propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments. - Highlights: ► We give an overview of sustainability assessment tools for agricultural systems. ► SVA and MOTIFS are used to evaluate the sustainability of dairy farming in Flanders. ► Combination of methods with different levels broadens the insights of different end-user groups. ► We propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments.

  12. Practical Implementation of Sustainable Urban Management Tools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Jesper Ole; Hoffmann, Birgitte

    2006-01-01

    The paper discusses how to promote the use of decision support tools for urban sustainable development. The interest in decision support tools based on indicators is increasing among practitioners and researchers. The research has so far focused on indicator types and systems of indicators...... and goals for urban sustainability whereas less focus has been on the context of implementation and even less on what we can learn from practical experiences about the usefulness of urban sustainable indicator tools. This paper explores the practical implementation of urban sustainable management tools....... It is generally agreed that in order to make indicators and other sustainability management tools work it is necessary that they are integrated in the relevant urban organisational levels, in a way that creates commitment to the subsequent goals. This includes involvement of organisations, individuals and other...

  13. On sustainability assessment of technical systems. Experience from systems analysis with the ORWARE and Ecoeffect tools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Assefa, Getachew [Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

    2006-06-15

    alternatives at the same time, and carrying out the assessment of the three dimensions independently. It should give way to transparent system where the level of quality of input data can be comprehended. The assessment approach should focus on a selected number of key input data, tested calculation procedures, and comprehensible result presentation. The challenge in developing and applying this approach is the complexity of method integration and information processing. The different parts to be included in the same platform come in with additional uncertainties hampering result interpretations. The hitherto tendency of promoting disciplinary lines will continue to challenge further developments of such interdisciplinary approaches. The thesis draws on the experience from ORWARE, a Swedish technology assessment tool applied in the assessment of waste management systems and energy systems; and from the EcoEffect tool used in the assessment of building properties; all assessed as components of a larger system. The thesis underlines the importance of sustainability considerations beginning from the research and development phase of technical systems. The core message of this thesis is that technical systems should be researched as indivisible parts of a complex whole that includes society and the natural environment. Results from such researches can then be transformed into design codes and specifications for use in the research and development, planning and structuring, and implementation and management of technical systems.

  14. Multi-criteria sustainability assessment: A tool for evaluation of new energy system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Afgan Naim H.

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available One of perspective methods for the evaluation of quality of energy system is the multi-criteria sustainability assessment, based on the analysis and synthesis of indicators expressing different aspects of the system. Application of this methodology in the cases of information deficiency (ASPID methodology enables evaluation of various energy systems. In the paper, the multi-criteria sustainability assessment of energy systems of various energy sources is used to evaluate the energy power system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Eight different energy system options are taken into a consideration as the potential options for the capacity building within the energy power system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has included various renewable sources and fossil fuel clean technologies. Within the multi-criteria sustainability assessment method, sustainability indicators and weighting coefficients are defined and calculated, including: resource indicator, environment indicator, social indicator and economic indicator with respective weighting factors. The methodology includes the system of stochastic models of uncertainty in order to realize the assessment from various supporting systems, and to obtain respective normalization indexes by using non-numeric (ordinal, non-exact (interval, and non-complete information (NNN- information, for sources of various reliability and probability. By the analysis of multi-criteria sustainability assessment of selected options, the decision makers could be enabled to form opinion on quality of considered energy systems, and from the aspect of sustainability, make selection an optimum option of energy system. .

  15. Sustainability Tools Inventory - Initial Gaps Analysis | Science ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    This report identifies a suite of tools that address a comprehensive set of community sustainability concerns. The objective is to discover whether "gaps" exist in the tool suite’s analytic capabilities. These tools address activities that significantly influence resource consumption, waste generation, and hazard generation including air pollution and greenhouse gases. In addition, the tools have been evaluated using four screening criteria: relevance to community decision making, tools in an appropriate developmental stage, tools that may be transferrable to situations useful for communities, and tools with requiring skill levels appropriate to communities. This document provides an initial gap analysis in the area of community sustainability decision support tools. It provides a reference to communities for existing decision support tools, and a set of gaps for those wishing to develop additional needed tools to help communities to achieve sustainability. It contributes to SHC 1.61.4

  16. The Multi-Sector Sustainability Browser (MSSB): A Tool for ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    The MSSB is the first and only decision support tool containing information from scientific literature and technical reports that can be used to develop and implement sustainability initiatives. The MSSB is designed to assist individuals and communities in understanding the impacts that the four key dimensions of sustainability - Land Use, Buildings and Infrastructure, Transportation, and Materials Management - can have on human health, the economy, the built environment and natural environments. The MSSB has the following capabilities: a. Displays and describes linkages between the four major sustainability concepts (Land Use, Buildings and Infrastructure, Transportation, and Materials Management) and their subordinate concepts. b. Displays and lists literature sources and references (including weblinks where applicable) providing information about each major sustainability concept and its associated subordinate concepts. c. Displays and lists quantitative data related to each major sustainability concept and its associated subordinate concepts, with weblinks where applicable.The MSSB serves as a ‘visual database’, allowing users to: investigate one or more of the four key sustainability dimensions; explore available scientific literature references, and; assess potential impacts of sustainability activities. The MSSB reduces the amount of time and effort required to assess the state of sustainability science and engineering research pertaining

  17. Systematic Assessment Through Mathematical Model For Sustainability Reporting In Malaysia Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanang, Wan Nurul Syahirah Wan; Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina

    2017-08-01

    Sustainability assessment have been studied and increasingly recognized as a powerful and valuable tool to measure the performance of sustainability in a company or industry. Nowadays, there are many existing tools that the users can use for sustainable development. There are various initiatives exists on tools for sustainable development, though most of the tools focused on environmental, economy and social aspects. Using the Green Project Management (GPM) P5 concept that suggests the firms not only needs to engage in mainly 3Ps principle: planet, profit, people responsible behaviours, but also, product and process need to be included in the practices, this study will introduce a new mathematical model for assessing the level of sustainability practice in the company. Based on multiple case studies, involving in-depth interviews with senior directors, feedback from experts, and previous engineering report, a systematic approach is done with the aims to obtain the respective data from the feedbacks and to be developed into a new mathematical model. By reviewing on the methodology of this research it comprises of several phases where it starts with the analyzation of the parameters and criteria selection according to the Malaysian context of industry. Moving on to the next step is data analysis involving regression and finally the normalisation process will be done to determine the result of this research either succeeded or not. Lastly, this study is expected to provide a clear guideline to any company or organization to assimilate the sustainability assessment in their development stage. In future, the better understanding towards the sustainability assessment is attained to be aligned unitedly in order to integrated the process approach into the systematic approach for the sustainability assessment.

  18. Index of tobacco control sustainability (ITCS): a tool to measure the sustainability of national tobacco control programmes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson-Morris, Angela; Latif, Ehsan

    2017-03-01

    To produce a tool to assess and guide sustainability of national tobacco control programmes. A two-stage process adapting the Delphi and Nominal group techniques. A series of indicators of tobacco control sustainability were identified in grantee/country advisor reports to The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease under the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Control (2007-2015). Focus groups and key informant interviews in seven low and middle-income countries (52 government and civil society participants) provided consensus ratings of the indicators' relative importance. Data were reviewed and the indicators were accorded relative weightings to produce the 'Index of Tobacco Control Sustainability' (ITCS). All 31 indicators were considered 'Critical' or 'Important' by the great majority of participants. There was consensus that a tool to measure progress towards tobacco control sustainability was important. The most critical indicators related to financial policies and allocations, a national law, a dedicated national tobacco control unit and civil society tobacco control network, a national policy against tobacco industry 'Corporate Social Responsibility' (CSR), national mortality and morbidity data, and national policy evaluation mechanisms. The 31 indicators were agreed to be 'critical' or 'important' factors for tobacco control sustainability. The Index comprises the weighted indicators as a tool to identify aspects of national tobacco control programmes requiring further development to augment their sustainability and to measure and compare progress over time. The next step is to apply the ITCS and produce tobacco control sustainability assessments. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  19. The Contribution of Sustainability Assessment to Policy Development in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambrechts, Wim

    2015-01-01

    This article builds upon the experiences and results of the application of sustainability assessment instruments in higher education. First, a short overview of existing sustainability assessment tools will be provided, as well as their contribution towards the integration of sustainability in higher education. Second, a reflective case focuses on…

  20. Method selection for sustainability assessments: The case of recovery of resources from waste water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zijp, M C; Waaijers-van der Loop, S L; Heijungs, R; Broeren, M L M; Peeters, R; Van Nieuwenhuijzen, A; Shen, L; Heugens, E H W; Posthuma, L

    2017-07-15

    Sustainability assessments provide scientific support in decision procedures towards sustainable solutions. However, in order to contribute in identifying and choosing sustainable solutions, the sustainability assessment has to fit the decision context. Two complicating factors exist. First, different stakeholders tend to have different views on what a sustainability assessment should encompass. Second, a plethora of sustainability assessment methods exist, due to the multi-dimensional characteristic of the concept. Different methods provide other representations of sustainability. Based on a literature review, we present a protocol to facilitate method selection together with stakeholders. The protocol guides the exploration of i) the decision context, ii) the different views of stakeholders and iii) the selection of pertinent assessment methods. In addition, we present an online tool for method selection. This tool identifies assessment methods that meet the specifications obtained with the protocol, and currently contains characteristics of 30 sustainability assessment methods. The utility of the protocol and the tool are tested in a case study on the recovery of resources from domestic waste water. In several iterations, a combination of methods was selected, followed by execution of the selected sustainability assessment methods. The assessment results can be used in the first phase of the decision procedure that leads to a strategic choice for sustainable resource recovery from waste water in the Netherlands. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Building condition assessment: a performance evaluation tool towards sustainable asset management

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Abbott, GR

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available of consistent condition assessments is generally underrated and seldom fully utilised. Condition assessments should be the basis for management and maintenance decisions in the built environment towards sustainable construction. Subsequent to the 1995 National...

  2. Assessing the Impact of Sustainability Improvement Options on the Agri-food Supply Chain Governance Structures: Development of an Evaluation Tool

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cosimo Rota

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The competitiveness of a supply chain is driven by the ability of supply chain governance structures to adapt to the chains’ continuously changing technical and organizational characteristics. The present study addresses the adoption of sustainability improvement options in the area of organization and management in the agri-food sector; within this framework the study proposes a tool for assessing the impact of sustainability oriented processes on the supply chain governance structures, in turn influencing the competitiveness of the supply chain. Two different approaches, proposed by (Gereffi et al., 2005 and (Hobbs and Young, 2000 have been linked to provide a theoretical framework for the tool development. The proposed new conceptual framework links the dimensions defining five different governance structures complexity of transaction, ability to codify and capabilities in the supply-base (Gereffi et al., to the product characteristics, regulatory and technology aspects defined by Hobbs and Young as drivers influencing the vertical coordination of supply chains. The method suggested for measuring the relations between improvement options and the chain governance structure is the adoption of experts’ evaluations. This method improves the tool capacity to provide a context-related supply chain governance structure assessment and management.

  3. Sustainability Assessment of Higher Education Institutions in Saudi Arabia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Habib M. Alshuwaikhat

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Universities are paramount change drivers in bringing about a culture of sustainability in society by setting themselves up as models and nurseries for sustainable development. Thus, assessment of sustainability integration within universities is key to their impact on sustainable development. This study conducted an assessment of different public sector universities of Saudi Arabia based on five components: (i Teaching and Curriculum; (ii Research and Scholarship; (iii Campus Operations; (iv Management and Community; and (v Financial Management. The sustainability assessment questionnaire (SAQ was utilized as a tool to discern the component-wise sustainability assessment for Saudi universities. The outcomes of the survey reveal that, in stark contrast with the universities of the developed world, offerings of sustainability relevant academic courses in Saudi Arabia are still lacking. Most Saudi universities still need to integrate research and scholarship in the area of sustainability; sustainable-campus operations in the current scenario are not sufficient. The results also reveal that sustainability-related projects are not prioritized within universities and sustainable financial management practices are not significant. This article concludes by proposing some recommendations emphasizing the importance of adopting sustainability practices in Saudi universities.

  4. No perfect tools: trade-offs of sustainability principles and user requirements in designing support tools for land-use decisions between greenfields and brownfields.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartke, Stephan; Schwarze, Reimund

    2015-04-15

    The EU Soil Thematic Strategy calls for the application of sustainability concepts and methods as part of an integrated policy to prevent soil degradation and to increase the re-use of brownfields. Although certain general principles have been proposed for the evaluation of sustainable development, the practical application of sustainability assessment tools (SATs) is contingent on the actual requirements of tool users, e.g. planners or investors, to pick up such instruments in actual decision making. We examine the normative sustainability principles that need to be taken into account in order to make sound land-use decisions between new development on greenfield sites and the regeneration of brownfields - and relate these principles to empirically observed user requirements and the properties of available SATs. In this way we provide an overview of approaches to sustainability assessment. Three stylized approaches, represented in each case by a typical tool selected from the literature, are presented and contrasted with (1) the norm-oriented Bellagio sustainability principles and (2) the requirements of three different stakeholder groups: decision makers, scientists/experts and representatives of the general public. The paper disentangles some of the inevitable trade-offs involved in seeking to implement sustainable land-use planning, i.e. between norm orientation and holism, broad participation and effective communication. It concludes with the controversial assessment that there are no perfect tools and that to be meaningful the user requirements of decision makers must take precedence over those of other interest groups in the design of SATs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Chemistry education for sustainability: Assessing the chemistry curricula at Cardiff University

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lozano, R.; Watson, M.K.

    2013-01-01

    As more universities become interested in, and engaged with, sustainability, there has been a growing need to assess how their curricula addresses sustainable development and its myriad issues. Different tools and assessment exercises have looked at course descriptors. This paper presents the

  6. Sustainability Tools Inventory Initial Gap Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    This report identifies a suite of tools that address a comprehensive set of community sustainability concerns. The objective is to discover whether "gaps" exist in the tool suite’s analytic capabilities. These tools address activities that significantly influence resource consu...

  7. Tall-Building Projects Sustainability Indicator (TPSI: A New Design and Environmental Assessment Tool for Tall Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hasim Altan

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the features of Tall-building Projects Sustainability Indicator (TPSI—a “Sustainability Rating System” that specializes in tall-building projects. The system comprises two components; the “Technical Manual” in the form of a booklet and the “Calculator” in the form of an Excel tool. It can be used as a “design tool” and/or as a “checklist” to compare and to improve the sustainable performance of tall-building design schemes. At the same time, the system can be used to evaluate the sustainability of existing tall-building projects. The first version of the TPSI rating system (TPSI 2012 Version was released as an online tool (GreenLight and thoroughly examined and validated by multiple parties.

  8. A sustainability assessment system for Chinese iron and steel firms

    OpenAIRE

    Long, Yunguang; Pan, Jieyi; Farooq, Sami; Boer, Harry

    2016-01-01

    The environmental impact of the Chinese iron and steel industry is huge due to its high consumption of ore, coal and energy, and water and air pollution. It is important not only for China but also for the rest of the world that the Chinese iron and steel industry becomes more sustainable. A sustainable assessment indicator system is an important tool to support that development. Currently, however, a sustainable assessment system, specifically designed to match the characteristics of Chinese...

  9. Expanding the concept of sustainable seafood using Life Cycle Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ziegler, Friederike; Hornborg, Sara; Green, Bridget S

    2016-01-01

    Fisheries management and sustainability assessment of fisheries more generally have recently expanded their scope from single-species stock assessment to ecosystem-based approaches, aiming to incorporate economic, social and local environmental impacts, while still excluding global-scale environm......Fisheries management and sustainability assessment of fisheries more generally have recently expanded their scope from single-species stock assessment to ecosystem-based approaches, aiming to incorporate economic, social and local environmental impacts, while still excluding global......-offs, LCA can be a useful decision support tool and avoids problem shifting from one concern (or activity) to another. The integrated, product-based and quantitative perspective brought by LCA could complement existing tools. One example is to follow up fuel use of fishing, as the production and combustion...... performance could likewise facilitate the transition to low-impact fisheries. Taking these steps in an open dialogue between fishers, managers, industry, NGOs and consumers would enable more targeted progress towards sustainable fisheries...

  10. Methodological Tools for the Assessment of Ecological and Socio-Economic Environment in the Region within the Limits of the Sustainability of Biosphere

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksey Yuryevich Davankov

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to the study of ecological and socio-economic environment as well as the development of effective methodological tool for the assessment of its stability. This tool allows to ascertain the level of economic activity of the regions within the limits of the sustainability of biosphere. In the article, the regional system is considered as the total of industrial enterprises, social infrastructure and natural environment creating a specific territorial ecological and socio-economic environment, whose stability depends on the level of economic activity measured by the capacity of territorial ecosystem. The use of a technique for the comparative assessment of the energy indicators of economic activity creating a specific ecological and socio-economic environment of the region as well as of the indicator of the ecological capacity of the territory is proved. The ecological capacity of the territory enables to better estimate the level of the sustainability of the region within the limits of sustainability of biosphere. This method allows to forecast the development of the studied territory by the measurement of general energy flow on the basis of closed material and energy flows. The research revealed an indicator of the sustainability of ecological and socio-economic environment of Ural Federal District. Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District is the most stable, the Chelyabinsk region is the least stable, which is associated with both natural conditions and the specificities of economic structure. The labour productivity indicator, expressed in energy units, has revealed regions with rich natural resources. It was found that in these regions, there are significant material flows in the electricity industry that leads to a large proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. The assessment of the demographic capacity fully correlates with the calculations of the stability indicator of the regional system and the analysis of labour

  11. Assessing and Developing the Application of LEED Green Building Rating System as a Sustainable Project Management and Market Tool in the Italian Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Walaa S. E. Ismaee

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The paper discusses the recent introduction of the LEED system to the Italian context in order to assess its role to promote sustainable building process in the Italian context, pointing out its potentials on one hand as well as their gaps and limitations on the other hand, and suggests means for its future development. The study discusses the application of LEED as a ‘Sustainable Project management tool’ to guide sustainable building performance. This requires investigating the following: its structure, tools, assessment criteria along with its benchmarks and references. It also discusses the application of LEED as a ‘Sustainable building Certification and market tool’. This investigates the role and value of the LEED certification in the Italian Green market. The research method is comprised of three parts. The first part is a comparative analysis of LEED categories against Italian national initiatives for sustainability. The comparison showed that most LEED categories are already mandated by national norms and directives but they may differ in their stringency creating some areas of precedence of LEED system or drawbacks. This streamlines the adaptation process of LEED system to the Italian context. The second part investigates LEED projects’ market analysis. The result showed that the shift towards a sustainable building process is occurring slowly and on a vertical scale focusing on some building sectors rather than others. Its market diffusion in the Italian context faces challenges regarding the insufficient availability of green materials and products satisfying its requirements, as well as high soft cost of sustainability tests and expertise required. The Third part presents a practical review-citing the methodology and results of a survey conducted by the researchers in mid-2012. It is composed of a web-based questionnaire and interviews among a sample of LEED professionals in Italy. The result shows that LEED systems needs

  12. Indicators and beyond: Assessing the sustainability of transport projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cornet, Yannick

    2016-01-01

    on the topic of sustainable transport indicator frameworks. Case study work draws upon extensive desktop-based analysis of impact assessment reports and other publically available material about real cases of large transport infrastructure appraisals. The HS2 high-speed rail (HSR) project appraisal in the UK......Credibly demonstrating actual progress towards a genuinely sustainable transport situation remains a challenge. A key problem is that the incorporation of sustainability in transport policy and planning at present is not systematic. A motivating assumption behind this thesis is that a transition...... toward a sustainable transport system will require strong support from decision-support processes and assessment tools that do not only adopt the language of sustainability, but fully integrate an explicit notion of sustainability in all of their conceptual, operational and procedural approaches...

  13. The Development of a Tool for Sustainable Building Design:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tine Ring Hansen, Hanne; Knudstrup, Mary-Ann

    2009-01-01

    for sustainable buildings, as well as, an analysis of the relationship between the different approaches (e.g. low-energy, environmental, green building, solar architecture, bio-climatic architecture etc.) to sustainable building design and these indicators. The paper furthermore discusses how sustainable......The understanding of sustainable building has changed over time along with the architectural interpretation of sustainability. The paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of the indicators found in different internationally acclaimed and Danish certification schemes and standards...... architecture will gain more focus in the coming years, thus, establishing the need for the development of a new tool and methodology, The paper furthermore describes the background and considerations involved in the development of a design support tool for sustainable building design. A tool which considers...

  14. Developing micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for sustainability assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dizdaroglu, Didem

    2015-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is increasingly being viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainable urban ecosystems. An urban ecosystem is a dynamic system and requires regular monitoring and assessment through a set of relevant indicators. An indicator is a parameter which provides information about the state of the environment by producing a quantitative value. Indicator-based sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all spatial scales to provide efficient information of urban ecosystem sustainability. The detailed data is necessary to assess environmental change in urban ecosystems at local scale and easily transfer this information to the national and global scales. This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. The proposed indicator framework measures the sustainability performance of urban ecosystem in 3 main categories including: natural environment, built environment, and socio-economic environment which are made up of 9 sub-categories, consisting of 23 indicators. This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature [tr

  15. A sustainability assessment system for Chinese iron and steel firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Long, Yunguang; Pan, Jieyi; Farooq, Sami

    2016-01-01

    from financial and sustainability reports of four leading Chinese iron and steel firms. The proposed sustainable assessment system is envisaged to help Chinese iron and steel firms to objectively investigate their sustainability performance, provide clear and effective information to decision makers......The environmental impact of the Chinese iron and steel industry is huge due to its high consumption of ore, coal and energy, and water and air pollution. It is important not only for China but also for the rest of the world that the Chinese iron and steel industry becomes more sustainable....... A sustainable assessment indicator system is an important tool to support that development. Currently, however, a sustainable assessment system, specifically designed to match the characteristics of Chinese iron and steel firms, is not available. In this paper such a system is proposed and evaluated using data...

  16. Gaps in tools assessing the energy implications of renovation versus rebuilding decisions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Goldstein, Benjamin Paul; Herbøl, Mads; Meza, Maria Josefina Figueroa

    2013-01-01

    to evaluate project level energy-related decisions than at larger scales. Information gaps identified within assessment tools lead to uncertainty for decision makers about which option improves energy efficiency. In the case of a number of large-scale EU building renovating/renewing projects these tools have......The state of building stocks changes over time. Owners and municipalities face the choice to renovate or rebuild buildings to improve energy efficiency. This review addresses how current sustainability assessment tools support these decisions. It finds that advanced tools are better tailored...... been scarcely used or merely suggested during planning. Recent advances in sustainability assessment tools can begin to close some of the existing knowledge gaps, while incentives and stricter legislation may improve their usage rates....

  17. A Sustainability Assessment Framework For Waterfront Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sally Said Eldeeb

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available It is predicted that the global phenomena of Climate change will have far reaching effects and implications on different local urban systems. For incidence, global average sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 36 cm by the 2050s, and between 9 and 69 cm by the 2080s. Waterfront communities are the first to be affected by such impacts putting them at high risk. Planning tools are needed to assist these communities and increase their adaptive and learning capacities in the face of diverse challenges to their urban sub-systems.  The research investigates a number of sustainability frameworks and assessment rating systems for neighbourhoods and communities. It investigates the sustainable evaluation criteria carried out by three assessment rating systems. First is the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, USA, the second is BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, UK, and the third is the Estidama PEARL rating system (UAE.Examples of waterfront communities which applied the previous rating systemsare analyzed in order to determine the applicability and relevance of these systems to waterfront communities in particular.  The research concludes with a proposed framework of indicators for waterfront communities. The similarities and differences between the different rating systems and featured indicators specific to waterfront planning applied in the analyzed examples, yet absent in the three rating systems, have informed the selection of indicators in the proposed assessment framework. The proposed framework could be an effective tool for the planning and development of a waterfront community in the MENA region. In order to validate the framework, theset of environmental and physical indicators were applied on the case study of Abu Qir waterfront, Alexandria, Egypt. Conclusions and recommendations  are made that would enhance the resilience of this waterfront community and provide a comprehensive

  18. Macro Security Methodology for Conducting Facility Security and Sustainability Assessments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herdes, Greg A.; Freier, Keith D.; Wright, Kyle A.

    2007-01-01

    Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has developed a macro security strategy that not only addresses traditional physical protection systems, but also focuses on sustainability as part of the security assessment and management process. This approach is designed to meet the needs of virtually any industry or environment requiring critical asset protection. PNNL has successfully demonstrated the utility of this macro security strategy through its support to the NNSA Office of Global Threat Reduction implementing security upgrades at international facilities possessing high activity radioactive sources that could be used in the assembly of a radiological dispersal device, commonly referred to as a 'dirty bomb'. Traditional vulnerability assessments provide a snap shot in time of the effectiveness of a physical protection system without significant consideration to the sustainability of the component elements that make up the system. This paper describes the approach and tools used to integrate technology, plans and procedures, training, and sustainability into a simple, quick, and easy-to-use security assessment and management tool.

  19. Beyond the Certification Badge—How Infrastructure Sustainability Rating Tools Impact on Individual, Organizational, and Industry Practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kerry Griffiths

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability consideration in designing, constructing, and operating civil infrastructure requires substantive action and yet progress is slow. This research examines the impact third-party infrastructure sustainability rating tools—specifically CEEQUAL, Envision, Greenroads, and Infrastructure Sustainability—have beyond individual project certification and considers their role in driving wider industry change. In this empirical study, engineering and sustainability professionals (n = 63 assess and describe their experience in using rating tools outside of formal certification and also the impact of tool use on their own practice and the practices of their home organizations. The study found that 77% of experienced users and 59% of infrastructure owners used the tools for purposes other than formal project certification. The research attests that rating tool use and indeed their very existence has a strong influence on sustainability awareness and practice within the infrastructure industry, providing interpretation of sustainability matters in ways that resonate with industry norms. The rating tools impact on individuals and their professional and personal practice, on the policies and practices of infrastructure-related organizations, and more widely on other industry stakeholders. The findings can be used to increase the value gained from sustainability rating tool use and to better understand the role such tools play in creating cultural change within the industry.

  20. Development of hydropower sustainability assessment method in Malaysia context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina; Atiqah Omar, Nur

    2018-03-01

    Nowadays, sustainability is becoming one of the crucial requirement to business success today. This requirement is strongly supported by Bursa Malaysia. In their webpage, they stated that an entire way to business management, incorporating economic, environmental, social and governance considerations alongside financial ones, will serve as a sound business model that supports business continuity and long term value creation for stakeholders and society at large (Bursa Malaysia website, 21th April 2016). This proved that companies need to take sustainability as one of their aspect performance as well as an energy company. Apart from that, energy companies in Malaysia are facing problems as there is still no systematic assessment of sustainability. Before this, Malaysia energy companies assess their large projects based on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) requirement. However, the EIAs mostly covers the environmental issues related to the projects. The EIAs give less attention to the social aspects and economical aspects. In addition, there are still not many companies comply all the three aspects together. So, this study is to help the energy companies to discover the systematic assessment of sustainability. In developing sustainable project, they need to include many criteria that cover the environmental, economic and social aspects at all stages. Thus, the new version of Systematic Sustainability Assessment (SSA) that apply the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) is used as a guideline to achieve sustainability in Malaysia energy companies. This tool will guide the energy company on how to assess the sustainability in their project and see the performance of the project.

  1. Sign Language Legislation as a Tool for Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pabsch, Annika

    2017-01-01

    This article explores three models of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social) and identifies characteristics of a sustainable community necessary to sustain the Deaf community as a whole. It is argued that sign language legislation is a valuable tool for achieving sustainability for the generations to come.

  2. Landscape Diversity as a Screening Tool to Assess Agroecosystems Sustainability; Preliminary Study in Central Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Visicchio

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Modernization of agricultural activities has strongly modified agricultural landscapes. Intensive agriculture, with the increased use of inorganic fertiliser and density of livestock, affects water quality discharging nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in water bodies. Nutrients in rivers, subsequently, are excellent indicators to assess sustainability/ land-use intensity in agroecosystems. Landscape, however, is a dynamic system and is the product of interaction amongst the natural environment and human activities, including farming which is a main driving force. At present not much has been investigated on the predictive role of landscape on land-use intensity. Aim of this study is to determine if, in Italian agroecosystem, landscape complexity can be related to land-use intensity. Indexes of landscape complexity (i.e. edge density, number of patches, Shannon’s diversity index, Interspersion-Juxtaposition index derived by processing Corine Land Cover data (level IV, 1:25.000 of Lazio Region, were related with landuse intensity (values of compounds of nitrogen and phosphorus and other parameters found in rivers monitored in accordance to European Directives on Waste Water. Results demonstrate that some landscape indexes were related to some environment parameters. Consequently landscape complexity, with further investigation, could be an efficient screening tool, at large scale, to assess water quality and ultimately agroecosystems sustainability in the absence of monitoring stations.

  3. Assessing the built environment’s contribution to sustainable development: the sustainable building assessment tool

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Gibberd, Jeremy T

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses how the built environment can support sustainable development. It identifies the key characteristics of built environment that can be used to support sustainable development and shows how this can be developed into a set...

  4. Bioprocesses: Modelling needs for process evaluation and sustainability assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jiménez-Gonzaléz, Concepcion; Woodley, John

    2010-01-01

    development such that they can also be used to evaluate processes against sustainability metrics, as well as economics as an integral part of assessments. Finally, property models will also be required based on compounds not currently present in existing databases. It is clear that many new opportunities......The next generation of process engineers will face a new set of challenges, with the need to devise new bioprocesses, with high selectivity for pharmaceutical manufacture, and for lower value chemicals manufacture based on renewable feedstocks. In this paper the current and predicted future roles...... of process system engineering and life cycle inventory and assessment in the design, development and improvement of sustainable bioprocesses are explored. The existing process systems engineering software tools will prove essential to assist this work. However, the existing tools will also require further...

  5. Development of Sustainability Assessment Framework in Hydropower sector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soliha Sahimi, Nur; Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina

    2017-08-01

    Nowadays, Malaysian demand in energy sector was drastically increase due to technological developments. Since, hydropower is one of potential renewable energy source in Malaysia. The largest electricity utility company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad was provide an electricity to more than seven million people via independent suppliers in peninsular Malaysia and Sabah by intended a potential sustainable hydropower system. In order to increasingly the power capacity from current use, 1882 MW to more than 3000 MW by years 2020. In this study, the environmental issues and also the penalty to the responsible company especially on Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) towards their project or business are one of the problems. Other than that, every project or business has to prepare a sustainability statement or sustainability report as vital to Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad under their listing requirements. Next, the sustainability performance on their project cannot be determined to achieve the key performance indicators (KPI) satisfaction from Government, stakeholder or any responsible agencies. This study presents an exhaustive review of these studies and suggests a direction for future developments. Sustainability Assessment framework or self-assessment is decidedly as a significant framework to assist towards sustainability reporting and to produce a Sustainability index for Hydropower sector using a mathematical model study. The results reveal that, the quantitative measurement from Sustainability Assessment framework to Systematic Sustainability Asssesment tool can be produce. In doing so, it is possible to improve the performance of the project especially in hydropower planner.

  6. Towards life cycle sustainability assessent of cities. A review of background knowledge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albertí, Jaume; Balaguera, Alejandra; Brodhag, Christian; Fullana-I-Palmer, Pere

    2017-12-31

    This article analyses whether existing LCA and sustainability methods can be used in the assessment of a city or an urban region. The approach is performed through the review of current existing LCA-based and sustainability standards and guidelines. A focus is put into those LCA-based standards specially designed for the built environment. Moreover, a review of non-LCA based standards, indices and guides for the assessment of the sustainability of countries, cities or urban regions is done. The purpose is to check if these assessment tools can provide good results in the absence of LCA-based assessments for cities and urban regions. This review demonstrates the lack of consensus in the definition of both, the city and its boundaries, which hinders the development of useful sustainability standards. Furthermore, it is concluded that current sustainability assessment tools miss, at least, one of these aspects: (i) holistic point of view, (ii) focus on various environmental impacts, (iii) a Life Cycle (LC) perspective, and (iv) the possibility to compare the results among different cities or urban regions. From the LCA perspective, the deficiencies found also include the need for a definition of the function, functional unit (FU), and reference flow (RF) of neighbourhoods, cities, and urban regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Developing micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for sustainability assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dizdaroglu, Didem, E-mail: dizdaroglu@bilkent.edu.tr

    2015-09-15

    Sustainability assessment is increasingly being viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainable urban ecosystems. An urban ecosystem is a dynamic system and requires regular monitoring and assessment through a set of relevant indicators. An indicator is a parameter which provides information about the state of the environment by producing a quantitative value. Indicator-based sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all spatial scales to provide efficient information of urban ecosystem sustainability. The detailed data is necessary to assess environmental change in urban ecosystems at local scale and easily transfer this information to the national and global scales. This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. The proposed indicator framework measures the sustainability performance of urban ecosystem in 3 main categories including: natural environment, built environment, and socio-economic environment which are made up of 9 sub-categories, consisting of 23 indicators. This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature [Turkish] Highlights: • As the impacts of environmental problems have multi-scale characteristics, sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all scales. • The detailed data is necessary to assess local environmental change in urban ecosystems to provide insights into the national and global scales. • This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. • This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature.

  8. Improving sustainability during hospital design and operation a multidisciplinary evaluation tool

    CERN Document Server

    Bottero, Marta; Buffoli, Maddalena; Lettieri, Emanuele

    2015-01-01

    This book describes the Sustainable High Quality Healthcare (SustHealth) project, which had the goal of developing an original multidisciplinary evaluation tool that can be applied to assess and improve hospitals’ overall sustainability. The comprehensive nature of the appraisal offered by this tool exceeds the scope of most current rating systems, which typically permit a thorough evaluation of relevant environmental factors when designing a new building but fail to consider social and economic impacts of the design phase or the performance of the hospital’s operational structure in these fields. The multidisciplinary evaluation system was developed, from its very inception through to its testing, by following a scientific experimental method in which a global perspective was constantly maintained, as opposed to a focus only on specific technical issues. Application of the SustHealth rating tool to a currently functioning hospital, or one under design, will identify weaknesses and guide users to potentia...

  9. Cleaner production - a tool for sustainable environmental development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad, I.; Batool, S.

    2005-01-01

    Industrial Development and Production with no regard for environmental impacts creates water and air pollution, soil degradation, and large-scale global impacts such as acid rain, global warming and ozone depletion. To create more sustainable methods of industrial production, there needs to be a shift in attitudes away from control towards pollution prevention and management. Cleaner Production (CP) refers to a management process that seeks out and eliminates the causes of pollution, waste generation and resource consumption at their source through input reductions or substitutions, pollution prevention, internal recycling and more efficient production technology and processes for sustainable environmental development. The objective of cleaner production is to avoid generating pollution in the first place, which frequently cuts costs, reduces risks associated with liability, and identifies new market opportunities. Introducing cleaner production has become a goal to improve the competitiveness through increased eco-efficiency. CP is a business strategy for enhancing productivity and environmental performance for overall socio-economic development. The environmental and economic benefits can only be achieved by implementing cleaner production tools. The CP assessment methodology is used to systematically identify and evaluate the waste minimization opportunities and facilitate their implementation in industries. It refers to how goods and services are produced with the minimum environmental impact under present technological and economic limits. CP shares characteristics with many environmental management tools such as Environmental Assessment or Design for Environment by including them among the technological options for reducing material and energy intensiveness in production, as well as facilitating ruse trough remanufacturing and recycling. It is thus an extension of the total quality management process. The CP program has been successfully implemented in

  10. Analysis of design tool attributes with regards to sustainability benefits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zain, S.; Ismail, A. F.; Ahmad, Z.; Adesta, E. Y. T.

    2018-01-01

    The trend of global manufacturing competitiveness has shown a significant shift from profit and customer driven business to a more harmonious sustainability paradigm. This new direction, which emphasises the interests of three pillars of sustainability, i.e., social, economic and environment dimensions, has changed the ways products are designed. As a result, the roles of design tools in the product development stage of manufacturing in adapting to the new strategy are vital and increasingly challenging. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on the attributes of design tools with regards to the sustainability perspective. Four well-established design tools are selected, namely Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Failure Mode and Element Analysis (FMEA), Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and Design for Environment (DfE). By analysing previous studies, the main attributes of each design tool and its benefits with respect to each sustainability dimension throughout four stages of product lifecycle are discussed. From this study, it is learnt that each of the design tools contributes to the three pillars of sustainability either directly or indirectly, but they are unbalanced and not holistic. Therefore, the prospective of improving and optimising the design tools is projected, and the possibility of collaboration between the different tools is discussed.

  11. Assessing Environmental Sustainability of Remediation Technologies in a Life Cycle Perspective is Not So Easy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Owsianiak, Mikolaj; Lemming, Gitte; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    2013-01-01

    Integrating sustainability into remediation projects has attracted attention from remediation practitioners, and life cycle assessment (LCA) is becoming a popular tool to address the environmental dimension. The total number of studies has reached 31 since the first framework for LCA of site reme...... about the environmental sustainability of remediation technologies.......Integrating sustainability into remediation projects has attracted attention from remediation practitioners, and life cycle assessment (LCA) is becoming a popular tool to address the environmental dimension. The total number of studies has reached 31 since the first framework for LCA of site...

  12. Handling Diversity of Visions and Priorities in Food Chain Sustainability Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesca Galli

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Food chain sustainability assessment is challenging on several grounds. Handling knowledge and information on sustainability performance and coping with the diversity of visions around “what counts as sustainable food” are two key issues addressed by this study. By developing a comparative case study on local, regional and global wheat-to-bread chains, and confronting the multidimensionality of sustainability, this work focuses on the differing visions and perspectives of stakeholders. We integrate qualitative and quantitative data, stakeholder consultation and multi-criteria analysis to align the visions and the multiple meanings of sustainability. Because of the complexity and the dynamicity of the food system, the multidimensionality of the sustainability concept and its pliability to stakeholders priorities, sustainability is an object of competition for firms in the agro-food sector and has major implications in the governance of food chains. Results identify key propositions in relation to: (i the value of combining science-led evidence with socio-cultural values; (ii multidimensional sustainability assessment as a self diagnosis tool; and (iii the need to identify shared assessment criteria by communities of reference.

  13. Considering the normative, systemic and procedural dimensions in indicator-based sustainability assessments in agriculture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Binder, Claudia R.; Feola, Giuseppe; Steinberger, Julia K.

    2010-01-01

    This paper develops a framework for evaluating sustainability assessment methods by separately analyzing their normative, systemic and procedural dimensions as suggested by Wiek and Binder [Wiek, A, Binder, C. Solution spaces for decision-making - a sustainability assessment tool for city-regions. Environ Impact Asses Rev 2005, 25: 589-608.]. The framework is then used to characterize indicator-based sustainability assessment methods in agriculture. For a long time, sustainability assessment in agriculture has focused mostly on environmental and technical issues, thus neglecting the economic and, above all, the social aspects of sustainability, the multi-functionality of agriculture and the applicability of the results. In response to these shortcomings, several integrative sustainability assessment methods have been developed for the agricultural sector. This paper reviews seven of these that represent the diversity of tools developed in this area. The reviewed assessment methods can be categorized into three types: (i) top-down farm assessment methods; (ii) top-down regional assessment methods with some stakeholder participation; (iii) bottom-up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary methods with stakeholder participation throughout the process. The results readily show the trade-offs encountered when selecting an assessment method. A clear, standardized, top-down procedure allows for potentially benchmarking and comparing results across regions and sites. However, this comes at the cost of system specificity. As the top-down methods often have low stakeholder involvement, the application and implementation of the results might be difficult. Our analysis suggests that to include the aspects mentioned above in agricultural sustainability assessment, the bottom-up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary methods are the most suitable ones.

  14. Participatory approach used to develop a sustainability assessment tool for wood-based bioenergy industry in upper Michigan, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaidya, Ashma; Mayer, Audrey

    2015-04-01

    opportunities, but the forests have recovered to volumes prior to the logging boom. Interest in a wood-based bioenergy production industry is growing, yet whether this industry can be developed sustainably is a concern. The main goal of our research is to incorporate stakeholders' concerns and knowledge into an expert-assisted sustainability assessment tool for a regional wood-based biofuel industry. Key stakeholders involved in the research include landowners, farmers, land management companies, bioenergy users, venture capitalists, interest groups, government organizations and NGOs. We used interviews, focus group meetings and a workshop to collect information from these stakeholders, which were then translated into social sustainability criteria. Multiple criteria analysis methods, Bayesian Belief Network and information collected from other studies were used to develop a final set of sustainability criteria and indicators. Our results provide a platform for experts and stakeholders to understand the local context relevant to sustainability, the state of the science, and will bridge the gap between scientific and non-scientific knowledge in the region. This sustainability assessment tool is intended to facilitate inclusive and sustainability-oriented decision-making for a wood-based bioenergy industry.

  15. A review of corporate sustainability reporting tools (SRTs).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siew, Renard Y J

    2015-12-01

    Sustainability reporting has been increasingly adopted by corporations worldwide given the demand of stakeholders for greater transparency on both environmental and social issues. The popularity of such reporting is evidenced by the development of a range of tools in the last two decades - Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), AA1000 and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) inter alia. These tools, referred to collectively as corporate sustainability reporting tools (SRTs) are important as they serve to inform the progress of corporations towards achieving sustainability goals. However, the rapid growth of corporate SRTs, with different criteria and methodology has created major complications for stakeholders. This paper makes a genuine contribution by providing a review of some of these major tools, spanning across a wide spectrum - framework, standards, ratings and indices. A critique of SRTs is also given. Institutional investors, governments, practitioners and individuals may find this review useful in terms of understanding the nature of different corporate SRTs. As well, it can serve as a useful reference for the development of the next generation of corporate SRTs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Life cycle and sustainability of abrasive tools

    CERN Document Server

    Linke, Barbara

    2016-01-01

    This monograph focuses on abrasive tools for grinding, polishing, honing, and lapping operations. The book describes the life cycle of abrasive tools from raw material processing of abrasive grits and bonding, manufacturing of monolithic or multi-layered tools, tool use to tool end-of-life. Moreover, this work highlights sustainability challenges including economic, environmental, social and technological aspects. The target audience primarily comprises research and industry experts in the field of manufacturing, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

  17. Integrated farm sustainability assessment for the environmental management of rural activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stachetii Rodrigues, Geraldo; Aparecida Rodrigues, Izilda; Almeida Buschinelli, Claudio Cesar de; Barros, Inacio de

    2010-01-01

    Farmers have been increasingly called upon to respond to an ongoing redefinition in consumers' demands, having as a converging theme the search for sustainable production practices. In order to satisfy this objective, instruments for the environmental management of agricultural activities have been sought out. Environmental impact assessment methods are appropriate tools to address the choice of technologies and management practices to minimize negative effects of agricultural development, while maximizing productive efficiency, sound usage of natural resources, conservation of ecological assets and equitable access to wealth generation means. The 'system for weighted environmental impact assessment of rural activities' (APOIA-NovoRural) presented in this paper is organized to provide integrated farm sustainability assessment according to quantitative environmental standards and defined socio-economic benchmarks. The system integrates sixty-two objective indicators in five sustainability dimensions - (i) Landscape ecology, (ii) Environmental quality (atmosphere, water and soil), (iii) Sociocultural values, (iv) Economic values, and (v) Management and administration. Impact indices are expressed in three integration levels: (i) specific indicators, that offer a diagnostic and managerial tool for farmers and rural administrators, by pointing out particular attributes of the rural activities that may be failing to comply with defined environmental performance objectives; (ii) integrated sustainability dimensions, that show decision-makers the major contributions of the rural activities toward local sustainable development, facilitating the definition of control actions and promotion measures; and (iii) aggregated sustainability index, that can be considered a yardstick for eco-certification purposes. Nine fully documented case studies carried out with the APOIA-NovoRural system, focusing on different scales, diverse rural activities/farming systems, and contrasting

  18. A Scoring Tool for Websites – A Case of Sustainable Organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed GOMAA

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces a scoring tool to analyse company sustainability marketing efforts. We identify the expected scores for the companies selected on Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens of the year. The scoring tool is based on the aspects of sustainability and website quality and is divided into three categories: a user friendly, b transparency, and c content. The automation of the scoring tool benefits from a sustainability taxonomy to extract and evaluate the sustainability concepts and efforts mentioned by the companies. The tool scores the selected companies websites to determine the extent and quality of a company’s marketing of sustainability efforts. The result of applying the scoring tool shows that all companies in the list scored 8 to 14 in the user friendly section. In the transparency section, they scored 5 to 7, and in the content section they scored 6 to 10.

  19. Integrated waste management and the tool of life cycle inventory : a route to sustainable waste management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McDougall, F.R.; White, P.R. [Procter and Gamble Newcastle Technical Centre, Newcastle (United Kingdom). Corporate Sustainable Development

    2000-07-01

    An overall approach to municipal waste management which integrates sustainable development principles was discussed. The three elements of sustainability which have to be balanced are environmental effectiveness, economic affordability and social acceptability. An integrated waste management (IWM) system considers different treatment options and deals with the entire waste stream. A life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to determine the environmental burdens associated with IWM systems. LCIs for waste management are currently available for use in Europe, the United States, Canada and elsewhere. LCI is being used by waste management companies to assess the environmental attributes of future contract tenders. The models are used as benchmarking tools to assess the current environmental profile of a waste management system. They are also a comparative planning and communication tool. The authors are currently looking into publishing, at a future date, the experience of users of this LCI environmental management tool. 12 refs., 3 figs.

  20. The Use of MIVES as a Sustainability Assessment MCDM Method for Architecture and Civil Engineering Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oriol Pons

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Environmental and sustainability assessment tools have an important role in moving towards a better world, bringing knowledge and raising awareness. In the architecture and civil engineering sector, these assessment tools help in moving forward to constructions that have less economic, environmental and social impacts. At present, there are numerous assessment tools and methods with different approaches and scopes that have been analyzed in numerous technical reviews. However, there is no agreement about which method should be used for each evaluation case. This research paper synthetically analyzes the main sustainability assessment methods for the construction sector, comparing their strengths and weaknesses in order to present the challenges of the Spanish Integrated Value Model for Sustainability Assessment (MIVES. MIVES is a Multi-Criteria Decision Making method based on the value function concept and the Seminars of experts. Then, this article analyzes MIVES advantages and weak points by going through its methodology and two representative applications. At the end, the area of application of MIVES is described in detail along with the general application cases of the main types of assessment tools and methods.

  1. There Is No Such Thing as Sustainable Tourism: Re-Conceptualizing Tourism as a Tool for Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gianna Moscardo

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Increased global concern about sustainability has placed pressure on businesses to justify the value of their products and services beyond personal profit and to take responsibility for the negative impacts of their activities. Tourism is particularly susceptible to this pressure, given its generally poor track record in terms of negative social, cultural and environmental impacts, and the lack of compelling evidence of benefits for either the individual tourist or destination communities. While the management of tourism impacts and the relationship between tourism and sustainability have been paid considerable attention by tourism academics, there is little evidence of any significant change in tourism practice. This paper will argue that this lack of change reflects problems in the way tourism academics have conceptualized sustainable tourism. After reviewing these problems with sustainable tourism, this paper will offer an alternative framework for sustainable tourism that focuses on the concept of quality-of-life, recognizes the complexity of tourism within local and global systems, adheres to the principles of responsible tourism, and explicitly assesses the value of tourism as one tool, amongst many, for sustainability. One potential application of the framework will be demonstrated with a case study of tourism development on Magnetic Island in Australia.

  2. Development of integrated systems dynamics models for the sustainability assessment of nuclear energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Den Durpel, Luc; Yacout, Abdellatif; Wade, Dave

    2005-01-01

    Nuclear energy is increasingly perceived as an attractive mature energy generation technology that can deliver an answer to the worldwide increasing energy demand while respecting environmental concerns as well as contributing to a reduced dependence on fossil fuel. Advancing nuclear energy deployment demands an assessment of nuclear energy with respect to all sustainability dimensions allowing full stakeholder involvement in deciding on the role of nuclear energy as part of a sustainable energy generation mix in the future. Integrated system dynamics models of nuclear energy systems are interesting tools for such assessment studies allowing performing material flow accounting, environmental impact, economic competitiveness and socio-political analysis and this for time-evolving nuclear energy systems. No single tool today is capable of covering all the dimensions for such integrated assessment while various developments are ongoing in different places around the world to make such tools available in the nearby future. Argonne National Laboratory has embarked on such tool development since the year 2000 and has developed various tools among which the DANESS-code shall be described in some more detail in this paper. (author)

  3. Towards sustainability assessment follow-up

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus, E-mail: a.morrison-saunders@murdoch.edu.au [Murdoch University (Australia); North-West University (South Africa); Pope, Jenny, E-mail: jenny@integral-sustainability.net [North-West University (South Africa); Integral Sustainability (Australia); Curtin University (Australia); Bond, Alan, E-mail: alan.bond@uea.ac.uk [North-West University (South Africa); University of East Anglia (United Kingdom); Retief, Francois, E-mail: francois.retief@nwu.ac.za [North-West University (South Africa)

    2014-02-15

    This paper conceptualises what sustainability assessment follow-up might entail for three models of sustainability assessment: EIA-driven integrated assessment, objectives-led integrated assessment and the contribution to sustainability model. The first two are characterised by proponent monitoring and evaluation of individual impacts and indicators while the latter takes a holistic view based around focused sustainability criteria relevant to the context. The implications of three sustainability challenges on follow-up are also examined: contested time horizons and value changes, trade-offs, and interdisciplinarity. We conclude that in order to meet these challenges some form of adaptive follow-up is necessary and that the contribution to sustainability approach is the best approach. -- Highlights: • We explore sustainability follow-up for three different sustainability models. • Long-time frames require adaptive follow-up and are a key follow-up challenge. • Other key challenges include interdisciplinarity, and trade-offs. • Sustainability follow-up should be a direction of travel and not an outcome. • Only the follow-up for contribution to sustainability model addresses sustainability challenges sufficiently.

  4. Towards sustainability assessment follow-up

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus; Pope, Jenny; Bond, Alan; Retief, Francois

    2014-01-01

    This paper conceptualises what sustainability assessment follow-up might entail for three models of sustainability assessment: EIA-driven integrated assessment, objectives-led integrated assessment and the contribution to sustainability model. The first two are characterised by proponent monitoring and evaluation of individual impacts and indicators while the latter takes a holistic view based around focused sustainability criteria relevant to the context. The implications of three sustainability challenges on follow-up are also examined: contested time horizons and value changes, trade-offs, and interdisciplinarity. We conclude that in order to meet these challenges some form of adaptive follow-up is necessary and that the contribution to sustainability approach is the best approach. -- Highlights: • We explore sustainability follow-up for three different sustainability models. • Long-time frames require adaptive follow-up and are a key follow-up challenge. • Other key challenges include interdisciplinarity, and trade-offs. • Sustainability follow-up should be a direction of travel and not an outcome. • Only the follow-up for contribution to sustainability model addresses sustainability challenges sufficiently

  5. Networks as Tools for Urban Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Ole; Tollin, Nicola

    2004-01-01

    Due to the increasing number of networks related to sustainable development (SUD) the paper focuses on understanding in which way networks can be considered useful tools for sustainable urban development, taking particularly into consideration the networks potential of spreading innovative policies...... will be discussed through a case study of a Danish municipal network on Sustainable Development, Dogme 2000 . This network has become quite successful in terms of learning and innovation, committing actors, and influencing local policies, to a larger extent than other SUD-networks the municipalities are involved in....... By applying the GREMI -theories of “innovative milieux” (Aydalot, 1986; Camagni, 1991) to the case study, we will suggest some reasons for the benefits achieved by the Dogme-network, compared to other networks. This analysis will point to the existence of an “innovative milieu” on sustainability within...

  6. Workshop on IAEA Tools for Nuclear Energy System Assessment for Long-Term Planning and Development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of the workshop is to present to Member States tools and methods that are available from the IAEA in support of long-term energy planning and nuclear energy system assessments, both focusing on the sustainable development of nuclear energy. This includes tools devoted to energy system planning, indicators for sustainable energy development, the INPRO methodology for Nuclear Energy System Assessment (NESA) and tools for analysing nuclear fuel cycle material balance. The workshop also intends to obtain feedback from Member States on applying the tools, share experiences and lessons learned, and identify needs for IAEA support

  7. Sustainability and public health nutrition at school: assessing the integration of healthy and environmentally sustainable food initiatives in Vancouver schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Black, Jennifer L; Velazquez, Cayley E; Ahmadi, Naseam; Chapman, Gwen E; Carten, Sarah; Edward, Joshua; Shulhan, Stephanie; Stephens, Teya; Rojas, Alejandro

    2015-09-01

    To describe the development and application of the School Food Environment Assessment Tools and a novel scoring system to assess the integration of healthy and environmentally sustainable food initiatives in elementary and secondary schools. The cross-sectional study included direct observations of physical food environments and interviews with key school personnel regarding food-related programmes and policies. A five-point scoring system was then developed to assess actions across six domains: (i) food gardens; (ii) composting systems; (iii) food preparation activities; (iv) food-related teaching and learning activities; and availability of (v) healthy food; and (vi) environmentally sustainable food. Vancouver, Canada. A purposive sample of public schools (n 33) from all six sectors of the Vancouver Board of Education. Schools scored highest in the areas of food garden and compost system development and use. Regular integration of food-related teaching and learning activities and hands-on food preparation experiences were also commonly reported. Most schools demonstrated rudimentary efforts to make healthy and environmentally sustainable food choices available, but in general scored lowest on these two domains. Moreover, no schools reported widespread initiatives fully supporting availability or integration of healthy or environmentally sustainable foods across campus. More work is needed in all areas to fully integrate programmes and policies that support healthy, environmentally sustainable food systems in Vancouver schools. The assessment tools and proposed indicators offer a practical approach for researchers, policy makers and school stakeholders to assess school food system environments, identify priority areas for intervention and track relevant changes over time.

  8. Assessment of Environmental Sustainability in Health Care Organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Carmen Carnero

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Healthcare organizations should set a standard in corporate social responsibility and encourage environmental sustainability, since protection of the environment implies the development of preventive measures in healthcare. Environmental concern has traditionally focused on manufacturing plants. However, a Health Care Organization (HCO is the only type of company which generates all existing classes of waste, and 20% is dangerous, being infectious, toxic or radioactive in nature. Despite the extensive literature analysing environmental matters, there is no objective model for assessing the environmental sustainability of HCOs in such a way that the results may be compared over time for an organization, and between different organizations, to give a comparison or benchmarking tool for HCOs. This paper presents a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis model integrating a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and utility theory, to evaluate environmental sustainability in HCOs. The model uses criteria assessed as a function of the number of annual treatments undertaken. The model has been tested in two HCOs of very different sizes.

  9. Exploring aspects of urban sustainability and the use of tools in Europe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Ole; Elle, Morten

    This paper explores the different aspects of urban sustainability that are embedded in the PETUS cases and the different ways tools are being used – and not used – in the cases. The PETUS cases illustrate the diversity and the complexity of projects aiming for urban sustainability in Europe....... The cases operate on different scales and in different sectors – or attempt to be cross-sector (holistic). The case study comprises of both projects – limited in time and space – and policies for urban sustainability. There are many good examples on tools having provided more sustainable urban...... infrastructure, for instance through evaluations, that motivates actors to improve the project or policy, or by tools opening for using sustainable solutions by involving new types of actors in the decision-making process. In most of the cases, a number of tools are used. When tools are used in practice means...

  10. Assessing the sustainability of EU dairy farms with different management systems and husbandry practices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leach, Katharine; Gerrard, Catherine; Kudahl, Anne Margrethe Braad

    on farm management practices collected in face to face interviews with farmers were entered and the tool then calculated a composite score for each of 11 separate “spurs” or dimensions contributing to sustainability. The results can be used to stimulate discussion between farmers and point to areas where......The EU funded SOLID project supports research which will contribute to the competitiveness of organic and low input dairy systems, and increase their sustainability. There are many aspects of the sustainability of dairy farms, relating to economic, environmental and social dimensions, and methods...... of animal husbandry can affect all of these. A UK spreadsheet based tool for rapid assessment of the whole farm was adapted for application on a range of organic and low input dairy farms across the EU. This tool was used to assess approximately ten organic dairy farms in each of four EU countries. Data...

  11. Decentralized peri-urban wastewater treatment technologies assessment integrating sustainability indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mena-Ulecia, Karel; Hernández, Heykel Hernández

    2015-01-01

    Selection of treatment technologies without considering the environmental, economic and social factors associated with each geographical context risks the occurrence of negative impacts that were not properly foreseen, working against the sustainable performance of the technology. The principal aim of this study was to evaluate 12 technologies for decentralized treatment of domestic wastewater applicable to peri-urban communities using sustainability approaches and, at the same time, continuing a discussion about how to address a more integrated assessment of overall sustainability. For this, a set of 13 indicators that embody the environmental, economic and social approach for the overall sustainability assessment were used by means of a target plot diagram as a tool for integrating indicators that represent a holistic analysis of the technologies. The obtained results put forward different degrees of sustainability, which led to the selection of: septic tank+land infiltration; up-flow anaerobic reactor+high rate trickling filter and septic tank+anaerobic filter as the most sustainable and attractive technologies to be applied in peri-urban communities, according to the employed indicators.

  12. Sustainability of transport structures - some aspects of the nonlinear reliability assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pukl, Radomír; Sajdlová, Tereza; Strauss, Alfred; Lehký, David; Novák, Drahomír

    2017-09-01

    Efficient techniques for both nonlinear numerical analysis of concrete structures and advanced stochastic simulation methods have been combined in order to offer an advanced tool for assessment of realistic behaviour, failure and safety assessment of transport structures. The utilized approach is based on randomization of the non-linear finite element analysis of the structural models. Degradation aspects such as carbonation of concrete can be accounted in order predict durability of the investigated structure and its sustainability. Results can serve as a rational basis for the performance and sustainability assessment based on advanced nonlinear computer analysis of the structures of transport infrastructure such as bridges or tunnels. In the stochastic simulation the input material parameters obtained from material tests including their randomness and uncertainty are represented as random variables or fields. Appropriate identification of material parameters is crucial for the virtual failure modelling of structures and structural elements. Inverse analysis using artificial neural networks and virtual stochastic simulations approach is applied to determine the fracture mechanical parameters of the structural material and its numerical model. Structural response, reliability and sustainability have been investigated on different types of transport structures made from various materials using the above mentioned methodology and tools.

  13. Demonstration of Decision Support Tools for Sustainable Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shropshire, David Earl; Jacobson, Jacob Jordan; Berrett, Sharon; Cobb, D. A.; Worhach, P.

    2000-11-01

    The Demonstration of Decision Support Tools for Sustainable Development project integrated the Bechtel/Nexant Industrial Materials Exchange Planner and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory System Dynamic models, demonstrating their capabilities on alternative fuel applications in the Greater Yellowstone-Teton Park system. The combined model, called the Dynamic Industrial Material Exchange, was used on selected test cases in the Greater Yellow Teton Parks region to evaluate economic, environmental, and social implications of alternative fuel applications, and identifying primary and secondary industries. The test cases included looking at compressed natural gas applications in Teton National Park and Jackson, Wyoming, and studying ethanol use in Yellowstone National Park and gateway cities in Montana. With further development, the system could be used to assist decision-makers (local government, planners, vehicle purchasers, and fuel suppliers) in selecting alternative fuels, vehicles, and developing AF infrastructures. The system could become a regional AF market assessment tool that could help decision-makers understand the behavior of the AF market and conditions in which the market would grow. Based on this high level market assessment, investors and decision-makers would become more knowledgeable of the AF market opportunity before developing detailed plans and preparing financial analysis.

  14. A Critical Review of Environmental Management System as a Tool for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galamba, Kirsten Ramskov

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The aim of the article is to make a critical review of the environmental management system as a tool for sustainability in local authorities. Background: As a point of departure sustainability is outlined as an ambivalent term that has been interpreted in a number of ways, which...... for sustainability in a local authority FM-context. As a branding tool it might have some potential but there is a risk that the tool legitimizes non-sustainable practices as sustainable, which can lead to frustrations and resignation among employees willing to actually make a difference. Practical Implications...... to alienation and restrict innovative thinking in relation to solutions that could potentially contribute to a sustainable society, as it is very difficult for employees to think beyond the system in their everyday work life. One possible alternative arena for innovation towards sustainability is workshops...

  15. A Critical Review of Environmental Management System as a Tool for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galamba, Kirsten Ramskov

    Purpose: The aim of the article is to make a critical review of the environmental management system as a tool for sustainability in local authorities. Background: As a point of departure sustainability is outlined as an ambivalent term that has been interpreted in a number of ways, which...... for sustainability in a local authority FM-context. As a branding tool it might have some potential but there is a risk that the tool legitimizes non-sustainable practices as sustainable, which can lead to frustrations and resignation among employees willing to actually make a difference. Practical Implications...... to alienation and restrict innovative thinking in relation to solutions that could potentially contribute to a sustainable society, as it is very difficult for employees to think beyond the system in their everyday work life. One possible alternative arena for innovation towards sustainability is workshops...

  16. Application of a GIS-BIOLOCO tool for the design and assessment of biomass delivery chains

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Geijzendorffer, I.R.; Annevelink, E.; Elbersen, B.S.; Smidt, R.A.; Mol, de R.M.

    2008-01-01

    The spatial fragmentation of different biomass sources in one or more regions makes design and assessment of sustainable biomass delivery chains rather complicated. This paper presents a GIS tool that supports the design and facilitates a sustainability assessment of biomass delivery chains at a

  17. Assessing Sustainability in Environmental Management: A Case Study in Malaysia Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina; Lanang, Wan Nurul Syahirah Wan; Asmanizam, Asmadianatasha

    2017-08-01

    The scarcity in measuring the sustainability accomplishment has been restrained most of the companies in Malaysian industry. Currently, there are variety types of the measurement tools of the sustainability assessment that have been implemented. However, there are still not achieving the inclusive elements required by the worldwide claim. In fact, the contribution to the sustainability performance are only highlighted on the nature, financial along with society components. In addition, some of the companies are conducting their sustainability implementation individually. By means, this process approaching type is needed to be integrated into a systematic system approach. This paper is focussing on investigating the present sustainability tools in the environmental management system for Malaysian industry prior to the quantification of the sustainability parameters. Hence, the parameters of the sustainability have been evaluated then in order to accomplish this project. By reviewing on the methodology of this research it comprises of three phases where it starts with the analyzation of the parameters in environmental management system according to the Malaysian context of industry. Moving on to the next step is the quantification of the criterion and finally the normalisation process will be done to determine the results of this research either it is succeeded or vice versa. As a result, this research has come to the conclusion where the level of the sustainability compliance does not achieve the standard level of the targeted objectives though it has already surpassed the average level of the sustainability performance. In future, the understanding towards the sustainability assessment is acquired to be aligned unitedly in order to integrated the process approach into the systematic approach. Apart, this research will be able to help to provide a measurable framework yet finally bestowing the Malaysian industry with a continuous improvement roadmap in achieving

  18. Energy Portfolio Assessment Tool (EPAT): Sustainable Energy Planning Using the WEF Nexus Approach - Texas Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mroue, A. M.

    2017-12-01

    The future energy portfolio at the national and subnational levels should consider its impact on water resources and environment. Although energy resources are the main contributors to the national economic growth, these resources must not exploit other primary natural resources. A study of the connections between energy and natural systems, such as water, environment and land is required prior to proceeding to energy development. Policy makers are in need of a tool quantifying the interlinkages across energy, water and the environment, while demonstrating the consequent trade-offs across the nexus systems. The Energy Portfolio Assessment Tool (EPAT) is a tool that enables the policy maker to create different energy portfolio scenarios with various energy and electricity sources, and evaluate the scenario's sustainability environmentally and economically. The Water-Energy-Food nexus systematic approach is the foundation of the EPAT framework. The research evaluates the impact of the current and projected Texas energy portfolios on water and the environment, taking into consideration energy production, electricity generation and policy change. The three scenarios to be assessed include EIA projections for energy production, and EIA projections for electricity generation with and without the Clean Power Plan (CPP). Each scenario is accompanied by tradeoffs across water, land, emissions, energy revenue and electricity cost. The CPP succeeds in mitigating the emissions of the electricity portfolio, but leads to an increase in water consumption and land use. The cost of electricity generation is almost identical with and without environmental conservation. Revenue from energy production increased, but results are majorly influenced by commodity price. Therefore, conservation policies should move from the silo to the nexus mentality to avoid unintended consequences as improving one part of the nexus could end up worsening the other parts.

  19. Cost Based Value Stream Mapping as a Sustainable Construction Tool for Underground Pipeline Construction Projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murat Gunduz

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with application of Value Stream Mapping (VSM as a sustainable construction tool on a real construction project of installation of underground pipelines. VSM was adapted to reduce the high percentage of non-value-added activities and time wastes during each construction stage and the paper searched for an effective way to consider the cost for studied construction of underground pipeline. This paper is unique in its way that it adopts cost implementation of VSM to improve the productivity in underground pipeline projects. The data was observed and collected from site during construction, indicating the cycle time, value added and non-value added of each construction stage. The current state was built based on these details. This was an eye-opening exercise and a process management tool as a trigger for improvement. After the current state assessment, a future state is attempted by Value Stream Mapping tool balancing the resources using a Line of Balance (LOB technique. Moreover, a sustainable cost estimation model was developed during current state and future state to calculate the cost of underground pipeline construction. The result shows a cost reduction of 20.8% between current and future states. This reflects the importance of the cost based Value Stream Mapping in construction as a sustainable measurement tool. This new tool could be utilized in construction industry to add the sustainability and effective cost management.

  20. Sustainable assessment of learning experiences based on projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ignacio TRAVERSO RIBÓN

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In a project-based learning experience, the detailed monitoring of the activities in which team members participate can be useful to evaluate their work. Using learning-oriented assessment procedures, supervisors can assess the teamwork abilities with a formative purpose. Evaluation strategies such as self-assessment, peer assessment and co-assessment are often used to make evaluation formative and sustainable. Conducting an assessment strategy is not easy for team members, since they need before to have a reasonable understanding of the evaluation process and criteria. This paper describes a learning-oriented evaluation methodology and an open data framework that can be applied to collaborative project settings. An evaluation rubric and a series of indicators that provide evidences about the developed skills have been elaborated and applied in a small-scale project-based course. Projects were managed and developed with the help of an open source software forge that contains a ticketing tool for planning and tracking of tasks, a version control repository to save the software outcomes, and using a wiki to host text deliverables. The experience provides evidences in favor of using the assessment method and open data framework to make teamwork evaluation more sustainable.

  1. Social Life Cycle Assessment as a Management Tool: Methodology for Application in Tourism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Merli

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available As is widely known, sustainability is an important factor in competition, increasing the added value of a company in terms of image and credibility. However, it is important that sustainability assessments are effectively addressed in a global perspective. Therefore, life cycle tools are adopted to evaluate environmental and social impacts. Among these, and of particular significance, appears the Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA, which, although in its early stage of development, seems to have extremely promising methodological features. For this reason, it seemed interesting to propose a first application to the tourism sector, which could be better than other methods, studied in terms of social sustainability data. The particular characteristics of service delivery lend themselves more to the development of data related to social sustainability than other sectors. In this paper the results of a case study carried out using social accounting and business management tools are shown.

  2. Assessing sustainability effect of infrastructure transportation projects using systems-based analytic framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-07-01

    Sustainability means providing for the necessities of today without endangering the necessities of tomorrow within the technical, environmental, economic, social/cultural, and individual contexts. However, the assessment tools available to study the ...

  3. Sustainable building assessment tool: integrating sustainability into current design and building processes

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Gibberd, Jeremy T

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems. ( International Union for Conservation of Nature 1991) These definitions focus on what Wackernagel and Yount call the “socio-economic” and “ecological imperatives” of sustainability (Wackernagel et al, 2000.... Figure 1 Human development and ecological footprints 2003 (from the Living Planet Report) The figure is interesting in that it suggest that only one country (in Latin America and the Caribbean) meets the minimum criteria for sustainability...

  4. Inclusion of social indicators in decision support tools for the selection of sustainable site remediation options.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cappuyns, Valérie

    2016-12-15

    Sustainable remediation requires a balanced decision-making process in which environmental, economic and social aspects of different remediation options are all considered together and the optimum remediation solution is selected. More attention has been paid to the evaluation of environmental and economic aspects, in particular to reduce the human and environmental risks and the remediation costs, to the exclusion of social aspects of remediation. This paper investigates how social aspects are currently considered in sustainability assessments of remediation projects. A selection of decision support tools (DSTs), used for the sustainability assessment of a remediation project, is analyzed to define how social aspects are considered in those tools. The social indicator categories of the Sustainable Remediation Forum - United Kingdom (SuRF-UK), are used as a basis for this evaluation. The consideration of social aspects in the investigated decision support tools is limited, but a clear increase is noticed in more recently developed tools. Among the five social indicator categories defined by SuRF-UK to facilitate a holistic consideration of social aspects of a remediation project only "Human health and safety" is systematically taken into account. "Neighbourhood and locality" is also often addressed, mostly emphasizing the potential disturbance caused by the remediation activities. However, the evaluation of 'Ethics and Equality', Communities and community involvement', and 'Uncertainty and evidence' is often neglected. Nevertheless, concrete examples can be found in some of the investigated tools. Specific legislation, standard procedures, and guidelines that have to be followed in a region or country are mainly been set up in the context of protecting human and ecosystem health, safety and prevention of nuisance. However, they sometimes already include some of the aspects addressed by the social indicators. In this perspective the use of DST to evaluate the

  5. Using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART for the Systematic Analysis of Trade-Offs and Synergies between Sustainability Dimensions and Themes at Farm Level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian Schader

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available When trying to optimize the sustainability performance of farms and farming systems, a consideration of trade-offs and synergies between different themes and dimensions is required. The aim of this paper is to perform a systematic analysis of trade-offs and synergies across all dimensions and themes. To achieve this aim we used the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART-Farm Tool which operationalizes the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA Guidelines by defining science-based indicator sets and assessment procedures. It identifies the degree of goal achievement with respect to the 58 themes defined in the SAFA Guidelines using an impact matrix that defines 327 indicators and 1769 relations between sustainability themes and indicators. We illustrate how the SMART-Farm Tool can be successfully applied to assess the sustainability performance of farms of different types and in different geographic regions. Our analysis revealed important synergies between themes within a sustainability dimension and across dimensions. We found major trade-offs within the environmental dimension and between the environmental and economic dimension. The trade-offs within the environmental dimension were even larger than the trade-offs with other dimensions. The study also underlines the importance of the governance dimension with regard to achieving a good level of performance in the other dimensions.

  6. Systematic methods and tools for design of sustainable chemical processes for CO2 utilization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kongpanna, Pichayapan; Babi, Deenesh K.; Pavarajarn, Varong

    2016-01-01

    A systematic computer-aided framework for sustainable process design is presented together with its application to the synthesis and generation of processing networks for dimethyl carbonate (DMC) production with CO2 utilization. The framework integrated with various methods, tools, algorithms......-stage involves selection and analysis of the identified networks as a base case design in terms of operational feasibility, economics, life cycle assessment factors and sustainability measures, which are employed to establish targets for improvement in the next-stage. The innovation-stage involves generation...

  7. Remote sensing entropy to assess the sustainability of rainfall in tropical catchment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmud, M. R.; Reba, M. N. M.; Wei, J. S.; Razak, N. H. Abdul

    2018-02-01

    This study demonstrated the utility of entropy computation using the satellite precipitation remote sensing data to assess the sustainability of rainfall in tropical catchments. There were two major issues need to be anticipated in monitoring the tropical catchments; first is the frequent monitoring of the rainfall and second is the appropriate indicator that sensitive to rainfall pattern changes or disorder. For the first issue, the use of satellite remote sensing precipitation data is suggested. Meanwhile for the second issue, the utilization of entropy concept in interpreting the disorder of temporal rainfall can be used to assess the sustain ability had been successfully adopted in some studies. Therefore, we hypothesized that the use of satellite precipitation as main data to compute entropy can be a novel tool in anticipating the above-mentioned conflict earlier. The remote sensing entropy results and in-situ river level showed good agreement indicating its reliability. 72% of the catchment has moderate to good rainfall supply during normal or non-drought condition. However, our result showed that the catchments were highly sensitive to drought especially in the west coast and southern part of the Peninsular Malaysia. High resiliency was identified in the east coast. We summarized that the proposed entropy-quantity scheme was a useful tool for cost-effective, quick, and operational sustainability assessment This study demonstrated the utility of entropy computation using the satellite precipitation remote sensing data to assess the sustainability of rainfall in tropical catchments.

  8. Networks as Tools for Sustainable Urban Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Ole; Tollin, Nicola

    will be discussed through a case study of a Danish municipal network on Sustainable Development, Dogme 20001. This network has become quite successful in terms of learning and innovation, committing actors, and influencing local policies, to a larger extent than other SUD-networks the municipalities are involved in....... By applying the GREMI2-theories of “innovative milieux” (Aydalot, 1986; Camagni, 1991) to the case study, we will suggest some reasons for the benefits achieved by the Dogme-network, compared to other networks. This analysis will point to the existence of an “innovative milieu” on sustainability within......Due to the increasing number of networks related to sustainable development (SUD) the paper focuses on understanding in which way networks can be considered useful tools for sustainable urban development, taking particularly into consideration the networks potential of spreading innovative policies...

  9. A computer-aided software-tool for sustainable process synthesis-intensification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kumar Tula, Anjan; Babi, Deenesh K.; Bottlaender, Jack

    2017-01-01

    and determine within the design space, the more sustainable processes. In this paper, an integrated computer-aided software-tool that searches the design space for hybrid/intensified more sustainable process options is presented. Embedded within the software architecture are process synthesis...... operations as well as reported hybrid/intensified unit operations is large and can be difficult to manually navigate in order to determine the best process flowsheet for the production of a desired chemical product. Therefore, it is beneficial to utilize computer-aided methods and tools to enumerate, analyze...... constraints while also matching the design targets, they are therefore more sustainable than the base case. The application of the software-tool to the production of biodiesel is presented, highlighting the main features of the computer-aided, multi-stage, multi-scale methods that are able to determine more...

  10. A New Framework for Assessing the Sustainability Reporting Disclosure of Water Utilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Cantele

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability reporting is becoming more and more widespread among companies aiming at disclosing their contribution to sustainable development and gaining legitimacy from stakeholders. This is more significant for firms operating in a public services’ context and mainly when supplying a fundamental public resource, like water utilities. While the literature on sustainability reporting in the water sector is scant, there is an increasing need to study the usefulness and quality of its sustainability disclosures to adequately inform the stakeholders about the activities of water utilities to protect this fundamental resource and general sustainable development. This article presents a novel assessment framework based on a scoring technique and an empirical analysis on the sustainability reports of Italian water utilities carried out through it. The results highlight a low level of disclosure on the sustainability indicators suggested by the main sustainability reporting guidelines (Global Reporting Initiative, (GRI, and Sustainability Accounting Standard Board, (SASB; most companies tend to disclose only qualitative information and fail to inform about some material aspects of water management, such as water recycled, network resilience, water sources, and effluent quality. These findings indicate that sustainability reporting is mainly considered as a communication tool, rather than a performance measurement and an accountability tool, but also suggest the need for a new and international industry-specific sustainability reporting standard.

  11. Dynamical resource nexus assessments: from accounting to sustainability approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salmoral, Gloria; Yan, Xiaoyu

    2017-04-01

    Continued economic development and population growth result in increasing pressures on natural resources, from local to international levels, for meeting societal demands on water, energy and food. To date there are a few tools that link models to identify the relationships and to account for flows of water, energy and food. However, these tools in general can offer only a static view often at national level and with annual temporal resolution. Moreover, they can only account flows but cannot consider the required amounts and conditions of the natural capital that supplies and maintains these flows. With the emerging nexus thinking, our research is currently focused on promoting dynamical environmental analyses beyond the conventional silo mentalities. Our study aims to show new advancements in existing tools (e.g., dynamical life cycle assessment) and develop novel environmental indicators relevant for the resource nexus assessment. We aim to provide a step forward when sustainability conditions and resilience thresholds are aligned with flows under production (e.g., food, water and energy), process level under analysis (e.g., local production, transport, manufacturing, final consumption, reuse, disposal) and existing biophysical local conditions. This approach would help to embrace and better characterise the spatiotemporal dynamics, complexity and existing links between and within the natural and societal systems, which are crucial to evaluate and promote more environmentally sustainable economic activities.

  12. Biorefining in the prevailing energy and materials crisis: a review of sustainable pathways for biorefinery value chains and sustainability assessment methodologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Parajuli, Ranjan; Dalgaard, Tommy; Jørgensen, Uffe

    2015-01-01

    comparisons of alternatives. Life Cycle Assessment is regarded as one of the most relevant tools to assess the environmental hotspots in the biomass supply chains, at processing stages and also to support in the prioritization of any specific biobased products and the alternatives delivered from biorefineries.......The aim of the current paper is to discuss the sustainability aspect of biorefinery systems with focus on biomass supply chains, processing of biomass feedstocks in biorefinery platforms and sustainability assessment methodologies. From the stand point of sustainability, it is important to optimize...... the agricultural production system and minimize the related environmental impacts at the farming system level. These impacts are primarily related to agri-chemical inputs and the related undesired environmental emissions and to the repercussions from biomass production. At the same time, the biorefineries need...

  13. INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF BUILDINGS QUALITY IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mária Kozlovská

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The aim of the paper is to analyse the assumptions for integrated assessment of buildings quality in the context of sustainable development principles. The sustainable (or “green” buildings are cost effective, environmentally friendly and conserving natural resources. The buildings are comfortable for the users, are also healthy and optimally integrated into socio-cultural environment; thereby have long maintained their high added value – for investors, owners as well as users.Design methodology/approach: The methodology of the paper consists in analyses of certification systems that assess buildings sustainability within wider environmental, economic and social relations. An effort to increase the quality of construction and to provide objectified assessment with measurable and comparable results has evoked the origin and development of the tools for buildings sustainability assessment. In the case study, there are analysed the approaches into assessment of one from few certified sustainable projects in Slovakia “EcoPoint Office Center Kosice”. The results are destined for potential investors perhaps even for present owners that have ambitions and responsibility for building sustainability principles performance when designing and using their properties.Findings: The results of the research imply identification of the key characteristics expressing the comprehensive quality of the building and are leading to specification of practical and social implications that are provided by the sustainability philosophy.Originality/value: The force of the paper is to mention the approaches into integrated assessment of construction quality in the context of sustainability principles and the importance of their more extensive implementation in Slovakia. The approaches into the sustainability principles performance as well as the real benefits of the sustainable building are declared through case study of the building EcoPoint Office

  14. A Systematic Review of Urban Sustainability Assessment Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew Cohen

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available As the world rapidly urbanizes, there is much focus on achieving sustainability outcomes within cities. Accomplishing this goal requires not only envisioning sustainable cities and implementing strategies, but it also demands assessing progress towards sustainable urban development. Despite a growing literature on sustainability assessment, there is room to further understand the application of sustainability assessment in urban contexts. This paper presents a systematic review of urban sustainability assessment literature to (1 identify the most common methods used for urban sustainability assessment, (2 identify the most common framings for urban sustainability assessment, and (3 identify the most common categories for organizing indicators that measure urban sustainability. This research finds that urban sustainability assessment in general lacks a unifying framing and that it could be better aligned with common sustainability principles. The paper provides recommendations for future urban sustainability assessment research, including the employment of mixed-methods research among other strategies. In closing, this research offers a generic framework around which to structure urban sustainability assessment and within which to assign indicators for measuring progress towards sustainable urban development.

  15. Green and sustainable remediation (GSR) evaluation: framework, standards, and tool. A case study in Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Wen-Yen; Hung, Weiteng; Vu, Chi Thanh; Chen, Wei-Ting; Lai, Jhih-Wei; Lin, Chitsan

    2016-11-01

    Taiwan has a large number of poorly managed contaminated sites in need of remediation. This study proposes a framework, a set of standards, and a spreadsheet-based evaluation tool for implementing green and sustainable principles into remediation projects and evaluating the projects from this perspective. We performed a case study to understand how the framework would be applied. For the case study, we used a spreadsheet-based evaluation tool (SEFA) and performed field scale cultivation tests on a site contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs). The site was divided into two lots: one treated by chemical oxidation and the other by bioremediation. We evaluated five core elements of green and sustainable remediation (GSR): energy, air, water resources, materials and wastes, and land and ecosystem. The proposed evaluation tool and field scale cultivation test were found to efficiently assess the effectiveness of the two remediation alternatives. The framework and related tools proposed herein can potentially be used to support decisions about the remediation of contaminated sites taking into account engineering management, cost effectiveness, and social reconciliation.

  16. Elimination Method of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA: A Simple Methodological Approach for Assessing Agricultural Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Byomkesh Talukder

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available In the present world context, there is a need to assess the sustainability of agricultural systems. Various methods have been proposed to assess agricultural sustainability. Like in many other fields, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA has recently been used as a methodological approach for the assessment of agricultural sustainability. In this paper, an attempt is made to apply Elimination, a MCDA method, to an agricultural sustainability assessment, and to investigate its benefits and drawbacks. This article starts by explaining the importance of agricultural sustainability. Common MCDA types are discussed, with a description of the state-of-the-art method for incorporating multi-criteria and reference values for agricultural sustainability assessment. Then, a generic description of the Elimination Method is provided, and its modeling approach is applied to a case study in coastal Bangladesh. An assessment of the results is provided, and the issues that need consideration before applying Elimination to agricultural sustainability, are examined. Whilst having some limitations, the case study shows that it is applicable for agricultural sustainability assessments and for ranking the sustainability of agricultural systems. The assessment is quick compared to other assessment methods and is shown to be helpful for agricultural sustainability assessment. It is a relatively simple and straightforward analytical tool that could be widely and easily applied. However, it is suggested that appropriate care must be taken to ensure the successful use of the Elimination Method during the assessment process.

  17. Reducing the operational energy demand in buildings using building information modeling tools and sustainability approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mojtaba Valinejad Shoubi

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available A sustainable building is constructed of materials that could decrease environmental impacts, such as energy usage, during the lifecycle of the building. Building Information Modeling (BIM has been identified as an effective tool for building performance analysis virtually in the design stage. The main aims of this study were to assess various combinations of materials using BIM and identify alternative, sustainable solutions to reduce operational energy consumption. The amount of energy consumed by a double story bungalow house in Johor, Malaysia, and assessments of alternative material configurations to determine the best energy performance were evaluated by using Revit Architecture 2012 and Autodesk Ecotect Analysis software to show which of the materials helped in reducing the operational energy use of the building to the greatest extent throughout its annual life cycle. At the end, some alternative, sustainable designs in terms of energy savings have been suggested.

  18. Sustainability Assessment and Reporting in Agriculture Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward Kassem

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability assessment is a mainstream business activity that demonstrates the link between the organization’s strategy and commitment to a sustainable global economy. Sustainability indicators describe the environmental, social, economic and governance performance of Small and Medium‑sized Businesses/Enterprises (SMB/SME. Unfortunately, their implementations in the Czech Republic show a low level of engagement in sustainability assessment. The paper presents the results of the authors’ research in sustainability assessment of SMB/SMEs in the agriculture sector of the Czech Republic. An appropriate set of key performance indicators (KPIs in four dimensions (economy, environment, social and governance was developed to suit the SMB/SMEs sustainability assessment in the agriculture sector. A set of KPIs is proposed to help SMB/SMEs to avoid the barriers of sustainability assessment. These indicators are based mainly on Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture, Global Reporting Initiatives Frameworks and on current research state‑of‑the‑art. They have been created following the analysis of a number of agricultural enterprises over the world, particularly within European countries.

  19. Improving sustainability by technology assessment and systems analysis: the case of IWRM Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nayono, S.; Lehmann, A.; Kopfmüller, J.; Lehn, H.

    2016-09-01

    To support the implementation of the IWRM-Indonesia process in a water scarce and sanitation poor region of Central Java (Indonesia), sustainability assessments of several technology options of water supply and sanitation were carried out based on the conceptual framework of the integrative sustainability concept of the German Helmholtz association. In the case of water supply, the assessment was based on the life-cycle analysis and life-cycle-costing approach. In the sanitation sector, the focus was set on developing an analytical tool to improve planning procedures in the area of investigation, which can be applied in general to developing and newly emerging countries. Because sanitation systems in particular can be regarded as socio-technical systems, their permanent operability is closely related to cultural or religious preferences which influence acceptability. Therefore, the design of the tool and the assessment of sanitation technologies took into account the views of relevant stakeholders. The key results of the analyses are presented in this article.

  20. Life Cycle Assessment as Entrepreneurial Tool for Business Management and Green Innovations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cassiano Moro Piekarski

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available A transition for a green economy has encouraged companies to use new tools which promote internal corporate entrepreneurship, increase the competitiveness and achieve sustainable results. This article presented a theoretical discussion of how the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA can presents as an entrepreneurial tool for modern business management and green innovation. Studies of LCA were analyzed showing benefits and applications in the areas of strategic planning, production, process of development of products, search and development, social and environmental responsibility, and marketing. As for green innovations, there were analyzed studies of innovations in products, processes and services. The tool assists in making sustainable decisions, fortifies the management of the business processes, the management of operations and the promotion of greener innovations.

  1. Requirements for water assessment tools: An automotive industry perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sherry A. Mueller

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Water availability is one of the greatest global sustainability challenges. Water is not available in adequate quantity and quality in many areas and water shortfalls are expected to increase. Businesses are facing water-related challenges due to inadequate water availability and poor resource management. Identifying and quantifying impacts is key to enabling companies to make effective management decisions. Several water assessment tools have been developed to help companies understand the complex nature of water challenges; however, there remain significant gaps in the datasets and inconsistencies in measurement and reporting of geographic water shortfalls. There is a need for more complete datasets containing information on water withdrawal and discharge, freshwater availability and depletion (spatially and temporally, water quality monitoring, reuse and recycling. We discuss four of the available water assessment tools (Global Water Tool, India Water Tool, Water Risk Filter and Aqueduct and highlight those elements most critical to water-related business decisions.

  2. Assessing the Sustainable Development of Coastal Reclamation: A Case of Makassar Using GIS Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yurnita, A.; Trisutomo, S.; Ali, M.

    2017-07-01

    Reclamation has been made in many areas in Indonesia including Makassar, as a response to the present needs of land as the impact of human activity in urban area. This research aims to assess the sustainable development of coastal reclamation and focus on environmental dimension of sustainable urban development. Assessment will be done by reclamation sustainability index (RSI) and analysis by GIS as the tools. RSI was built from previous research that has simplified from many researches and analysis by Structure of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and expert choice. RSI uses 9 indices from three indicators of environment factor which are coastal resources, building and infrastructure.

  3. Developing the sustainable building assessment tool for stadia

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Sebake, TN

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available 's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) aims to ensure that like the German stadia, South Africa stadia are environmentally sustainable, particularly in terms of water, energy and waste aspects. A framework, specific to stadia, is required...

  4. Initiatives in the Hydro Sector Post-World Commission on Dams – The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Forum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helen Locher

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The World Commission on Dams (WCD has called for developers, governments, civil society, etc. to use its Strategic Priorities as a starting point for dialogue and initiatives to address issues regarding the development of dams. One very notable follow-up initiative has been led by the hydropower industry. The International Hydropower Association developed Sustainability Guidelines (IHA, 2004 and a Sustainability Assessment Protocol (IHA, 2006, and most recently has been involved in a two-year process with governments, NGOs and the finance sector to develop a broadly endorsed sustainability assessment tool based on review and update of the IHA Sustainability Assessment Protocol. This cross-sectoral process, known as the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Forum (HSAF, has drawn on the knowledge base and many of the findings and recommendations of the World Commission on Dams, as well as a number of other developments in the last ten years. A fundamental premise of the work of the Forum is that an industry-driven and -owned initiative has far-reaching potential to influence performance in the hydropower sector. At the same time, the potential for the use of a broadly endorsed sustainability assessment tool for hydropower by those in other sectors is well recognised and aspired to by the Forum. This paper describes the work of the Forum up to August 2009 and the contents of the Draft Protocol released publicly in August 2009, and considers some of the commonalities and points of departure between this process and the WCD. The Forum’s work on the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol is a work in progress, so this paper can describe but not give a full analysis of the work while it is in train.

  5. A software tool for ecosystem services assessments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riegels, Niels; Klinting, Anders; Butts, Michael; Middelboe, Anne Lise; Mark, Ole

    2017-04-01

    The EU FP7 DESSIN project is developing methods and tools for assessment of ecosystem services (ESS) and associated economic values, with a focus on freshwater ESS in urban settings. Although the ESS approach has gained considerable visibility over the past ten years, operationalizing the approach remains a challenge. Therefore, DESSSIN is also supporting development of a free software tool to support users implementing the DESSIN ESS evaluation framework. The DESSIN ESS evaluation framework is a structured approach to measuring changes in ecosystem services. The main purpose of the framework is to facilitate the application of the ESS approach in the appraisal of projects that have impacts on freshwater ecosystems and their services. The DESSIN framework helps users evaluate changes in ESS by linking biophysical, economic, and sustainability assessments sequentially. It was developed using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) and the DPSIR (Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts, Responses) adaptive management cycle. The former is a standardized system for the classification of ESS developed by the European Union to enhance the consistency and comparability of ESS assessments. The latter is a well-known concept to disentangle the biophysical and social aspects of a system under study. As part of its analytical component, the DESSIN framework also integrates elements of the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services-Classification System (FEGS-CS) of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). As implemented in the software tool, the DESSIN framework consists of five parts: • In part I of the evaluation, the ecosystem is defined and described and the local stakeholders are identified. In addition, administrative details and objectives of the assessment are defined. • In part II, drivers and pressures are identified. Once these first two elements of the DPSIR scheme have been characterized, the claimed/expected capabilities of a

  6. Useful design tools?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Ole

    2005-01-01

    vague and contested concept of sustainability into concrete concepts and building projects. It describes a typology of tools: process tools, impact assessment tools, multi-criteria tools and tools for monitoring. It includes a Danish paradigmatic case study of stakeholder participation in the planning...... of a new sustainable settlement. The use of design tools is discussed in relation to innovation and stakeholder participation, and it is stressed that the usefulness of design tools is context dependent....

  7. A new framework for sustainable hydropower development project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johan, Kartina; Turan, Faiz Mohd; Gani, Nur Syazwani Abdul

    2018-03-01

    This project studies on the establishment of a new framework for sustainable hydropower development. A hydropower development is listed as one of the prescribed activities under the Environmental Quality Order 1987. Thus, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) guidelines must be referred to comply with the Department of Environment (DoE) requirements. In order to execute EIA, an assessment tool that will be utilized in the final evaluation phase must be determined. The selected assessment tool that will be used is Systematic Sustainability Assessment(SSA) which is a new integrated tool to evaluate the sustainability performance. A pilot run is conducted in five different departments within the Energy Company to validate the efficiency of the SSA tool. The parameters to be evaluated are constructed aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to maintain the sustainability features. Consequently, the performance level of the sustainability with respect to People, Planet and Profit (3P’s) is able to be discovered during evaluation phase in the hydropower development for continuous improvement.

  8. Malaysia's Experiences in Analyzing the Energy Policy and Strategies to Promote Sustainable Development using IAEA Tools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fairuz Suzana Mohd Chachuli; Faisal Izwan Abdul Rashid; Muhammed Zolfakar Zolkaffly; Siti Syarina Mat Sali; Noriah Jamal

    2016-01-01

    Full text: Malaysia has long experiences in using the IAEA tools for energy planning and analysis since year 1980s. However due to renewed interest in nuclear power programme, Malaysia has started again developing our national capabilities in using the IAEA tools through our national project MAL4009 entitled Building Capacities In Nuclear Power Programme Planning. Under this project, Malaysia has successful trained our researchers from various agencies, through participation in national workshops and development of case studies using IAEAs tools particularly Model for Analysis of Energy Demand (MAED), Model of Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environmental Impacts (MESSAGE), Wien Automatic System Planning Package (WASP), Model for Financial Analysis of Electric Sector Expansion Plans (FINPLAN), Simplified Approach for Estimating Impacts of Electricity Generation (SIMPACTS) and Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development (ISED). Through this project, Malaysia has developed various case studies to evaluate the competitiveness of nuclear power plant in comparison with the non-nuclear energy technologies such as coal, natural gas, hydro and renewable energy. The IAEA energy planning tools has assisted Malaysia in assessing our energy situation and evaluating alternatives energy strategies that take into account the techno-economic and environmental aspects of various energy option parameters in relation to energy afford ability, energy security, environmental and climate change impacts in the context of sustainable development. In this regards, Malaysia as a newcomer country wishing to embark on nuclear power programme, has shown our interest in conducting a Nuclear Energy System Assessment (NESA) to consider possible future nuclear systems in a holistic and comprehensive manner to determine whether or nor this technology would meet our country sustainable development objectives. (author)

  9. Environmental sustainability assessment of buildings in hot climates: the case of the UAE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    AboulNaga, Mohsen M.; Elsheshtawy, Yasser H.

    2001-01-01

    Sustainability has acquired great importance due to the negative impact of various developments on the environment. The rapid growth during the last decade has been accompanied by active construction which, in some instances, neglected the impact on the environment and human activities. The impact of developments on the traditional heritage has not been taken into consideration although the latter represents a rich resource for sustainable building practices. The study aims at examining these developments in the UAE using an assessment tool that measures the performance of buildings in terms of their sustainability. This study attempts to: (a) develop a comprehensive definition of sustainability to suit UAE needs; (b) classify sustainable building practices at international and regional levels; (c) assess building performance in the UAE; and (d) establish guidelines for future sustainable architecture. T-Sol software was used to predict the CO 2 emission level in selected buildings in the UAE. Results illustrate that average energy use/area in domestic buildings is high (213 kWh/m 2 ) and public buildings showed less sustainable measures in terms of energy features, energy performance and environmental features. Issues considered in the assessment of buildings such as energy use per square metre and CO 2 emission are alarming. Traditional buildings in the UAE were more sustainable than contemporary buildings, however. (Author)

  10. ECO-INTELLIGENT TOOLS – A NECESSITY FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Nate

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Many of the challenges associated with sustainable development can be traced in the way modern society produces and consumes. Production, distribution and supply of goods and services require material and energy consumption, having an impact on natural resources both quantitatively and qualitatively, generating waste, pollution and disrupting ecosystems. Ecobusiness intelligence is the capacity of people, processes and applications / tools to organize business information, to facilitate consistent access to them and analyse them in order to improve management decisions, for better performance management of the organizations that are increasingly pressed to synchronize their processes and services with a sustainable development agenda, through the development, testing and implementation of decision support software. By adopting sustainable practices, eco – intelligent companies can gain added value, increase market share and boost shareholder value. Moreover, the growing demand for "green" products has created new markets and the visionary entrepreneurs already reap the rewards of approaching sustainability. Large and small companies are learning that sustainable business practices not only help the environment but also can improve profitability by pursuing higher efficiency, fewer harmful side-effects, and better relationships with the community and more. Gaining competitive advantage is a core concern of the companies and the existence of systems of identification, extraction and analysis of available data in a company, but also from the external environment, to provide real support for business decisions, is an essential ingredient of success. This paper highlights the necessity of eco-intelligent tools that help determining the organization's strategies, identifying the perceptions and capabilities of the competitors, analyzing the effectiveness of current operations, deploying long-term prospects for environmental action and establishing

  11. Sustainable Cities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Georg, Susse; Garza de Linde, Gabriela Lucía

    Judging from the number of communities and cities striving or claiming to be sustainable and how often eco-development is invoked as the means for urban regeneration, it appears that sustainable and eco-development have become “the leading paradigm within urban development” (Whitehead 2003....../assessment tool. The context for our study is urban regeneration in one Danish city, which had been suffering from industrial decline and which is currently investing in establishing a “sustainable city”. Based on this case study we explore how the insights and inspiration evoked in working with the tool...

  12. INPRO Methodology for Sustainability Assessment of Nuclear Energy Systems: Environmental Impact of Stressors. INPRO Manual

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2016-01-01

    This publication provides guidance on assessing of sustainability of a nuclear energy system (NES) in the area of environmental impact of stressors. The INPRO methodology is a comprehensive tool for the assessment of sustainability of an NES. Basic principles, user requirements and criteria have been defined in different areas of INPRO methodology. These include economics, infrastructure, waste management, proliferation resistance, environmental impact of stressors, environmental impact from depletion of resources, and safety of nuclear reactors and fuel cycle facilities. The ultimate goal of the application of the INPRO methodology is to check whether the assessed NES fulfils all the criteria, and hence the user requirements and basic principles, and therefore presents a system for a Member State that is sustainable in the long term

  13. The policy-relevancy of impact assessment tools: Evaluating nine years of European research funding

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Podhora, A.; Helming, K.; Adenauer, L.; Heckelei, T.; Kautto, P.; Reidsma, P.; Rennings, K.; Turnpenny, J.; Jansen, J.M.L.

    2013-01-01

    Since 2002, the European Commission has employed the instrument of ex-ante impact assessments (IA) to help focus its policy-making process on implementing sustainable development. Scientific tools should play an essential role of providing the evidence base to assess the impacts of alternative

  14. What makes a sustainability tool valuable, practical and useful in real-world healthcare practice? A mixed-methods study on the development of the Long Term Success Tool in Northwest London.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lennox, Laura; Doyle, Cathal; Reed, Julie E; Bell, Derek

    2017-09-24

    Although improvement initiatives show benefits to patient care, they often fail to sustain. Models and frameworks exist to address this challenge, but issues with design, clarity and usability have been barriers to use in healthcare settings. This work aimed to collaborate with stakeholders to develop a sustainability tool relevant to people in healthcare settings and practical for use in improvement initiatives. Tool development was conducted in six stages. A scoping literature review, group discussions and a stakeholder engagement event explored literature findings and their resonance with stakeholders in healthcare settings. Interviews, small-scale trialling and piloting explored the design and tested the practicality of the tool in improvement initiatives. National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Northwest London (CLAHRC NWL). CLAHRC NWL improvement initiative teams and staff. The iterative design process and engagement of stakeholders informed the articulation of the sustainability factors identified from the literature and guided tool design for practical application. Key iterations of factors and tool design are discussed. From the development process, the Long Term Success Tool (LTST) has been designed. The Tool supports those implementing improvements to reflect on 12 sustainability factors to identify risks to increase chances of achieving sustainability over time. The Tool is designed to provide a platform for improvement teams to share their own views on sustainability as well as learn about the different views held within their team to prompt discussion and actions. The development of the LTST has reinforced the importance of working with stakeholders to design strategies which respond to their needs and preferences and can practically be implemented in real-world settings. Further research is required to study the use and effectiveness of the tool in practice and assess engagement with

  15. How to assess sustainability in automated manufacturing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dijkman, Teunis Johannes; Rödger, Jan-Markus; Bey, Niki

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to describe how sustainability in automation can be assessed. The assessment method is illustrated using a case study of a robot. Three aspects of sustainability assessment in automation are identified. Firstly, we consider automation as part of a larger system...... that fulfills the market demand for a given functionality. Secondly, three aspects of sustainability have to be assessed: environment, economy, and society. Thirdly, automation is part of a system with many levels, with different actors on each level, resulting in meeting the market demand. In this system......, (sustainability) specifications move top-down, which helps avoiding sub-optimization and problem shifting. From these three aspects, sustainable automation is defined as automation that contributes to products that fulfill a market demand in a more sustainable way. The case study presents the carbon footprints...

  16. Framework for Sustainability Performance Assessment for Manufacturing Processes- A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, K.; Sultan, I.

    2017-07-01

    Manufacturing industries are facing tough competition due to increasing raw material cost and depleting natural resources. There is great pressure on the industry to produce environmental friendly products using environmental friendly processes. To address these issues modern manufacturing industries are focusing on sustainable manufacturing. To develop more sustainable societies, industries need to better understand how to respond to environmental, economic and social challenges. This paper proposed some framework and tools that accelerate the transition towards a sustainable system. The developed framework will be beneficial for sustainability assessment comparing different plans alongside material properties, ultimately helping the manufacturing industries to reduce the carbon emissions and material waste, besides improving energy efficiency. It is expected that this would be highly beneficial for determination of environmental impact of a process at early design stages. Therefore, it would greatly help the manufacturing industries for selection of process plan based on sustainable indices. Overall objective of this paper would have good impact on reducing air emissions and protecting environment. We expect this work to contribute to the development of a standard reference methodology to help further sustainability in the manufacturing sector.

  17. Challenges with managing hazardous chemicals in the international frame - opportunity for educating on sustainable chemistry and alternatives assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Weber, R.; Fantke, Peter

    sustainable alternatives. A bottle neck is, however, that chemists, engineers, industrial designers, and policy makers often lack knowledge on green/sustainable chemistry and alternatives assessment. This is particularly a challenge in developing and transition countries. Methodologies and tools are hence...... needed to disseminate information on and guidance on how to phase in more sustainable alternatives. In this presentation, we suggest a comprehensive yet efficient approach of alternatives assessment which could be integrated in the education of stakeholders within the process of the substitution...

  18. Dutch Risk Assessment tools

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Venema, A.

    2015-01-01

    The ‘Risico- Inventarisatie- en Evaluatie-instrumenten’ is the name for the Dutch risk assessment (RA) tools. A RA tool can be used to perform a risk assessment including an evaluation of the identified risks. These tools were among the first online risk assessment tools developed in Europe. The

  19. Conceptualizing the Effectiveness of Sustainability Assessment in Development Cooperation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean Hugé

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability assessment has emerged as a key decision-support process in development cooperation in response to the growing acknowledgement of the impacts of global change. This paper aims at conceptualizing the effectiveness of sustainability assessment as applied in development cooperation, by focusing on the sustainability assessment practice by actors of the official Belgian Development Cooperation. The conceptualization of the effectiveness of sustainability assessment is synthesized in a set of issues and concerns, based on semi-structured interviews. The paper highlights the specificity of sustainability assessment in the development cooperation sector (e.g., through the cultural and discursive compatibility dimensions of assessment in a North-South context. Effectiveness is inherently linked to the expected functions of sustainability assessment in the decision-making process, which include fostering organizational change, shaping contextually adapted framings of sustainability and operationalizing the sustainability transition. These findings highlight the relevance of a discourse-sensitive approach to sustainability assessment if one is to strengthen its credibility and legitimacy.

  20. Tools for tracking progress. Indicators for sustainable energy development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, A.; Rogner, H.H.; Aslanian, G.

    2000-01-01

    A project on 'Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development (ISED)' was introduced by the IAEA as a part of its work programme on Comparative Assessment of Energy Sources for the biennium 1999-2000. It is being pursued by the Planning and Economic Studies Section of the Department of Nuclear Energy. The envisaged tasks are to: (1) identify the main components of sustainable energy development and derive a consistent set of appropriate indicators, keeping in view the indicators for Agenda 21, (2) establish relationship of ISED with those of the Agenda 21, and (3) review the Agency's databases and tools to determine the modifications required to apply the ISED. The first two tasks are being pursued with the help of experts from various international organizations and Member States. In this connection two expert group meetings were held, one in May 1999 and the other in November 1999. The following nine topics were identified as the key issues: social development; economic development; environmental congeniality and waste management; resource depletion; adequate provision of energy and disparities; energy efficiency; energy security; energy supply options; and energy pricing. A new conceptual framework model specifically tuned to the energy sector was developed, drawing upon work by other organizations in the environmental area. Within the framework of this conceptual model, two provisional lists of ISED - a full list and a core list - have been prepared. They cover indicators for the following energy related themes and sub-themes under the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable energy development: Economic dimension: Economic activity levels; End-use energy intensities of selected sectors and different manufacturing industries; energy supply efficiency; energy security; and energy pricing. Social dimension: Energy accessibility and disparities. Environmental dimension: Air pollution (urban air quality; global climate change concern); water

  1. Life cycle assessment, electricity generation and sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aumonier, S.

    1998-01-01

    When making a choice between alternatives, in whatever field, it is essential to have regard for the complete set of costs and benefits, in the widest possible sense, that will result in each case. The preferred option should be that which confers the maximum benefit, although relevant objectives will often conflict and its identification may be far from straightforward. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an environmental accounting tool for measuring the inputs and outputs of an option, whether a product, a process or an activity. This paper explains the principles and methodologies involved in LCA, its application to the nuclear sector, and to electricity generating options and sustainable development. (author)

  2. Sustainability Assessment and Reporting in Agriculture Sector

    OpenAIRE

    Edward Kassem; Oldřich Trenz; Jiří Hřebíček; Oldřich Faldík

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is a mainstream business activity that demonstrates the link between the organization’s strategy and commitment to a sustainable global economy. Sustainability indicators describe the environmental, social, economic and governance performance of Small and Medium‑sized Businesses/Enterprises (SMB/SME). Unfortunately, their implementations in the Czech Republic show a low level of engagement in sustainability assessment. The paper presents the results of the authors’ r...

  3. Assessment of management of a golf course by means of sustainability indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaio Cesare Pacini

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Golf courses are supposed to produce remarkable negative effects on the environment, due to some techniques involved in their management. To provide data useful for the proper assessment of the agro-environmental sustainability of a golf course, the framework agro-environmental sustainability information system (AESIS was used, utilizing a set of indicators suitable to evaluate different dimensions of sustainability (physical, ecological, productive and social. The management of areal golf course located in Tuscany (central Italy was compared to an alternative land use of the same area represented by an ordinary farm based on a sunflower-wheat rotation. Assessment indicators were selected by applying a conceptual model based on ecology theory and were calculated considering site-specific production and pedo-climatic features of the area. Different weighting scenarios were hypothesized in order to have different management options assessed and to carry out a targeted sensitivity analysis. Main results confirmed the significant impact of golf management on some ecological characteristics but the holistic assessment of AESIS approach permitted an overall evaluation that comprised a wide range of different issues. AESIS demonstrated to be a practical and adaptive tool able to perform an efficient comparison of possible land destinations.

  4. Breastfeeding assessment tools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bizouerne, Cécile; Kerac, Marko; Macgrath, Marie

    2014-01-01

    Full text: Breastfeeding plays a major role in reducing the global burden of child mortality and under-nutrition. Whilst many programmes aim to support breastfeeding and prevent feeding problems occurring, interventions are also needed once they have developed. In this situation, accurate assessment of a problem is critical to inform prognosis and enables tailored, appropriate treatment. The presentation will present a review, which aims to identify breastfeeding assessment tools/checklists for use in assessing malnourished infants in poor resource settings. The literature review identified 24 breastfeeding assessment tools, and 41 validation studies. Evidence underpinning most of the tools was mainly low quality, and conducted in high-income countries and hospital settings. The presentation will describe the main findings of the literature review and propose recommendations for improving existing tools in order to appropriately assess malnourished infants and enable early, appropriate intervention and treatment of malnutrition. (author)

  5. Assessing Sustainability of Smallholder Beef Cattle Farming in Indonesia: A case study using the FAO SAFA Framework

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gayatri, Siwi; Gassó-Tortajada, Vicent; Vaarst, Mette

    2016-01-01

    This article aims to assess the sustainability of smallholder beef cattle farms in Indonesia, where there is a national goal to improve the country’s beef self-sufficiency, and to explore and discuss potential improvement limitations and solutions. This article presents a sustainability assessment...... based on the FAO SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems) of six selected family farms representing three types of family farming systems (with only family labour; with hired labour; and with hired labour and a 'middleman in marketing system'). Individual structured interviews...... based on the SAFA guidelines were conducted and the results analysed with the SAFA Tool software. The results showed that the SAFA sustainability performance generally scored better in the farming system with relatively more resources and hired labour, and the household head also working as middleman...

  6. Environmental Justice and Sustainability Impact Assessment: In Search of Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts Caused by Coal Mining in Inner Mongolia, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lee Liu

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The Chinese government adopted more specific and stringent environmental impact assessment (EIA guidelines in 2011, soon after the widespread ethnic protests against coal mining in Inner Mongolia. However, our research suggests that the root of the ethnic tension is a sustainability problem, in addition to environmental issues. In particular, the Mongolians do not feel they have benefited from the mining of their resources. Existing environmental assessment tools are inadequate to address sustainability, which is concerned with environmental protection, social justice and economic equity. Thus, it is necessary to develop a sustainability impact assessment (SIA to fill in the gap. SIA would be in theory and practice a better tool than EIA for assessing sustainability impact. However, China’s political system presents a major challenge to promoting social and economic equity. Another practical challenge for SIA is corruption which has been also responsible for the failing of EIA in assessing environmental impacts of coal mining in Inner Mongolia. Under the current political system, China should adopt the SIA while continuing its fight against corruption.

  7. An Interpretive Framework for Assessing and Monitoring the Sustainability of School Gardens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Sottile

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available School gardens are, increasingly, an integral part of projects aiming to promote nutritional education and environmental sustainability in many countries throughout the world. In the late 1950s, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization and UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund had already developed projects to improve the dietary intake and behavior through school and community gardens. However, notwithstanding decades of experience, real proof of how these programs contribute to improving sustainability has not been well-documented, and reported findings have mostly been anecdotal. Therefore, it is important to begin a process of collecting and monitoring data to quantify the results and possibly improve their efficiency. This study’s primary goal is to propose an interpretive structure—the “Sustainable Agri-Food Evaluation Methodology-Garden” (SAEMETH-G, that is able to quantifiably guide the sustainability evaluation of various school garden organizational forms. As a case study, the methodology was applied to 15 school gardens located in three regions of Kenya, Africa. This application of SAEMETH-G as an assessment tool based on user-friendly indicators demonstrates that it is possible to carry out sustainability evaluations of school gardens through a participatory and interdisciplinary approach. Thus, the hypothesis that the original SAEMETH operative framework could be tested in gardens has also been confirmed. SAEMETH-G is a promising tool that has the potential to help us understand school gardens’ sustainability better and to use that knowledge in their further development all over the world.

  8. Ranking of Sustainability Indicators for Assessment of the New Housing Development Projects: Case of the Baltic States

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Tupenaite

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development is inconceivable without healthy real estate market. A housing project can be regarded as sustainable only when all the dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social are dealt with. There has been an increased interest in using sustainability indicators for evaluating the impacts of the new development projects. Although international literature is rich in sustainability assessments, there are no tools developed for assessment of new residential projects in the specific context of the Baltic States. Therefore, the aim of this article is to fill this gap and to propose an integrated, hierarchically structured system of sustainability indicators to be used for assessment of the new housing development projects. This aim is achieved through accomplishing three objectives. First, based on a review of literature related to assessing building project performance and sustainable development in construction, the paper proposes an original hierarchically structured system of sustainability indicators suitable for the Baltic context. Second, based on a survey of experts, significances of criteria are estimated by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP method. Finally, paper proposes recommendations to government authorities and real estate developers as to how to enhance the performance of new residential projects according to the principles of sustainability.

  9. Sustainability needs and practices assessment in the building industry of China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Pingjian; He, Gang; Mao, Guozhu; Liu, Yong; Xu, Mingzhu; Guo, Huaicheng; Liu, Xi

    2013-01-01

    The building industry in China has huge potential capacity for energy/resources conservation and pollutants reduction to achieve sustainable development. However, stakeholders are hardly able to reach a consensus on preferential needs and effective solutions, which was a difficulty faced by policy makers. To better identify the common interests on sustainable development in this field, the Sustainability Solutions Navigator (SSN) was adopted in China for the first time to assess the sustainability needs and practices. Based on the participation of stakeholders from the government, businesses, academia, and non-government organizations, prioritized needs and practices were identified using SSN, and gap analyses were conducted for comparison to global benchmarks. According to the results, the top needs were mainly focused on improving government efficiency and implementation, maintaining healthy indoor environments and obtaining adequate funds; priority practices were mainly focused on governmental action, renewable energy development and pollutant source reduction. The gap analysis indicated that the government efficiency and performance had the largest gap to the benchmark. By using a simple interactive tool to bring different stakeholders into policy making process, this study produces all-around information for decision makers. The results imply that the sustainability of the building industry in China has a much better expectation than governmental performance. - Highlights: ► SSN was first used for sustainability assessment in China's building industry. ► Prioritized needs and practices of multiple stakeholders were identified. ► High expectation of improved governmental efforts from the study

  10. The State of Sustainability Reporting in Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lozano, Rodrigo

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review and assess the state of sustainability reporting in universities. Design/methodology/approach: Analysis of the performance level of 12 universities sustainability reports using the Graphical Assessment of Sustainability in Universities tool. Findings: The results show that sustainability reporting in…

  11. A critical analysis of hazard resilience measures within sustainability assessment frameworks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matthews, Elizabeth C.; Sattler, Meredith; Friedland, Carol J.

    2014-01-01

    Today, numerous sustainability assessment frameworks (SAFs) exist to guide designers in achieving sustainable performance in the design of structures and communities. SAFs are beneficial in educating users and are useful tools for incorporating sustainability strategies into planning, design, and construction; however, there is currently a substantial gap in the ability of existing SAFs to incorporate hazard resistance and hazard mitigation in the broader context of sustainable design. This paper analyzes the incorporation of hazard resistant design and hazard mitigation strategies within SAFs via a multi-level analysis of eleven SAFs. The SAFs analyzed range in scale of application (i.e. building, site, community). Three levels of analysis are presented: (1) macro-level analysis comparing the number of measures strictly addressing resilience versus sustainability, (2) meso-level analysis of the coverage of types of hazards within SAFs (e.g. flood, fire), and (3) micro-level analysis of SAF measures connected to flood-related hazard resilience. The results demonstrate that hazard resistance and hazard mitigation do not figure prominently in the intent of SAFs and that weaknesses in resilience coverage exist that have the potential to lead to the design of structures and communities that are still highly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme events. - Highlights: • Sustainability assessment frameworks (SAFs) were analyzed for resilience coverage • Hazard resistance and mitigation do not figure prominently in the intent of SAFs • Approximately 75% of SAFs analyzed address three or fewer hazards • Lack of economic measures within SAFs could impact resilience and sustainability • Resilience measures for flood hazards are not consistently included in SAFs

  12. A critical analysis of hazard resilience measures within sustainability assessment frameworks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matthews, Elizabeth C., E-mail: echiso1@lsu.edu [Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Sattler, Meredith, E-mail: msattler@lsu.edu [School of Architecture, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Friedland, Carol J., E-mail: friedland@lsu.edu [Bert S. Turner Department of Construction Management, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (United States)

    2014-11-15

    Today, numerous sustainability assessment frameworks (SAFs) exist to guide designers in achieving sustainable performance in the design of structures and communities. SAFs are beneficial in educating users and are useful tools for incorporating sustainability strategies into planning, design, and construction; however, there is currently a substantial gap in the ability of existing SAFs to incorporate hazard resistance and hazard mitigation in the broader context of sustainable design. This paper analyzes the incorporation of hazard resistant design and hazard mitigation strategies within SAFs via a multi-level analysis of eleven SAFs. The SAFs analyzed range in scale of application (i.e. building, site, community). Three levels of analysis are presented: (1) macro-level analysis comparing the number of measures strictly addressing resilience versus sustainability, (2) meso-level analysis of the coverage of types of hazards within SAFs (e.g. flood, fire), and (3) micro-level analysis of SAF measures connected to flood-related hazard resilience. The results demonstrate that hazard resistance and hazard mitigation do not figure prominently in the intent of SAFs and that weaknesses in resilience coverage exist that have the potential to lead to the design of structures and communities that are still highly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme events. - Highlights: • Sustainability assessment frameworks (SAFs) were analyzed for resilience coverage • Hazard resistance and mitigation do not figure prominently in the intent of SAFs • Approximately 75% of SAFs analyzed address three or fewer hazards • Lack of economic measures within SAFs could impact resilience and sustainability • Resilience measures for flood hazards are not consistently included in SAFs.

  13. Life cycle tools combined with multi-criteria and participatory methods for agricultural sustainability: Insights from a systematic and critical review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Luca, Anna Irene; Iofrida, Nathalie; Leskinen, Pekka; Stillitano, Teodora; Falcone, Giacomo; Strano, Alfio; Gulisano, Giovanni

    2017-10-01

    Life cycle (LC) methodologies have attracted a great interest in agricultural sustainability assessments, even if, at the same time, they have sometimes been criticized for making unrealistic assumptions and subjective choices. To cope with these weaknesses, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and/or participatory methods can be used to balance and integrate different sustainability dimensions. The purpose of this study is to highlight how life cycle approaches were combined with MCDA and participatory methods to address agricultural sustainability in the published scientific literature. A systematic and critical review was developed, highlighting the following features: which multi-criterial and/or participatory methods have been associated with LC tools; how they have been integrated or complemented (methodological relationships); the intensity of the involvement of stakeholders (degree of participation); and which synergies have been achieved by combining the methods. The main typology of integration was represented by multi-criterial frameworks integrating LC evaluations. LC tools can provide MCDA studies with local and global information on how to reduce negative impacts and avoid burden shifts, while MCDA methods can help LC practitioners deal with subjective assumptions in an objective way, to take into consideration actors' values and to overcome trade-offs among the different dimensions of sustainability. Considerations concerning the further development of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) have been identified as well. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Rooftop greenhouses in educational centers: A sustainability assessment of urban agriculture in compact cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nadal, Ana; Pons, Oriol; Cuerva, Eva; Rieradevall, Joan; Josa, Alejandro

    2018-06-01

    Today, urban agriculture is one of the most widely used sustainability strategies to improve the metabolism of a city. Schools can play an important role in the implementation of sustainability master plans, due their socio-educational activities and their cohesive links with families; all key elements in the development of urban agriculture. Thus, the main objective of this research is to develop a procedure, in compact cities, to assess the potential installation of rooftop greenhouses (RTGs) in schools. The generation of a dynamic assessment tool capable of identifying and prioritizing schools with a high potential for RTGs and their eventual implementation would also represent a significant factor in the environmental, social, and nutritional education of younger generations. The methodology has four-stages (Pre-selection criteria; Selection of necessities; Sustainability analysis; and Sensitivity analysis and selection of the best alternative) in which economic, environmental, social and governance aspects all are considered. It makes use of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory and Multi-Criteria Decision Making, through the Integrated Value Model for Sustainability Assessments and the participation of two panels of multidisciplinary specialists, for the preparation of a unified sustainability index that guarantees the objectivity of the selection process. This methodology has been applied and validated in a case study of 11 schools in Barcelona (Spain). The social perspective of the proposed methodology favored the school in the case-study with the most staff and the largest parent-teacher association (social and governance indicators) that obtained the highest sustainability index (S11); at a considerable distance (45%) from the worst case (S3) with fewer school staff and parental support. Finally, objective decisions may be taken with the assistance of this appropriate, adaptable, and reliable Multi-Criteria Decision-Making tool on the vertical integration and

  15. An Overview of Public Domain Tools for Measuring the Sustainability of Environmental Remediation - 12060

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Claypool, John E.; Rogers, Scott [AECOM, Denver, Colorado, 80202 (United States)

    2012-07-01

    The application of sustainability principles to the investigation and remediation of contaminated sites is an area of rapid development within the environmental profession, with new business practices, tools, and performance standards for identifying, evaluating, and managing the 'collateral' impacts of cleanup projects to the environment, economy and society coming from many organizations. Guidelines, frameworks, and standards of practice for 'green and sustainable remediation' (GSR) have been released and are under development by the Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF), the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), the Interstate Technology Roundtable Commission (ITRC) and other organizations in the U.S. and internationally. In response to Executive Orders from the President, Federal government agencies have developed policies, procedures and guidelines for evaluating and reporting the sustainability of their environmental restoration projects. Private sector companies in the petroleum, utility, manufacturing, defense, and other sectors are developing their own corporate GSR programs to improve day-to-day management of contaminated sites and to support external reporting as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. The explosion of mandates, policy, procedures and guidance raises the question of how to determine whether a remediation technology or cleanup approach is green and/or sustainable. The environmental profession has responded to this question by designing, developing and deploying a wide array of tools, calculators, and databases that enable regulatory agencies, site managers and environmental professionals to calculate the collateral impacts of their remediation projects in the environmental, social, and economic domains. Many of these tools are proprietary ones developed by environmental engineering/consulting firms for use in their consulting engagements and/or tailored specifically to meet the needs of

  16. STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN URBANIZATION PROCESS IN CHINA

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    CHE Xiu-zhen; SHANG Jin-cheng

    2004-01-01

    This paper reviewed the development of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in China, expounded its functions and regional characteristics, and discussed the targets of SEA in the process of urbanization,and the main assessment indicators, procedures, techniques and methodologies of SEA. It concluded that SEA could be improved by the following recommendations: incorporating SEA in decision-making process, selecting experimental units for SEA trial run, and developing strategic evaluation tools and techniques. SEA can provide appropriate and up-to-date information on the impact of human activity on environment in the process of urbanization, and develop a plan of action targeting implementation of intervention for the rehabilitation and preservation of the ecological stability of a city. Therefore, SEA can be a supporting tool for decision-making toward achieving sustainable development.

  17. Sustainability rating tools for buildings and its wider application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siew Renard

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper provides a commentary on the latest research in measuring the sustainability of buildings and its wider application. The emergence of sustainability rating tools (SRTs has faced critique from scholars due to their deficiencies such as the overemphasis on environmental criteria, the negligence of uncertainty in scoring and existence of non-scientific criteria benchmarks among many others. This could have attributed to the mixed evidence in the literature on the benefits of SRTs. Future research direction is proposed to advance the state-of-the art in this field.

  18. LCA and Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moltesen, Andreas; Bjørn, Anders

    2018-01-01

    LCA is often presented as a sustainability assessment tool. This chapter analyses the relationship between LCA and sustainability. This is done by first outlining the history of the sustainability concept, which gained momentum with the Brundtland Commission’s report ‘Our Common Future report...... is then demonstrated, and the strategy of LCA to achieving environmental protection, namely to guide the reduction of environmental impacts per delivery of a function, is explained. The attempt to broaden the scope of LCA, beyond environmental protection, by so-called life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA......) is outlined. Finally, the limitations of LCA in guiding a sustainable development are discussed....

  19. Sustainability assessment tool for the decision making in selection of energy system-Bosnian case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Begic, Fajik; Afgan, Naim H.

    2007-01-01

    In this paper the multi-criteria sustainability assessment of various options of the energy power system of the JP Elektroprivreda of Bosnia and Herzegovina is performed. The rehabilitation of a 110 MW Thermal Power Unit is compared with other options, such as: a thermal power unit with a coal-fueled boiler with combustion in fluidized bed; combined cycle gas turbine plants; hydropower plant, power plants based on solar energy (photovoltaic [PV] systems); wind turbines; and biomass power plants. The assessment methodology comprise a system of stochastic models of uncertainty, enabling decision makers to perform the assessment of various systems, as well as to obtain normalization indexes by using non-numeric (ordinal), non-exact (interval) and non-complete information (NNN-information). Through the analysis of multi-criteria assessment of potential options, the decision-makers are able to evaluate options and select the optimal new power plant capacity

  20. Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment: Evaluating Residential Development Sustainability in a Developing Country Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tan Yigitcanlar

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Rapid urbanization, improved quality of life, and diversified lifestyle options have collectively led to an escalation in housing demand in our cities, where residential areas, as the largest portion of urban land use type, play a critical role in the formation of sustainable cities. To date there has been limited research to ascertain residential development layouts that provide a more sustainable urban outcome. This paper aims to evaluate and compare sustainability levels of residential types by focusing on their layouts. The paper scrutinizes three different development types in a developing country context—i.e., subdivision, piecemeal, and master-planned developments. This study develops a “Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment” tool and applies it to compare their sustainability levels in Ipoh, Malaysia. The analysis finds that the master-planned development, amongst the investigated case studies, possesses the potential to produce higher levels of sustainability outcomes. The results reveal insights and evidence for policymakers, planners, development agencies and researchers; advocate further studies on neighborhood-level sustainability analysis, and; emphasize the need for collective efforts and an effective process in achieving neighborhood sustainability and sustainable city formation.

  1. A framework for clarifying the meaning of Triple Bottom-Line, Integrated, and Sustainability Assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hacking, Theo; Guthrie, Peter

    2008-01-01

    Terms such as Integrated Assessment and Sustainability Assessment are used to label 'new' approaches to impact assessment that are designed to direct planning and decision-making towards sustainable development (SD). Established assessment techniques, such as EIA and SEA, are also widely promoted as SD 'tools'. This paper presents the findings of a literature review undertaken to identify the features that are typically promoted for improving the SD-directedness of assessments. A framework is developed which reconciles the broad range of emerging approaches and tackles the inconsistent use of terminology. The framework comprises a three-dimensional space defined by the following axes: the comprehensiveness of the SD coverage; the degree of 'integration' of the techniques and themes; and the extent to which a strategic perspective is adopted. By applying the framework, assessment approaches can be positioned relative to one another, enabling comparison on the basis of substance rather than semantics

  2. Methods of Comprehensive Assessment for China’s Energy Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Zhijin; Song, Yankui

    2018-02-01

    In order to assess the sustainable development of China’s energy objectively and accurately, we need to establish a reasonable indicator system for energy sustainability and make a targeted comprehensive assessment with the scientific methods. This paper constructs a comprehensive indicator system for energy sustainability from five aspects of economy, society, environment, energy resources and energy technology based on the theory of sustainable development and the theory of symbiosis. On this basis, it establishes and discusses the assessment models and the general assessment methods for energy sustainability with the help of fuzzy mathematics. It is of some reference for promoting the sustainable development of China’s energy, economy and society.

  3. The NRNU MEPhI activities in the development and applications of advanced tools for innovative nuclear energy systems sustainability assessments - 5020

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andrianov, A.; Dogov, A.; Kuptsov, I.; Fedorova, E.; Svetlichnyy, L.; Utianskaia, T.; Korovin, Y.

    2015-01-01

    This report delineates the multi-objective optimization and uncertainty treatment modules for the IAEA energy planning software MESSAGE developed at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI and the Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering intended for multi-objective optimization and sustainability assessments of innovative nuclear energy systems with account of uncertainty. The authors present some results of implementation of these tools for multi-objective nuclear energy system optimization studies. The developed software allows searching for compromises between the conflicting factors that determine the nuclear energy systems' effectiveness and calculating corresponding trade-off rates; carrying out comparative multi-criteria analysis of alternatives as well as choosing, ranking, and sorting corresponding options taking into account the evolution dynamics, structure and organization of a nuclear fuel cycle and the most important system constraints and restrictions. (authors)

  4. Different levels of stakeholder participation for sustainability Impact Assessment Tools - A comparative requirement analysis of four research approaches

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sieber, S.; Konig, H.; Bezlepkina, I.; Reidsma, P.

    2012-01-01

    In the last decade, a wide range of new modeling approaches has been developed for sustainability impact assessment. They are often based on theoretical concepts on how to cope, process and apply pre-assessments on policy and project instrument-implementation. Experiences show that few models

  5. Corporate sustainability practices in accredited Brazilian hospitals: a degree-of-maturity assessment of the environmental dimension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Glauce Nascimento

    Full Text Available Abstract The main objective of this paper is to assess the degree of maturity of Brazilian accredited hospitals in relation to sustainable practices, specifically the environmental dimension. Therefore, a questionnaire was constructed, shaped by the literature review and the evaluation method of the Corporate Sustainability Index of BM and FBovespa (n.d.. Furthermore, the relationship between three corporate sustainability tools (the certification of the International Organization for Standardization [ISO] 14001, published sustainability reports, and the existence of an area dedicated to corporate sustainability and the maturity of hospitals in relation to sustainability practices were assessed. The results show that, of the 38 hospitals that participated in the survey (43% of subjects studied, 58% obtained a maturity rating of very high or high rating, according to the established criteria. In addition, some research variables showed statistically significant differences among the hospitals that have ISO 14001 certification, those that publish sustainability reports, and those that have an area dedicated to sustainability. Consequently, hospitals should take action to include much more sustainability actions in their strategies, such as how to establish a participatory dialog with stakeholders, in order to improve and raise the level of maturity of hospitals.

  6. Socio-Environmental and Sustainability Assessment for Technology Innovations at Pectens Production in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Márcio Ricardo Costa dos Santos

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available This study presents a practical impact assessment method for the adoption of technology innovations at Pectens In vitro Fertilization Laboratory in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. To fulfill the system framework requirements, focused on reproductive and productive enterprises, field visits and interview with the laboratory executive director were carried out. Considering the pectens production activities, 24 socio-environmental indicators were developed and the impact indices were automatically calculated by the system’s spreadsheets. General performance index for the pectens reproduction activities indicated an important contribution of technological innovations for the sustainable production of the In vitro Fertilization Laboratory. The employed method was considered as appropriate for evaluations of sustainability at this agribusiness activity, dealing with indicators as tools in order to identify possible risks for negative impacts. Those indicators include aspects beyond those commonly presented by environmental impact assessments, and were capable to provide adequate management and sustainable development for the studied Organization.

  7. Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus; Pope, Jenny

    2013-01-01

    One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

  8. Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus, E-mail: A.Morrison-Saunders@murdoch.edu.au [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University (Australia); Pope, Jenny [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); Integral Sustainability (Australia); Curtin University (Australia)

    2013-01-15

    One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

  9. An Integrative Review of Pediatric Fall Risk Assessment Tools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiGerolamo, Kimberly; Davis, Katherine Finn

    Patient fall prevention begins with accurate risk assessment. However, sustained improvements in prevention and quality of care include use of validated fall risk assessment tools (FRATs). The goal of FRATs is to identify patients at highest risk. Adult FRATs are often borrowed from to create tools for pediatric patients. Though factors associated with pediatric falls in the hospital setting are similar to those in adults, such as mobility, medication use, and cognitive impairment, adult FRATs and the factors associated with them do not adequately assess risk in children. Articles were limited to English language, ages 0-21years, and publish date 2006-2015. The search yielded 22 articles. Ten were excluded as the population was primarily adult or lacked discussion of a FRAT. Critical appraisal and findings were synthesized using the Johns Hopkins Nursing evidence appraisal system. Twelve articles relevant to fall prevention in the pediatric hospital setting that discussed fall risk assessment and use of a FRAT were reviewed. Comparison between and accuracy of FRATs is challenged when different classifications, definitions, risk stratification, and inclusion criteria are used. Though there are several pediatric FRATs published in the literature, none have been found to be reliable and valid across institutions and diverse populations. This integrative review highlights the importance of choosing a FRAT based on an institution's identified risk factors and validating the tool for one's own patient population as well as using the tool in conjunction with nursing clinical judgment to guide interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Assessing and Enhancing Environmental Sustainability: A Conceptual Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Little, John C; Hester, Erich T; Carey, Cayelan C

    2016-07-05

    While sustainability is an essential concept to ensure the future of humanity and the integrity of the resources and ecosystems on which we depend, identifying a comprehensive yet realistic way to assess and enhance sustainability may be one of the most difficult challenges of our time. We review the primary environmental sustainability assessment approaches, categorizing them as either being design-based or those that employ computational frameworks and/or indicators. We also briefly review approaches used for assessing economic and social sustainability because sustainability necessitates integrating environmental, economic, and social elements. We identify the collective limitations of the existing assessment approaches, showing that there is not a consistent definition of sustainability, that the approaches are generally not comprehensive and are subject to unintended consequences, that there is little to no connection between bottom-up and top-down approaches, and that the field of sustainability is largely fragmented, with a range of academic disciplines and professional organizations pursuing similar goals, but without much formal coordination. We conclude by emphasizing the need for a comprehensive definition of sustainability (that integrates environmental, economic, and social aspects) with a unified system-of-systems approach that is causal, modular, tiered, and scalable, as well as new educational and organizational structures to improve systems-level interdisciplinary integration.

  11. Sustainability indicators for the assessment of nuclear power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stamford, Laurence; Azapagic, Adisa

    2011-01-01

    Electricity supplies an increasing share of the world's total energy demand and that contribution is set to increase. At the same time, there is increasing socio-political will to mitigate impacts of climate change as well as to improve energy security. This, in combination with the desire to ensure social and economic prosperity, creates a pressing need to consider the sustainability implications of future electricity generation. However, approaches to sustainability assessment differ greatly in their scope and methodology as currently there is no standardised approach. With this in mind, this paper reviews sustainability indicators that have previously been used to assess energy options and proposes a new sustainability assessment methodology based on a life cycle approach. In total, 43 indicators are proposed, addressing the techno-economic, environmental and social sustainability issues associated with energy systems. The framework has been developed primarily to address concerns associated with nuclear power in the UK, but is applicable to other energy technologies as well as to other countries. -- Highlights: → New framework for life cycle sustainability assessment of nuclear power developed. → The framework comprises 43 indicators addressing techno-economic, environmental and social sustainability. → Completely new indicators developed to address different sustainability issues, including nuclear proliferation, energy supply diversity and intergenerational equity. → The framework enables sustainability comparisons of nuclear and other electricity technologies. → Indicators can be used by various stakeholders, including industry, policy makers and NGOs to help identify more sustainable electricity options.

  12. From Indicators to Policies: Open Sustainability Assessment in the Water and Sanitation Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martín Alejandro Iribarnegaray

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available A water and sanitation sustainability index (WASSI was developed and estimated in four cities of the province of Salta, in northern Argentina. The index was built with nine descriptors and fifteen indicators that covered all essential aspects of the sustainability of local water and sanitation management systems. Only one of the cities studied obtained a sustainability value above the acceptability threshold adopted (50 of 100 points. Results indicate that the water company needs to address some environmental and social issues to enhance the sustainability of the systems studied. The WASSI was conceptually robust and operationally simple, and could be easily adapted to the case studies. The index can be followed and updated online on a web site specially developed for this project. This website could be useful to promote participatory processes, assist decision makers, and facilitate academic research. According to local stakeholders, a more open sustainability assessment based on sustainability indices and supported by virtual tools would be relevant and highly feasible. It would help decision makers improve the sustainability and transparency of water and sanitation management systems, and promote more sustainable water policies in the region and beyond.

  13. Framework for Assessing Water Resource Sustainability in River Basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borden, J.; Goodwin, P.; Swanson, D.

    2013-12-01

    indicators to use in the analytical evaluation. A software template guides users through this process. For demonstration, the RBAF-C template has been applied to address competing irrigation demand-anadromous fish flow requirements in the Lemhi Basin, Idaho, and the increase in municipal and industrial demand in the Upper Bhima River Basin, India, which affects water supply to downstream irrigation command areas. The RBAF-A is for quantitatively evaluating the current conditions of water resources in a river basin and testing potential scenarios with respect to the sustainability criterion. The primary foundation for quantifying water movement is a river basin model. Upon this, the RBAF-A Interface organizes input data, collects output data from each discipline, and reports the HWB. Within the RBAF-A Interface, the EGS-HWB Calculator collects output time series data, processes the data with respect to space and time, and computes the ecologic, economic, and social well-being. The Reporting Tool presents the scenario output as values and trends in well-being. To demonstrate the technology, the RBAF-A was applied to the Lemhi Basin, Idaho. The RBAF supports the IWRM process by providing a structured and transparent means to understand the water related issues, analyses to conduct, and indicators to select in assessing the sustainability of water programs and policies in river basins.

  14. Network analysis as a tool for assessing environmental sustainability: applying the ecosystem perspective to a Danish water management system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pizzol, Massimo; Scotti, Marco; Thomsen, Marianne

    2013-01-01

    New insights into the sustainable use of natural resources in human systems can be gained through comparison with ecosystems via common indices. In both kinds of system, resources are processed by a number of users within a network, but we consider ecosystems as the only ones displaying sustainable...... patterns of growth and development. We applied Network Analysis (NA) for assessing the sustainability of a Danish municipal Water Management System (WMS). We identified water users within the WMS and represented their interactions as a network of water flows. We computed intensive and extensive indices...

  15. Sustainability assessment framework for scenarios – SAFS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arushanyan, Yevgeniya, E-mail: yevgeniya.arushanyan@abe.kth.se [KTH Royal Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and the Built Environment, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, Division of Environmental Strategies Research, Drottning Kristinas väg 30, 10044 Stockholm (Sweden); KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Centre for Sustainable Communications (CESC), Lindstedtsvägen 5, 100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Ekener, Elisabeth; Moberg, Åsa [KTH Royal Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and the Built Environment, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, Division of Environmental Strategies Research, Drottning Kristinas väg 30, 10044 Stockholm (Sweden); KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Centre for Sustainable Communications (CESC), Lindstedtsvägen 5, 100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)

    2017-03-15

    To address current challenges regarding sustainable development and support planning for this form of development, new learning about different possible futures and their potential sustainability implications is needed. One way of facilitating this learning is by combining the futures studies and sustainability assessment (SA) research fields. This paper presents the sustainability assessment framework for scenarios (SAFS), a method developed for assessing the environmental and social risks and opportunities of future scenarios, provides guidelines for its application and demonstrates how the framework can be applied. SAFS suggests assessing environmental and social aspects using a consumption perspective and a life cycle approach, and provides qualitative results. SAFS does not suggest any modelling using precise data, but instead offers guidelines on how to carry out a qualitative assessment, where both the process of assessing and the outcome of the assessment are valuable and can be used as a basis for discussion. The benefits, drawbacks and potential challenges of applying SAFS are also discussed in the paper. SAFS uses systems thinking looking at future societies as a whole, considering both environmental and social consequences. This encourages researchers and decision-makers to consider the whole picture, and not just individual elements, when considering different futures. - Highlights: • The paper presents a new methodological framework for qualitative sustainability assessment of future scenarios with transformative changes. • The framework suggests qualitative assessment with consumption perspective and a life cycle approach. • The paper presents the framework and provides guidelines for its application. • The paper demonstrates on an example how the framework can be applied. • The benefits, drawbacks and challenges of the framework application and the need for further development are discussed.

  16. Sustainability assessment framework for scenarios – SAFS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arushanyan, Yevgeniya; Ekener, Elisabeth; Moberg, Åsa

    2017-01-01

    To address current challenges regarding sustainable development and support planning for this form of development, new learning about different possible futures and their potential sustainability implications is needed. One way of facilitating this learning is by combining the futures studies and sustainability assessment (SA) research fields. This paper presents the sustainability assessment framework for scenarios (SAFS), a method developed for assessing the environmental and social risks and opportunities of future scenarios, provides guidelines for its application and demonstrates how the framework can be applied. SAFS suggests assessing environmental and social aspects using a consumption perspective and a life cycle approach, and provides qualitative results. SAFS does not suggest any modelling using precise data, but instead offers guidelines on how to carry out a qualitative assessment, where both the process of assessing and the outcome of the assessment are valuable and can be used as a basis for discussion. The benefits, drawbacks and potential challenges of applying SAFS are also discussed in the paper. SAFS uses systems thinking looking at future societies as a whole, considering both environmental and social consequences. This encourages researchers and decision-makers to consider the whole picture, and not just individual elements, when considering different futures. - Highlights: • The paper presents a new methodological framework for qualitative sustainability assessment of future scenarios with transformative changes. • The framework suggests qualitative assessment with consumption perspective and a life cycle approach. • The paper presents the framework and provides guidelines for its application. • The paper demonstrates on an example how the framework can be applied. • The benefits, drawbacks and challenges of the framework application and the need for further development are discussed.

  17. Review of quality assessment tools for family planning programmes in low- and middle-income countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sprockett, Andrea

    2017-03-01

    Measuring and tracking the quality of healthcare is a critical part of improving service delivery, clinic efficiency and health outcomes. However, no standardized or widely accepted tool exists to assess the quality of clinic-based family planning services in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this literature review was to identify widely used public domain quality assessment tools with existing or potential application in clinic-based family planning programmes. Using PubMed, PopLine, Google Scholar and Google, key terms such as ‘quality assessment tool’, ‘quality assessment method’, ‘quality measurement’, ‘LMIC’, ‘developing country’, ‘family planning’ and ‘reproductive health’ were searched for articles, identifying 20 relevant tools. Tools were assessed to determine the type of quality components assessed, divided into structure and process components, level of application (national or facility), health service domain that can be assessed by the tool, cost and current use of the tool. Tools were also assessed for shortcomings based on application in a low- and middle-income clinic-based family planning programme, including personnel required, re-assessment frequency, assessment of structure, process and outcome quality, comparability of data over time and across facilities and ability to benchmark clinic results to a national benchmark. No tools met all criteria, indicating a critical gap in quality assessment for low- and middle-income family planning programmes. To achieve Universal Health Coverage, agreed on in the Sustainable Development Goals and to improve system-wide healthcare quality, we must develop and widely adopt a standardized quality assessment tool.

  18. Sustainability assessment of food chain logistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bloemhof, J.M.; Vorst, van der J.G.A.J.; Bastl, M.; Allaoui, H.

    2015-01-01

    Food chain logistics plays an important role in the sustainability performance of the food sector. Therefore, project SCALE (Step Change in Agri-food Logistics Ecosystems) started as a collaborative international project, aiming for tools and frameworks for the food sector to make a step change in

  19. Assessing Teamwork in Undergraduate Education: A Measurement Tool to Evaluate Individual Teamwork Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Britton, Emily; Simper, Natalie; Leger, Andrew; Stephenson, Jenn

    2017-01-01

    Effective teamwork skills are essential for success in an increasingly team-based workplace. However, research suggests that there is often confusion concerning how teamwork is measured and assessed, making it difficult to develop these skills in undergraduate curricula. The goal of the present study was to develop a sustainable tool for assessing…

  20. Sustainability assessment of cogeneration sector development in Croatia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liposcak, Marko; Afgan, Naim H.; Duic, Neven; Graca Carvalho, Maria da

    2006-01-01

    The effective and rational energy generation and supply is one of the main presumptions of sustainable development. Combined heat and power production, or co-generation, has clear environmental advantages by increasing energy efficiency and decreasing carbon emissions. However, higher investment cost and more complicated design and maintenance sometimes-present disadvantages from the economical viability point of view. As in the case of most of economies in transition in Central and Eastern Europe, Croatia has a strong but not very efficient co-generation sector, delivering 12% of the final energy consumption. District heating systems in the country's capital Zagreb and in city of Osijek represent the large share of the overall co-generation capacity. Besides district heating, co-generation in industry sector is also relatively well developed. The paper presents an attempt to assess the sustainability of Croatian co-generation sector future development. The sustainability assessment requires multi-criteria assessment of specific scenarios to be taken into consideration. In this respect three scenarios of Croatian co-generation sector future development are taken into consideration and for each of them environmental, social and economic sustainability indicators are defined and calculated. The assessment of complex relationships between environmental, social and economic aspects of the system is based on the multi-criteria decision-making procedure. The sustainability assessment is based on the General Sustainability Index rating for different cases reflecting different criteria and their priority. The method of sustainability assessment is applied to the Croatian co-generation sector contributing to the evaluation of different strategies and definition of a foundation for policy related to the sustainable future cogeneration sector development

  1. Watershed Application of the Sustainable Installations Regional Resource Assessment Tool

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Jenicek, Elizabeth M; Fournier, Donald F; Downs, Natalie R; Boesdorfer, Brad

    2005-01-01

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recognizes the need for a system-wide approach to ecosystem management in its efforts to provide environmental sustainability in the stewardship of the Nation's water resources...

  2. A decision support tool for sustainable supplier selection in manufacturing firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ifeyinwa Orji

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs are strategically involved in supplier base rationalization and increased consciousness of sustainable development thus, reinforcing need for accurately considering sustainability in supplier selection to improve organizational performance. In real industrial case, imprecise data, ambiguity of human judgment, uncertainty among sustainability factors and the need to capture all subjective and objective criteria are unavoidable and pose huge challenge to accurately incorporate sustainability factors into supplier selection.Methodology: This study develops a model based on integrated multi- criteria decision making (MCDM methods to solve such problems. The developed model applies Fuzzy logic, DEMATEL and TOPSIS to effectively analyze the interdependencies between sustainability criteria and to select the best sustainable supplier in fuzzy environment while capturing all subjective and objective criteria. A case study is illustrated to test the proposed model in a gear manufacturing company, an OEM to provide insights and for practical applications.Findings: Results show that social factors of sustainability ranks as the most important in supplier selection. However, the most influential sustainability sub- criteria are work safety (WS and quality.Originality/Value: The model is capable of capturing all subjective and objective criteria in fuzzy environment to accurately incorporate sustainability factors in supplier selection. It is decision support tool relevant for providing insights to managers while implementing sustainable supplier selection.

  3. Modeling and Advanced Control for Sustainable Process ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    This book chapter introduces a novel process systems engineering framework that integrates process control with sustainability assessment tools for the simultaneous evaluation and optimization of process operations. The implemented control strategy consists of a biologically-inspired, multi-agent-based method. The sustainability and performance assessment of process operating points is carried out using the U.S. E.P.A.’s GREENSCOPE assessment tool that provides scores for the selected economic, material management, environmental and energy indicators. The indicator results supply information on whether the implementation of the controller is moving the process towards a more sustainable operation. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is illustrated through a case study of a continuous bioethanol fermentation process whose dynamics are characterized by steady-state multiplicity and oscillatory behavior. This book chapter contribution demonstrates the application of novel process control strategies for sustainability by increasing material management, energy efficiency, and pollution prevention, as needed for SHC Sustainable Uses of Wastes and Materials Management.

  4. Assessing the ecological and economic sustainability of energy crops

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanegraaf, M.C.; Biewinga, E.E.; Bijl, G. van der

    1998-01-01

    The production and use of biomass for energy has both positive and negative impacts on the environment. The environmental impacts of energy crops should be clarified before political choices concerning energy are made. An important aid to policy-making would be a systematic methodology to assess the environmental sustainability of energy crops. So far, most studies on the environmental aspects of energy crops deal mainly with the energy production of the crops and the possible consequences for CO 2 mitigation. The Dutch Centre for Agriculture and Environment (CLM) has developed a systematic methodology to assess the ecological and socio-economic sustainability of biomass crops. The method is best described as a multicriteria analysis of process chains and is very much related to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Characteristics of our methodology are the use of: definition of functional units; analysis of the entire lifecycle; definition of yield levels and corresponding agricultural practices; analysis of both ecological and economic criteria; definition of reference systems; definition of procedures for normalisation and weighting. CLM has applied the method to assess the sustainability of ten potentially interesting energy crops in four European regions. The results are used to outline the perspectives for large scale production of biomass crops with regard to the medium and long term land availability in Europe. For the crops considered, net energy budget ranges from 85 GJ net avoided energy per ha for rape seed for fuel to 248 GJ net avoided fossil energy per ha for silage maize for electricity from gasification. The methodology of the tool and its results were discussed at the concerted action ''Environmental aspects of biomass production and routes for European energy supply'' (AIR3-94-2455), organised by CLM in 1996. Major conclusions of the research: multicriteria analyhsis of process lifecycles is at present the best available option to assess the ecological

  5. Sustainability Assessment of Higher Education Institutions in Saudi Arabia

    OpenAIRE

    Habib M. Alshuwaikhat; Yusuf A. Adenle; Bilal Saghir

    2016-01-01

    Universities are paramount change drivers in bringing about a culture of sustainability in society by setting themselves up as models and nurseries for sustainable development. Thus, assessment of sustainability integration within universities is key to their impact on sustainable development. This study conducted an assessment of different public sector universities of Saudi Arabia based on five components: (i) Teaching and Curriculum; (ii) Research and Scholarship; (iii) Campus Operations; ...

  6. Developing tools to identify marginal lands and assess their potential for bioenergy production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galatsidas, Spyridon; Gounaris, Nikolaos; Dimitriadis, Elias; Rettenmaier, Nils; Schmidt, Tobias; Vlachaki, Despoina

    2017-04-01

    The term "marginal land" is currently intertwined in discussions about bioenergy although its definition is neither specific nor firm. The uncertainty arising from marginal land classification and quantification is one of the major constraining factors for its potential use. The clarification of political aims, i.e. "what should be supported?" is also an important constraining factor. Many approaches have been developed to identify marginal lands, based on various definitions according to the management goals. Concerns have been frequently raised regarding the impacts of marginal land use on environment, ecosystem services and sustainability. Current tools of soil quality and land potentials assessment fail to meet the needs of marginal land identification and exploitation for biomass production, due to the lack of comprehensive analysis of interrelated land functions and their quantitative evaluation. Land marginality is determined by dynamic characteristics in many cases and may therefore constitute a transitional state, which requires reassessment in due time. Also, marginal land should not be considered simply a dormant natural resource waiting to be used, since it may already provide multiple benefits and services to society relating to wildlife, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, etc. The consequences of cultivating such lands need to be fully addressed to present a balanced view of their sustainable potential for bioenergy. This framework is the basis for the development of the SEEMLA tools, which aim at supporting the identification, assessment, management of marginal lands in Europe and the decision-making for sustainable biomass production of them using appropriate bioenergy crops. The tools comprise two applications, a web-based one (independent of spatial data) and a GIS-based application (land regionalization on the basis of spatial data), which both incorporate: - Land resource characteristics, restricting the cultivation of agricultural crops but

  7. Validation of the Australian Midwifery Standards Assessment Tool (AMSAT): A tool to assess midwifery competence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sweet, Linda; Bazargan, Maryam; McKellar, Lois; Gray, Joanne; Henderson, Amanda

    2018-02-01

    There is no current validated clinical assessment tool to measure the attainment of midwifery student competence in the midwifery practice setting. The lack of a valid assessment tool has led to a proliferation of tools and inconsistency in assessment of, and feedback on student learning. This research aimed to develop and validate a tool to assess competence of midwifery students in practice-based settings. A mixed-methods approach was used and the study implemented in two phases. Phase one involved the development of the AMSAT tool with qualitative feedback from midwifery academics, midwife assessors of students, and midwifery students. In phase two the newly developed AMSAT tool was piloted across a range of midwifery practice settings and ANOVA was used to compare scores across year levels, with feedback being obtained from assessors. Analysis of 150 AMSAT forms indicate the AMSAT as: reliable (Cronbach alpha greater than 0.9); valid-data extraction loaded predominantly onto one factor; and sensitivity scores indicating level of proficiency increased across the three years. Feedback evaluation forms (n=83) suggest acceptance of this tool for the purpose of both assessing and providing feedback on midwifery student's practice performance and competence. The AMSAT is a valid, reliable and acceptable midwifery assessment tool enables consistent assessment of midwifery student competence. This assists benchmarking across midwifery education programs. Copyright © 2017 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Urban Plans based on Ecosystem Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menteşe, E. Y.; Tezer, A.

    2017-12-01

    Aiming at efficient and mindful use of natural resources while enabling social cohesion and economic development; sustainable development is one of the most emerging phenomenon in last decade. In this regard, role of urban development is critical by means of achieving sustainability since more than half of the world's population lives in cities. However, there is no solid and widely accepted approach for sustainability assessment in land use planning because there is not enough evidence on the relation between land use plans and environmental sustainability. With the basic aim of setting up relation between environmental sustainability and urban plans, this study utilizes ecosystem services phenomenon to define sustainability performance of a land use plan. Since ecosystem services can easily be related with land cover and land use they can be used as an efficient tool to act as indicators of sustainability. Meanwhile, while urban plans can provide ecosystem services and their level of service provision can be quantified, this is not solely enough for understanding its sustainability. Because it is also known that a land use plan mostly has negative impact on sustainability. Hence, this study embraces land use plans as a source of ecosystem services and environmental impacts. The difference between these entities are assumed to be the sustainability performance of a plan. The analysis relies on four parameters: ecosystem service capacity (environmental impact capacity), areal quantity of a land cover / use function, fragmantation level of the land use / cover and weight of ecosystem services / environmental impacts. Lastly, this approach is adopted for Istanbul's environmental master plan of 2009 and actual land cover of the same period. By calculating both data's environmental performance, the change of sustainability level sourced from environmental plan is analyzed.

  9. Assessment of the Sustainability Capacity of a Coordinated Approach to Chronic Disease Prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Combs, Todd; Polk, LaShaun; Dexter, Sarah

    2017-12-07

    This article outlines some factors that influenced the sustainability capacity of a coordinated approach to chronic disease prevention in state and territory health departments. This study involved a cross-sectional design and mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool (PSAT), a 40-item multiple-choice instrument that assesses 8 domains of sustainability capacity (environmental support, funding stability, partnerships, organizational capacity, program evaluation, program adaptation, communications, and strategic planning). Qualitative data were collected via phone interviews. The PSAT was administered to staff and stakeholders from public health departments in 50 US states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, who were involved in the implementation of coordinated chronic disease programs. Phone interviews were conducted with program coordinators in each state. Sustainability score patterns and state-level categorical results, as well as strengths and opportunities for improvement across the 8 program sustainability domains, were explored. On average, programs reported the strongest sustainability capacity in the domains of program adaptation, environmental support, and organizational capacity, while funding stability, strategic planning, and communications yielded lowest scores, indicating weakest capacity. Scores varied the most by state in environmental support and strategic planning. The PSAT results highlight the process through which states approached the sustainability of coordinated chronic disease initiatives. This process included an initial focus on program evaluation and partnerships with transfer of priority to long-term strategic planning, communications, and funding stability to further establish coordinated chronic disease efforts. Qualitative interviews provided further context to PSAT results, indicating that leadership, communications, partnerships, funding stability, and policy

  10. Managing Sustainability with the Support of Business Intelligence Methods and Tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrini, Maira; Pozzebon, Marlei

    In this paper we explore the role of business intelligence (BI) in helping to support the management of sustainability in contemporary firms. The concepts of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are among the most important themes to have emerged in the last decade at the global level. We suggest that BI methods and tools have an important but not yet well studied role to play in helping organizations implement and monitor sustainable and socially responsible business practices. Using grounded theory, the main contribution of our study is to propose a conceptual model that seeks to support the process of definition and monitoring of socio-environmental indicators and the relationship between their management and business strategy.

  11. Perspectives on Literacy as a Tool for Sustainable Social Relationship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osalusi F. M.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated perspectives on literacy as a tool for sustainable relationship among people. The study was conducted due to the significant role of literacy as an instrument of empowerment to improve relationship with other people by sharing information, ideas and knowledge to meet variety of purposes. The study adopted descriptive research design of the survey type. A sample of 1675 respondents that comprised of 1032 literates and 643 illiterates was selected through purposive and simple random sampling techniques from two local government areas of Ekiti state, Nigeria. An instrument tagged ‘Perception of Literacy for Social Relationship Questionnaire (PLHLSRQ’ was used to collect data from the respondents. The instrument was validated by experts and tested for reliability at 0.71 coefficients through test-re-test method. Data collected were statistically analysed using mean, standard deviation and student t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the study showed a significant difference between literates and illiterates’ perspectives on literacy as a tool for sustainable social relationship. The study also revealed significant gender difference in perspectives on literacy for sustainable social relationship. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that government should organise more awareness and sensitization programmes and seminars to purposefully attract illiterate commercial drivers and riders to literacy programmes.

  12. A Sustainable Historic Waterfront Revitalization Decision Support Tool for Attracting Tourists

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Keyvanfar

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Waterfront revitalization would be an effective strategy to preserve heritages, conserve the contaminated or abandoned site and inspire the identity and authenticity. However, there is no decision support tool to quantify and evaluate the sustainability accreditation of waterfronts in tourism attraction. This research aimed to identify the most potential waterfront typology in tourism attraction and develop the waterfront sustainable revitalization (SWR index assessment model. The SWR index can assist policy makers and urban developers to analyze the heritage waterfronts using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP method. The research found out the historic waterfront has the highest potential in tourism attraction among other typologies. And, pollution moderator is mostly important sub-criterion in tourism absorption (WC2.2 = 0.1294; followed by Identity (WC1.2 = 0.1272 and Safety and well-being (WC1.3 = 0.1043. The SWR index can be applied in any waterfronts in heritage cities around the world, while this research implemented it as a case study in Bandar Maharani, Muar, Malaysia. It resulted Bandar Maharani was ranked as grade C; means, usable waterfront to which extent environmental, social and physical revitalization are needed. The SWR index can be coupled with other decision-making methods in future, to reduce its inconsistencies and increasing accuracy.

  13. An Overview of Ecological Footprinting and Other Tools and Their Application to the Development of Sustainability Process: Audit and Methodology at Holme Lacy College, UK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawe, Gerald F. M.; Vetter, Arnie; Martin, Stephen

    2004-01-01

    A sustainability audit of Holme Lacy College is described. The approach adopted a "triple bottom line" assessment, comprising a number of key steps: a scoping review utilising a revised Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors project appraisal tool; an environmental impact assessment based on ecological footprinting and a social and…

  14. Key performance indicators (KPIs) and priority setting in using the multi-attribute approach for assessing sustainable intelligent buildings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    ALwaer, H. [The University of Dundee, School of Architecture, Matthew Building, 13 Perth Road, Dundee DD1 4HT (United Kingdom); Clements-Croome, D.J. [School of Construction Management and Engineering, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 219, Reading RG6 6AW (United Kingdom)

    2010-04-15

    The main objectives of this paper are to: firstly, identify key issues related to sustainable intelligent buildings (environmental, social, economic and technological factors); develop a conceptual model for the selection of the appropriate KPIs; secondly, test critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings; and thirdly develop a new model for measuring the level of sustainability for sustainable intelligent buildings. This paper uses a consensus-based model (Sustainable Built Environment Tool- SuBETool), which is analysed using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for multi-criteria decision-making. The use of the multi-attribute model for priority setting in the sustainability assessment of intelligent buildings is introduced. The paper commences by reviewing the literature on sustainable intelligent buildings research and presents a pilot-study investigating the problems of complexity and subjectivity. This study is based upon a survey perceptions held by selected stakeholders and the value they attribute to selected KPIs. It is argued that the benefit of the new proposed model (SuBETool) is a 'tool' for 'comparative' rather than an absolute measurement. It has the potential to provide useful lessons from current sustainability assessment methods for strategic future of sustainable intelligent buildings in order to improve a building's performance and to deliver objective outcomes. Findings of this survey enrich the field of intelligent buildings in two ways. Firstly, it gives a detailed insight into the selection of sustainable building indicators, as well as their degree of importance. Secondly, it tesst critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings. It is concluded that the priority levels for selected criteria is largely dependent on the integrated design team, which includes the client, architects, engineers and facilities managers

  15. Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship: An Evaluation of the Validity of the STAUNCH Auditing Tool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glover, Alison; Peters, Carl; Haslett, Simon K.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the validity of the curriculum auditing tool Sustainability Tool for Auditing University Curricula in Higher Education (STAUNCH[C]), which was designed to audit the education for sustainability and global citizenship content of higher education curricula. The Welsh Assembly Government aspires to…

  16. Variability of building environmental assessment tools on evaluating carbon emissions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ng, S. Thomas, E-mail: tstng@hkucc.hku.hk; Chen Yuan, E-mail: chenyuan4@gmail.com; Wong, James M.W., E-mail: jmwwong@hku.hk

    2013-01-15

    With an increasing importance of sustainability in construction, more and more clients and designers employ building environmental assessment (BEA) tools to evaluate the environmental friendliness of their building facilities, and one important aspect of evaluation in the BEA models is the assessment of carbon emissions. However, in the absence of any agreed framework for carbon auditing and benchmarking, the results generated by the BEA tools might vary significantly which could lead to confusion or misinterpretation on the carbon performance of a building. This study thus aims to unveil the properties of and the standard imposed by the current BEA models on evaluating the life cycle carbon emissions. The analyses cover the (i) weighting of energy efficiency and emission levels among various environmental performance indicators; (ii) building life cycle stages in which carbon is taken into consideration; (iii) objectiveness of assessment; (iv) baseline set for carbon assessment; (v) mechanism for benchmarking the emission level; and (v) limitations of the carbon assessment approaches. Results indicate that the current BEA schemes focus primarily on operational carbon instead of the emissions generated throughout the entire building life cycle. Besides, the baseline and benchmark for carbon evaluation vary significantly among the BEA tools based on the analytical results of a hypothetical building. The findings point to the needs for a more transparent framework for carbon auditing and benchmarking in BEA modeling. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Carbon emission evaluation in building environmental assessment schemes are studied. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simulative carbon emission is modeled for building environmental assessment schemes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Carbon assessments focus primarily on operational stage instead of entire lifecycle. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Baseline and benchmark of carbon assessment vary greatly among BEA

  17. Variability of building environmental assessment tools on evaluating carbon emissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ng, S. Thomas; Chen Yuan; Wong, James M.W.

    2013-01-01

    With an increasing importance of sustainability in construction, more and more clients and designers employ building environmental assessment (BEA) tools to evaluate the environmental friendliness of their building facilities, and one important aspect of evaluation in the BEA models is the assessment of carbon emissions. However, in the absence of any agreed framework for carbon auditing and benchmarking, the results generated by the BEA tools might vary significantly which could lead to confusion or misinterpretation on the carbon performance of a building. This study thus aims to unveil the properties of and the standard imposed by the current BEA models on evaluating the life cycle carbon emissions. The analyses cover the (i) weighting of energy efficiency and emission levels among various environmental performance indicators; (ii) building life cycle stages in which carbon is taken into consideration; (iii) objectiveness of assessment; (iv) baseline set for carbon assessment; (v) mechanism for benchmarking the emission level; and (v) limitations of the carbon assessment approaches. Results indicate that the current BEA schemes focus primarily on operational carbon instead of the emissions generated throughout the entire building life cycle. Besides, the baseline and benchmark for carbon evaluation vary significantly among the BEA tools based on the analytical results of a hypothetical building. The findings point to the needs for a more transparent framework for carbon auditing and benchmarking in BEA modeling. - Highlights: ► Carbon emission evaluation in building environmental assessment schemes are studied. ► Simulative carbon emission is modeled for building environmental assessment schemes. ► Carbon assessments focus primarily on operational stage instead of entire lifecycle. ► Baseline and benchmark of carbon assessment vary greatly among BEA schemes. ► A more transparent and comprehensive framework for carbon assessment is required.

  18. SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT IN URBAN PLANNING. A CHALLENGE FOR A METHODOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION: MONTREAL AS CASE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María de Lourdes Flores Lucero

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we describe the methodological process for the qualitative evaluation of the concept of sustainability and its application in the island of Montreal. At the same time we present our theoretical approach and the main results issued of the assessment. We take as analytical tools the Montreal Urban Plan of 2004 and the Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development 2005. We conclude with two main points, first, that the theoretical and pragmatic aspects of urban sustainability in Montreal have been treated in an organic, complex, dynamic and flexible way, allowing social participation and the inclusion of the values of all stakeholders, which are both key elements to follow the path towards sustainability; and secondly, that the approach to an object with such features requires the construction of complex, organic and methodological processes.

  19. Framework of systematic sustainability assessment strategy (FSSAS) for hydroelectric power industry in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johan, Kartina; Turan, Faiz Mohd

    2017-08-01

    Hydroelectric power is an alternative power resource in Malaysia and always associated with negative impact on environmental, social and economy of the surrounding site. The dispute over environmental, societal and economic issues can be minimised if compliance to sustainability development requirement is included in the project as part of the project premises during planning phase. This paper suggests a framework targeted for decision-makers in charge of implementing the projects to produce hydropower the sustainable way in Malaysian context which can mitigate the risks in social, environment and economy. The framework is strategic in nature and based on project management methodology with objective to provide a ‘common language’ by having a project value as measureable for stakeholders to state their mutual agreement of what a sustainable hydropower project in the context of Malaysia and in line with the United Nations (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper discusses how the proposed systematic sustainability assessment strategy (FSSAS) framework support the call for Malaysia to promote meaningful public participation in ensuring land and natural resource decisions and to address citizens’ interests which is the core idea of Environmental Democracy Index established in 2014. The paper argues that, even though it is at present impossible to define precision status of sustainability development with respect to the nature of the multi stakeholders and the lack of systematic assessment the proposed FSSAS framework can be a valuable tool because it tracks the project value as a quantitative deliverable to determine the status of the journey in sustainable development towards accomplishing the SDG under a consensus in hydropower industry of any scale over time.

  20. Sustainable urban transport indicators: tool for evaluating transport sustainability in the mega cities of Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imran, M.

    2005-01-01

    Urban Transport is an important sector to accomplish the goal of sustainable development in Pakistan. This is important because of the high growth of the transport sector's energy consumption, road crashes and greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes significant in the Pakistani cities where motor vehicle fleet is growing at two to three times the rate of population. Transport Policies has resulted high growth of urban road traffic, increasing air and noise pollution throughout the country. This situation raised the question how to achieve sustainable urban transport in the mega cities of Pakistan? Development of sustainable urban transport indicators will provide an opportunity to analyze current transport policies to assess Pakistan progress towards or away from sustainability. Medium Term Development Framework (2005-10) has selected to analyze against establish sustainable urban transport indicators for Pakistan. On the basis of analysis, it has found that MWF has tried to address transport problem in a piecemeal manner, rather than adopting a holistic approach. Implementing MTDF policies on transport is not fully matched with a long term commitment to achieving sustainable development in Pakistan. (author)

  1. A method of assessment of sustainability of social and labor relations of a city-forming enterprise and a single-industry town

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roshina Irina

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article we consider one of the tools for managing a single-industry town – a method of assessment of its social and labor relations sustainability. We describe a mathematical model of calculating the integrated index and give instant assessment examples.

  2. Assessing the Sustainability of Farm-land Management in the Eastern Azerbaijan Province (Case of Malekan County

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siamak Nabizadeh

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to assess sustainable farmlands management in the Malekan County. The target population consisted of wheat growers among which 162 farmers were selected according to the multistage cluster selection method. The research tool used was a questionnaire whose face validity was confirmed by comments from faculty members and experts in the Malekan Agri- Jihad and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha (average 0.71. Sustainability was measured by establishing composite index for six components of sustainable land management. The results of assessing sustainable land management revealed that 19.1% of the farmers were in an unsustainable situation, 34% of them were in a fairly unsustainable situation, 26.5% of them were in a fairly sustainable situation and 20.4% of them were in a sustainable situation. The results of correlation coefficient showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between age and farming experience with “stability and acceptability”, land size and farm income with “stability, acceptability and technical knowledge”, wheat yield and consumed fertilizer with “security”, land plots with “acceptability” and using farm machinery with “productivity, stability, acceptability and technical knowledge”. There is also a negative and significant relationship between non-farm income and “productivity” and consumed fertilizers and “security”.

  3. The Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator: A decision-support tool to assess water availability at ungaged stream locations in Massachusetts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Archfield, Stacey A.; Vogel, Richard M.; Steeves, Peter A.; Brandt, Sara L.; Weiskel, Peter K.; Garabedian, Stephen P.

    2010-01-01

    Federal, State and local water-resource managers require a variety of data and modeling tools to better understand water resources. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, has developed a statewide, interactive decision-support tool to meet this need. The decision-support tool, referred to as the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator (MA SYE) provides screening-level estimates of the sustainable yield of a basin, defined as the difference between the unregulated streamflow and some user-specified quantity of water that must remain in the stream to support such functions as recreational activities or aquatic habitat. The MA SYE tool was designed, in part, because the quantity of surface water available in a basin is a time-varying quantity subject to competing demands for water. To compute sustainable yield, the MA SYE tool estimates a daily time series of unregulated, daily mean streamflow for a 44-year period of record spanning October 1, 1960, through September 30, 2004. Selected streamflow quantiles from an unregulated, daily flow-duration curve are estimated by solving six regression equations that are a function of physical and climate basin characteristics at an ungaged site on a stream of interest. Streamflow is then interpolated between the estimated quantiles to obtain a continuous daily flow-duration curve. A time series of unregulated daily streamflow subsequently is created by transferring the timing of the daily streamflow at a reference streamgage to the ungaged site by equating exceedence probabilities of contemporaneous flow at the two locations. One of 66 reference streamgages is selected by kriging, a geostatistical method, which is used to map the spatial relation among correlations between the time series of the logarithm of daily streamflows at each reference streamgage and the ungaged site. Estimated unregulated, daily mean streamflows show good agreement with observed

  4. Environmental assessment for sustainable development: process, actors and practice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andre, P.; Delisle, C.E.; Reveret, J.-P.

    2003-01-01

    Multiple environmental problems afflict our contemporary world and have been the subject of discussions during many international meetings. All declarations resulting from these meetings insist on including environmental problems and on environmental assessment (EA) as an important tool to achieve this. This book aims to reach three objectives. First, it introduces EA to people from different disciplines, and therefore it opens up the perspective of new disciplinary horizons. Second, the authors discuss EA as a socio-political process rather than emphasizing methodologies. Third, this book draws mainly on the experience in Francophone countries which is still poorly disseminated. This book focusses on process and actors. Thus, the subject matter is divided into five major parts: the history and major issues of EA from a sustainable development perspective (Chapters 1 to 3); the actors, i.e. the Project Proponent and consulting firms, the public, the decision maker and international actors (Chapters 4 to 7); methods and tools including public participation (Chapters 8 and 9); processes in practice through step by step processes in practice and case studies (Chapters 10 and 11); and, finally, recent and upcoming developments in EA, including elements of strategic environmental assessment (Chapters 12 and 13). An index facilitates searching for information. The reader is also invited to consult the book's website

  5. Sustainability Assessment Model in Product Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina; Nor, Nik Hisyamudin Muhd; Omar, Badrul

    2017-08-01

    Faster and more efficient development of innovative and sustainable products has become the focus for manufacturing companies in order to remain competitive in today’s technologically driven world. Design concept evaluation which is the end of conceptual design is one of the most critical decision points. It relates to the final success of product development, because poor criteria assessment in design concept evaluation can rarely compensated at the later stages. Furthermore, consumers, investors, shareholders and even competitors are basing their decisions on what to buy or invest in, from whom, and also on what company report, and sustainability is one of a critical component. In this research, a new methodology of sustainability assessment in product development for Malaysian industry has been developed using integration of green project management, new scale of “Weighting criteria” and Rough-Grey Analysis. This method will help design engineers to improve the effectiveness and objectivity of the sustainable design concept evaluation, enable them to make better-informed decisions before finalising their choice and consequently create value to the company or industry. The new framework is expected to provide an alternative to existing methods.

  6. Data Center IT Equipment Energy Assessment Tools: Current State of Commercial Tools, Proposal for a Future Set of Assessment Tools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Radhakrishnan, Ben D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); National Univ., San Diego, CA (United States). School of Engineering

    2012-06-30

    This research project, which was conducted during the Summer and Fall of 2011, investigated some commercially available assessment tools with a focus on IT equipment to see if such tools could round out the DC Pro tool suite. In this research, the assessment capabilities of the various tools were compiled to help make “non-biased” information available to the public. This research should not be considered to be exhaustive on all existing vendor tools although a number of vendors were contacted. Large IT equipment OEM’s like IBM and Dell provide their proprietary internal automated software which does not work on any other IT equipment. However, found two companies with products that showed promise in performing automated assessments for IT equipment from different OEM vendors. This report documents the research and provides a list of software products reviewed, contacts and websites, product details, discussions with specific companies, a set of recommendations, and next steps. As a result of this research, a simple 3-level approach to an IT assessment tool is proposed along with an example of an assessment using a simple IT equipment data collection tool (Level 1, spreadsheet). The tool has been reviewed with the Green Grid and LBNL staff. The initial feedback has been positive although further refinement to the tool will be necessary. Proposed next steps include a field trial of at least two vendors’ software in two different data centers with an objective to prove the concept, ascertain the extent of energy and computational assessment, ease of installation and opportunities for continuous improvement. Based on the discussions, field trials (or case studies) are proposed with two vendors – JouleX (expected to be completed in 2012) and Sentilla.

  7. An Ontology-Based Knowledge Modelling for a Sustainability Assessment Domain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnieszka Konys

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability assessment has received more and more attention from researchers and it offers a large number of opportunities to measure and evaluate the level of its accomplishment. However, proper selection of a particular sustainability assessment approach, reflecting problem properties and the evaluator’s preferences, is a complex and important issue. Due to an existing number of different approaches dedicated to assessing, supporting, or measuring the level of sustainability and their structure oriented on the particular domain usage, problems with accurate matching frequently occur. On the other hand, the efficiency of sustainability assessment depends on the available knowledge of the ongoing capabilities. Additionally, actual research trends confirm that knowledge engineering gives a method to handle domain knowledge practically and effectively. Unfortunately, literature studies confirm that there is a lack of knowledge systematization in the sustainability assessment domain, however. The practical application of knowledge-based mechanisms may cover this gap. In this paper, we provide formal, practical and technological guidance to a knowledge management-based approach to sustainability assessment. We propose ontology as a form of knowledge conceptualization and using knowledge engineering, we make gathered knowledge publicly available and reusable, especially in terms of interoperability of collected knowledge.

  8. Living labs design and assessment of sustainable living

    CERN Document Server

    Guerra-Santin, Olivia; Lockton, Dan

    2017-01-01

    This book presents the results of a multi-annual project with sustainable Living Labs in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. Living Labs – as initiated by the authors – have proved to be very promising research, design, co-creation and communication facilities for the development and implementation of sustainable innovations in the home. The book provides an inspiring introduction to both the methodology and business modelling for the Living Lab facilities. Understanding daily living at home is key to designing products and services that support households in their transition to more sustainable lifestyles. This book not only explores new ways of gaining insights into daily practices, but also discusses developing and testing design methods to create sustainable solutions for households. These new methods and tools are needed because those available are either ineffective or cause rebound-effects. Intended for researchers and designers with an interest in the transition to sustainable...

  9. Sustainable Academia: Translating the Vision of a Full Sustainable University into a Measurable Reality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonios Maragakis

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available There is a growing public expectation that universities should start focusing on delivering sustainability. The topic of sustainability in higher education has gathered a significant amount of interest from students, academics, governments and international organizations. With a plethora of declarations, initiatives, marketing and assessments, there is a need to assess what the stakeholders want in order to make decisions regarding an institutions sustainability. Ultimately, students are the ones using these sustainability marketing materials to assist in their decision at which institution they will pursue their studies. The sheer volume of interpretations of the word sustainability with regards to higher education institution leaves ample room for potentially misguided initiatives or marketing. A universal system for assessing a higher educational institution’s sustainability has not been translated into a measurable reality. It is proposed that a universal system would help create a common understanding of sustainability within higher education institutions and would help in stakeholder understanding, institutional accountability and impactful application of sustainable initiatives. This research looked to answer if a holistic framework could be created that would aid stakeholders in reviewing a university’s level of sustainability. And, if so, if this vision of a fully sustainable university could be translated into a measurable reality. The research was approached in a structured way. Each chapter represents a published and peer-reviewed step towards addressing if a holistic framework could be created that would aid students in reviewing sustainability tools, assessments and marketing. The qualitative and quantitative conclusions from each chapter influenced the subsequent chapters, eventually leading to the creation and testing of two digital tools. The interpretations of these published chapters are found in the conclusion of this

  10. The Bristol Radiology Report Assessment Tool (BRRAT): Developing a workplace-based assessment tool for radiology reporting skills

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wallis, A.; Edey, A.; Prothero, D.; McCoubrie, P.

    2013-01-01

    Aim: To review the development of a workplace-based assessment tool to assess the quality of written radiology reports and assess its reliability, feasibility, and validity. Materials and methods: A comprehensive literature review and rigorous Delphi study enabled the development of the Bristol Radiology Report Assessment Tool (BRRAT), which consists of 19 questions and a global assessment score. Three assessors applied the assessment tool to 240 radiology reports provided by 24 radiology trainees. Results: The reliability coefficient for the 19 questions was 0.79 and the equivalent coefficient for the global assessment scores was 0.67. Generalizability coefficients demonstrate that higher numbers of assessors and assessments are needed to reach acceptable levels of reliability for summative assessments due to assessor subjectivity. Conclusion: The study methodology gives good validity and strong foundation in best-practice. The assessment tool developed for radiology reporting is reliable and most suited to formative assessments

  11. Effective integrated frameworks for assessing mining sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Virgone, K M; Ramirez-Andreotta, M; Mainhagu, J; Brusseau, M L

    2018-05-28

    The objectives of this research are to review existing methods used for assessing mining sustainability, analyze the limited prior research that has evaluated the methods, and identify key characteristics that would constitute an enhanced sustainability framework that would serve to improve sustainability reporting in the mining industry. Five of the most relevant frameworks were selected for comparison in this analysis, and the results show that there are many commonalities among the five, as well as some disparities. In addition, relevant components are missing from all five. An enhanced evaluation system and framework were created to provide a more holistic, comprehensive method for sustainability assessment and reporting. The proposed framework has five components that build from and encompass the twelve evaluation characteristics used in the analysis. The components include Foundation, Focus, Breadth, Quality Assurance, and Relevance. The enhanced framework promotes a comprehensive, location-specific reporting approach with a concise set of well-defined indicators. Built into the framework is quality assurance, as well as a defined method to use information from sustainability reports to inform decisions. The framework incorporates human health and socioeconomic aspects via initiatives such as community-engaged research, economic valuations, and community-initiated environmental monitoring.

  12. The application of the triple bottom line approach to sustainability assessment: The case study of the UK automotive supply chain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Azevedo, S.; Barros, M.

    2017-07-01

    Purpose: The objective of this paper is to assess the level of sustainability of the UK automotive supply chain considering simultaneously the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) representing the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach. Design/methodology/approach: The assessment of the automotive SC’ sustainability is based on the framework proposed by Salvado, Azevedo, Matias and Ferreira (2011) and uses the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method to aggregate economic, environmental and social indicators into a unique index. A case study on the UK automotive industry is used and the data do perform this study is collected from the sustainability reports of the UK’ automotive companies. Findings and Originality/value: The proposed framework represents an important benchmarking tool, offering managers the possibility for assessing the sustainability behaviour of its supply chain and compare it with other supply chains. Once identified the dimension of sustainability where the company or the supply chain is worst performer managers can work closer to their supply chain’ partners in order to improve the performance of those dimension of sustainability. Research limitations/implications: One limitation of the suggested approach is related to the ambiguity of the sustainability’ indicators selection and the definition of weights for each sustainability dimension. Practical implications: The assessment of the SC sustainability by using the suggested framework to compute a SC sustainability index offers managers an opportunity for assessing the level of sustainability of each individual company and the corresponding SC in a very easy way. It also represents an opportunity for improving company performance. In this way managers can use the information on the sustainability index to help adjust their company's behaviour and improve their economic, social and environmental performance. Originality/value: The proposed framework

  13. The application of the triple bottom line approach to sustainability assessment: The case study of the UK automotive supply chain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Azevedo, S.; Barros, M.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The objective of this paper is to assess the level of sustainability of the UK automotive supply chain considering simultaneously the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) representing the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach. Design/methodology/approach: The assessment of the automotive SC’ sustainability is based on the framework proposed by Salvado, Azevedo, Matias and Ferreira (2011) and uses the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method to aggregate economic, environmental and social indicators into a unique index. A case study on the UK automotive industry is used and the data do perform this study is collected from the sustainability reports of the UK’ automotive companies. Findings and Originality/value: The proposed framework represents an important benchmarking tool, offering managers the possibility for assessing the sustainability behaviour of its supply chain and compare it with other supply chains. Once identified the dimension of sustainability where the company or the supply chain is worst performer managers can work closer to their supply chain’ partners in order to improve the performance of those dimension of sustainability. Research limitations/implications: One limitation of the suggested approach is related to the ambiguity of the sustainability’ indicators selection and the definition of weights for each sustainability dimension. Practical implications: The assessment of the SC sustainability by using the suggested framework to compute a SC sustainability index offers managers an opportunity for assessing the level of sustainability of each individual company and the corresponding SC in a very easy way. It also represents an opportunity for improving company performance. In this way managers can use the information on the sustainability index to help adjust their company's behaviour and improve their economic, social and environmental performance. Originality/value: The proposed framework

  14. The application of the triple bottom line approach to sustainability assessment: The case study of the UK automotive supply chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susana Azevedo

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The objective of this paper is to assess the level of sustainability of the UK automotive supply chain considering simultaneously the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental representing the Triple Bottom Line (TBL approach. Design/methodology/approach: The assessment of the automotive SC’ sustainability is based on the framework proposed by Salvado, Azevedo, Matias and Ferreira (2011 and uses the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW method to aggregate economic, environmental and social indicators into a unique index. A case study on the UK automotive industry is used and the data do perform this study is collected from the sustainability reports of the UK’ automotive companies. Findings and Originality/value: The proposed framework represents an important benchmarking tool, offering managers the possibility for assessing the sustainability behaviour of its supply chain and compare it with other supply chains. Once identified the dimension of sustainability where the company or the supply chain is worst performer managers can work closer to their supply chain’ partners in order to improve the performance of those dimension of sustainability. Research limitations/implications: One limitation of the suggested approach is related to the ambiguity of the sustainability’ indicators selection and the definition of weights for each sustainability dimension. Practical implications: The assessment of the SC sustainability by using the suggested framework to compute a SC sustainability index offers managers an opportunity for assessing the level of sustainability of each individual company and the corresponding SC in a very easy way. It also represents an opportunity for improving company performance. In this way managers can use the information on the sustainability index to help adjust their company's behaviour and improve their economic, social and environmental performance. Originality/value: The proposed

  15. European network for health technology assessment, EUnetHTA: planning, development, and implementation of a sustainable European network for health technology assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Finn Børlum; Mäkelä, Marjukka; Neikter, Susanna Allgurin

    2009-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: The European network on Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) aimed to produce tangible and practical results to be used in the various phases of health technology assessment and to establish a framework and processes to support this. This article presents the background, objectives......, and organization of EUnetHTA, which involved a total of sixty-four partner organizations. METHODS: Establishing an effective and sustainable structure for a transnational network involved many managerial, policy, and methodological tools, according to the objective of each task or Work Package. Transparency...... the use of HTA at national and regional levels. Responsiveness to political developments in Europe should be balanced with maintaining a high level of ambition to promote independent, evidence-based information and well-tested tools for best practice based on a strong network of HTA institutions....

  16. Navigating the sustainability landscape: a systematic review of sustainability approaches in healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lennox, L; Maher, L; Reed, J

    2018-02-09

    Improvement initiatives offer a valuable mechanism for delivering and testing innovations in healthcare settings. Many of these initiatives deliver meaningful and necessary changes to patient care and outcomes. However, many improvement initiatives fail to sustain to a point where their full benefits can be realised. This has led many researchers and healthcare practitioners to develop frameworks, models and tools to support and monitor sustainability. This work aimed to identify what approaches are available to assess and influence sustainability in healthcare and to describe the different perspectives, applications and constructs within these approaches to guide their future use. A systematic review was carried out following PRISMA guidelines to identify publications that reported approaches to support or influence sustainability in healthcare. Eligibility criteria were defined through an iterative process in which two reviewers independently assessed 20% of articles to test the objectivity of the selection criteria. Data were extracted from the identified articles, and a template analysis was undertaken to identify and assess the sustainability constructs within each reported approach. The search strategy identified 1748 publications with 227 articles retrieved in full text for full documentary analysis. In total, 62 publications identifying a sustainability approach were included in this review (32 frameworks, 16 models, 8 tools, 4 strategies, 1 checklist and 1 process). Constructs across approaches were compared and 40 individual constructs for sustainability were found. Comparison across approaches demonstrated consistent constructs were seen regardless of proposed interventions, setting or level of application with 6 constructs included in 75% of the approaches. Although similarities were found, no approaches contained the same combination of the constructs nor did any single approach capture all identified constructs. From these results, a consolidated

  17. The Bristol Radiology Report Assessment Tool (BRRAT): developing a workplace-based assessment tool for radiology reporting skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallis, A; Edey, A; Prothero, D; McCoubrie, P

    2013-11-01

    To review the development of a workplace-based assessment tool to assess the quality of written radiology reports and assess its reliability, feasibility, and validity. A comprehensive literature review and rigorous Delphi study enabled the development of the Bristol Radiology Report Assessment Tool (BRRAT), which consists of 19 questions and a global assessment score. Three assessors applied the assessment tool to 240 radiology reports provided by 24 radiology trainees. The reliability coefficient for the 19 questions was 0.79 and the equivalent coefficient for the global assessment scores was 0.67. Generalizability coefficients demonstrate that higher numbers of assessors and assessments are needed to reach acceptable levels of reliability for summative assessments due to assessor subjectivity. The study methodology gives good validity and strong foundation in best-practice. The assessment tool developed for radiology reporting is reliable and most suited to formative assessments. Copyright © 2013 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. The Sustainability Analysis Framework: An Effective Knowledge Communication Tool in a Whole of Government Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kendal Hodgman

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the structural formation of the Sustainability Analysis Framework (SAF, which has proved to be an effective knowledge communication tool in the largest state administration in Australia, the Government of New South Wales. The SAF, devised by the author, has been implemented across thirty-eight state agencies and demonstrates that a whole of government Sustainability perspective is achievable. The level of the NSW Government's commitment to this process is evidenced by the fact that it was coordinated at the highest levels of the administration and engaged high-level input from a comprehensive portfolio of its agencies. The SAF's successful deployment across this significant bureaucracy shows that the generally applicable mechanism is effective in data collation, information sharing, knowledge organisation and the communication of Sustainability practice and wisdom. At the heart of the paper is the author's contention that one of the key problems which jeopardises our common future on Earth is the lack of effective tools to communicate Sustainability thinking and practice. In the course of the project, upon which this paper is based, the author identified the need for a visually and conceptually accessible mechanism to accelerate the uptake of Sustainability practice in a whole of organization context. In designing the SAF, which has successfully bridged this knowledge communication gap, the author employed two of humanity's fundamental learning tools – the diagram and the story.

  19. Assessing sustainability of building materials in developing countries: the sustainable building materials index (SBMI)

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Gibberd, Jeremy T

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available performance. This paper reviews a selection of sustainability assessment and reporting methodologies in order understand the applicability of existing systems as a means of measuring sustainability of building materials in developing countries. The review...

  20. Hydroelectricity and sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dubeau, D.

    1995-01-01

    From 1975 to 1992, hydroelectricity helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec by 20%. For Hydro-Quebec, energy conservation and hydroelectric development are basic complementary tools for sustainable development. Recent studies show that developing only 50% of economically exploitable hydroelectric potential (30% of the gross theoretical potential) of different regions worldwide would considerably reduce greenhouse gas and SO 2 emissions. However, hydroelectric systems produce environmental and social impacts locally that require mitigative measures. To fulfill its mandate in a sustainable development context, Hydro-Quebec has adopted methods such as integrated resource planning, the assessment of externalities, multi criteria decision tools and public participations

  1. Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Mingjing; Gao, Qingjun; Wang, Nan; Yang, Xigen; Xu, Xin; Zhang, Lu

    2018-04-01

    The development of social science and technology economy, the international community more and more attention to environmental and development issues. So the main goal pursued by people is not only to meet the needs of social and natural resources, while at the same time being able to protect the needs of future generations. This is the path of sustainable development. Therefore, this paper is a detailed study of strategic environmental assessment and sustainable development.

  2. Assessment of nuclear energy sustainability index using fuzzy logic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abouelnaga, Ayah E.; Metwally, Abdelmohsen; Aly, Naguib; Nagy, Mohammad; Agamy, Saeed

    2010-01-01

    Nuclear energy is increasingly perceived as an attractive mature energy generation technology that can deliver an answer to the worldwide increasing energy demand while respecting environmental concerns as well as contributing to a reduced dependence on fossil fuel. Advancing nuclear energy deployment demands an assessment of nuclear energy with respect to all sustainability dimensions. In this paper, the nuclear energy, whose sustainability will be assessed, is governed by the dynamics of three subsystems: environmental, economic, and sociopolitical. The overall sustainability is then a non-linear function of the individual sustainabilities. Each subsystem is evaluated by means of many components (pressure, status, and response). The combination of each group of indicators by means of fuzzy logic provides a measurement of sustainability for each subsystem.

  3. SUSTAINABLE URBAN LANDSCAPE: AN APPROACH FOR ASSESSING AND APPROPRIATING INDICATORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed Mohamed Amin

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The impact of development on its context is considered a key issue that governs the discussion and understanding of sustainability. For the reason, that ethics of sustainability are based on developing with no or less negative impacts on the contextual environment despite its urban scale whether limited or extended. This describes types of development that increase the good impacts on the tangible and intangible aspects of the built environment. Thus, achieving sustainability is no more a choice but it is a must especially, in an environment suffering from a lot of threats and stresses that affect all aspects of life; socially, economically, environmentally and also affect the beauty and aesthetics of urban fabrics. Assessing sustainability, the applied indicators and ways of assessment are allimportant concerns for urban sustainability discourses. Especially in such sensitive interacting domains as landscape, that links nature with the built environment. Approaching these concerns has a great deal when enhancing our environment aiming at better urban life containers. This paper aims at investigating the issue of sustainable urban landscape assessment through discussing the hue of indicators, their ways of classification, the criteria of selection and stating the variety of methods in which they can be assessed. Finally, it appropriates an approach for stating and assessing urban landscape sustainability indicators, which evaluates their both qualitative and quantitative value upon performance scale.

  4. Sustainability assessment: a tool for planning for sustainability as a desired outcome for a proposed development

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Haywood, L

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a theoretical framework for planning for sustainability for any proposed development project. The objective of this framework is to foster and preserve the social ecological system in which the proposed development project...

  5. Assessing the sustainability performance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup stadia using the sustainable building assessment tool (SBAT) for stadia

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Sebake, TN

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Affairs and Tourism (DEAT). This project is being undertaken by Green by Design (GbD), Paul Carew Consulting (PjC) and the South African Council for Industrial and Scientific Research (CSIR) and aims to review the sustainability initiatives that have been...

  6. Sustainability assessment of a lightweight biomimetic ceiling structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Antony, Florian; Speck, Thomas; Speck, Olga; Grießhammer, Rainer

    2014-01-01

    An intensive and continuous debate centres on the question of whether biomimetics has a specific potential to contribute to sustainability. In the context of a case study, the objective of this paper is to contribute to this debate by presenting the first systematic approach to assess the sustainability of a complex biomimetic product. The object of inquiry is a lecture hall's ribbed slab. Based on criteria suggested by the Association of German Engineers (VDI), it has been verified that the slab has been correctly defined as biomimetic. Moreover, a systematic comparative product sustainability assessment has been carefully carried out. For purposes of comparison, estimated static calculations have been performed for conceivable current state-of-the-art lightweight ceiling structures. Alternative options are a hollow article slab and a pre-stressed flat slab. Besides a detailed benefit analysis and a discussion of social effects, their costs have also been compared. A particularly detailed life cycle assessment on the respective environmental impacts has also been performed. Results show that the biomimetic ribbed slab built in the 1960s is able to keep up with the current state-of-the-art lightweight solutions in terms of sustainability. These promising results encourage a systematic search for a broad range of sustainable biomimetic solutions. (paper)

  7. Developing an Assessment Framework for Affordable and Sustainable Housing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen Pullen

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable housing has been subject to research, practice and policy making for some considerable time. More recently attention has been drawn to the separate problem of declining affordability in housing. This paper describes research aimed at developing an assessment framework for both affordability and sustainability as part of the effort to incorporate both of these features into new housing projects. The research has a particular focus on developments aimed at urban densification. Background literature on both affordability and sustainability is reviewed as well as emerging schemes aimed at dealing with both aspects of housing developments. Performance indicators are identified and these are incorporated in an interim assessment framework which is tested using a group of industry experts. The research has highlighted areas where further development is required to attain quantitative assessments of affordable and sustainable housing developments

  8. Life cycle sustainability assessment of chemical processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Di; Lv, Liping; Ren, Jingzheng

    2017-01-01

    In this study, an integrated vector-based three-dimensional (3D) methodology for the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) of chemical process alternatives is proposed. In the methodology, a 3D criteria assessment system is first established by using the life cycle assessment, the life cycl...

  9. Sustainability Assessment of Out-of-Home Meals: Potentials and Challenges of Applying the Indicator sets NAHGAST Meal-Basic and NAHGAST Meal-Pro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tobias Engelmann

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Nutrition is responsible for about 30% of global natural resource use. In order to limit the negative impact the nutritional sector has on the environment and on society, the consumption and processing of foodstuffs with assumed low negative impact is an important topic in the effort of sustainable development. In professional kitchens, clearly defined indicators assessing the impact of business activities are needed in this effort. The research and development in the NAHGAST project provides groundwork that could be of important assistance in this effort. Two versions of an assessment tool, with indicators of different complexity (NAHGAST Meal-Basic and NAHGAST Meal-Pro, were developed that can be used by kitchen professionals to determine the sustainability performance of their products—the offered meal. An informed selection of indicators, and a discussion of what processes and impacts this indicator relates to in the wider context, are essential and are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, in the selection of indicators for the purpose of our research certain criteria were considered simultaneously: (1 Communicability—What information an indicator can communicate and how comprehensible this information is for different actors; (2 Feasibility and data availability—Whether there is sufficient data for an indicator to be included and whether it is realistic for companies to integrate this indicator in their daily work practice; and (3 Scientific relevance—Whether the indicator is relevant for sustainability efforts on a larger scale and for related discussions in the scientific community. Insights related to these considerations are valuable for future developments in sustainability assessment in out-of-home gastronomy. The tool has been used to evaluate a number of dishes and results are deemed meaningful. However, assessments must not be understood as an accurate measurement but as an approximation of the sustainability of meals. At

  10. An investigation of environmental and sustainability discourses associated with the substantive purposes of environmental assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rozema, Jaap G., E-mail: j.rozema@uea.ac.uk [Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, NR4 7TJ (United Kingdom); Bond, Alan J., E-mail: alan.bond@uea.ac.uk [Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, NR4 7TJ (United Kingdom); Cashmore, Matthew, E-mail: cashmore@plan.aau.dk [Danish Centre for Environmental Assessment, Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Fibigerstraede 13, 9220 Aalborg O (Denmark); Chilvers, Jason, E-mail: jason.chilvers@uea.ac.uk [Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, NR4 7TJ (United Kingdom)

    2012-02-15

    This paper investigates the discursive construction of the substantive purposes of environmental assessment (EA). It addresses these purposes by exploring the complex and often multifaceted linkages between political factors and plural views of democracy, public participation, and the role of science that are embedded in environmental and sustainability discourses. The interaction between policy-making and public actors leads to the formulation of divergent and potentially competing rationales for public participation, and for social appraisal more generally. Participatory approaches have also given impetus to the development of several interpretations on the role of science in assessment procedures. Science is important in mediating public participation and the two are therefore reciprocally linked. This leads to discourses that become manifest in the construction of substantive purposes. Discourse analysis in EA is a relevant method for examining trends and patterns in sustainable development. It is argued that public participation is an important, if not decisive, variable in the articulation and civil legitimacy of certain purposes. A general proposition that results from this paper is that EA, although typically presented as an objective scientific tool, is an intrinsically normative process. Enhanced knowledge on the construction, and reconstruction over time, of substantive purposes is required if environmental and sustainability discourses are to be used and understood as meaningful analytical instruments to assess the socio-political implications of EA. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Substantive purposes related to environmental assessment may be best analyzed through discourse analysis. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Environmental and sustainability discourses are contingent on the level of participatory democracy and civic science. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Public participation is a decisive variable in the construction of the substantive

  11. An investigation of environmental and sustainability discourses associated with the substantive purposes of environmental assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rozema, Jaap G.; Bond, Alan J.; Cashmore, Matthew; Chilvers, Jason

    2012-01-01

    This paper investigates the discursive construction of the substantive purposes of environmental assessment (EA). It addresses these purposes by exploring the complex and often multifaceted linkages between political factors and plural views of democracy, public participation, and the role of science that are embedded in environmental and sustainability discourses. The interaction between policy-making and public actors leads to the formulation of divergent and potentially competing rationales for public participation, and for social appraisal more generally. Participatory approaches have also given impetus to the development of several interpretations on the role of science in assessment procedures. Science is important in mediating public participation and the two are therefore reciprocally linked. This leads to discourses that become manifest in the construction of substantive purposes. Discourse analysis in EA is a relevant method for examining trends and patterns in sustainable development. It is argued that public participation is an important, if not decisive, variable in the articulation and civil legitimacy of certain purposes. A general proposition that results from this paper is that EA, although typically presented as an objective scientific tool, is an intrinsically normative process. Enhanced knowledge on the construction, and reconstruction over time, of substantive purposes is required if environmental and sustainability discourses are to be used and understood as meaningful analytical instruments to assess the socio-political implications of EA. - Highlights: ► Substantive purposes related to environmental assessment may be best analyzed through discourse analysis. ► Environmental and sustainability discourses are contingent on the level of participatory democracy and civic science. ► Public participation is a decisive variable in the construction of the substantive purpose of environmental assessment.

  12. Beyond Public Particpation: The disjuncture between South Africa's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA Law and Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T Murombo

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available One of the key strategies for achieving sustainable development is the use of the process of evaluating the potential environmental impacts of development activities. The procedure of environmental impact assessment (EIA implements the principle of integration which lies at the core of the concept of sustainable development by providing a process through which potential social, economic and environmental impacts of activities are scrutinised and planned for. Sustainable development may not be achieved without sustained and legally mandated efforts to ensure that development planning is participatory. The processes of public participation play a crucial role in ensuring the integration of the socio-economic impacts of a project into the environmental decision-making processes. Public participation is not the only process, nor does the process always ensure the achievement of sustainable development. Nevertheless, decisions that engage the public have the propensity to lead to sustainable development. The public participation provisions in South Africa’s EIA regulations promulgated under the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 show a disjuncture between the idea of public participation and the notion of sustainable development. The provisions do not create a framework for informed participation and leave a wide discretion to environmental assessment practitioners (EAPs regarding the form which participation should assume. In order for environmental law, specifically EIA laws, to be effective as tools to promote sustainable development the laws must, among other things, provide for effective public participation. The judiciary must also aid in the process by giving content to the legal provisions on public participation in the EIA process.

  13. Sustainable development induction in organizations: a convergence analysis of ISO standards management tools' parameters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merlin, Fabrício Kurman; Pereira, Vera Lúciaduarte do Valle; Pacheco, Waldemar

    2012-01-01

    Organizations are part of an environment in which they are pressured to meet society's demands and acting in a sustainable way. In an attempt to meet such demands, organizations make use of various management tools, among which, ISO standards are used. Although there are evidences of contributions provided by these standards, it is questionable whether its parameters converge for a possible induction for sustainable development in organizations. This work presents a theoretical study, designed on structuralism world view, descriptive and deductive method, which aims to analyze the convergence of management tools' parameters in ISO standards. In order to support the analysis, a generic framework for possible convergence was developed, based on systems approach, linking five ISO standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 31000 and ISO 26000) with sustainable development and positioning them according to organization levels (strategic, tactical and operational). The structure was designed based on Brundtland report concept. The analysis was performed exploring the generic framework for possible convergence based on Nadler and Tushman model. The results found the standards can contribute to a possible sustainable development induction in organizations, as long as they meet certain minimum conditions related to its strategic alignment.

  14. Design for Environment as a Tool for the Development of a Sustainable Supply Chain

    CERN Document Server

    Bevilacqua, Maurizio; Giacchetta, Giancarlo

    2012-01-01

    Environmental Design is becoming an increasingly significant agenda for many manufacturing companies and yet there is no standard to their approaches, strategies or their levels of execution. Applying Design for Environment (DfE) methodologies to develop a more sustainable supply chain has formed procedures and techniques which allow designers to integrate these methods with environmental supply chain management. Design for Environment as a Tool for the Development of a Sustainable Supply Chain aims to define relevant target specifications for a product throughout its life cycle; from conception and design to the end of its operating life.  Be considering this new approach to the supply chain, environmental responsiveness can work in tandem with sounds business management. The usual focus on suppliers, manufacturers and customers is expanded in Design for Environment as a Tool for the Development of a Sustainable Supply Chain to include stakeholders such as government bodies and recycling companies. The infl...

  15. The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) as a tool in the sustainabledevelopment – Poland case

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Swiatkowska, Marta

    2008-01-01

    The research is based on the index of sustainable economic welfare (ISEW) as a tool in the sustainable development. The new index was developed to answer the growing number of critiques over the GDP indicator which measures only the economic activity of a

  16. Towards sustainable settlement growth: A new multi-criteria assessment for implementing environmental targets into strategic urban planning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schetke, Sophie, E-mail: schetke@uni-bonn.de [Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation, Dept. of Urban Planning and Real Estate Management, University of Bonn, Nussallee 1, 53115 Bonn (Germany); Haase, Dagmar, E-mail: dagmar.haase@ufz.de [Humboldt University of Berlin, Department of Geography, Rudower Chaussee 16, 10099 Berlin, Germany, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig (Germany); Koetter, Theo, E-mail: koetter@uni-bonn.de [Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation, Dept. of Urban Planning and Real Estate Management, University of Bonn, Nussallee 1, 53115 Bonn (Germany)

    2012-01-15

    For nearly one decade, the German political and research-agenda has been to a large extent determined by the ongoing question of how to limit the expansion of settlement areas around cities in order to preserve natural resources, make settlement growth more sustainable and to strengthen the re-use of existing inner-urban areas (see a.o. Koetter et al. 2009a, 2010; Schetke et al. 2009, 2010b). What is already under discussion within the international literature are the recommendations of the German Council for Sustainability to quantitatively reduce the daily greenfield consumption from the current rate of over 100 ha per day to a rate of 30 ha per day in 2020 and to bring urban infill development up to a ratio of 3:1 with greenfield development (German Council for Sustainability, 2004).). This paper addresses the added value beyond those abstract political targets and presents an innovative, multi-criteria assessment (MCA) of greenfield and infill sites to evaluate their sustainability and resource efficiency. MCA development and its incorporation into a Decision Support System (DSS) were accomplished by utilising a stakeholder-driven approach. The resulting tool can be applied in preparing and revising land-use plans. The paper presents the concept and the development process of the MCA-DSS. Test runs with planners prove that the evaluation of potential housing sites using individually weighted environmental indicators helps to identify those strategies of housing development that accord most closely with sustainability goals. The tests further show that the development of greenfield sites generally exhibits less sustainability than that of infill sites. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer This paper presents an innovative, multi-criteria assessment (MCA) of greenfield and infill sites. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The MCA evaluates sustainability and resource efficiency of potential housing sites in a stakeholder-driven approach. Black

  17. Towards sustainable settlement growth: A new multi-criteria assessment for implementing environmental targets into strategic urban planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schetke, Sophie; Haase, Dagmar; Kötter, Theo

    2012-01-01

    For nearly one decade, the German political and research-agenda has been to a large extent determined by the ongoing question of how to limit the expansion of settlement areas around cities in order to preserve natural resources, make settlement growth more sustainable and to strengthen the re-use of existing inner-urban areas (see a.o. Kötter et al. 2009a, 2010; Schetke et al. 2009, 2010b). What is already under discussion within the international literature are the recommendations of the German Council for Sustainability to quantitatively reduce the daily greenfield consumption from the current rate of over 100 ha per day to a rate of 30 ha per day in 2020 and to bring urban infill development up to a ratio of 3:1 with greenfield development (German Council for Sustainability, 2004).). This paper addresses the added value beyond those abstract political targets and presents an innovative, multi-criteria assessment (MCA) of greenfield and infill sites to evaluate their sustainability and resource efficiency. MCA development and its incorporation into a Decision Support System (DSS) were accomplished by utilising a stakeholder-driven approach. The resulting tool can be applied in preparing and revising land-use plans. The paper presents the concept and the development process of the MCA-DSS. Test runs with planners prove that the evaluation of potential housing sites using individually weighted environmental indicators helps to identify those strategies of housing development that accord most closely with sustainability goals. The tests further show that the development of greenfield sites generally exhibits less sustainability than that of infill sites. - Highlights: ► This paper presents an innovative, multi-criteria assessment (MCA) of greenfield and infill sites. ► The MCA evaluates sustainability and resource efficiency of potential housing sites in a stakeholder-driven approach. ► Test runs with planners identified prominent environmental indicators

  18. The inherent dangers of using computable general equilibrium models as a single integrated modelling framework for sustainability impact assessment. A critical note on Boehringer and Loeschel (2006)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scrieciu, S. Serban

    2007-01-01

    The search for methods of assessment that best evaluate and integrate the trade-offs and interactions between the economic, environmental and social components of development has been receiving a new impetus due to the requirement that sustainability concerns be incorporated into the policy formulation process. A paper forthcoming in Ecological Economics (Boehringer, C., Loeschel, A., in press. Computable general equilibrium models for sustainability impact assessment: status quo and prospects, Ecological Economics.) claims that Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models may potentially represent the much needed 'back-bone' tool to carry out reliable integrated quantitative Sustainability Impact Assessments (SIAs). While acknowledging the usefulness of CGE models for some dimensions of SIA, this commentary questions the legitimacy of employing this particular economic modelling tool as a single integrating modelling framework for a comprehensive evaluation of the multi-dimensional, dynamic and complex interactions between policy and sustainability. It discusses several inherent dangers associated with the advocated prospects for the CGE modelling approach to contribute to comprehensive and reliable sustainability impact assessments. The paper warns that this reductionist viewpoint may seriously infringe upon the basic values underpinning the SIA process, namely a transparent, heterogeneous, balanced, inter-disciplinary, consultative and participatory take to policy evaluation and building of the evidence-base. (author)

  19. Sustainability assessment in forest management based on individual preferences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martín-Fernández, Susana; Martinez-Falero, Eugenio

    2018-01-15

    This paper presents a methodology to elicit the preferences of any individual in the assessment of sustainable forest management at the stand level. The elicitation procedure was based on the comparison of the sustainability of pairs of forest locations. A sustainability map of the whole territory was obtained according to the individual's preferences. Three forest sustainability indicators were pre-calculated for each point in a study area in a Scots pine forest in the National Park of Sierra de Guadarrama in the Madrid Region in Spain to obtain the best management plan with the sustainability map. We followed a participatory process involving fifty people to assess the sustainability of the forest management and the methodology. The results highlighted the demand for conservative forest management, the usefulness of the methodology for managers, and the importance and necessity of incorporating stakeholders into forestry decision-making processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Sustainability Impact Assessment on the Production and Use of Different Wood and Fossil Fuels Employed for Energy Production in North Karelia, Finland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matias Pekkanen

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The utilization rate of woody biomass in eastern Finland is high and expected to increase further in the near future as set out in several regional, national and European policies and strategies. The aim of this study was to assess the sustainability impacts of changes in fuel consumption patterns. We investigated fossil and woody biomass-based energy production chains in the region of North Karelia, focusing on some economic, environmental and social indicators. Indicators were selected based on stakeholder preferences and evaluated using the Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment (ToSIA. The analysis was based on representative values from National Forest Inventory data, scientific publications, national and regional statistics, databases, published policy targets and expert opinion. From the results it became evident that shifting from fossil to wood-based energy production implies some trade-offs. Replacing oil with woody biomass in energy production would increase the local value added remaining in the region, create employment opportunities and would reduce total GHG emissions. However, firewood, wood chips from small-diameter trees from early thinning and wood pellets have high production costs. Moreover, large greenhouse gas emission resulted from wood pellet production. The case study generated valuable reference data for future sustainability assessments and demonstrated the usefulness of ToSIA as a tool presenting existing knowledge on sustainability impacts of alternative energy supply chains to inform decision making.

  1. Assessing the Sustainability of Different Small-Scale Livestock Production Systems in the Afar Region, Ethiopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ngufor L. Atanga

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Livestock production is a key income source in eastern Africa, and 80% of the total agricultural land is used for livestock herding. Hence, ecological and socio-economically sustainable rangeland management is crucial. Our study aimed at selecting operational economic, environmental and social sustainability indicators for three main pastoral (P, agro-pastoral (AP, and landless intensive (LI small scale livestock production systems for use in sustainability assessment in Ethiopia. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through grey literature and semi-structured interviews, assessing livestock and feed resources, production technology, land tenure, financial and gender issues. Our results suggested that feed shortages (FS are directly related to grazing pressure (G and inversely related to grass recovery rates (R. According to our indicators, AP was the most sustainable while P and LI were only conditionally sustainable production systems. 93% of 82 interviewees claimed that private land ownership was the best land tenure incentive for efficient rangeland management. Farmers perceived Prosopis juliflora expansion, sporadic rainfall, and disease infestation as the most significant causes for decreasing livestock productivity. Landless intensive farmers had the highest equality in income distribution (Gini Index: GI = 0.4, followed by P and AP (each with a GI = 0.5. Neither educational background nor income seemed to determine grazing species conservation efforts. We claimed that sustainability indicators are valuable tools to highlight shortcomings and strengths of the three main livestock production systems and help with future livestock management in Ethiopia. Selecting suitable indicators, however, is crucial as data requirements and availability can vary across livestock systems.

  2. Sustained-Paced Finger Tapping: A Novel Approach to Measure Internal Sustained Attention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco A. Petilli

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustained attention is a fundamental prerequisite for all cognitive functions and its impairment is a common aftermath of both developmental and acquired neurological disorders. To date, all the sustained attention tasks rely heavily on selective attention to external stimuli. The interaction between selective and sustained attention represents a limit in the field of assessment and may mislead researchers or distort conclusions. The aim of the present perspective study was to propose a sustained version of the Paced Finger Tapping (S-PFT test as a novel approach to measure sustained attention that does not leverage external stimuli. Here, we administered S-PFT and other attentional tasks (visual sustained attention, visuospatial attention capacity, selective attention, and divided attention tasks to 85 adolescents. Thus, we provide evidence suggesting that S-PFT is effective in causing performance decrement over time, an important trademark of sustained attention tasks. We also present descriptive statistics showing the relationship between S-PFT and the other attentional tasks. These analyses show that, unlike visual sustained attention tests, performances to our task of internal sustained attention were not correlated to measures of selective attention and visuospatial attention capacity. Our results suggest that S-PFT could represent a promising and alternative tool both for empirical research and clinical assessment of sustained attention.

  3. Sustainability Profile for Urban Districts in Copenhagen

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Ole

    urban designers to creatively improve the sustainable performance of a district" (Kortman et al, 2001). Compared to other tools for assessing urban sustainability, DPL represents a simple and flexible approach. The idea is to use a limited number of indicators based on already collected data. Once...

  4. Assessing sustainable remediation frameworks using sustainability principles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ridsdale, D Reanne; Noble, Bram F

    2016-12-15

    The remediation industry has grown exponentially in recent decades. International organizations of practitioners and remediation experts have developed several frameworks for integrating sustainability into remediation projects; however, there has been limited attention to how sustainability is approached and operationalized in sustainable remediation frameworks and practices - or whether sustainability plays any meaningful role at all in sustainable remediation. This paper examines how sustainability is represented in remediation frameworks and the guidance provided for practical application. Seven broad sustainability principles and review criteria are proposed and applied to a sample of six international remediation frameworks. Not all review criteria were equally satisfied and none of the frameworks fully met all criteria; however, the best performing frameworks were those identified as sustainability remediation frameworks. Intra-generational equity was addressed by all frameworks. Integrating social, economic and biophysical components beyond triple-bottom-line indicators was explicitly addressed only by the sustainable remediation frameworks. No frameworks provided principle- or rule-based guidance for dealing with trade-offs in sustainability decisions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Assessing Students' Motivation to Engage in Sustainable Engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCormick, Mary; Bielefeldt, Angela R.; Swan, Christopher W.; Paterson, Kurtis G.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to design an assessment instrument to evaluate students' attitudes toward sustainable engineering (SE). Factors that impact SE beliefs could then be explored. Design/methodology/approach: Using the definition of sustainability from the Brundtland report and expectancy value theory, students' sentiment toward…

  6. Towards a more holistic sustainability assessment framework for agro-bioenergy systems — A review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arodudu, Oludunsin; Helming, Katharina; Wiggering, Hubert; Voinov, Alexey

    2017-01-01

    The use of life cycle assessment (LCA) as a sustainability assessment tool for agro-bioenergy system usually has an industrial agriculture bias. Furthermore, LCA generally has often been criticized for being a decision maker tool which may not consider decision takers perceptions. They are lacking in spatial and temporal depth, and unable to assess sufficiently some environmental impact categories such as biodiversity, land use etc. and most economic and social impact categories, e.g. food security, water security, energy security. This study explored tools, methodologies and frameworks that can be deployed individually, as well as in combination with each other for bridging these methodological gaps in application to agro-bioenergy systems. Integrating agronomic options, e.g. alternative farm power, tillage, seed sowing options, fertilizer, pesticide, irrigation into the boundaries of LCAs for agro-bioenergy systems will not only provide an alternative agro-ecological perspective to previous LCAs, but will also lead to the derivation of indicators for assessment of some social and economic impact categories. Deploying life cycle thinking approaches such as energy return on energy invested-EROEI, human appropriation of net primary production-HANPP, net greenhouse gas or carbon balance-NCB, water footprint individually and in combination with each other will also lead to further derivation of indicators suitable for assessing relevant environmental, social and economic impact categories. Also, applying spatio-temporal simulation models has a potential for improving the spatial and temporal depths of LCA analysis.

  7. Towards a more holistic sustainability assessment framework for agro-bioenergy systems — A review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arodudu, Oludunsin, E-mail: Oludunsin.Arodudu@zalf.de [Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg (Germany); Potsdam University, Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Golm (Germany); Helming, Katharina [Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg (Germany); Faculty of Landscape Management and Nature Conservation, University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), Schickler Strasse 5, 16225 Eberswalde (Germany); Wiggering, Hubert [Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg (Germany); Potsdam University, Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Golm (Germany); Voinov, Alexey [ITC, Faculty of Geoinformation and Earth Observation, University of Twente, Hengelosestraat 99, Enschede (Netherlands)

    2017-01-15

    The use of life cycle assessment (LCA) as a sustainability assessment tool for agro-bioenergy system usually has an industrial agriculture bias. Furthermore, LCA generally has often been criticized for being a decision maker tool which may not consider decision takers perceptions. They are lacking in spatial and temporal depth, and unable to assess sufficiently some environmental impact categories such as biodiversity, land use etc. and most economic and social impact categories, e.g. food security, water security, energy security. This study explored tools, methodologies and frameworks that can be deployed individually, as well as in combination with each other for bridging these methodological gaps in application to agro-bioenergy systems. Integrating agronomic options, e.g. alternative farm power, tillage, seed sowing options, fertilizer, pesticide, irrigation into the boundaries of LCAs for agro-bioenergy systems will not only provide an alternative agro-ecological perspective to previous LCAs, but will also lead to the derivation of indicators for assessment of some social and economic impact categories. Deploying life cycle thinking approaches such as energy return on energy invested-EROEI, human appropriation of net primary production-HANPP, net greenhouse gas or carbon balance-NCB, water footprint individually and in combination with each other will also lead to further derivation of indicators suitable for assessing relevant environmental, social and economic impact categories. Also, applying spatio-temporal simulation models has a potential for improving the spatial and temporal depths of LCA analysis.

  8. Multidimensional assessment of sustainability extractivism of mangrove oyster Crassostrea spp. in the estuary of Cananéia, São Paulo, Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machado, I C; Fagundes, L; Henriques, M B

    2015-08-01

    This study was carried out with groups of extractivists of mangrove oysters in the estuary of Cananéia, São Paulo State, Brazil, between the years 1999 and 2007 with the objective to evaluate and compare trends in the sustainability of this activity, in a multidimensional and integrated way, in social, economic, ecological, technological and ethical dimensions, using the method RAPFISH. The different groups had distinct trends related to sustainability and the social, technological and ethical dimensions had more influence on trends in sustainability than the ecological and economic dimensions. The group with the best performance in the sustainability assessment was Mandira, due to advances promoted by local social organization. On the other hand, the Porto Cubatão group showed the worst performance, once this is very recent group in the extractivism of oysters. The RAPFISH proved to be a useful tool for data assessment.

  9. Multidimensional assessment of sustainability extractivism of mangrove oyster Crassostrea spp. in the estuary of Cananéia, São Paulo, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    IC Machado

    Full Text Available AbstractThis study was carried out with groups of extractivists of mangrove oysters in the estuary of Cananéia, São Paulo State, Brazil, between the years 1999 and 2007 with the objective to evaluate and compare trends in the sustainability of this activity, in a multidimensional and integrated way, in social, economic, ecological, technological and ethical dimensions, using the method RAPFISH. The different groups had distinct trends related to sustainability and the social, technological and ethical dimensions had more influence on trends in sustainability than the ecological and economic dimensions. The group with the best performance in the sustainability assessment was Mandira, due to advances promoted by local social organization. On the other hand, the Porto Cubatão group showed the worst performance, once this is very recent group in the extractivism of oysters. The RAPFISH proved to be a useful tool for data assessment.

  10. Assessing potential sustainable wood yield

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert F. Powers

    2001-01-01

    Society is making unprecedented demands on world forests to produce and sustain many values. Chief among them is wood supply, and concerns are rising globally about the ability of forests to meet increasing needs. Assessing this is not easy. It requires a basic understanding of the principles governing forest productivity: how wood yield varies with tree and stand...

  11. Coach assessment tool

    OpenAIRE

    Härkönen, Niko; Klicznik, Roman

    2014-01-01

    The Coach Assessment Tool was created to assist coaches of all sports for their own development. The starting point to develop the tool is the fact that coaching clinics solely focus on the technical and tactial skills of the sport. The education for coaches is lacking to teach the importance of the coach´s behavior towards their athletes. The question is how to teach properly the task in hand to increase the athlete´s performance considering the coach´s behavior. Nevertheless,...

  12. 25 Years of Sustainability. A Critical Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petrişor Alexandru-Ionuţ

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available 25 years have passed since the 'Brundtland Report‘ defined sustainability as a possibility to equally meet current and future needs. 15 years later, the author of the definition stated that despite of the fact that the definition does not need to be changed, its understanding bettered off during the interval. 25 years later, the present paper takes an in-depth look at the concept and its practical implications. One of the issues being addressed refers to the pillars of sustainability; their number increased by 25% to include the cultural pillar in addition to the economic, social, and cultural one. Spatial thinking added a new dimension, translating into concepts like 'sustainable communities‘ or 'self standing village‘ at the local level, and 'polycentricity‘ and 'cohesion‘ at the regional one. Furthermore, practical implications include environmental impact assessment (evolving towards strategic impact assessment, internalization of externalities, ecological restoration, and a new view on conservation, different from the one addressed by the 'Zero Growth Strategy‘. In addition, the paper discusses several criticism addressed to the concept and its implementation, attempting to reveal their underlying causes. Overall, the critical analysis shows that the attempts to achieve sustainability did not change the concept as much as its understanding.

  13. A model for constructing sustainability assessment framework - focus on regional industrial land redevelopment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, T.; Han, Q.; de Vries, B.

    2014-01-01

    Sustainable development has become a critical issue for land use planning and management since the 1980s. Various sustainability assessment systems have been used to evaluate and promote sustainability in different scales. However, many literatures suggested that a sustainability assessment system

  14. The Three Gorges Project: How sustainable?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kepa Brian Morgan, Te Kipa; Sardelic, Daniel N.; Waretini, Amaria F.

    2012-08-01

    SummaryIn 1984 the Government of China approved the decision to construct the Three Gorges Dam Project, the largest project since the Great Wall. The project had many barriers to overcome, and the decision was made at a time when sustainability was a relatively unknown concept. The decision to construct the Three Gorges Project remains contentious today, especially since Deputy Director of the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee, Wang Xiaofeng, stated that "We absolutely cannot relax our guard against ecological and environmental security problems sparked by the Three Gorges Project" (Bristow, 2007; McCabe, 2007). The question therefore was posed: how sustainable is the Three Gorges Project? Conventional approaches to sustainability assessment tend to use monetary based assessment aligned to triple bottom line thinking. That is, projects are evaluated as trade-offs between economic, environmental and social costs and benefits. The question of sustainability is considered using such a traditional Cost-Benefit Analysis approach, as undertaken in 1988 by a CIPM-Yangtze Joint Venture, and the Mauri Model Decision Making Framework (MMDMF). The Mauri Model differs from other approaches in that sustainability performance indicators are considered independently from any particular stakeholder bias. Bias is then introduced subsequently as a sensitivity analysis on the raw results obtained. The MMDMF is unique in that it is based on the Māori concept of Mauri, the binding force between the physical and the spiritual attributes of something, or the capacity to support life in the air, soil, and water. This concept of Mauri is analogous to the Chinese concept of Qi, and there are many analogous concepts in other cultures. It is the universal relevance of Mauri that allows its use to assess sustainability. This research identified that the MMDMF was a strong complement to Cost-Benefit Analysis, which is not designed as a sustainability assessment tool in itself. The

  15. Mass customization and sustainability an assessment framework and industrial implementation

    CERN Document Server

    Boër, Claudio R; Bettoni, Andrea; Sorlini, Marzio

    2013-01-01

    To adapt to global competitive pressures, manufacturers must develop methods and enabling technologies towards a personalized, customer oriented and sustainable manufacturing. Mass Customization and Sustainability defines the two concepts of mass customization and sustainability and introduces a framework to establish a link between the two concepts to answer the questions: Are these two aspects empowering one another? Or are they hindering one another?   These questions investigate mass customization as one of the main driving forces to achieve effective sustainability.  A methodology to assess the contribution of mass customization to sustainability is developed, providing an assessment model composed by a set of indicators covering the three aspects of sustainability: social, economical and environmental. This is supported and further explained using ideas and new concepts compiled from recent European research.   Researchers, scientists, managers and industry professionals alike can follow a set of ...

  16. Assessing the global sustainability of different electricity generation systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cartelle Barros, Juan José; Lara Coira, Manuel; Cruz López, María Pilar de la; Caño Gochi, Alfredo del

    2015-01-01

    A model is presented for assessing the global sustainability of power plants. It uses requirement trees, value functions and the analytic hierarchy process. The model consists of 27 parameters and makes it possible to obtain a sustainability index for each conventional or renewable energy plant, throughout its life-cycle. Here the aim is to make society aware of the sustainability level for each type of power system. As a result, decision making can be done with greater objectivity in both the public and private sectors. The model can be useful for engineers, researchers and, in general, decision makers in the energy policy field. With the exception of biomass fuels, the results obtained reinforce the idea that renewable energies make a greater contribution to sustainable development than their conventional counterparts. Renewable energies have a sustainability index that varies between 0.39 and 0.80; 0 and 1 being the lowest and highest contribution to sustainability, respectively. On the other hand, conventional power plants obtained results that fall between 0.29 and 0.57. High temperature solar-thermal plants, wind farms, photovoltaic solar plants and mini-hydroelectric power plants occupy the first four places, in this order. - Highlights: • A model for assessing the integral sustainability of power plants is proposed. • Different energy alternatives are ordered according to sustainability criteria. • Except for biomass, renewable energies contribute more to sustainable development. • The model aids the decision making process in the energy policy field

  17. Multi-Sector Sustainability Browser (MSSB) User Manual: A Decision Support Tool (DST) for Supporting Sustainability Efforts in Four Areas - Land Use, Transportation, Buildings and Infrastructure, and Materials Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA’s Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) Research Program is developing methodologies, resources, and tools to assist community members and local decision makers in implementing policy choices that facilitate sustainable approaches in managing their resources affecti...

  18. Decision making tools for selecting sustainable wastewater treatment technologies in Thailand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wongburi, Praewa; Park, Jae K.

    2018-05-01

    Wastewater consists of valuable resources that could be recovered or reused. Still it is under threat because of ineffective wastewater management and systems. In Thailand, less than 25% of wastewater generated may be treated while then rest is inadequately treated and sent back directly into waterbodies or the environment. Furthermore, the technologies that have been applied may be inefficient and unsustainable. Efficiency, sustainability, and simplicity are important concepts when designing an appropriate wastewater treatment system in developing countries. The objectives of this study were to review and evaluate wastewater treatment technologies and propose a method to improve or select an appropriate technology. An expert system in Excel® program was developed to determine the best solution. Sensitivity analysis was applied to compare and assess uncertainty factors. Due to the different conditions of each area, the key factor of interest was varied. Furthermore, Robust Decision Making tool was applied to determine the best way to improve existing wastewater treatment facility and to choose the most appropriate wastewater treatment technology.

  19. The Social in Assessing for Sustainability. Fisheries in Australia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kate Barclay

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The notion that sustainability rests on three pillars – economic, environmental and social – has been widely accepted since the 1990s. In practice, however, the economic and environmental aspects have tended to dominate the sustainability agenda, and social aspects have been sidelined. Two reasons for this are: 1 there is a lack of data collected about which to build meaningful pictures of social aspects of sustainability for populations over time, and 2 there is a lack of recognition of the role of social factors in sustainability, and a related lack of understanding of how to analyse them in conjunction with economic and environmental factors. This paper surveys the literature about sustainability in fisheries, focussing on Australia, and focussing on the way social aspects have been treated. The paper finds that the problems that have been identified for assessing the social in sustainability in general are certainly manifest in fisheries. Management of Australian fisheries has arguably made great improvements to biological sustainability over the last decade, but much remains to be done to generate similar improvements in social sustainability for fishing communities. This is the case for government-run resource management as well as for initiatives from the private sector and conservation organizations as part of movements for corporate social responsibility and ethical consumerism. A significant challenge for improving sustainability in Australian fisheries, therefore, lies in improving data collection on social factors, and in bridging disciplinary divides to better integrate social with economic and biological assessments of sustainability.

  20. Assessing the sustainability of egg production systems in The Netherlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Asselt, E D; van Bussel, L G J; van Horne, P; van der Voet, H; van der Heijden, G W A M; van der Fels-Klerx, H J

    2015-08-01

    Housing systems for laying hens have changed over the years due to increased public concern regarding animal welfare. In terms of sustainability, animal welfare is just one aspect that needs to be considered. Social aspects as well as environmental and economic factors need to be included as well. In this study, we assessed the sustainability of enriched cage, barn, free-range, and organic egg production systems following a predefined protocol. Indicators were selected within the social, environmental, and economic dimensions, after which parameter values and sustainability limits were set for the core indicators in order to quantify sustainability. Uncertainty in the parameter values as well as assigned weights and compensabilities of the indicators influenced the outcome of the sustainability assessment. Using equal weights for the indicators showed that, for the Dutch situation, enriched cage egg production was most sustainable, having the highest score on the environmental dimension, whereas free-range egg production gave the highest score in the social dimension (covering food safety, animal welfare, and human welfare). In the economic dimension both enriched cage egg and organic egg production had the highest sustainability score. When weights were attributed according to stakeholder outputs, individual differences were seen, but the overall scores were comparable to the sustainability scores based on equal weights. The provided method enabled a quantification of sustainability using input from stakeholders to include societal preferences in the overall assessment. Allowing for different weights and compensabilities helps policymakers in communicating with stakeholders involved and provides a weighted decision regarding future housing systems for laying hens. © 2015 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  1. Assessing the sustainability of bioethanol production in Nepal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khatiwada, Dilip

    2010-10-15

    Access to modern energy services derived from renewable sources is a prerequisite, not only for economic growth, rural development and sustainable development, but also for energy security and climate change mitigation. The least developed countries (LDCs) primarily use traditional biomass and have little access to commercial energy sources. They are more vulnerable to problems relating to energy security, air pollution, and the need for hard-cash currency to import fossil fuels. This thesis evaluates sugarcane-molasses bioethanol, a renewable energy source with the potential to be used as a transport fuel in Nepal. Sustainability aspects of molasses-based ethanol have been analyzed. Two important indicators for sustainability, viz. net energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) balances have been used to assess the appropriateness of bioethanol in the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework. This thesis has found that the production of bioethanol is energy-efficient in terms of the fossil fuel inputs required to produce it. Life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from production and combustion are also lower than those of gasoline. The impacts of important physical and market parameters, such as sugar cane productivity, the use of fertilizers, energy consumption in different processes, and price have been observed in evaluating the sustainability aspects of bioethanol production. The production potential of bioethanol has been assessed. Concerns relating to the fuel vs. food debate, energy security, and air pollution have also been discussed. The thesis concludes that the major sustainability indicators for molasses ethanol in Nepal are in line with the goals of sustainable development. Thus, Nepal could be a good example for other LDCs when favorable governmental policy, institutional set-ups, and developmental cooperation from donor partners are in place to strengthen the development of renewable energy technologies

  2. Implementation of Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool: a Case of Matsapha, Swaziland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makadzange, Kevin; Radebe, Zamahlubi; Maseko, Nokuthula; Lukhele, Voyivoyi; Masuku, Sabelo; Fakudze, Gciniwe; Mengestu, Tigest Ketsela; Prasad, Amit

    2018-04-03

    Equity in health implies that ideally everyone could attain their full health potential and that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of their social position or other socially determined circumstances. Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable contributes towards ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages in dignity, equality and in a healthy environment. This paper illustrates a case of applying the Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART) in a small town in Africa. It describes the process followed, facilitating factors and challenges faced. A descriptive single-case study design using qualitative research methods was adopted to collect data from purposively selected respondents. The study revealed that residents of the Matsapha peri-urban informal settlements faced challenges with conditions of daily living which impacted negatively on their health. There were health equity gaps. The application of the tools was facilitated by the formation of an all-inclusive team, intersectoral collaboration and incorporating strategies for improving urban health equity into existing programmes and projects. Urban HEART is a simple and easy to use valuable tool for pursuing the goal of health equity towards attaining sustainable development through evidence-based approaches for intersectoral action and community involvement.

  3. Do green building assessment criteria meet sustainability imperatives: a critical analysis

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Van Wyk, Llewellyn V

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to determine whether green building assessment criteria meet the imperatives of sustainable development. The paper finds that green building assessment criteria fail to meet the sustainable development imperatives...

  4. Multi-Criteria Sustainability Assessment of Urban Sludge Treatment Technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    An, Da; Xi, Beidou; Ren, Jingzheng

    2017-01-01

    to determine the weights of the criteria for sustainability assessment, and extension theory was used to prioritize the alternative technologies for the treatment of urban sewage sludge and grade their sustainability performances. An illustrative case including three technologies (compositing, incineration...

  5. Comparative Testing for Corporate Impact Assessment Tools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Farsang, Andrea; Reisch, Lucia A.

    of our study are: poverty, water and sanitation, education, food and agriculture, climate change, and human rights in three industries, namely: footwear, coffee, and paper and pulp. The paper develops a protocol for the selection and quantification of indicators that can be used in selecting...... the appropriate tools for measuring impacts in the selected sectors on SDGs. Background: In the Global Value Project, a long list of indicators was compiled covering the main thematic areas and challenges of sustainability. In a second step, this long list was reduced using predefined criteria as well as other...... criteria, such as the feasibility and scalability of different tools. As a result, a protocol was developed to help compare the different tools that measure corporate impact and to interpret the results in relation to the SDGs. The protocol was pre-tested with a limited number of tools in two case studies...

  6. A geographic information system screening tool to tackle diffuse pollution through the use of sustainable drainage systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todorovic, Zorica; Breton, Neil P

    2014-01-01

    Sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) offer many benefits that traditional solutions do not. Traditional approaches are unable to offer a solution to problems of flood management and water quality. Holistic consideration of the wide range of benefits from SUDS can result in advantages such as improved flood resilience and water quality enhancement through consideration of diffuse pollution sources. Using a geographical information system (GIS) approach, diffuse pollutant sources and opportunities for SUDS are easily identified. Consideration of potential SUDS locations results in source, site and regional controls, leading to improved water quality (to meet Water Framework Directive targets). The paper will discuss two different applications of the tool, the first of which is where the pollutant of interest is known. In this case the outputs of the tool highlight and isolate the areas contributing the pollutants and suggest the adequate SUDS measures to meet the required criteria. The second application is where the tool identifies likely pollutants at a receiving location, and SUDS measures are proposed to reduce pollution with assessed efficiencies.

  7. EIF onshore discharges : a quantitative environmental risk assessment tool for onshore facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hagemann, R.; Smit, M.G.D.; Frost, T.K. [Statoil ASA, Stavenger (Norway); Firth, S.K. [Firth Consultants, Bristol (United Kingdom); Stone, K. [WorleyParsons, Victoria, BC (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    The proper management of environmental risk is a key requirement of StatoilHydro's governing documents and is a key consideration in all phases of StatoilHydro's activities. In order to help manage risks in an effective and sustainable manner, StatoilHydro has led the development of the environmental impact factor (EIF) risk assessment tool. The EIF is utilized by all operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf for reporting continuous improvements in produced water management to the authorities. The EIF concept has also been applied to evaluate environmental risk from air emissions, offshore oil spills and drilling discharges, discharges from onshore facilities to sea and discharges and spills from onshore installations. In order to identify the remaining hypothetical risk from a new facility, optimized with respect to environmental protection, this paper presented a case study, where the tool was applied to an oil sands steam assisted gravity drainage facility in Alberta. The paper discussed the EIF model and results of the case study. It was concluded that as a result of the use of generic principles for environmental risk assessment, combined with databases with parameter information for common soil and aquifer types, the EIF tool could be applied to any site ranging from wetlands to deserts. 5 refs., 2 tabs., 3 figs.

  8. Strategic environmental assessment for sustainability: A review of a decade of academic research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    White, Lisa; Noble, Bram F.

    2013-01-01

    This paper examines the strategic environmental assessment (SEA)–sustainability relationship over the past decade, from 2000 to 2010, focusing in particular on the incorporation of sustainability in SEA. A total of 86 papers from the academic literature containing the terms ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’ and ‘strategic environmental assessment’ were identified and reviewed. Several common themes emerged by which SEA can support sustainability, including providing a framework to support decision making for sustainability; setting sustainability objectives, ensuring the consideration of ‘more sustainable’ alternatives, and integrating sustainability criteria in PPP development; and promoting sustainability outcomes through tiering and institutional learning. At the same time, our review identified many underlying barriers that challenge SEA for sustainability, including the variable interpretations of the scope of sustainability in SEA; the limited use of assessment criteria directly linked to sustainability objectives; and challenges for decision-makers in operationalizing sustainability in SEA and adapting PPP development decision-making processes to include sustainability issues. To advance SEA for sustainability there is a need to better define the scope of sustainability in SEA; clarify how to operationalize the different approaches to sustainability in SEA, as opposed to simply describing those approaches; provide guidance on how to operationalize broad sustainability goals through assessment criteria in SEA; and understand better how to facilitate institutional learning regarding sustainability through SEA application. -- Highlights: ► There is significant potential for SEA to support sustainability in PPP development. ► However, there are still many barriers in place that challenge SEA for sustainability. ► The scope and approaches to sustainability in SEA must be better defined and described. ► Guidance is needed to

  9. Strategic environmental assessment for sustainability: A review of a decade of academic research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    White, Lisa, E-mail: lisa.white@usask.ca [School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, 117 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5A5 (Canada); Noble, Bram F., E-mail: b.noble@usask.ca [Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, 117 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5A5 (Canada)

    2013-09-15

    This paper examines the strategic environmental assessment (SEA)–sustainability relationship over the past decade, from 2000 to 2010, focusing in particular on the incorporation of sustainability in SEA. A total of 86 papers from the academic literature containing the terms ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’ and ‘strategic environmental assessment’ were identified and reviewed. Several common themes emerged by which SEA can support sustainability, including providing a framework to support decision making for sustainability; setting sustainability objectives, ensuring the consideration of ‘more sustainable’ alternatives, and integrating sustainability criteria in PPP development; and promoting sustainability outcomes through tiering and institutional learning. At the same time, our review identified many underlying barriers that challenge SEA for sustainability, including the variable interpretations of the scope of sustainability in SEA; the limited use of assessment criteria directly linked to sustainability objectives; and challenges for decision-makers in operationalizing sustainability in SEA and adapting PPP development decision-making processes to include sustainability issues. To advance SEA for sustainability there is a need to better define the scope of sustainability in SEA; clarify how to operationalize the different approaches to sustainability in SEA, as opposed to simply describing those approaches; provide guidance on how to operationalize broad sustainability goals through assessment criteria in SEA; and understand better how to facilitate institutional learning regarding sustainability through SEA application. -- Highlights: ► There is significant potential for SEA to support sustainability in PPP development. ► However, there are still many barriers in place that challenge SEA for sustainability. ► The scope and approaches to sustainability in SEA must be better defined and described. ► Guidance is needed to

  10. First Approach to a Holistic Tool for Assessing RES Investment Feasibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José María Flores-Arias

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Combining availability, viability, sustainability, technical options, and environmental impact in an energy-planning project is a difficult job itself for the today’s engineers. This becomes harder if the potential investors also need to be persuaded. Moreover, the problem increases even more if various consumptions are considered, as their patterns depend to a large extent on the type of facility and the activity. It is therefore essential to develop tools to assess the balance between generation and demand in a given installation. In this paper, a valuable tool is developed for the seamless calculation of the integration possibilities of renewable energies and the assessment of derived technical, financial and environmental impacts. Furthermore, it also considers their interaction with the power grid or other networks, raising awareness of the polluting emissions responsible for global warming. Through a series of Structured Query Language databases and a dynamic data parameterization, the software is provided with sufficient information to encode, calculate, simulate and graphically display information on the generation and demand of electric, thermal and transport energy, all in a user-friendly environment, finally providing an evaluation and feasibility report.

  11. Web-based teaching tool incorporating peer assessment and self-assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    McEvoy, Fintan; McEvoy, Peter M.; Svalastoga, Eiliv L.

    2010-01-01

    OBJECTIVE. Our objective was to create an electronic learning tool that incorporates the pedagogic advantages of peer assessment and self-assessment into report-generating skills. CONCLUSION. The tool was created using Web programming software. It was tested with 12 veterinary students and provided...... peer-peer and tutor-student interactions that supported learning. The tool is suited for training any professional concerned with the interpretation of images, particularly resident radiologists....

  12. Stakeholder value-linked sustainability assessment: Evaluating remedial alternatives for the Portland Harbor Superfund Site, Portland, Oregon, USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apitz, Sabine E; Fitzpatrick, Anne G; McNally, Amanda; Harrison, David; Coughlin, Conor; Edwards, Deborah A

    2018-01-01

    Regulatory decisions on remediation should consider affected communities' needs and values, and how these might be impacted by remedial options; this process requires that diverse stakeholders are able to engage in a transparent consideration of value trade-offs and of the distribution of risks and benefits associated with remedial actions and outcomes. The Stakeholder Values Assessment (SVA) tool was developed to evaluate remedial impacts on environmental quality, economic viability, and social equity in the context of stakeholder values and priorities. Stakeholder values were linked to the pillars of sustainability and also to a range of metrics to evaluate how sediment remediation affects these values. Sediment remedial alternatives proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for the Portland Harbor Superfund Site were scored for each metric, based upon data provided in published feasibility study (FS) documents. Metric scores were aggregated to generate scores for each value; these were then aggregated to generate scores for each pillar of sustainability. In parallel, the inferred priorities (in terms of regional remediation, restoration, planning, and development) of diverse stakeholder groups (SGs) were used to evaluate the sensitivity and robustness of the values-based sustainability assessment to diverse SG priorities. This approach, which addresses social indicators of impact and then integrates them with indicators of environmental and economic impacts, goes well beyond the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act's (CERCLA) 9 criteria for evaluating remedial alternatives because it evaluates how remedial alternatives might be ranked in terms of the diverse values and priorities of stakeholders. This approach identified trade-offs and points of potential contention, providing a systematic, semiquantitative, transparent valuation tool that can be used in community engagement. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018

  13. Open source engineering and sustainability tools for the built environment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Coenders, J.L.

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents two novel open source software developments for design and engineering in the built environment. The first development, called “sustainability-open” [1], aims on providing open source design, analysis and assessment software source code for (environmental) performance of

  14. Dynamic Sustainability. Sustainability Window Analysis of Chinese Poverty-Environment Nexus Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jyrki Luukkanen

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability Window is a new analysis tool for assessing the sustainability of development simultaneously in all of its three dimensions (environmental, economic, and social. The analysis method provides information of the maximum and minimum economic development that is required to maintain the direction of social and environmental development towards more sustainable targets. With the Sustainability Window method it is possible to easily analyze the sustainability using different indicators and different time periods making comparative analyses easy. The new method makes it also possible to analyze the dynamics of the sustainability and the changes over time in the width of the window. This provides a new perspective for analyzing the trends of sustainability and the impacts of underlying sustainability policies. As an illustration of the method, we have carried out an analysis of Chinese development using CO2 and SO2 emissions as indicators of the environmental dimension, number of non-poor people as an indicator of the social dimension and GDP as an indicator of the economic dimension.

  15. Visitor Management, a Tool for Sustainable Tourism Development in Protected Areas

    OpenAIRE

    Candrea A. N.; Ispas A.

    2009-01-01

    The article analyzes visitor management techniques as a way to develop sustainable tourism in protected areas. Visitor management is an important tool in recreational and protected areas, as increasing use levels can negatively impact the quality of recreational experience as well as natural resources. To meet the requirements of both nature and visitors, a prudent and careful management is necessary. In order to manage protected areas within acceptable ecological and social carrying capacit...

  16. Tools for Microbiological risk assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bassett, john; Nauta, Maarten; Lindqvist, Roland

    can increase the understanding of microbiological risks in foods. It is timely to inform food safety professionals about the availability and utility of MRA tools. Therefore, the focus of this report is to aid the food safety manager by providing a concise summary of the tools available for the MRA......Microbiological Risk Assessment (MRA) has emerged as a comprehensive and systematic approach for addressing the risk of pathogens in specific foods and/or processes. At government level, MRA is increasingly recognised as a structured and objective approach to understand the level of risk in a given...... food/pathogen scenario. Tools developed so far support qualitative and quantitative assessments of the risk that a food pathogen poses to a particular population. Risk can be expressed as absolute numbers or as relative (ranked) risks. The food industry is beginning to appreciate that the tools for MRA...

  17. What's the point? The contribution of a sustainability view in contaminated site remediation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Robert; Norrman, Jenny; Back, Pär-Erik; Söderqvist, Tore; Rosén, Lars

    2018-07-15

    Decision support tools (DST) are often used in remediation projects to aid in the complex decision on how best to remediate a contaminated site. In recent years, the sustainable remediation concept has brought increased attention to the often-overlooked contradictory effects of site remediation, with a number of sustainability assessment tools now available. The aim of the present study is twofold: (1) to demonstrate how and when different assessment views affect the decision support outcome on remediation alternatives in a DST, and (2) to demonstrate the contribution of a full sustainability assessment. The SCORE tool was used in the analysis; it is based on a holistic multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach, assessing sustainability in three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic. Four assessment scenarios, compared to a full sustainability assessment, were considered to reflect different possible assessment views; considering public and private problem owner perspectives, as well as green and traditional assessment scopes. Four real case study sites in Sweden were analyzed. The results show that the decision support outcome from a full sustainability assessment most often differs to that of other assessment views, and results in remediation alternatives which balance trade-offs in most of the scenarios. In relation to the public perspective and traditional scope, which is seen to lead to the most extensive and expensive remediation alternatives, the trade-off is related to less contaminant removal in favour of reduced negative secondary effects such as emissions and waste disposal. Compared to the private perspective, associated with the lowest cost alternatives, the trade-off is higher costs, but more positive environmental and social effects. Generally, both the green and traditional assessment scopes miss out on relevant social and local environmental secondary effects which may ultimately be very important for the actual decision in a

  18. Technology Foresight: A Tool for sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iraj Nabipour

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Our age is one of very rapid progress in the sciences and technologies, together with Globalization. Thus, interrelationships between science, technology and society are becoming more complex. This makes economic and social trends more difficult to predict and hence, more sophisticated approaches are needed to predict new challenges in science and technology. Technology foresight is the most attractive approach. In fact, technology foresight is a “… a systematic means of assessing those scientific and technological developments which could have a strong impact on industrial competitiveness, wealth creation and quality of life. This book presents a brief review or foresighting theory and methods. The book provides a series of key methodologies along with a discussion of how technology foresight relates to sustainability.

  19. Analytics for smart energy management tools and applications for sustainable manufacturing

    CERN Document Server

    Oh, Seog-Chan

    2016-01-01

    This book introduces the issues and problems that arise when implementing smart energy management for sustainable manufacturing in the automotive manufacturing industry and the analytical tools and applications to deal with them. It uses a number of illustrative examples to explain energy management in automotive manufacturing, which involves most types of manufacturing technology and various levels of energy consumption. It demonstrates how analytical tools can help improve energy management processes, including forecasting, consumption, and performance analysis, emerging new technology identification as well as investment decisions for establishing smart energy consumption practices. It also details practical energy management systems, making it a valuable resource for professionals involved in real energy management processes, and allowing readers to implement the procedures and applications presented.

  20. Development of a decision support tool for the assessment of biofuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perimenis, Anastasios; Walimwipi, Hartley; Zinoviev, Sergey; Mueller-Langer, Franziska; Miertus, Stanislav

    2011-01-01

    Alternative fuels for the transport sector are gaining growing attention as a means against fossil fuel dependence and towards greener forms of energy. At the same time, however, they are surrounded with doubts concerning sustainability of their production. This work presents the basic framework for a decision support tool to evaluate biofuel production pathways, with the purpose of providing the decision maker with a structured methodology that will lead him to the final decision. The tool integrates the most important aspects along the entire value chain (i.e. from biomass production to biofuel end-use), namely the technical, economic, environmental and social aspect. The tool consists of a computational part, which can be combined with the personal preferences of the user. The analysis provides a score for the respective pathway that can be used to rank different options and select among them the optimal solution. The functionality of the tool has been tested for the case of biodiesel from rapeseed in Germany. - Research highlights: → Structure and framework of a decision support tool for the assessment of biofuels. → Inclusion of economic, environmental and social aspects along the biofuel production chain. → Development of an internal database with relevant information along the chain. → Multi-criteria analysis for the consideration of all relevant criteria. → Incorporation of personal preferences and priorities in the final result.

  1. BASINS and WEPP Climate Assessment Tools (CAT): Case ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    This draft report supports application of two recently developed water modeling tools, the BASINS and WEPP climate assessment tools. The report presents a series of short case studies designed to illustrate the capabilities of these tools for conducting scenario based assessments of the potential future effects of climate change on water resources. This report presents a series of short, illustrative case studies using the BASINS and WEPP climate assessment tools.

  2. Sustainable nanotechnology decision support system: bridging risk management, sustainable innovation and risk governance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subramanian, Vrishali; Semenzin, Elena; Hristozov, Danail; Zabeo, Alex; Malsch, Ineke; McAlea, Eamonn; Murphy, Finbarr; Mullins, Martin; Harmelen, Toon van; Ligthart, Tom; Linkov, Igor; Marcomini, Antonio

    2016-01-01

    The significant uncertainties associated with the (eco)toxicological risks of engineered nanomaterials pose challenges to the development of nano-enabled products toward greatest possible societal benefit. This paper argues for the use of risk governance approaches to manage nanotechnology risks and sustainability, and considers the links between these concepts. Further, seven risk assessment and management criteria relevant to risk governance are defined: (a) life cycle thinking, (b) triple bottom line, (c) inclusion of stakeholders, (d) risk management, (e) benefit–risk assessment, (f) consideration of uncertainty, and (g) adaptive response. These criteria are used to compare five well-developed nanotechnology frameworks: International Risk Governance Council framework, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, Streaming Life Cycle Risk Assessment, Certifiable Nanospecific Risk Management and Monitoring System and LICARA NanoSCAN. A Sustainable Nanotechnology Decision Support System (SUNDS) is proposed to better address current nanotechnology risk assessment and management needs, and makes. Stakeholder needs were solicited for further SUNDS enhancement through a stakeholder workshop that included representatives from regulatory, industry and insurance sectors. Workshop participants expressed the need for the wider adoption of sustainability assessment methods and tools for designing greener nanomaterials.

  3. Sustainable nanotechnology decision support system: bridging risk management, sustainable innovation and risk governance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Subramanian, Vrishali, E-mail: vrishali.subramanian@unive.it; Semenzin, Elena; Hristozov, Danail; Zabeo, Alex [University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (Italy); Malsch, Ineke [Malsch TechnoValuation (Netherlands); McAlea, Eamonn; Murphy, Finbarr; Mullins, Martin [University of Limerick, Kemmy Business School (Ireland); Harmelen, Toon van; Ligthart, Tom [TNO (Netherlands); Linkov, Igor; Marcomini, Antonio, E-mail: marcom@unive.it [University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (Italy)

    2016-04-15

    The significant uncertainties associated with the (eco)toxicological risks of engineered nanomaterials pose challenges to the development of nano-enabled products toward greatest possible societal benefit. This paper argues for the use of risk governance approaches to manage nanotechnology risks and sustainability, and considers the links between these concepts. Further, seven risk assessment and management criteria relevant to risk governance are defined: (a) life cycle thinking, (b) triple bottom line, (c) inclusion of stakeholders, (d) risk management, (e) benefit–risk assessment, (f) consideration of uncertainty, and (g) adaptive response. These criteria are used to compare five well-developed nanotechnology frameworks: International Risk Governance Council framework, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, Streaming Life Cycle Risk Assessment, Certifiable Nanospecific Risk Management and Monitoring System and LICARA NanoSCAN. A Sustainable Nanotechnology Decision Support System (SUNDS) is proposed to better address current nanotechnology risk assessment and management needs, and makes. Stakeholder needs were solicited for further SUNDS enhancement through a stakeholder workshop that included representatives from regulatory, industry and insurance sectors. Workshop participants expressed the need for the wider adoption of sustainability assessment methods and tools for designing greener nanomaterials.

  4. Challenge Course Facilitator Technical Skills Assessment Tool Mark

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagstaff, William Quinn

    2007-01-01

    A study was conducted to develop a technical skills assessment tool for the training and development of challenge course facilitators. Researchers accessed two professional on-line listserves to collect a sample size of twenty-seven currently used technical skills assessment tools. The assessment tools were critically analysed by three independent…

  5. Life-cycle design for sustainable architecture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesca Thiébat

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability in architecture should involve environmental and social aspects and also economic aspects. However, in a design process budget issues usually outweigh ecological aspects. How can we then drive clients and builders to put more socially responsible buildings on the market that do not exceed the fixed budget but are environmentally friendly? This paper propose an economic and environmental assessment tool to aid private or public building designers and owners to find the global sustainability value of a green building within a life cycle perspective. Sustainable life cycle tools for buildings design and construction help to achieve successfully integrated architecture. The research here presented proposes a new point of view of the “time-cost-quality triangle” of Project Management, by introducing three further aspects: environment, society and aesthetics.

  6. Assessment of the sustainability of a water resource system expansion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjeldsen, Thomas Rødding; Rosbjerg, Dan

    2001-01-01

    A sustainability assessment method involving risk criteria related to reliability, resilience and vulnerability, has been applied to quantify the relative sustainability of possible expansions of a water resources system in the KwaZulu-Natal province South Africa. A river basin model has been setup....... Based on initial experience the method was modified leading to more credible results. A problem with assessing sustainability using risk criteria is a favouring of supply-oriented solutions, in particular when aspects not directly related to demand and availability of water are excluded....... for the water resources system, comprising all important water users within the catchment. Measures to meet the growing water demand in the catchment are discussed. Six scenarios including both supply and demand oriented solutions are identified, modelled and compared in tenus of the sustainability criteria...

  7. Comparison of approaches for assessing sustainable remediation of contaminated sites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Søndergaard, Gitte Lemming; Binning, Philip John; Bjerg, Poul Løgstrup

    2017-01-01

    It has been estimated that there are approximately 2.5 million potentially contaminated sites in Europe. Of these, approximately 340,000 sites are thought to be contaminated to a degree that may require remediation (Joint Research Center, 2014). Until recently, remediation was considered...... to be inherently green or sustainable since it removes a contaminant problem. However, it is now broadly recognized that while remediation is intended to address a local environmental threat, it may cause other local, regional and global impacts on the environment, society and economy. Over the last decade......, the broader assessment of these criteria is occurring in a movement toward ‘sustainable remediation’. This paper aims to review the available methods for assessing the sustainability of remediation alternatives. Sustainable remediation seeks to reduce direct contaminant point source impacts on the environment...

  8. Refurbishment decision support tools review—Energy and life cycle as key aspects to sustainable refurbishment projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferreira, Joaquim; Pinheiro, Manuel Duarte; Brito, Jorge de

    2013-01-01

    Europe is facing one of its most challenging crises since Great Depression and the construction sector is one of the worst affected. Refurbishment is therefore often suggested as one of the most useful solutions for the current real estate crisis in consolidated areas like the EU. On the other hand, it is imperative to construct buildings according to sustainable principles regarding economic, environmental and social issues. Therefore, proper decision-support methods are needed to help designers, investors and policy makers to choose the most sustainable solution for a refurbishment project, especially for energy retrofit works. This paper reviews the works relating to sustainable refurbishment decision-support tools which have already been developed. For this purpose we have analysed and classified 40 different methods, with particular focus on their main common aims. They are also compared with other classifications proposed. This paper further highlights the role of energy as a driving factor and discusses what other research developments are needed to create related tools for the future that could respond to actual construction requirements. - Highlights: • Sustainable refurbishment as an important challenge. • Proper decision-support methods are needed to refurbishment. • The paper reviews 40 different methods, focusing their main common aims. • The paper highlights the role of the energy as key factor to search sustainability. • It also stresses the importance of life cycle approach in refurbishment projects

  9. Seeking sustainability in the construction sector: opportunities within impact assessment and sustainable public procurement

    OpenAIRE

    Uttam, Kedar

    2014-01-01

    Growing concerns regarding sustainability have led the construction sector to adopt various policy instruments for reducing the impacts caused by construction activities. One such policy instrument includes impact assessment, which enables the construction sector to evaluate the environmental consequences of proposed developments at project (environmental impact assessment) and strategic (strategic environmental assessment) level. In recent years, the construction sector has also adopted gree...

  10. Development and application of a community sustainability visualization tool through integration of US EPA’s Sustainable and Health Community Research Program tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maintaining a harmonious balance between economic, social, and environmental well-being is paramount to community sustainability. Communities need a practical/usable suite of measures to assess their current position on a "surface" of sustainability created from the interaction ...

  11. AESIS: a support tool for the evaluation of sustainability of agroecosystems. Example of applications to organic and integrated farming systems in Tuscany, Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaio Cesare Pacini

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Agricultural researchers widely recognise the importance of sustainable agricultural production systems and the need to develop appropriate methods to measure sustainability on the farm level. Policy makers need accounting and evaluation tools to be able to assess the potential of sustainable production practices and to provide appropriate agro-environmental policy measures. Farmers are in search of sustainable management tools to cope with regulations and enhance efficiency. This paper presents the outcomes of applications to organic and integrated farming of an indicator-based framework to evaluate sustainability of farming systems (Agro-Environmental Sustainability Information System, AESIS. The AESIS was described together with a review of applications dating from 1991 in a previous paper. The objective of the present paper is to present the AESIS application to organic and integrated farming systems in Val d’Elsa (Tuscany and discuss how it is adapted for application to ordinary farms. The AESIS is organised into a number of environmental and production systems. For each system, environmental critical points are identified with corresponding agro-environmental indicators and processing methods. Possible solutions to sustainability issues, and critical points of relevance to the agricultural sector of the local economic and agro-ecological zone, are formulated by including an experimental layout, identifying indicator thresholds and by defining management systems with corresponding policy measures. Alternative solutions are evaluated by calculating and measuring the relevant indicators. The outcomes of the AESIS applications are discussed with specific relevance to the operational adoptability of AESIS to ordinary, agri-touristic farms managed with the organic and the integrated production method, respectively. The AESIS framework proved to be sufficiently flexible to meet the requirements for ordinary farm applications while keeping a

  12. Virtual Environment as a Design Tool for Sustainable Residential Spaces in Light of Theory of Planned Behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hebatalla Sherin Nazmy

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to reveal the impact of Virtual Environment as a design tool on the interior architect's design behavior towards adopting sustainable residential interior design practices. This approach is guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a theoretical framework; the purpose as such would serve to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and its practical implementation to promote sustainable design practices. Findings revealed that Virtual Environment is anticipated to assist the interior architect in integrating the complex sustainable residential design objectives, and thus positively affect the interior architect's behavioral performance towards embracing sustainable residential design solutions.

  13. Integrated Decision Tools for Sustainable Watershed/Ground Water and Crop Health using Predictive Weather, Remote Sensing, and Irrigation Decision Tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, A. S.; Andales, A.; McGovern, C.; Smith, G. E. B.; David, O.; Fletcher, S. J.

    2017-12-01

    US agricultural and Govt. lands have a unique co-dependent relationship, particularly in the Western US. More than 30% of all irrigated US agricultural output comes from lands sustained by the Ogallala Aquifer in the western Great Plains. Six US Forest Service National Grasslands reside within the aquifer region, consisting of over 375,000 ha (3,759 km2) of USFS managed lands. Likewise, National Forest lands are the headwaters to many intensive agricultural regions. Our Ogallala Aquifer team is enhancing crop irrigation decision tools with predictive weather and remote sensing data to better manage water for irrigated crops within these regions. An integrated multi-model software framework is used to link irrigation decision tools, resulting in positive management benefits on natural water resources. Teams and teams-of-teams can build upon these multi-disciplinary multi-faceted modeling capabilities. For example, the CSU Catalyst for Innovative Partnerships program has formed a new multidisciplinary team that will address "Rural Wealth Creation" focusing on the many integrated links between economic, agricultural production and management, natural resource availabilities, and key social aspects of govt. policy recommendations. By enhancing tools like these with predictive weather and other related data (like in situ measurements, hydrologic models, remotely sensed data sets, and (in the near future) linking to agro-economic and life cycle assessment models) this work demonstrates an integrated data-driven future vision of inter-meshed dynamic systems that can address challenging multi-system problems. We will present the present state of the work and opportunities for future involvement.

  14. An Evaluation of Holistic Sustainability Assessment Framework for Palm Oil Production in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chye Ing Lim

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Palm oil based biodiesel offers an alternative energy source that can reduce current dependence on conventional fossil fuels and may reduce greenhouse gas (GHG emissions depending on the type of feedstock and processes used. In the Malaysian context, the palm oil industry not only provides high-yield, renewable feedstock to the world, it brings socio-economic development to the Malaysian rural community and contributes to the national income. However, the sustainability of palm oil remains controversial, due to deforestation, pollution and social conflicts associated with its production. Sustainability assessment is vital for the palm oil industry to identify weaknesses, improve its sustainability performance and improve consumer confidence. This paper proposes a holistic sustainability assessment framework for palm oil production with the aim to address the weaknesses of existing palm oil sustainability assessment methods. It identifies environmental, social and economic Headline Performance Indicators, Key Performance Indicators and their Performance Measures in crude palm oil production in a structured framework. Each quantitative/semi-quantitative performance measure is translated into Likert Scale of 1–5, where 3 is the threshold value, 5 is the ideal condition, and 1 is the worst case scenario. Calculation methods were established for the framework to provide quantitative assessment results. The framework was tested using a hypothetical example with data from existing studies. The results suggest that crude palm oil production in Malaysia is below the sustainability threshold. Evaluations of this sustainability assessment framework also demonstrate that it is a comprehensive assessment method for assessing sustainability of feedstock for biofuel production.

  15. Sustainability indices as a tool for urban managers, evidence from four medium-sized Chinese cities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dijk, Meine Pieter van; Zhang Mingshun

    2005-01-01

    This research in four medium-sized Chinese cities aims at measuring urban sustainability in China and focuses on three issues. First, the situation in these four cities with regard to urban sustainability is evaluated. Secondly, a number of relations between different aspects of urban sustainability is explored. Finally, it is indicated how urban managers can improve with sustainability indices as tools currently ineffective urban management practices. Although all four cities are moving towards sustainable development, the current situation shows still weak sustainability in three, and even non-sustainability in one city. The social and, in particular, the economic dimensions of urban sustainability make significant positive contributions to overall urban sustainability. However, the decline of natural resources and environmental degradation are influencing it negatively. It is therefore suggested that more priority should be assigned to urban environmental protection and management in China. The fundamental reason for environmental degradation is believed to be inefficient urban management. To implement effective urban management in China, there is an urgent need to redefine the role of local government, reform local organizational structure, enhance local participatory institutional capacity, properly distribute the urban welfare, and thus integrate economic, social and environmental objectives local strategic and action plans

  16. The DataTools Professional Development Program: Sustainability via a University Partnership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haddad, N.; Ledley, T. S.; McAuliffe, C. A.; Reider, D.

    2009-12-01

    The DataTools professional development program (http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/msdatatools), offered by TERC, helps teachers integrate technology, scientific data, and inquiry into their middle and high school curricula. It leverages the resources and techniques of the Earth Exploration Toolbook (http://serc.carleton.edu/eet), an online collection of investigations that promotes the use of technology and scientific data in the context of studying the earth system. Over the course of the year-long program, teachers develop skills and a pedagogy of inquiry through a combination of on-line and face-to-face professional development and a significant amount of peer support. They learn to use information technologies that support the visualization and analysis of numerical, geospatial, and image data. DataTools was funded by NSF’s ITEST program to operate for three years. During year two we started to investigate the possibility of transforming the program into a graduate-level course at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (UMD). The first step in that process was partnering with UMD to offer the third year of the NSF-funded program as a 3-credit graduate course on a 1-year trial basis. Our UMD partner participated in advertising the program to teachers in its network, provided classroom space at UMD for the face-to-face meetings and summer workshop, and offered three graduate credits to teachers who successfully completed the program. TERC staff continued to provide the professional development. The formation of the School for Education, Public Policy, and Civic Engagement at UMD, and the new STEM Department within that school appear to be favoring the transformation of this NSF-funded program into a sustainable graduate level course for in-service teachers. A key element to developing a sustainable course at a large university is to position it in a way that can service the largest number of students. In addition to the tremendous need of science professional

  17. Ants as tools in sustainable agriculture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Offenberg, Joachim

    2015-01-01

    1. With an expanding human population placing increasing pressure on the environment, agriculture needs sustainable production that can match conventional methods. Integrated pest management (IPM) is more sustainable, but not necessarily as efficient as conventional non-sustainable measures. 2...... in multiple crops. Their efficiency is comparable to chemical pesticides or higher, while at lower costs. They provide a rare example of documented efficient conservation biological control. 3. Weaver ants share beneficial traits with almost 13 000 other ant species and are unlikely to be unique...... of agricultural systems, this review emphasizes the potential of managing ants to achieve sustainable pest management solutions. The synthesis suggests future directions and may catalyse a research agenda on the utilization of ants, not only against arthropod pests, but also against weeds and plant diseases...

  18. Assessing Good-Practice Frameworks for the Development of Sustainable Energy Communities in Europe: Lessons from Denmark and Ireland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eimear Heaslip

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents findings from initial fieldwork studies of sustainable energy community development methodologies in two islands in Denmark and one rural village in Ireland. The main goals of this study were to determine the enablers and barriers to their successful development and to assess the successful elements of these previously implemented sustainable energy community development methodologies. The study involved extensive semi-structured interviews with the managers of the sustainable energy community projects and comprehensive site visits of each project. The evidence presented in this paper indicates that social barriers are interconnected and often reinforce each other. This article suggests that a comprehensive understanding of how barriers can be transformed into enablers supports the successful development of sustainable energy communities at local level in Europe. The findings in this research indicate that although each of the sustainable energy communities studied did not have any specific implementation framework developed for their projects, many of the successful tools and methodologies used across all communities were similar. The significant contribution of this work is the illumination of key factors influencing the successful development of sustainable energy communities in Ireland and Europe.

  19. A Framework for Assessing the Social and Economic Impact of Sustainable Investments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Räikkönen Minna

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Investments towards sustainable development are vital for the future and they must be carefully planned to deliver immediate and long-term benefits. Hence, the ability to communicate the forms of impact of sustainable investments to local societies, people, investors and other stakeholders can provide a competitive advantage. However, the assessments are often under pressure to demonstrate short-term effects rather than emphasise the long-term impact. In addition, indirect and intangible forms of impacts should not be measured solely in economic terms. This paper proposes an assessment framework to support the integrated economic and social impact assessment of sustainable investments aimed at improving physical and socio-economic wellbeing. The framework is demonstrated in two case studies: new construction and renovation investments in affordable housing and social impact investment in sustainable development. The investments in the case studies are evaluated, selected and prioritized not only in terms of money but also with regard to sustainability, social acceptability and their overall impact on society, as a whole. The results indicate that a systematic integrated assessment of monetary and non-monetary factors can be successfully combined with the sustainable development decisions.

  20. An integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of electricity generation in Turkey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Atilgan, Burcin; Azapagic, Adisa

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents for the first time an integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in Turkey, considering environmental, economic and social aspects. Twenty life cycle sustainability indicators (11 environmental, three economic and six social) are used to evaluate the current electricity options. Geothermal power is the best option for six environmental impacts but it has the highest capital costs. Small reservoir and run-of-river power has the lowest global warming potential while large reservoir is best for the depletion of elements and fossil resources, and acidification. It also has the lowest levelised costs, worker injuries and fatalities but provides the lowest life cycle employment opportunities. Gas power has the lowest capital costs but it provides the lowest direct employment and has the highest levelised costs and ozone layer depletion. Given these trade-offs, a multi-criteria decision analysis has been carried out to identify the most sustainable options assuming different stakeholder preferences. For all the preferences considered, hydropower is the most sustainable option for Turkey, followed by geothermal and wind electricity. This work demonstrates the importance for energy policy of an integrated life cycle sustainability assessment and how tensions between different aspects can be reconciled to identify win-win solutions. - Highlights: •First integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in Turkey. •11 environmental, three economic and six social sustainability indicators estimated. •Multi-criteria decision analysis carried out to identify most sustainable options. •Hydro is the most sustainable option for Turkey, followed by geothermal and wind. •This work demonstrates how tensions among sustainability aspects can be reconciled.

  1. Sustainability Assessment of a Biorefinery Complex in Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pariyapat Nilsalab

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a biorefinery complex in Thailand was assessed vis-à-vis sustainability. The complex studied includes plantations of sugarcane and a biorefinery system composed of several units including, a sugar mill, power plant, ethanol factory and fertilizer plant. The assessment aimed at evaluating the environmental and socio-economic implications relating to molasses-based ethanol production and use, and maximized utilization of the biomass materials produced as part of the biorefinery complex. Global warming potential, human development index and total value added are the three indicators that were selected to perform the assessment. The results obtained revealed that the maximization of biomass utilization at the level of the biorefinery complex provide greenhouse gases emissions reduction benefits, enhanced living conditions for sugarcane farmers and employees of the biorefinery, and economic benefits, particularly with regard to profit and income generation. These results could serve as a first step to further improve and design indicators for sustainability assessment of biomass utilization.

  2. Conceptualizing sustainable development. An assessment methodology connecting values, knowledge, worldviews and scenarios

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Vries, Bert J.M.; Petersen, Arthur C.

    2009-01-01

    Sustainability science poses severe challenges to classical disciplinary science. To bring the perspectives of diverse disciplines together in a meaningful way, we describe a novel methodology for sustainability assessment of a particular social-ecological system, or country. Starting point is that a sustainability assessment should investigate the ability to continue and develop a desirable way of living vis-a-vis later generations and life elsewhere on the planet. Evidently, people hold different values and beliefs about the way societies sustain quality of life for their members. The first step, therefore, is to analyze people's value orientations and the way in which they interpret sustainability problems i.e. their beliefs. The next step is to translate the resulting worldviews into model-based narratives, i.e. scenarios. The qualitative and quantitative outcomes are then investigated in terms of associated risks and opportunities and robustness of policy options. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) has followed this methodology, using extensive surveys among the Dutch population. In its First Sustainability Outlook (2004), the resulting archetypical worldviews became the basis for four different scenarios for policy analysis, with emphases on the domains of transport, energy and food. The goal of the agency's Sustainability Outlooks is to show that choices are inevitable in policy making for sustainable development, to indicate which positive and negative impacts one can expect of these choices (trade-offs), and to identify options that may be robust under several worldviews. The conceptualization proposed here is both clear and applicable in practical sustainability assessments for policy making. (author)

  3. Environmental Justice and Sustainability Impact Assessment: In Search of Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts Caused by Coal Mining in Inner Mongolia, China

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Lee; Liu, Jie; Zhang, Zhenguo

    2014-01-01

    The Chinese government adopted more specific and stringent environmental impact assessment (EIA) guidelines in 2011, soon after the widespread ethnic protests against coal mining in Inner Mongolia. However, our research suggests that the root of the ethnic tension is a sustainability problem, in addition to environmental issues. In particular, the Mongolians do not feel they have benefited from the mining of their resources. Existing environmental assessment tools are inadequate to address su...

  4. Environmental impact assessment screening tool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-05-01

    An environmental assessment and impact planning software, SCREENER, was tested at a pilot project at the Cameco site (Port Hope). SCREENER was used to screen the impacts of a new construction project in accordance with the process and reporting requirements laid out in the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. The software test concentrated on the activities that are directly involved with the structure construction and site preparation activities. In addition, a two and one half day training course was given to three AECB staff using the test case as a hands on example. The conclusion of this project is that an automated tool such as SCREENER (or Calyx, the new generation of environmental assessment tools from ESSA Software Ltd.), will help the AECB to standardize the approach to environmental assessment, assist in project planning, and save resources in the screening process. The new approach could allow to allocate AECB limited resources to the detailed assessments required for maximum impact activities. 2 figs. 7 refs.

  5. Environmental impact assessment screening tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-05-01

    An environmental assessment and impact planning software, SCREENER, was tested at a pilot project at the Cameco site (Port Hope). SCREENER was used to screen the impacts of a new construction project in accordance with the process and reporting requirements laid out in the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. The software test concentrated on the activities that are directly involved with the structure construction and site preparation activities. In addition, a two and one half day training course was given to three AECB staff using the test case as a hands on example. The conclusion of this project is that an automated tool such as SCREENER (or Calyx, the new generation of environmental assessment tools from ESSA Software Ltd.), will help the AECB to standardize the approach to environmental assessment, assist in project planning, and save resources in the screening process. The new approach could allow to allocate AECB limited resources to the detailed assessments required for maximum impact activities

  6. Assessment of the contribution of sustainability indicators to sustainable development: a novel approach using fuzzy set theory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cornelissen, A.M.G.; Berg, van den J.; Koops, W.J.; Grossman, M.; Udo, H.M.J.

    2001-01-01

    As a consequence of the impact of sustainability on agricultural production systems, a standardized framework to monitor sustainable development would have great practical utility. The objective of this paper is to introduce fuzzy set theory and develop fuzzy mathematical models to assess

  7. Towards an Integrated Model for Developing Sustainable Assessment Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fastre, Greet M. J.; van der Klink, Marcel R.; Sluijsmans, Dominique; van Merrienboer, Jeroen J. G.

    2013-01-01

    One of the goals of current education is to ensure that graduates can act as independent lifelong learners. Graduates need to be able to assess their own learning and interpret assessment results. The central question in this article is how to acquire sustainable assessment skills, enabling students to assess their performance and learning…

  8. Environmental Tools and Radiological Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    This presentation details two tools (SADA and FRAMES) available for use in environmental assessments of chemicals that can also be used for radiological assessments of the environment. Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance (SADA) is a Windows freeware program that incorporate...

  9. Sustainability on the urban scale: Proposal of a structure of indicators for the Spanish context

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Braulio-Gonzalo, Marta, E-mail: braulio@uji.es; Bovea, María Dolores, E-mail: bovea@uji.es; Ruá, María José, E-mail: rua@uji.es

    2015-07-15

    Some efforts to assess sustainability on the urban scale have been made and different tools for measuring the impact on and caused by cities have emerged. However, the sustainability concept varies from region to region, and indicators to measure it should be suitable for the context-specific conditions of the region under study. After doing a comprehensive review of the indicators included in 13 tools developed to assess urban sustainability of cities, this article proposes a new structure of indicators adapted to a Mediterranean city in Spain. The proposed structure is based on a two-level scheme that consists in 14 categories and 63 subcategories, which agglutinate urban sustainability indicators according to their purpose. This structure suggests a set of comprehensible qualitative and quantitative indicators that are easily applicable on neighbourhood or city scales. Given the similar features of Mediterranean countries in terms of environmental and socio-economic aspects, the proposed structure could be extrapolated to other countries with climatic and cultural similarities. Otherwise, the system is a useful tool in the decision-making process to help the different stakeholders involved in new urban developments and regeneration projects in existing neighbourhoods, such as developers, urban planners and public administrations. - Highlights: • Comprehensive review of 13 urban sustainability assessment tools • Proposal of a two-level structure to cluster urban sustainability indicators • Inclusion of sustainability criteria for urban planning projects and interventions.

  10. Sustainability on the urban scale: Proposal of a structure of indicators for the Spanish context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braulio-Gonzalo, Marta; Bovea, María Dolores; Ruá, María José

    2015-01-01

    Some efforts to assess sustainability on the urban scale have been made and different tools for measuring the impact on and caused by cities have emerged. However, the sustainability concept varies from region to region, and indicators to measure it should be suitable for the context-specific conditions of the region under study. After doing a comprehensive review of the indicators included in 13 tools developed to assess urban sustainability of cities, this article proposes a new structure of indicators adapted to a Mediterranean city in Spain. The proposed structure is based on a two-level scheme that consists in 14 categories and 63 subcategories, which agglutinate urban sustainability indicators according to their purpose. This structure suggests a set of comprehensible qualitative and quantitative indicators that are easily applicable on neighbourhood or city scales. Given the similar features of Mediterranean countries in terms of environmental and socio-economic aspects, the proposed structure could be extrapolated to other countries with climatic and cultural similarities. Otherwise, the system is a useful tool in the decision-making process to help the different stakeholders involved in new urban developments and regeneration projects in existing neighbourhoods, such as developers, urban planners and public administrations. - Highlights: • Comprehensive review of 13 urban sustainability assessment tools • Proposal of a two-level structure to cluster urban sustainability indicators • Inclusion of sustainability criteria for urban planning projects and interventions

  11. Holistic Sustainability Assessment of Agricultural Rainwater Harvesting

    Science.gov (United States)

    We present a methodology for holistic sustainability assessment of green infrastructure, applied to agricultural rainwater harvesting (RWH) in the Albemarle-Pamlico river basin. It builds upon prior work in the region through the use of detailed, crop-level management information...

  12. ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI - AN ESSENTIAL TOOL TO SUSTAINABLE VINEYARD DEVELOPMENT: A REVIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gheorghe Cristian Popescu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Grapevine is one of the most important horticultural perennial crops grown in many countries from worldwide. In this paper, we review the global benefits of arbuscular mycorrhiza application for grapevine production and the impact of viticultural practices for these natural microorganisms to establish symbiotic associations with vine roots. This review aims to provide a brief overview of the status of and to outline the most important application and effects of AMF in viticulture in order to increase the sustainability of vineyards. Viticulture has to adapt to new challenges of pest and chemicals fertilizers management, climate change, global urbanization, land erosions, increasing droughts, world population growth and others factors that can affect the sustainability of viticultural production systems. One of eco-friendly approaches is to use the application of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF. Response of grapevine to AMF application demonstrated a lot of benefits for viticultural ecosystems. Technologies on sustainable agriculture and conservation of ecosystems vineyards may consider arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi as biofertilizers. Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi could be an effective tool for improving the agro-enviromental perfomance in viticultural farms.

  13. Systemic Assessment as a New Tool for Assessing Students ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Systemic Assessment as a New Tool for Assessing Students Learning in Chemistry using SATL Methods: Systemic Matching, Systemic Synthesis, Systemic Analysis, Systemic Synthetic – Analytic, as Systemic Question Types.

  14. The health-nutrition dimension: a methodological approach to assess the nutritional sustainability of typical agro-food products and the Mediterranean diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azzini, Elena; Maiani, Giuseppe; Turrini, Aida; Intorre, Federica; Lo Feudo, Gabriella; Capone, Roberto; Bottalico, Francesco; El Bilali, Hamid; Polito, Angela

    2018-01-09

    The aim of this paper is to provide a methodological approach to evaluate the nutritional sustainability of typical agro-food products, representing Mediterranean eating habits and included in the Mediterranean food pyramid. For each group of foods, suitable and easily measurable indicators were identified. Two macro-indicators were used to assess the nutritional sustainability of each product. The first macro-indicator, called 'business distinctiveness', takes into account the application of different regulations and standards regarding quality, safety and traceability as well as the origin of raw materials. The second macro-indicator, called 'nutritional quality', assesses product nutritional quality taking into account the contents of key compounds including micronutrients and bioactive phytochemicals. For each indicator a 0-10 scoring system was set up, with scores from 0 (unsustainable) to 10 (very sustainable), with 5 as a sustainability benchmark value. The benchmark value is the value from which a product can be considered sustainable. A simple formula was developed to produce a sustainability index. The proposed sustainability index could be considered a useful tool to describe both the qualitative and quantitative value of micronutrients and bioactive phytochemical present in foodstuffs. This methodological approach can also be applied beyond the Mediterranean, to food products in other world regions. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

  15. The role of knowledge management tools in supporting sustainable forest management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vacik, H.; Torresan, C.; Hujala, T.; Khadka, C.; Reynolds, K.

    2013-07-01

    Aim of study: Knowledge Management (KM) tools facilitate the implementation of knowledge processes by identifying, creating, structuring, and sharing knowledge through use of information technology in order to improve decision-making. In this contribution, we review the way in which KM tools and techniques are used in forest management, and categorize a selected set of them according to their contribution to support decision makers in the phases of problem identification, problem modelling, and problem solving. Material and methods: Existing examples of cognitive mapping tools, web portals, work flow systems, best practices, and expert systems as well as intelligent agents are screened for their applicability and use in the context of decision support for sustainable forest management. Evidence from scientific literature and case studies is utilized to evaluate the contribution of the different KM tools to support problem identification, problem modelling, and problem solving. Main results: Intelligent agents, expert systems and cognitive maps support all phases of the forest planning process strongly. Web based tools have good potential to support participatory forest planning. Based on the needs of forest management decision support and the thus-far under utilized capabilities of KM tools it becomes evident that future decision analysis will have to consider the use of KM more intensively. Research highlights: As the problem-solving process is the vehicle for connecting both knowledge and decision making performance, the next generation of DSS will need to better encapsulate practices that enhance and promote knowledge management. Web based tools will substitute desktop applications by utilizing various model libraries on the internet. (Author)

  16. Biobutanol as a Potential Sustainable Biofuel - Assessment of Lignocellulosic and Waste-based Feedstocks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johanna Niemisto

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces the production process of an alternative transportation biofuel, biobutanol. European legislation concerning biofuels and their sustainability criteria are also briefly described. The need to develop methods to ensure more sustainable and efficient biofuel production processes is recommended. In addition, the assessment method to evaluate the sustainability of biofuels is considered and sustainability assessment of selected feedstocks for biobutanol production is performed. The benefits and potential of using lignocellulosic and waste materials as feedstocks in the biobutanol production process are also discussed. Sustainability assessment in this paper includes cultivation, harvest/collection and upstream processing (pretreatment of feedstocks, comparing four main biomass sources: food crops, non-food crops, food industry by-product and wood-based biomass. It can be concluded that the highest sustainable potential in Finland is when biobutanol production is integrated into pulp & paper mills.

  17. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA AS A TOOL FOR BUSINESS STRATEGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodrigo Salvador

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The growing concern about the development of sustainable production systems leads organizations to seek the support of management tools for decision-making. Considering the whole life cycle of the product, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA has an important role in this scenario. The objective of this paper is to present, through the theoretical discussion, the role of LCA in strategic planning of the organization. It showed the enormous potential for decision making on the environmental aspect, but also the critical factor in the development shares in the competitive context. The use of LCA can reduce the environmental impacts of the system under study (primary purpose and guide the range of advantages in the fields of marketing, legislation and environmental labeling, competitive strategies, efficiency use of resources and others.

  18. Global Energy Assessment. Toward a Sustainable Future

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johansson, T B; Nakicenovic, N; Patwardhan, A; Gomez-Echeverri, L [eds.

    2012-11-01

    The Global Energy Assessment (GEA) brings together over 300 international researchers to provide an independent, scientifically based, integrated and policy-relevant analysis of current and emerging energy issues and options. It has been peer-reviewed anonymously by an additional 200 international experts. The GEA assesses the major global challenges for sustainable development and their linkages to energy; the technologies and resources available for providing energy services; future energy systems that address the major challenges; and the policies and other measures that are needed to realize transformational change toward sustainable energy futures. The GEA goes beyond existing studies on energy issues by presenting a comprehensive and integrated analysis of energy challenges, opportunities and strategies, for developing, industrialized and emerging economies. This volume is an invaluable resource for energy specialists and technologists in all sectors (academia, industry and government) as well as policymakers, development economists and practitioners in international organizations and national governments.

  19. Urban Landscape Metrics for Climate and Sustainability Assessments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cochran, F. V.; Brunsell, N. A.

    2014-12-01

    To test metrics for rapid identification of urban classes and sustainable urban forms, we examine the configuration of urban landscapes using satellite remote sensing data. We adopt principles from landscape ecology and urban planning to evaluate urban heterogeneity and design themes that may constitute more sustainable urban forms, including compactness (connectivity), density, mixed land uses, diversity, and greening. Using 2-D wavelet and multi-resolution analysis, landscape metrics, and satellite-derived indices of vegetation fraction and impervious surface, the spatial variability of Landsat and MODIS data from metropolitan areas of Manaus and São Paulo, Brazil are investigated. Landscape metrics for density, connectivity, and diversity, like the Shannon Diversity Index, are used to assess the diversity of urban buildings, geographic extent, and connectedness. Rapid detection of urban classes for low density, medium density, high density, and tall building district at the 1-km scale are needed for use in climate models. If the complexity of finer-scale urban characteristics can be related to the neighborhood scale both climate and sustainability assessments may be more attainable across urban areas.

  20. From life cycle assessment to sustainable production: Status and perspectives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Jeswiet, Jack; Alting, Leo

    2005-01-01

    to the tools for design for disassembly. Life Cycle Engineering is defined, and a systematic hierarchy is presented for the different levels at which environmental impacts from industry can be addressed by the engineer in order to improve the eco-efficiency of the industry. The role of industry in meeting...... the sustainability challenge to our societies is discussed, and it is concluded that industry must include not only the eco-efficiency but also the product's environmental justification and the company ethics in a life cycle perspective in order to become sustainable. In the outlook it is concluded that current...

  1. Using System Inflammatory Response Syndrome as an Easy-to-Implement, Sustainable, and Automated Tool for All-Cause Deterioration Among Medical Inpatients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fogerty, Robert L; Sussman, L Scott; Kenyon, Kathleen; Li, Fangyong; Sukumar, Nitin; Kliger, Alan S; Acker, Kurt; Sankey, Christopher

    2018-01-23

    Clinical deterioration detection among adult inpatients is known to be suboptimal, and many electronic health record tools have been developed to help identify these patients. Many of these tools are focused on sepsis spectrum disorders, but the evolution of the definition of sepsis is moving toward increased specificity, which may make automated detection of clinical deterioration from nonsepsis-related conditions less likely. The objectives of this study were to develop and to examine the use of a low-cost, highly sustainable deterioration detection tool based on systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria. Using existing resources, a SIRS-based electronic health record monitoring and intervention tool was developed with a focus on ease of implementation and high sustainability. This tool was used to monitor 15,739 adult inpatients in real time during their admission. The SIRS-based tool, created with focus on ease of implementation and high sustainability, identified patients with higher risk of clinical deterioration. The project was rapidly deployed for a 4-month period at a 900-bed campus of an academic medical center with minimal additional resources required. Whereas the definition of sepsis moves away from SIRS, SIRS-based criteria may still have clinical benefit as an easy-to-automate detection tool for all-cause clinical deterioration among medical inpatients.

  2. Sustainability assessment of nuclear power: Discourse analysis of IAEA and IPCC frameworks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verbruggen, Aviel; Laes, Erik

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Sustainability assessments (SAs) are methodologically precarious. • Discourse analysis reveals how the meaning of sustainability is constructed in SAs. • Discourse analysis is applied on the SAs of nuclear power of IAEA and IPCC. • For IAEA ‘sustainable’ equals ‘complying with best international practices’. • The IAEA framework largely inspires IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. - Abstract: Sustainability assessments (SAs) are methodologically precarious. Value-based judgments inevitably play a role in setting the scope of the SA, selecting assessment criteria and indicators, collecting adequate data, and developing and using models of considered systems. Discourse analysis can reveal how the meaning and operationalization of sustainability is constructed in and through SAs. Our discourse-analytical approach investigates how sustainability is channeled from ‘manifest image’ (broad but shallow), to ‘vision’, to ‘policy targets’ (specific and practical). This approach is applied on the SA frameworks used by IAEA and IPCC to assess the sustainability of the nuclear power option. The essentially problematic conclusion is that both SA frameworks are constructed in order to obtain answers that do not conflict with prior commitments adopted by the two institutes. For IAEA ‘sustainable’ equals ‘complying with best international practices and standards’. IPCC wrestles with its mission as a provider of “policy-relevant and yet policy-neutral, never policy-prescriptive” knowledge to decision-makers. IPCC avoids the assessment of different visions on the role of nuclear power in a low-carbon energy future, and skips most literature critical of nuclear power. The IAEA framework largely inspires IPCC AR5

  3. Proper Tools Helping Sustainability in Logistics Practice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alrik Stelling; Nico Lamers; Gerard Vos; Reinder Pieters; Stef Weijers; Erik Koekebakker

    2009-01-01

    Proliferation on sustainability is a must, for quite a lot of companies. Logisticians could use models in attaining sustainability, or at least in understanding its potentials. A sustainable business plan must be based on a clear vision and must be underpinned thoroughly, in order to get the board

  4. Walking the sustainability assessment talk - Progressing the practice of environmental impact assessment (EIA)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus, E-mail: a.morrison-saunders@murdoch.edu.au [School of Environmental Sciences and Development, North West University (South Africa); School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University (Australia); Retief, Francois [School of Environmental Sciences and Development, North West University (South Africa)

    2012-09-15

    Internationally there is a growing demand for environmental impact assessment (EIA) to move away from its traditional focus towards delivering more sustainable outcomes. South Africa is an example of a country where the EIA system seems to have embraced the concept of sustainability. In this paper we test the existing objectives for EIA in South Africa against sustainability principles and then critique the effectiveness of EIA practice in delivering these objectives. The outcome of the research suggests that notwithstanding a strong and explicit sustainability mandate through policy and legislation, the effectiveness of EIA practice falls far short of what is mandated. This shows that further legislative reform is not required to improve effectiveness but rather a focus on changing the behaviour of individual professionals. We conclude by inviting further debate on what exactly practitioners can do to give effect to sustainability in EIA practice.

  5. Sustainability of green jobs in Portugal: a methodological approach using occupational health indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreira, Sandra; Vasconcelos, Lia; Silva Santos, Carlos

    2017-09-28

    This study aimed to develop a methodological tool to analyze and monitor the green jobs in the context of Occupational Health and Safety. A literature review in combination with an investigation of Occupational Health Indicators was performed. The resulting tool of Occupational Health Indicators was based on the existing information of "Single Report" and was validated by national's experts. The tool brings together 40 Occupational Health Indicators in four key fields established by World Health Organization in their conceptual framework "Health indicators of sustainable jobs." The tool proposed allows for assessing if the green jobs enabled to follow the principles and requirements of Occupational Health Indicators and if these jobs are as good for the environment as for the workers' health, so if they can be considered quality jobs. This shows that Occupational Health Indicators are indispensable for the assessment of the sustainability of green jobs and should be taken into account in the definition and evaluation of policies and strategies of the sustainable development.

  6. Sustainability assessment: dressing up SEA - experiences from South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Govender, K

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available as Sustainability Assessment and how Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been conceptualised and promoted in South Africa. This paper therefore investigates the following questions: Could the South African concept and application of SEA be what is required...

  7. Tools for territorial sustainability policies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D'Amico, Flaviano; Buleandra, Mirian Mihai; Velardi, Maria; Buleandra, Mihaela; Tanase, Ion

    2006-01-01

    Industrial ecology and sustainable development share the concept of territory. Two models of territorial development are proposed: Eco industrial Parks and Italian Districts. Both models use industrial-ecology concepts and strategies, but both are still far from incorporating sustainability. This ideal could be pursed by more and better networking, in the first case to strengthen links with the local community, and in the second to increase financial resources. The Masurin project, co-funded by the EU, provides a response to this lack. This article describes Batter (one of the Masurin tolls) and its application to the city of Venice) [it

  8. Multidimensional sustainability assessment of solar products : Educating engineers and designers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Flipsen, S.F.J.; Bakker, C.A.; Verwaal, M.

    2015-01-01

    Since 2008 the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at the TU Delft hosts the minor Sustainable Design Engineering. The minor has been highly useful as a platform to pilot new ways of teaching engineering for sustainable development. Instead of having students make life cycle assessments and

  9. Framework of Sustainability Assessment (FSA) method for manufacturing industry in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soliha Sahimi, Nur; Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina

    2018-04-01

    In recent years, our planet faced massive social, environmental and economic challenges. Moreover, Environmental Democracy Index (EDI) published that Malaysia has been ranked as the second worst environmental democracy among 70 countries in May 2015. This is due to lack of participation in sustainability compliance and less awareness on sustainability by Malaysia’s business partners. By combating and achieving these, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defines global priorities and inspirations through Agenda 2030 that recognize by United Nation. This paper attempts to propose Framework Sustainability Assessment (FSA) to assess sustainability for the various sector in Malaysia. This framework will give an overview to reduce the noise from wide data collection to a single element. Lastly, it will integrate the current performance with the linkage of the SDGs and the sustainability elements by dividing into three phase which is baselining, clustering and correlation. Now it is time for business to take action especially every sector or industry in Malaysia and it will improve the awareness and enhance Environmental Democracy Index to a better rank in future.

  10. Micropropagation as a tool for sustainable utilization and conservation of populations of Rhodophyta

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nair S. Yokoya

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Micropropagation as a tool for sustainable utilization and conservation of populations of Rhodophyta. Micropropagation, or in vitro clonal propagation, allows the production of a large number of individuals within a short period. These micropropagated clones could be used as seedlings for seaweed cultivation, avoiding collection from natural beds. Consequently, there has been an increasing interest in micropropagation as a tool for preservation of populations of marine red algae on the Brazilian coast and for the sustainable production of raw material for commercial exploration. This paper reviews the literature on tissue culture and micropropagation of red algae published during the three last decades. Based on the literature, we can conclude that the regeneration process is complex and diversified in different species of Rhodophyta and that the success of micropropagation depends on this process. Species belonging to the orders Bangiales and Ceramiales showed low potential for regeneration, while Gigartinales species showed the highest potential for regeneration. Micropropagation of commercially important red algae is fundamental for the conservation of natural populations by providing seedlings for cultivation and for germplasm collections, both for the conservation of genetic diversity and for biotechnological applications.

  11. The System Dynamics Model User Sustainability Explorer (SD-MUSE) user interface: a user-friendly tool for interpreting system dynamic models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sustainability-based decision making is a challenging process that requires balancing trade-offs among social, economic, and environmental components. System Dynamic (SD) models can be useful tools to inform sustainability-based decision making because they provide a holistic co...

  12. Hydropower and Sustainable Development: A Journey

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schumann, Kristin; Saili, Lau; Taylor, Richard; Abdel-Malek, Refaat

    2010-09-15

    Hydropower produces 16% of our electricity; it is one of the world's major renewable energy resources. It is playing an important role in enabling communities around the world to meet their power and water needs. The pace of hydropower growth has been rapid but sometimes with little guidance to ensure development is based on sustainability principles. Some of the most promising initiatives to fill the void, such as the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol, have been driven by the hydropower sector itself. Efforts focus on carrying forward this momentum to obtain a tool for hydropower sustainability agreed across sectors and stakeholders.

  13. Traditional formwork system sustainability performance: experts’ opinion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taher Al-ashwal, Mohammed; Abdullah, Redzuan; Zakaria, Rozana

    2017-11-01

    The traditional formwork system is one of the commonly used systems in concrete construction. It is considered as one of the least observed activities in term of sustainability performance. In this paper, the sustainability performance of the traditional formwork has been assessed by using a multi-criteria assessment tool to facilitate the decision on the sustainability performance measurement. A quantitative five Likert scale survey study using judgemental sampling is employed in this study. A sample of 93 of engineering construction experts, with different fields including contractors, developers, and consultants in the Malaysian context has made the body of the collected primary data. The results show variety in the distribution of the respondents’ working experience. The sustainability performance is considered moderately sustainable by the experts with only given 40.24 % of the overall total score for the three sustainable categories namely environmental, social and economic. Despite the finding that shows that the economic pillar was rated as the most sustainable aspect in comparison to the environmental and social pillars the traditional formwork system sustainability still needs enhancement. Further incorporation of the social and environmental pillars into the concrete construction the sustainability performance of traditional formwork system could be improved.

  14. Prevention of MSD by means of ergonomic risk assessment (tools) in all phases of the vehicle development process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karlheinz, Schaub; Michaela, Kugler; Max, Bierwirth; Andrea, Sinn-Behrendt; Ralph, Bruder

    2012-01-01

    In industrialized countries musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) play an import role and are often responsible for almost one third of the total sick leave. The changes in the demographic profiles, i.e. aging work forces might even worsen this situation in the future. For a highly productive and sustainable use of human resources in production systems, ergonomics offers high potentials. In the recent years the authors have developed several ergonomic risk assessment tools, especially for the use in automotive industries. These methods may be used during the planning phases in the Tech Centers as well as during the production phase at shop floor level. The tools might also be used for a standardized communication in between the Tech Center and the plants to improve the effects of "lessons learned" for the design and layout of workstations and processes and the optimization of vehicle components. This paper describes suitable risk assessment tools as well as the integration of these tools into the vehicle development process. It introduces a comprehensive management approach for the integration of ergonomics into the management of production systems.

  15. The role of knowledge management tools in supporting sustainable forest management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Vacik

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Aim of study: Knowledge Management (KM tools facilitate the implementation of knowledge processes by identifying, creating, structuring, and sharing knowledge through use of information technology in order to improve decision-making. In this contribution, we review the way in which KM tools and techniques are used in forest management, and categorize a selected set of them according to their contribution to support decision makers in the phases of problem identification, problem modelling, and problem solving.Material and Methods: Existing examples of cognitive mapping tools, web portals, workflow systems, best practices, and expert systems as well as intelligent agents are screened for their applicability and use in the context of decision support for sustainable forest management. Evidence from scientific literature and case studies is utilized to evaluate the contribution of the different KM tools to support problem identification, problem modelling, and problem solving.Main results: Intelligent agents, expert systems and cognitive maps support all phases of the forest planning process strongly. Web based tools have good potential to support participatory forest planning. Based on the needs of forest management decision support and the thus-far underutilized capabilities of KM tools it becomes evident that future decision analysis will have to consider the use of KM more intensively. Research highlights: As the problem-solving process is the vehicle for connecting both knowledge and decision making performance, the next generation of DSS will need to better encapsulate practices that enhance and promote knowledge management. Web based tools will substitute desktop applications by utilizing various model libraries on the internet.Keywords: best practices; cognitive mapping; expert systems; intelligent agents; web portals; workflow systems; Decision Support Systems. 

  16. Process optimization on ambitious sustainability goals through the framework of DGNB

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Espenhein, Kasper; Jensen, Lotte Bjerregaard

    2017-01-01

    The need for designing buildings with a sustainable approach is higher than ever before, but using building sustainability assessment tools, such as DGNB, is a comprehensive and complex activity. This has led to attempts to optimize the tangibility for usage of sustainability assessment tools...... the use of Grounded Theory. The findings expose that the project brief must define a healthy framework for both collaboration and projectmanagement, and a specific two-step approach to obtain the certification goal should be performed. The size of the criteria determined how it should be addressed...... in the project. DGNB was also found to have an impact on the architectural quality leading to certain architectural traits. An important finding was that it is paramount that all stakeholders take an integrated holistic approach when applying DGNB....

  17. Sustainable Disruptions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Friis, Silje Alberthe Kamille; Kjær, Lykke Bloch

    2016-01-01

    Since 2012 the Sustainable Disruptions (SD) project at the Laboratory for Sustainability at Design School Kolding (DK) has developed and tested a set of design thinking tools, specifically targeting the barriers to economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable business development....... The tools have been applied in practice in collaboration with 11 small and medium sized companies (SMEs). The study investigates these approaches to further understand how design thinking can contribute to sustainable transition in a business context. The study and the findings are relevant to organizations...... invested in the issue of sustainable business development, in particular the leaders and employees of SMEs, but also to design education seeking new ways to consciously handle and teach the complexity inherent in sustainable transformation. Findings indicate that the SD design thinking approach contributes...

  18. Communicating Sustainability: An Operational Model for Evaluating Corporate Websites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfonso Siano

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The interest in corporate sustainability has increased rapidly in recent years and has encouraged organizations to adopt appropriate digital communication strategies, in which the corporate website plays a key role. Despite this growing attention in both the academic and business communities, models for the analysis and evaluation of online sustainability communication have not been developed to date. This paper aims to develop an operational model to identify and assess the requirements of sustainability communication in corporate websites. It has been developed from a literature review on corporate sustainability and digital communication and the analysis of the websites of the organizations included in the “Global CSR RepTrak 2015” by the Reputation Institute. The model identifies the core dimensions of online sustainability communication (orientation, structure, ergonomics, content—OSEC, sub-dimensions, such as stakeholder engagement and governance tools, communication principles, and measurable items (e.g., presence of the materiality matrix, interactive graphs. A pilot study on the websites of the energy and utilities companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index 2015 confirms the applicability of the OSEC framework. Thus, the model can provide managers and digital communication consultants with an operational tool that is useful for developing an industry ranking and assessing the best practices. The model can also help practitioners to identify corrective actions in the critical areas of digital sustainability communication and avoid greenwashing.

  19. Areva and sustainable development 2003 summary report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    This document is a summary of the 2003 report on the sustainable development of the world nuclear industry leader, Areva. The 2002 report helped establish the status of Areva entities sustainable development performance and identity areas for improvement. The 2003 report presents the continuous improvement process, including accomplishments and projects initiated as well as difficulties encountered and ground yet to be covered. Two new tools support this process. The Areva Way self assessment model allows each unit to assess its own performance against the sustainable development commitments and the Areva values charter lays down ethical principles of action and rules of conduct. Over the coming months, the Group will devote considerable effort to extending the sustainable development initiative to the activities resulting from the acquisition of Alstom Transmission and Distribution operations in early 2004. (A.L.B.)

  20. Local Sustainable Energy Assessment of Uttarakhand and West Bengal

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Jan; Lund, Søren

    The publication reports a sustainable energy assessment at the local project site of the HighARCS project in Nainital, Uttarakhand and Buxa, West Bengal, India. The assessment has been made as a contribution to the elaboration of biodiversity conservation and livelihoods improvement action plans...

  1. Evaluating an holistic assessment tool for palliative care practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McIlfatrick, Sonja; Hasson, Felicity

    2014-04-01

    To evaluate a holistic assessment tool for palliative care practice. This included identifying patients' needs using the holistic tool and exploring the usability, applicability and barriers and facilitators towards implementation in practice. The delivery of effective holistic palliative care requires a careful assessment of the patients' needs and circumstances. Whilst holistic assessment of palliative care needs is advocated, questions exist around the appropriateness of tools to assist this process. Mixed-method research design. Data collection involved an analysis of piloted holistic assessments undertaken using the tool (n = 132) and two focus groups with healthcare professionals (n = 10). The tool enabled health professionals to identify and gain an understanding of the needs of the patients, specifically in relation to the physical healthcare needs. Differences, however, between the analysis of the tool documentation and focus group responses were identified in particular areas. For example, 59 (68·8%) respondents had discussed preferred priorities of care with the patient; however, focus group comments revealed participants had concerns around this. Similarly, whilst over half of responses (n = 50; 57·5%) had considered a prognostic clinical indicator for the patient as an action, focus group results indicated questions around healthcare professionals' knowledge and perceived usefulness of such indicators. Positive aspects of the tool were that it was easy to understand and captured the needs of individuals. Negative aspects of the tool were that it was repetitive and the experience of assessors required consideration. The tool evaluation identified questions regarding holistic assessment in palliative care practice and the importance of communication. A holistic assessment tool can support patient assessment and identification of patients' needs in the 'real world' of palliative care practice, but the 'tool' is merely an aid to assist professionals to

  2. Advancing Integrated Systems Modelling Framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Halog

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The need for integrated methodological framework for sustainability assessment has been widely discussed and is urgent due to increasingly complex environmental system problems. These problems have impacts on ecosystems and human well-being which represent a threat to economic performance of countries and corporations. Integrated assessment crosses issues; spans spatial and temporal scales; looks forward and backward; and incorporates multi-stakeholder inputs. This study aims to develop an integrated methodology by capitalizing the complementary strengths of different methods used by industrial ecologists and biophysical economists. The computational methodology proposed here is systems perspective, integrative, and holistic approach for sustainability assessment which attempts to link basic science and technology to policy formulation. The framework adopts life cycle thinking methods—LCA, LCC, and SLCA; stakeholders analysis supported by multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA; and dynamic system modelling. Following Pareto principle, the critical sustainability criteria, indicators and metrics (i.e., hotspots can be identified and further modelled using system dynamics or agent based modelling and improved by data envelopment analysis (DEA and sustainability network theory (SNT. The framework is being applied to development of biofuel supply chain networks. The framework can provide new ways of integrating knowledge across the divides between social and natural sciences as well as between critical and problem-solving research.

  3. Sustainable Development Factors in Pavement Life-Cycle: Highway/Airport Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peyman Babashamsi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability has gained as much importance as management in business. Sustainable pavement development as a business practice should involve making evaluations according to the triple bottom line in the pavement life-cycle. Despite the current approaches to evaluating the social as well as economic and environmental feasibility of pavement projects (involving highway and airport infrastructure, there has recently been a lack of consensus on a methodology to guarantee sustainability upon assessment and analysis during the pavement life-cycle. As sustainability is a complex issue, this study intends to further explore sustainability and elaborate on its meaning. The second step involves a general depiction of the major sustainability appraisal tools, namely cost-benefit analysis, life-cycle cost analysis, life-cycle assessment, multi-criteria decision-making, environmental impact assessment and social life-cycle assessment, and an explanation of their cons and pros. Subsequently, the article addresses the application of an organized methodology to highlight the main factors or concepts that should be applied in sustainable pavement development and, more specifically, in sustainable pavement management. In the final step, research recommendations toward sustainability are given. This study is aimed to assist decision-makers in pavement management to plan sustainability frameworks in accordance with probable boundaries and restrictions.

  4. Demonstration of Decision Support Tools for Sustainable Development - An Application on Alternative Fuels in the Greater Yellowstone-Teton Region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shropshire, D.E.; Cobb, D.A.; Worhach, P.; Jacobson, J.J.; Berrett, S.

    2000-12-30

    The Demonstration of Decision Support Tools for Sustainable Development project integrated the Bechtel/Nexant Industrial Materials Exchange Planner and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory System Dynamic models, demonstrating their capabilities on alternative fuel applications in the Greater Yellowstone-Teton Park system. The combined model, called the Dynamic Industrial Material Exchange, was used on selected test cases in the Greater Yellow Teton Parks region to evaluate economic, environmental, and social implications of alternative fuel applications, and identifying primary and secondary industries. The test cases included looking at compressed natural gas applications in Teton National Park and Jackson, Wyoming, and studying ethanol use in Yellowstone National Park and gateway cities in Montana. With further development, the system could be used to assist decision-makers (local government, planners, vehicle purchasers, and fuel suppliers) in selecting alternative fuels, vehicles, and developing AF infrastructures. The system could become a regional AF market assessment tool that could help decision-makers understand the behavior of the AF market and conditions in which the market would grow. Based on this high level market assessment, investors and decision-makers would become more knowledgeable of the AF market opportunity before developing detailed plans and preparing financial analysis.

  5. A method to assess social sustainability of capture fisheries: An application to a Norwegian trawler

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veldhuizen, L.J.L., E-mail: linda.veldhuizen@wur.nl [Animal Production Systems group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen (Netherlands); Berentsen, P.B.M. [Business Economics group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8130, 6700 EW Wageningen (Netherlands); Bokkers, E.A.M.; Boer, I.J.M. de [Animal Production Systems group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen (Netherlands)

    2015-07-15

    Social sustainability assessment of capture fisheries is, both in terms of method development and measurement, not well developed. The objective of this study, therefore, was to develop a method consisting of indicators and rubrics (i.e. categories that articulate levels of performance) to assess social sustainability of capture fisheries. This method was applied to a Norwegian trawler that targets cod and haddock in the northeast Atlantic. Based on previous research, 13 social sustainability issues were selected. To measure the state of these issues, 17 process and outcome indicators were determined. To interpret indicator values, rubrics were developed for each indicator, using standards set by international conventions or data retrieved from national statistics, industry agreements or scientific publications that explore rubric scales. The indicators and rubrics were subsequently used in a social sustainability assessment of a Norwegian trawler. This assessment indicated that overall, social sustainability of this trawler is relatively high, with high rubric scores, for example, for worker safety, provisions aboard for the crew and companies' salary levels. The assessment also indicated that the trawler could improve on healthy working environment, product freshness and fish welfare during capture. This application demonstrated that our method provides insight into social sustainability at the level of the vessel and can be used to identify potential room for improvement. This method is also promising for social sustainability assessment of other capture fisheries. - Highlights: • A method was developed for social sustainability assessment of capture fisheries. • This method entailed determining outcome and process indicators for important issues. • To interpret indicator values, a rubric was developed for each indicator. • Use of this method gives insight into social sustainability and improvement options. • This method is promising for social

  6. A method to assess social sustainability of capture fisheries: An application to a Norwegian trawler

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Veldhuizen, L.J.L.; Berentsen, P.B.M.; Bokkers, E.A.M.; Boer, I.J.M. de

    2015-01-01

    Social sustainability assessment of capture fisheries is, both in terms of method development and measurement, not well developed. The objective of this study, therefore, was to develop a method consisting of indicators and rubrics (i.e. categories that articulate levels of performance) to assess social sustainability of capture fisheries. This method was applied to a Norwegian trawler that targets cod and haddock in the northeast Atlantic. Based on previous research, 13 social sustainability issues were selected. To measure the state of these issues, 17 process and outcome indicators were determined. To interpret indicator values, rubrics were developed for each indicator, using standards set by international conventions or data retrieved from national statistics, industry agreements or scientific publications that explore rubric scales. The indicators and rubrics were subsequently used in a social sustainability assessment of a Norwegian trawler. This assessment indicated that overall, social sustainability of this trawler is relatively high, with high rubric scores, for example, for worker safety, provisions aboard for the crew and companies' salary levels. The assessment also indicated that the trawler could improve on healthy working environment, product freshness and fish welfare during capture. This application demonstrated that our method provides insight into social sustainability at the level of the vessel and can be used to identify potential room for improvement. This method is also promising for social sustainability assessment of other capture fisheries. - Highlights: • A method was developed for social sustainability assessment of capture fisheries. • This method entailed determining outcome and process indicators for important issues. • To interpret indicator values, a rubric was developed for each indicator. • Use of this method gives insight into social sustainability and improvement options. • This method is promising for social

  7. Sustainability Assessment of the Agricultural and Energy Systems of Senegal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyrke Gaudreau

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available To improve decision-making, sustainability-based approaches to assessment of options and undertakings demand that we move beyond narrowly defined considerations to address the full suite of requirements for progress towards sustainability. This paper reports on a sustainability assessment exercise that originally focused on burning agricultural residues, primarily peanut shells, for cooking applications in Senegal. The scope of assessment had to be expanded to address the agricultural and energy systems of Senegal, when closer examination revealed a complex set of energy and agricultural system interactions that could undermine the anticipated positive effects of initiatives centred primarily on peanut residue cookstoves. The case highlights the need to be open to expanding the scope of assessment to address underlying and/or unexpected issues that cannot be addressed appropriately at the project scale. In particular, the case illustrates how the assessment of an energy system may serve as an entry point into a deeper exploration of the context in which the energy system is embedded. The analysis also illustrates a situation in which different paths that may be followed, each with its own degree of uncertainty, path dependence, feasibility, fairness, cultural sensitivity, trade-off acceptability and possibilities for public judgement of overall desirability.

  8. Assessing the Role of College as a Sustainability Communication Channel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lertpratchya, Alisa P.; Besley, John C.; Zwickle, Adam; Takahashi, Bruno; Whitley, Cameron Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of higher education institution as a sustainability communication channel. The theory of planned behavior was used to examine the degree to which a student's tenure at a large university with active and visible sustainability initiatives is associated with changes in views about…

  9. Assessment of sustainable urban transport development based on entropy and unascertained measure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yancang; Yang, Jing; Shi, Huawang; Li, Yijie

    2017-01-01

    To find a more effective method for the assessment of sustainable urban transport development, the comprehensive assessment model of sustainable urban transport development was established based on the unascertained measure. On the basis of considering the factors influencing urban transport development, the comprehensive assessment indexes were selected, including urban economical development, transport demand, environment quality and energy consumption, and the assessment system of sustainable urban transport development was proposed. In view of different influencing factors of urban transport development, the index weight was calculated through the entropy weight coefficient method. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted according to the actual condition. Then, the grade was obtained by using the credible degree recognition criterion from which the urban transport development level can be determined. Finally, a comprehensive assessment method for urban transport development was introduced. The application practice showed that the method can be used reasonably and effectively for the comprehensive assessment of urban transport development.

  10. A proposal to measure absolute environmental sustainability in lifecycle assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjørn, Anders; Margni, Manuele; Roy, Pierre-Olivier

    2016-01-01

    sustainable are therefore increasingly important. Such absolute indicators exist, but suffer from shortcomings such as incomplete coverage of environmental issues, varying data quality and varying or insufficient spatial resolution. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that life cycle assessment (LCA...... in supporting decisions aimed at simultaneously reducing environmental impacts efficiently and maintaining or achieving environmental sustainability. We have demonstrated that LCA indicators can be modified from being relative to being absolute indicators of environmental sustainability. Further research should...

  11. Sustainability lessons from practice : How flow intensification can trigger sustainability and modular plant technology in EU projects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sundaram, S.; Wang, Q.; Karlisch, D.; Hessel, V.

    2015-01-01

    Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis are two prime tools that have been used to evaluate the sustainability of novel EU projects, which investigated new strategies to improve product yields and reduce costs, while ensuring a good ecological footprint and cost efficiency. These

  12. A sustainability assessment of the Hostětín cider house project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Labohý

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The article presents and assesses the Hostětín cider house – a sustainability oriented local economy project in the Czech Republic. The project is described in detail: its origin, development and operation, funding, and relationships with involved actors. The background of the sustainability indicators science and a comprehensive description of the project ena-bled the authors to propose complex indicators to assess sustainability of the project in relation to different kinds of capital according to Meadows. Sustainability characteristics are outlined with regards to the technology used, including energy resources, the apples used in the production process (which represent local cultural heritage, products or waste. Effects to the local economy are measured using the local multiplier effect indicator. The assessment suggests that the initial goals of the cider house project have been met and the project supports sustainable development.

  13. The role of social sustainability in building assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stender, Marie

    2018-01-01

    stakeholders. A fundamental question is whether and how social sustainability can be measured, assessed and certified in the construction or renewal of housing and neighbourhoods. In addition to physical and functional indicators, it is suggested that certification systems (e.g. the Deutsche Gesellschaft für...... neighbourhoods examines how social sustainability indicators could be integrated into the application of certification systems such as the DGNB and whether the certification system can be improved by integrating social and organizational aspects with the existing criteria for physical and functional layout...

  14. SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT APPROACHES AND REVITALIZATION TOOLS-ELECTRONIC (SMARTE): OVERVIEW AND DEMONSTRATION FOR FINAL PHASE 3 CONFERENCE

    Science.gov (United States)

    The U.S. contingent of the U.S.-German Bilateral Working Group is developing Sustainable Management Approaches and Revitalization Tools-electronic (SMARTe). SMARTe is a web-based, decision support system designed to assist stakeholders in developing and evaluating alternative reu...

  15. A methodology approach for analysis of sustainability indicators as a tool for decision making using fuzzy logic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quinhoneiro, Fernando Henrique Franchi

    2015-01-01

    The greatest challenge of this century is focused on sustainability, due to world population growth and consequently to the increased demand for resources such as water, food and energy. The main difficulty when discussing the issue of sustainable development is the evaluation methodology. Because of this, there is a need for a measurement tool that addresses these resources in a holistic manner and be able to translate data into results that can be interpreted. There are tools validated for this purpose like, 'Dashboard of Sustainability' and other developing like the CLEW Nexus by the International Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA. This study aims to develop a new model to analyze the correlation between variables, energy, water, land use and climate, using Artificial Intelligence through Fuzzy Logic, having as a data source, indicators that represent one or more resource, considering the relative and temporal distribution required to research results and behaviors. The result is a final index generated by mapping these input data. The results presented using this methodology are indicators of Brazil, but can be applied to any other country, allowing a comparison analysis of the behavior of indices between regions. The contribution of this project will be the availability of a tool with powerful computational resource, aimed at decision makers to assist in developing strategies and development policies. (author)

  16. Validating Appetite Assessment Tools among Patients Receiving Hemodialysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molfino, Alessio; Kaysen, George A.; Chertow, Glenn M.; Doyle, Julie; Delgado, Cynthia; Dwyer, Tjien; Laviano, Alessandro; Fanelli, Filippo Rossi; Johansen, Kirsten L.

    2016-01-01

    Objective To test the performance of appetite assessment tools among patients receiving hemodialysis. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Seven dialysis facilities in Northern California. Subjects 221 patients receiving hemodialysis. Intervention We assessed five appetite assessment tools [self-assessment of appetite, subjective assessment of appetite, visual analogue scale (VAS), Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT) score and the Anorexia Questionnaire (AQ)]. Main outcome measures Reported food intake, normalized protein catabolic rate (nPCR), and change in body weight were used as criterion measures, and we assessed associations among the appetite tools and biomarkers associated with nutrition and inflammation. Patients were asked to report their appetite and the percentage of food eaten (from 0% to 100%) during the last meal compared to usual intake. Results Fifty-eight (26%) patients reported food intake ≤50% (defined as poor appetite). The prevalence of anorexia was 12% by self-assessment of appetite, 6% by subjective assessment of appetite, 24% by VAS, 17% by FAACT score, and 12% by AQ. All tools were significantly associated with food intake ≤50% (pappetite. The FAACT score and the VAS had the strongest association with food intake ≤50% (c-statistic 0.80 and 0.76). Patients with food intake ≤50% reported weight loss more frequently than patients without low intake (36% vs 22%) and weight gain less frequently (19% vs 35%; p=0.03). nPCR was lower among anorexic patients based on the VAS (1.1 ± 0.3 vs 1.2 ± 0.3, p=0.03). Ln IL-6 correlated inversely with food intake (p=0.03), but neither IL-6 nor CRP correlated with any of the appetite tools. Furthermore, only the self-assessment of appetite was significantly associated with serum albumin (p=0.02), prealbumin (p=0.02) and adiponectin concentrations (p=0.03). Conclusions Alternative appetite assessment tools yielded widely different estimates of the prevalence of anorexia in

  17. Developing an Indicator System for Monitoring, Analyzing, and Assessing Airport Sustainability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Janic, M.

    2010-01-01

    This paper deals with developing an indicator system for monitoring, analyzing, and assessing sustainability of airports. The sustainability implies simultaneous increasing of the overall socialeconomic benefits and increasing at a slower rate, stagnating, and/or diminishing of the negative impacts

  18. Calculational Tool for Skin Contamination Dose Assessment

    CERN Document Server

    Hill, R L

    2002-01-01

    Spreadsheet calculational tool was developed to automate the calculations preformed for dose assessment of skin contamination. This document reports on the design and testing of the spreadsheet calculational tool.

  19. Contingency Contractor Optimization Phase 3 Sustainment Platform Requirements - Contingency Contractor Optimization Tool - Prototype

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Durfee, Justin David [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Frazier, Christopher Rawls [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Bandlow, Alisa [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Gearhart, Jared Lee [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Jones, Katherine A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2016-06-01

    Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) is in Phase 3 Sustainment of development of a prototype tool, currently referred to as the Contingency Contractor Optimization Tool - Prototype (CCOTP), under the direction of OSD Program Support. CCOT-P is intended to help provide senior Department of Defense (DoD) leaders with comprehensive insight into the global availability, readiness and capabilities of the Total Force Mix. The CCOT-P will allow senior decision makers to quickly and accurately assess the impacts, risks and mitigating strategies for proposed changes to force/capabilities assignments, apportionments and allocations options, focusing specifically on contingency contractor planning. During Phase 2 of the program, conducted during fiscal year 2012, Sandia developed an electronic storyboard prototype of the Contingency Contractor Optimization Tool that can be used for communication with senior decision makers and other Operational Contract Support (OCS) stakeholders. Phase 3 used feedback from demonstrations of the electronic storyboard prototype to develop an engineering prototype for planners to evaluate. Sandia worked with the DoD and Joint Chiefs of Staff strategic planning community to get feedback and input to ensure that the engineering prototype was developed to closely align with future planning needs. The intended deployment environment was also a key consideration as this prototype was developed. Initial release of the engineering prototype was done on servers at Sandia in the middle of Phase 3. In 2013, the tool was installed on a production pilot server managed by the OUSD(AT&L) eBusiness Center. The purpose of this document is to specify the CCOT-P engineering prototype platform requirements as of May 2016. Sandia developed the CCOT-P engineering prototype using common technologies to minimize the likelihood of deployment issues. CCOT-P engineering prototype was architected and designed to be as independent as possible of the major deployment

  20. Advantages and limitations of exergy indicators to assess sustainability of bioenergy and biobased materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maes, Dries; Van Passel, Steven

    2014-01-01

    Innovative bioenergy projects show a growing diversity in biomass pathways, transformation technologies and end-products, leading to complex new processes. Existing energy-based indicators are not designed to include multiple impacts and are too constrained to assess the sustainability of these processes. Alternatively, indicators based on exergy, a measure of “qualitative energy”, could allow a more holistic view. Exergy is increasingly applied in analyses of both technical and biological processes. But sustainability assessments including exergy calculations, are not very common and are not generally applicable to all types of impact. Hence it is important to frame the use of exergy for inclusion in a sustainability assessment. This paper reviews the potentials and the limitations of exergy calculations, and presents solutions for coherent aggregation with other metrics. The resulting approach is illustrated in a case study. Within the context of sustainability assessment of bioenergy, exergy is a suitable metric for the impacts that require an ecocentric interpretation, and it allows aggregation on a physical basis. The use of exergy is limited to a measurement of material and energy exchanges with the sun, biosphere and lithosphere. Exchanges involving services or human choices are to be measured in different metrics. This combination provides a more inclusive and objective sustainability assessment, especially compared to standard energy- or carbon-based indicators. Future applications of this approach in different situations are required to clarify the potential of exergy-based indicators in a sustainability context. -- Highlights: • Innovative bioenergy projects require more advanced sustainability assessments to incorporate all environmental impacts. • Exergy-based indicators provide solutions for objective and robust measurements. • The use of exergy in a sustainability assessment is limited to material exchanges, excluding exchanges with society

  1. Walking the sustainability assessment talk — Progressing the practice of environmental impact assessment (EIA)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus; Retief, Francois

    2012-01-01

    Internationally there is a growing demand for environmental impact assessment (EIA) to move away from its traditional focus towards delivering more sustainable outcomes. South Africa is an example of a country where the EIA system seems to have embraced the concept of sustainability. In this paper we test the existing objectives for EIA in South Africa against sustainability principles and then critique the effectiveness of EIA practice in delivering these objectives. The outcome of the research suggests that notwithstanding a strong and explicit sustainability mandate through policy and legislation, the effectiveness of EIA practice falls far short of what is mandated. This shows that further legislative reform is not required to improve effectiveness but rather a focus on changing the behaviour of individual professionals. We conclude by inviting further debate on what exactly practitioners can do to give effect to sustainability in EIA practice.

  2. Assessing biofuels: Aiming for sustainable development or complying with the market?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diaz-Chavez, Rocio A.

    2011-01-01

    The growing interest in biofuels has led to increasing concern about their wider implications, particularly if grown for transport use in large scale. Such concerns include environmental, social and economic issues. To counterbalance the possible negative effects, a series of measures are being put in place to help their sustainability. Nevertheless, considering the different meanings of sustainability in different parts of the world and the need to expand productive rural activities, the differences between trying to assure a commodity and the benefits or impacts at local level raise the questions between the aims of sustainability and the need to comply with a market. The ideal situation would be to reconcile both aspects, which in practise represent a major challenge for governments and industry. This paper provides an overview on the sustainability assessment of biofuels to consider a possible way forward. - Highlights: → Multi-interactions in biomass production for bioenergy are a new paradigm to develop policies. → Certification and verification schemes are limited to assess broader sustainability issues. → Improved agricultural and forestry systems for biomass use will boost policies and investment.

  3. Definition and use of Solution-focused Sustainability Assessment: A novel approach to generate, explore and decide on sustainable solutions for wicked problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zijp, Michiel C; Posthuma, Leo; Wintersen, Arjen; Devilee, Jeroen; Swartjes, Frank A

    2016-05-01

    This paper introduces Solution-focused Sustainability Assessment (SfSA), provides practical guidance formatted as a versatile process framework, and illustrates its utility for solving a wicked environmental management problem. Society faces complex and increasingly wicked environmental problems for which sustainable solutions are sought. Wicked problems are multi-faceted, and deriving of a management solution requires an approach that is participative, iterative, innovative, and transparent in its definition of sustainability and translation to sustainability metrics. We suggest to add the use of a solution-focused approach. The SfSA framework is collated from elements from risk assessment, risk governance, adaptive management and sustainability assessment frameworks, expanded with the 'solution-focused' paradigm as recently proposed in the context of risk assessment. The main innovation of this approach is the broad exploration of solutions upfront in assessment projects. The case study concerns the sustainable management of slightly contaminated sediments continuously formed in ditches in rural, agricultural areas. This problem is wicked, as disposal of contaminated sediment on adjacent land is potentially hazardous to humans, ecosystems and agricultural products. Non-removal would however reduce drainage capacity followed by increased risks of flooding, while contaminated sediment removal followed by offsite treatment implies high budget costs and soil subsidence. Application of the steps in the SfSA-framework served in solving this problem. Important elements were early exploration of a wide 'solution-space', stakeholder involvement from the onset of the assessment, clear agreements on the risk and sustainability metrics of the problem and on the interpretation and decision procedures, and adaptive management. Application of the key elements of the SfSA approach eventually resulted in adoption of a novel sediment management policy. The stakeholder

  4. The Shoulder Objective Practical Assessment Tool: Evaluation of a New Tool Assessing Residents Learning in Diagnostic Shoulder Arthroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talbot, Christopher L; Holt, Edward M; Gooding, Benjamin W T; Tennent, Thomas D; Foden, Philip

    2015-08-01

    To design and validate an objective practical assessment tool for diagnostic shoulder arthroscopy that would provide residents with a method to evaluate their progression in this field of surgery and to identify specific learning needs. We designed and evaluated the shoulder Objective Practical Assessment Tool (OPAT). The shoulder OPAT was designed by us, and scoring domains were created using a Delphi process. The shoulder OPAT was trialed by members of the British Elbow & Shoulder Society Education Committee for internal consistency and ease of use before being offered to other trainers and residents. Inter-rater reliability and intrarater reliability were calculated. One hundred forty orthopaedic residents, of varying seniority, within 5 training regions in the United Kingdom, were questioned regarding the tool. A pilot study of 6 residents was undertaken. Internal consistency was 0.77 (standardized Cronbach α). Inter-rater reliability was 0.60, and intrarater reliability was 0.82. The Spearman correlation coefficient (r) between the global summary score for the shoulder OPAT and the current assessment tool used in postgraduate training for orthopaedic residents undertaking diagnostic shoulder arthroscopy equaled 0.74. Of the residents, 82% agreed or strongly agreed when asked if the shoulder OPAT would be a useful tool in monitoring progression and 72% agreed or strongly agreed with the introduction of the shoulder OPAT within the orthopaedic domain. This study shows that the shoulder OPAT fulfills several aspects of reliability and validity when tested. Despite the inter-rater reliability being 0.60, we believe that the shoulder OPAT has the potential to play a role alongside the current assessment tool in the training of orthopaedic residents. The shoulder OPAT can be used to assess residents during shoulder arthroscopy and has the potential for use in medical education, as well as arthroscopic skills training in the operating theater. Copyright © 2015

  5. Development of tools for integrated monitoring and assessment of hazardous substances and their biological effects in the Baltic Sea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehtonen, Kari K; Sundelin, Brita; Lang, Thomas; Strand, Jakob

    2014-02-01

    The need to develop biological effects monitoring to facilitate a reliable assessment of hazardous substances has been emphasized in the Baltic Sea Action Plan of the Helsinki Commission. An integrated chemical-biological approach is vitally important for the understanding and proper assessment of anthropogenic pressures and their effects on the Baltic Sea. Such an approach is also necessary for prudent management aiming at safeguarding the sustainable use of ecosystem goods and Services. The BEAST project (Biological Effects of Anthropogenic Chemical Stress: Tools for the Assessment of Ecosystem Health) set out to address this topic within the BONUS Programme. BEAST generated a large amount of quality-assured data on several biological effects parameters (biomarkers) in various marine species in different sub-regions of the Baltic Sea. New indicators (biological response measurement methods) and management tools (integrated indices) with regard to the integrated monitoring approach were suggested.

  6. Assessment Schemes for Sustainability Design through BIM: Lessons Learnt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamaruzzaman Syahrul Nizam

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available There is increasing demand on sustainability-led design to reduce negative impacts brought by construction development. The capability of Building Information Modeling (BIM to achieve sustainability is widely acknowledged. Various sustainability analysis and calculation can be performed at early stages to help the designers in decision making. However, the level of implementation is still not popular in the construction industry. Many of the industry players are still rely on traditional 2D method for designing and analysis. Hence, this study aims to demonstrate a proof concept of using BIM for sustainability design. The first phase of this study conducted a critical review of existing assessment schemes: BREEAM, LEED, SBTool, CASBEE, BEAM Plus, Green Star, Green Mark and GBI, to develop a set of main criteria to be considered for sustainability design. The findings revealed that fourteen criteria are considered, which are management, sustainable site, transport, indoor environmental quality, energy, waste, water, material, pollution, innovation, economics, social, culture and quality of services. It was found that most of the existing schemes emphasized on environmental aspect as compared to economics, social and culture except SBTool. The next phase of this study will conduct a case study to demonstrate sustainability design through BIM by using the criteria developed from the first phase.

  7. Bio-Inspired Sustainability Assessment for Building Product Development—Concept and Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Horn

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Technological advancement culminating in a globalized economy has brought tremendous improvements for mankind in manifold respects but comes at the cost of alienation from nature. Human activities nowadays are unsustainable and cause severe damage especially in terms of global depletion and destabilization of natural systems but also harm its own social resources. In this paper, a sustainability assessment method is developed based on a bio-inspired sustainability framework that has been developed in the project TRR 141-C01 “The biomimetic promise.” It is aims at regaining the advantages of societal embeddedness in its environment through biological inspiration. The method is developed using a structured approach including requirement specification, description of the inventory models on bio-inspiration and sustainability assessment, creation of a bio-inspired sustainability assessment model and its validation. It is defined as an accompanying assessment for decision support, using a six-fold two-dimensional structure of social, economic and environmental functions and burdens. The method is applied and validated in 6 projects of TRR 141 and its applicability is exemplarily shown by the assessment of “Bio-flexi”, a biobased and biodegradable natural fiber reinforced plastic composite for indoor cladding applications. Based on the findings of the application the assessment method itself is proposed to be advanced towards an adaptive structure and a consequent outlook is provided.

  8. Tools of Realization of Social Responsibility of Industrial Business for Sustainable Socio-economic Development of Mining Region's Rural Territory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jurzina, Tatyana; Egorova, Natalia; Zaruba, Natalia; Kosinskij, Peter

    2017-11-01

    Modern conditions of the Russian economy do especially relevant questions of social responsibility of industrial business of the mining region for sustainable social and economic development of rural territories that demands search of the new strategy, tools, ways for positioning and increase in competitiveness of the enterprises, which are carrying out the entrepreneurial activity in this territory. The article opens problems of an influence of the industrial enterprises on the territory of presence, reasons the theoretical base directed to the formation of practical tools (mechanism) providing realization of social responsibility of business for sustainable social and economic development of rural territories of the mining region.

  9. Tools of Realization of Social Responsibility of Industrial Business for Sustainable Socio-economic Development of Mining Region's Rural Territory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jurzina Tatyana

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Modern conditions of the Russian economy do especially relevant questions of social responsibility of industrial business of the mining region for sustainable social and economic development of rural territories that demands search of the new strategy, tools, ways for positioning and increase in competitiveness of the enterprises, which are carrying out the entrepreneurial activity in this territory. The article opens problems of an influence of the industrial enterprises on the territory of presence, reasons the theoretical base directed to the formation of practical tools (mechanism providing realization of social responsibility of business for sustainable social and economic development of rural territories of the mining region.

  10. The need for an established allocation method when assessing absolute sustainability on a product level

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ryberg, Morten; Owsianiak, Mikolaj; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    2015-01-01

    Assessment of absolute sustainability within life cycle assessment (LCA) framework is operational on the country scale. However, it is difficult to apply the existing approaches to products, which are typically the scope of LCAs. How should we assess whether a chair is (absolutely) sustainable? I...... allocation keys specific to each product group, e.g. mass for furniture, or economic revenue for IT. The proposed method facilitates assessment of absolute sustainability of products within the LCA framework....

  11. Integrating Social Aspect into Sustainability Assessment of Bio-Based Industries: Towards a Systemic Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Rafiaani, P.; Van Passel, S.; Lebailly, Philippe; Kuppens, T.; Azadi, Hossein; Van Dael, M.

    2016-01-01

    Biobased industries require to be assessed on their positive and negative impacts on sustainable development. However, social factors are usually neglected in the majority of impact assessments of biobased industries: they are mainly focused on environmental performance and (techno)- economic assessments. This review proposes a new systemic approach for assessing and integrating the social dimension into sustainability assessments of biobased industries. First the main methodologies for as...

  12. Life Cycle Assessment Studies of Chemical and Biochemical Processes through the new LCSoft Software-tool

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Supawanich, Perapong; Malakul, Pomthong; Gani, Rafiqul

    2015-01-01

    requirements have to be evaluated together with environmental and economic aspects. The LCSoft software-tool has been developed to perform LCA as a stand-alone tool as well as integrated with other process design tools such as process simulation, economic analysis (ECON), and sustainable process design...

  13. Supporting the Integration of Sustainability into Higher Education Curricula—A Case Study from Switzerland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Wilhelm Hamiti

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available From the perspective of different stakeholders, education for sustainable development (ESD in higher education is highly desirable. In practice, however, this may present challenges, as it involves systemic and cultural changes as well as organizational transformation. A working group at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences supported such a transformative process with the aim of fostering, linking and subsequently deepening the dimensions of sustainable development in the existing curricula. By means of an assessment tool (spider diagram developed through a bottom-up action research procedure, the working group initiated a discussion on sustainability among university lecturers, research associates and students. Results support the hypothesis that resistance to incorporating dimensions of sustainability into the curriculum can effectively be avoided by such an approach. The effectiveness of the assessment tool increased the commitment and the willingness of lecturers to share a common goal of demonstrating the relevance of sustainability in higher education.

  14. Development of an Assessment Model for Sustainable Supply Chain Management in Batik Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mubiena, G. F.; Ma’ruf, A.

    2018-03-01

    This research proposes a dynamic assessment model for sustainable supply chain management in batik industry. The proposed model identifies the dynamic relationship between economic aspect, environment aspect and social aspect. The economic aspect refers to the supply chain operation reference model. The environment aspect uses carbon emissions and liquid waste as the attribute assessment, while the social aspect focus on employee’s welfare. Lean manufacturing concept was implemented as an alternative approach to sustainability. The simulation result shows that the average of sustainability score for 5 years increased from 65,3% to 70%. Future experiments will be conducted on design improvements to reach the company target on sustainability score.

  15. Community pharmacy minor ailment services in England: Pharmacy stakeholder perspectives on the factors affecting sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazar, Hamde; Nazar, Zachariah

    2018-05-14

    Self-care advice and management of minor ailments have long been provided in community pharmacies across England. However, formal pharmacy minor ailment service provision is geographically variable and has yet to gain recognition and political support as a valued sustainable service for nationwide adoption and commissioning. To investigate the sustainability potential of pharmacy minor ailment services from the perspective of community pharmacy stakeholders within the North East of England. A mixed methods approach was adopted to survey and interview stakeholders from the North East of England who commission; provide; and/or represent groups influencing the design, delivery and investment in community pharmacy clinical and public health services. The 40-item Programme Sustainability Assessment Tool, a validated instrument to assess a public health programme's capacity for sustainability across eight domains, was administered to fifty-three stakeholders, identified from a pharmacy minor ailments showcase event. The same stakeholders were invited for a semi-structured interview to explore issues further. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and underwent framework analysis. Forty-two (79.2% response rate) stakeholders representing commissioning, provider and influencing (e.g. Local Professional Network) organisations completed the assessment tool. Pharmacy minor ailment services were rated as unsustainable across the majority of the domains. Elements within the domain 'Partnerships' demonstrated potential for sustainability. Stakeholder interviews provided detailed explanation for the low scoring sustainability domains, highlighting the multifaceted challenges threatening these services. The Programme Sustainability Assessment Tool allowed stakeholders to evaluate the potential of pharmacy minor ailment services in England. Follow-up interviews highlighted that initial design and implementation of services was poorly conceived and lacked evidence

  16. Analysis of Alternatives for Risk Assessment Methodologies and Tools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nachtigal, Noel M. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States). System Analytics; Fruetel, Julia A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States). Systems Research and Analysis; Gleason, Nathaniel J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States). Systems Research and Analysis; Helms, Jovana [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States). Systems Research and Analysis; Imbro, Dennis Raymond [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States). Systems Research and Analysis; Sumner, Matthew C. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States). Systems Research and Analysis

    2013-10-01

    The purpose of this document is to provide a basic overview and understanding of risk assessment methodologies and tools from the literature and to assess the suitability of these methodologies and tools for cyber risk assessment. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) performed this review in support of risk modeling activities performed for the Stakeholder Engagement and Cyber Infrastructure Resilience (SECIR) division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C). The set of methodologies and tools covered in this document is not intended to be exhaustive; instead, it focuses on those that are commonly used in the risk assessment community. The classification of methodologies and tools was performed by a group of analysts with experience in risk analysis and cybersecurity, and the resulting analysis of alternatives has been tailored to address the needs of a cyber risk assessment.

  17. Is HIA the most effective tool to assess the impact on health of climate change mitigation policies at the local level? A case study in Geneva, Switzerland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diallo, Thierno; Cantoreggi, Nicola; Simos, Jean; Christie, Derek P T H

    2017-06-01

    This study aims to understand how the health dimension is integrated into four impact assessment tools used in Geneva, Switzerland: environmental impact assessment (EIA), strategic environmental assessment (SEA), sustainability assessment (SA) and health impact assessment (HIA). We have chosen as a case study greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction policies chosen by the city of Geneva. The methodological approach consists in analysing EIA, SEA, SA and HIA conducted on three projects in three topic areas: urban planning, heating and transportation. These projects are: a complex urbanisation plan in an urban neighbourhood in Geneva (the Gare des Eaux-Vives project), a sustainable transportation plan for a central district in Geneva (the St-Gervais transportation project) and a strategy to encourage the City's employees to use sustainable transport for local business travel. The results show some shortcomings in the consideration of health in SEA, EIA and SA. This work highlights a narrow vision of health in SEA and EIA, limiting itself to a review of the effects of projects on the determinants of the physical environment as required by the legislation relating to these tools. EIA does not require the integration of the health dimension. As for SA, our research found that health is treated much more superficially than in HIA and primarily through the analysis of 'health and safety' criteria. It appears from this work that HIA is the tool which provides the most elaborate assessment, compared to SA, SEA or EIA, of the consequences for health of the GHG reduction policies chosen by the local decision-makers of a city. However, our study suggests that the HIA community should identify the situations in which HIA should be carried out and in which cases it is better to include health issues within an integrated analysis.

  18. Seeing GMOs from a Systems Perspective: The Need for Comparative Cartographies of Agri/Cultures for Sustainability Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amaranta Herrero

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Over the past twenty years, agricultural biotechnologies have generated chronically unresolved political controversies. The standard tool of risk assessment has proven to be highly limited in its ability to address the panoply of concerns that exist about these hybrid techno/organisms. It has also failed to account for both the conceptual and material networks of relations agricultural biotechnologies require, create and/or perform. This paper takes as a starting point that agricultural biotechnologies cannot be usefully assessed as isolated technological entities but need to be evaluated within the context of the broader socio-ecological system that they embody and engender. The paper then explores, compares and contrasts some of the methodological tools available for advancing this systems-based perspective. The article concludes by outlining a new synthesis approach of comparative cartographies of agri/cultures generated through multi-sited ethnographic case-studies, which is proposed as a way to generate system maps and enable the comparison of genetically modified (GM food with both conventional and alternative agri-food networks for sustainability assessment. The paper aims to make a unique theoretical and methodological contribution by advancing a systems-based approach to conceptualising and assessing genetically modified organisms (GMOs and proposing a synthesised methodology for mapping networks of relations across different agri/cultures.

  19. A Combined Heuristic and Indicator-based Methodology for Design of Sustainable Chemical Process Plants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halim, Iskandar; Carvalho, Ana; Srinivasan, Rajagopalan

    2011-01-01

    The current emphasis on sustainable production has prompted chemical plants to minimize raw material and energy usage without compromising on economics. While computer tools are available to assistin sustainability assessment, their applications are constrained to a specific domain of the design...

  20. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA and Sustainability in Minas Gerais

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evandro Sanguinetto

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper was aimed at conducting a bibliographical research on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA and their relation to the Ecological Economic Zoning (EEZ in the state of Minas Gerais. It is believed that the EIA is subject to failures as it does not take into account larger impacts upon space, time, cumulative and synergistic effects, whereas reflecting a reductionist point of view of the undertaking to the detriment of a broader, systemic, holistic perspective. With a view to compensate for such failure, the SEA is seen as an appropriate tool for the evaluation of political impacts, plans and programs which, conversely, guides the implementation of projects in an more integrated manner. Therefore, two EIAs can be used as reference; one refers to a rural electrification program in the state of Minas Gerais and the other approaches the integration planning of water sources in the metropolitan area of the state of São Paulo. While planning the Ecological Economic Zoning of the state, Minas Gerais takes a decisive step forward the reduction of conflicts related with multiple interests of economic development, providing and forming the basis for the essential balance among profit, preservation and environmental conservation, social justice, respect and cultural diversity, political and institutional maturation, ethic and plurality, which splash the sustainability colors on the canvas of the future.

  1. Sustainability Assessment of Electricity Generation Technologies in Egypt Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mostafa Shaaban

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Future electricity planning necessitates a thorough multi-faceted analysis of the available technologies in order to secure the energy supply for coming generations. To cope with worldwide concerns over sustainable development and meet the growing demands of electricity we assess the future potential technologies in Egypt through covering their technical, economic, environmental and social aspects. In this study we fill the gap of a lacking sustainability assessment of energy systems in Egypt where most of the studies focus mainly on the economic and technical aspects of planning future installation of power plants in Egypt. Furthermore, we include the stakeholder preferences of the indicators in the energy sector into our assessment. Moreover, we perform a sensitivity analysis through single dimension assessment scenarios of the technologies as well as a sustainable scenario with equal preferences of all dimensions of the sustainability. We employ two multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA methodologies: the analytical hierarchy process for weighing the assessment criteria, and the weighted sum method for generating a general integrated sustainability index for each technology. The study investigates seven technologies: coal, natural gas, wind, concentrated solar power, photovoltaics, biomass and nuclear. The results reveal a perfect matching between the ranking of the technologies by the stakeholders and the sustainable scenario showing the highest ranking for natural gas and the lowest for nuclear and coal. There is a strong potential for renewable energy technologies to invade the electricity market in Egypt where they achieve the second ranking after natural gas. The Monte-Carlo approach gives photovoltaics a higher ranking over concentrated solar power as compared to the sample data ranking. The study concludes the importance of a multi-dimensional evaluation of the technologies while considering the preferences of the stakeholders in

  2. Towards a life cycle sustainability assessment: making informed choices on products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ciroth, Andreas [GreenDeltaTC, Berlin (Germany); Finkbeiner, Matthias; Traverso, Marzia [TU Berlin (Germany); Hildenbrand, Jutta [Chalmers University (United States); Kloepffer, Walter [Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment (Germany); Mazijn, Bernard [Ghent University (Belgium); Prakash, Siddharth [Oeko-Institut (Germany); Sonnemann, Guido; Valdivia, Sonia [UNEP (France); Ugaya, Cassia Maria Lie [Technological Federal University of Parana, ACV (Brazil); Vickery-Niederman, Gina [University of Arkansas (United States)

    2011-07-01

    In this introduction to the concept of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), we acknowledge the foundations laid by previous works and initiatives. One such initiative has been the ISO 14040 series (Environmental management -- Life cycle assessment -- Principles and framework), which in addition to the ISO 26000: Social Responsibility Guidance Standard, and the contribution of a number of international initiatives (Appendix A) have been essential for the development of this publication. The life cycle of a product involves flows of material, energy and money. Nonetheless, the picture is not complete unless we look also at the production and consumption impacts on all actors along the 'value chain' -- workers, local communities, consumers and society itself. Different life cycle assessment techniques allow individuals and enterprises to assess the impact of their purchasing decisions and production methods along different aspects of this value chain. An (Environmental) life cycle assessment (LCA) looks at potential impacts to the environment as a result of the extraction of resources, transportation, production, use, recycling and discarding of products; life cycle costing (LCC) is used to assess the cost implications of this life cycle; and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) examines the social consequences. However, in order to get the 'whole picture', it is vital to extend current life cycle thinking to encompass all three pillars of sustainability: (i) environmental, (ii) economic and (iii) social. This means carrying out an assessment based on environmental, economic and social issues -- by conducting an overarching life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This publication shows how all three techniques -- which all share similar methodological frameworks and aims -- can be combined to make the move towards an overarching LCSA possible. Because it is holistic, systemic and rigorous, (environmental) LCA is the preferred technique

  3. Towards a life cycle sustainability assessment: making informed choices on products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ciroth, Andreas [GreenDeltaTC, Berlin (Germany); Finkbeiner, Matthias; Traverso, Marzia [TU Berlin (Germany); Hildenbrand, Jutta [Chalmers University (United States); Kloepffer, Walter [Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment (Germany); Mazijn, Bernard [Ghent University (Belgium); Prakash, Siddharth [Oeko-Institut (Germany); Sonnemann, Guido; Valdivia, Sonia [UNEP (France); Ugaya, Cassia Maria Lie [Technological Federal University of Parana, ACV (Brazil); Vickery-Niederman, Gina [University of Arkansas (United States)

    2011-07-01

    In this introduction to the concept of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), we acknowledge the foundations laid by previous works and initiatives. One such initiative has been the ISO 14040 series (Environmental management -- Life cycle assessment -- Principles and framework), which in addition to the ISO 26000: Social Responsibility Guidance Standard, and the contribution of a number of international initiatives (Appendix A) have been essential for the development of this publication. The life cycle of a product involves flows of material, energy and money. Nonetheless, the picture is not complete unless we look also at the production and consumption impacts on all actors along the 'value chain' -- workers, local communities, consumers and society itself. Different life cycle assessment techniques allow individuals and enterprises to assess the impact of their purchasing decisions and production methods along different aspects of this value chain. An (Environmental) life cycle assessment (LCA) looks at potential impacts to the environment as a result of the extraction of resources, transportation, production, use, recycling and discarding of products; life cycle costing (LCC) is used to assess the cost implications of this life cycle; and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) examines the social consequences. However, in order to get the 'whole picture', it is vital to extend current life cycle thinking to encompass all three pillars of sustainability: (i) environmental, (ii) economic and (iii) social. This means carrying out an assessment based on environmental, economic and social issues -- by conducting an overarching life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This publication shows how all three techniques -- which all share similar methodological frameworks and aims -- can be combined to make the move towards an overarching LCSA possible. Because it is holistic, systemic and rigorous, (environmental) LCA is the preferred technique when it comes to

  4. Sustainability-Related Decision Making in Industrial Buildings: An AHP Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jesús Cuadrado

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Few other sectors have such a great impact on sustainability as the construction industry, in which concerns over the environmental dimension have been growing for some time. The sustainability assessment methodology presented in this paper is an AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process based on Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM and includes the main sustainability factors for consideration in the construction of an industrial building (environmental, economic, and social, as well as other factors that greatly influence the conceptual design of the building (employee safety, corporate image. Its simplicity is well adapted to its main objective, to serve as a sustainability-related decision making tool in industrial building projects, during the design stage. Accompanied by an economic valuation of the actions to be undertaken, this tool means that the most cost-effective solution may be selected from among the various options.

  5. Forest Landscape Assessment Tool (FLAT): rapid assessment for land management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lisa Ciecko; David Kimmett; Jesse Saunders; Rachael Katz; Kathleen L. Wolf; Oliver Bazinet; Jeffrey Richardson; Weston Brinkley; Dale J. Blahna

    2016-01-01

    The Forest Landscape Assessment Tool (FLAT) is a set of procedures and tools used to rapidly determine forest ecological conditions and potential threats. FLAT enables planners and managers to understand baseline conditions, determine and prioritize restoration needs across a landscape system, and conduct ongoing monitoring to achieve land management goals. The rapid...

  6. Impact assessment procedures for sustainable development: A complexity theory perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nooteboom, Sibout

    2007-01-01

    The author assumes that effective Impact Assessment procedures should somehow contribute to sustainable development. There is no widely agreed framework for evaluating such effectiveness. The author suggests that complexity theories may offer criteria. The relevant question is 'do Impact Assessment Procedures contribute to the 'requisite variety' of a social system for it to deal with changing circumstances?' Requisite variety theoretically relates to the capability of a system to deal with changes in its environment. The author reconstructs how thinking about achieving sustainable development has developed in a sequence of discourses in The Netherlands since the 1970s. Each new discourse built on the previous ones, and is supposed to have added to 'requisite variety'. The author asserts that Impact Assessment procedures may be a necessary component in such sequences and derives possible criteria for effectiveness

  7. ECO-INNOVATION FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    RATIU Mariana

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Eco-innovation is any form of innovation resulting in or aiming at significant and demonstrable progress towards the goal of sustainable development, through reducing impacts on the environment, enhancing resilience to environmental pressures, or achieving a more efficient and responsible use of natural resources. States and governments of the world, different institutions and organizations actively involved and aware in public policies, strategies and actions, reaffirm their commitments and reassess actions in order to achieve a truly sustainable development. In the common vision and the resolutions and other documents of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, the words "environment", "innovation", "green economy" appear very often and almost always along the same context, to achieve the objectives of the sustainable development. The objectives of EU's Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, are being implemented through a number of Flagship Initiatives addressing the main challenges, like “Innovation for a sustainable Future - The Eco-innovation Action Plan (EcoAP”. Eco-innovation Observatory developed the Eco-Innovation index, the first tool to assess and illustrate eco-innovation performance across the EU Member States. Like in all fields, in textiles and leather field, eco-innovation is present and there are a lot of tools available that measure environmental damage and help manufacturers and brands become more sustainable. Eco-innovation is not just a trendy concept but a reality and a necessity nowadays, a way to achieve a sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.

  8. Local Sustainable Energy Assessment Report of Quang Tri in Vietnam

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Jan; Lund, Søren

    The publication reports a sustainable energy assessment at the local project site of the HighARCS project in Nainital, Uttarakhand and Buxa, West Bengal, India. The assessment has been made as a contribution to the elaboration of biodiversity conservation and livelihoods improvement action plans...

  9. Sustainability assessment of a hybrid energy system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Afgan, Nain H.; Carvalho, Maria G.

    2008-01-01

    A hybrid energy system in the form of the Object structure is the pattern for the structure of options in the evaluation of a hybrid system. The Object structure is defined as: Hybrid Energy System {[production (solar, wind, biomass, natural gas)] [utilization(electricity, heat, hydrogen)]}. In the evaluation of hybrid energy systems only several options are selected to demonstrate the sustainability assessment method application in the promotion of the specific quality of the hybrid energy system. In this analysis the following options are taken into a consideration: 1.Solar photo-voltaic power plant (PV PP), wind turbine power plant (WTPP) biomass thermal power plant (ThSTPP) for electricity, heat and hydrogen production. 2.Solar PV PP and wind power plant (WPP) for electricity and hydrogen production. 3.Biomass thermal steam turbine power plant (BThSTPP) and WPP for heat and hydrogen production. 4.Combined cycle gas turbine power plant for electricity and hydrogen production. 5.Cogeneration of electricity and water by the hybrid system. The sustainability assessment method is used for the evaluation of quality of the selected hybrid systems. In this evaluation the following indicators are used: economic indicator, environment indicator and social indicator

  10. Tools for the Assessment of Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pappas, Marjorie L.

    2007-01-01

    Assessment tools enable both learning and assessing. They also give library media specialists snapshots of evidence that demonstrates student understanding of the Information Literacy Standards. Over time the evidence provide a more complete picture of learners' ability to gather, evaluate, and use information to solve problems, make decisions,…

  11. Conceptual Framework To Extend Life Cycle Assessment Using Near-Field Human Exposure Modeling and High-Throughput Tools for Chemicals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Csiszar, Susan A; Meyer, David E; Dionisio, Kathie L; Egeghy, Peter; Isaacs, Kristin K; Price, Paul S; Scanlon, Kelly A; Tan, Yu-Mei; Thomas, Kent; Vallero, Daniel; Bare, Jane C

    2016-11-01

    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a decision-making tool that accounts for multiple impacts across the life cycle of a product or service. This paper presents a conceptual framework to integrate human health impact assessment with risk screening approaches to extend LCA to include near-field chemical sources (e.g., those originating from consumer products and building materials) that have traditionally been excluded from LCA. A new generation of rapid human exposure modeling and high-throughput toxicity testing is transforming chemical risk prioritization and provides an opportunity for integration of screening-level risk assessment (RA) with LCA. The combined LCA and RA approach considers environmental impacts of products alongside risks to human health, which is consistent with regulatory frameworks addressing RA within a sustainability mindset. A case study is presented to juxtapose LCA and risk screening approaches for a chemical used in a consumer product. The case study demonstrates how these new risk screening tools can be used to inform toxicity impact estimates in LCA and highlights needs for future research. The framework provides a basis for developing tools and methods to support decision making on the use of chemicals in products.

  12. Chemical leasing in the context of sustainable chemistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moser, Frank; Karavezyris, Vassilios; Blum, Christopher

    2015-05-01

    Chemical leasing is a new and innovative approach of selling chemicals. It aims at reducing the risks emanating from hazardous substances and ensuring long-term economic success within a global system of producing and using chemicals. This paper explores how, through chemical leasing, the consumption of chemicals, energy, resources and the generation of related wastes can be reduced. It also analyses the substitution of hazardous chemicals as a tool to protect environmental, health and safety and hence ensure compliance with sustainability criteria. For this, we are proposing an evaluation methodology that seeks to provide an answer to the following research questions: (1) Does the application of chemical leasing promote sustainability in comparison to an existing chemicals production and management system? 2. If various chemical leasing project types are envisaged, which is the most promising in terms of sustainability? The proposed methodology includes a number of basic goals and sub-goals to assess the sustainability for eight different chemical leasing case studies that have been implemented both at the local and the national levels. The assessment is limited to the relative assessment of specific case studies and allows the comparisons of different projects in terms of their relative contribution to sustainable chemistry. The findings of our assessment demonstrate that chemical leasing can be regarded as promoting sustainable chemistry in five case studies with certainty. However, on the grounds of our assessment, we cannot conclude with certainty that chemical leasing has equivalent contribution to sustainable chemistry in respect of three further case studies.

  13. An Application of the Methodology for Assessment of the Sustainability of Air Transport System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janic, Milan

    2003-01-01

    An assessment and operationalization of the concept of sustainable air transport system is recognized as an important but complex research, operational and policy task. In the scope of the academic efforts to properly address the problem, this paper aims to assess the sustainability of air transport system. It particular, the paper describes the methodology for assessment of sustainability and its potential application. The methodology consists of the indicator systems, which relate to the air transport system operational, economic, social and environmental dimension of performance. The particular indicator systems are relevant for the particular actors such users (air travellers), air transport operators, aerospace manufacturers, local communities, governmental authorities at different levels (local, national, international), international air transport associations, pressure groups and public. In the scope of application of the methodology, the specific cases are selected to estimate the particular indicators, and thus to assess the system sustainability under given conditions.

  14. Health impact assessment – A survey on quantifying tools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fehr, Rainer, E-mail: rainer.fehr@uni-bielefeld.de [Fakultaet fuer Gesundheitswissenschaften, Universitaet Bielefeld, Universitaetsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld (Germany); Mekel, Odile C.L., E-mail: odile.mekel@lzg.nrw.de [Gesundheitsdaten und analysen, Versorgungsstrukturen, Landeszentrum Gesundheit Nordrhein-Westfalen (LZG.NRW), Westerfeldstr. 35-37, 33611 Bielefeld (Germany); Fintan Hurley, J., E-mail: fintan.hurley@iom-world.org [Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), Research Avenue North, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, Scotland (United Kingdom); Mackenbach, Johan P., E-mail: j.mackenbach@erasmusmc.nl [Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam (Netherlands)

    2016-02-15

    Integrating human health into prospective impact assessments is known to be challenging. This is true for both approaches: dedicated health impact assessments (HIA) as well as inclusion of health into more general impact assessments. Acknowledging the full range of participatory, qualitative, and quantitative approaches, this study focuses on the latter, especially on computational tools for quantitative health modelling. We conducted a survey among tool developers concerning the status quo of development and availability of such tools; experiences made with model usage in real-life situations; and priorities for further development. Responding toolmaker groups described 17 such tools, most of them being maintained and reported as ready for use and covering a wide range of topics, including risk & protective factors, exposures, policies, and health outcomes. In recent years, existing models have been improved and were applied in new ways, and completely new models emerged. There was high agreement among respondents on the need to further develop methods for assessment of inequalities and uncertainty. The contribution of quantitative modeling to health foresight would benefit from building joint strategies of further tool development, improving the visibility of quantitative tools and methods, and engaging continuously with actual and potential users. - Highlights: • A survey investigated computational tools for health impact quantification. • Formal evaluation of such tools has been rare. • Handling inequalities and uncertainties are priority areas for further development. • Health foresight would benefit from tool developers and users forming a community. • Joint development strategies across computational tools are needed.

  15. Health impact assessment – A survey on quantifying tools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fehr, Rainer; Mekel, Odile C.L.; Fintan Hurley, J.; Mackenbach, Johan P.

    2016-01-01

    Integrating human health into prospective impact assessments is known to be challenging. This is true for both approaches: dedicated health impact assessments (HIA) as well as inclusion of health into more general impact assessments. Acknowledging the full range of participatory, qualitative, and quantitative approaches, this study focuses on the latter, especially on computational tools for quantitative health modelling. We conducted a survey among tool developers concerning the status quo of development and availability of such tools; experiences made with model usage in real-life situations; and priorities for further development. Responding toolmaker groups described 17 such tools, most of them being maintained and reported as ready for use and covering a wide range of topics, including risk & protective factors, exposures, policies, and health outcomes. In recent years, existing models have been improved and were applied in new ways, and completely new models emerged. There was high agreement among respondents on the need to further develop methods for assessment of inequalities and uncertainty. The contribution of quantitative modeling to health foresight would benefit from building joint strategies of further tool development, improving the visibility of quantitative tools and methods, and engaging continuously with actual and potential users. - Highlights: • A survey investigated computational tools for health impact quantification. • Formal evaluation of such tools has been rare. • Handling inequalities and uncertainties are priority areas for further development. • Health foresight would benefit from tool developers and users forming a community. • Joint development strategies across computational tools are needed.

  16. Sustainability Assessment of Plant Protection Strategies in Swiss Winter Wheat and Potato Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrik Mouron

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Production of arable crops in Switzerland is subsidized for services performed within the Proof of Ecological Performance (PEP program, the crop protection part of which is based on IPM principles. Within PEP, chemical insect control must rely on those approved insecticides that are deemed harmless for beneficial arthropods. Approved insecticides potentially impacting beneficial arthropods may also be applied, but only if unavoidable and with an official permit. In order to assess the ecological and economic sustainability of this PEP program, a reference insecticide strategy illustrating the current PEP requirements was compared with other strategies. For this purpose, a sustainability assessment taking account of ecotoxicological risks and economic viability in addition to the preservation of beneficial arthropods was performed according to the SustainOS methodology. The results show that the one-off use of Audienz (spinosad to control cereal leaf beetle (Oulema melanopus—a key pest in winter wheat—would significantly improve sustainability vis-à-vis the reference (Nomolt (teflubenzuron plus Biscaya (thiacloprid. However, in the case of the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata, in potato crops, where Audienz is considered the reference, no alternative would exhibit better sustainability. Moreover, the study shows that strategies using Novodor (Bacillus thuringiensis protect beneficial species well but have the drawbacks of increased yield risk and higher costs. The conclusions drawn from these analyses allow recommendations for modifications of the PEP requirements for these two pest insects. The SustainOS methodology, a multi-step process combining expert knowledge with quantitative assessments including a sensitivity analysis of key target parameters and a rule-based aggregation of assessment results, yielded valuable insights into the sustainability of different crop protection strategies.

  17. Toward Sustainable Anticipatory Governance: Analyzing and Assessing Nanotechnology Innovation Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foley, Rider Williams

    Cities around the globe struggle with socio-economic disparities, resource inefficiency, environmental contamination, and quality-of-life challenges. Technological innovation, as one prominent approach to problem solving, promises to address these challenges; yet, introducing new technologies, such as nanotechnology, into society and cities has often resulted in negative consequences. Recent research has conceptually linked anticipatory governance and sustainability science: to understand the role of technology in complex problems our societies face; to anticipate negative consequences of technological innovation; and to promote long-term oriented and responsible governance of technologies. This dissertation advances this link conceptually and empirically, focusing on nanotechnology and urban sustainability challenges. The guiding question for this dissertation research is: How can nanotechnology be innovated and governed in responsible ways and with sustainable outcomes? The dissertation: analyzes the nanotechnology innovation process from an actor- and activities-oriented perspective (Chapter 2); assesses this innovation process from a comprehensive perspective on sustainable governance (Chapter 3); constructs a small set of future scenarios to consider future implications of different nanotechnology governance models (Chapter 4); and appraises the amenability of sustainability problems to nanotechnological interventions (Chapter 5). The four studies are based on data collected through literature review, document analysis, participant observation, interviews, workshops, and walking audits, as part of process analysis, scenario construction, and technology assessment. Research was conducted in collaboration with representatives from industry, government agencies, and civic organizations. The empirical parts of the four studies focus on Metropolitan Phoenix. Findings suggest that: predefined mandates and economic goals dominate the nanotechnology innovation process

  18. Engage, discover, apply, learn, repeat: Implementing a Sustained National Climate Assessment within the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moss, R. H.

    2017-12-01

    Assessment of potential impacts and adaptations to global environmental change evaluate the continuously evolving state of science through the lens of relevance to challenges such as planning long-lived infrastructure and managing risks to property, ecosystems, public health, and other valued assets or objectives. These planning and decision contexts present varied challenges, including: multiple attributes at risk from interacting environmental and socioeconomic trends; uncertainties (scientific and otherwise); partial solutions with indefinite costs and benefits; and tradeoffs across stakeholder groups. Research and evaluation of assessments indicate they convey information that is more usable and relevant to decision makers if they are designed as sustained interactions of pertinent scientific and user communities and result in products beyond written reports. This talk will report on the work of a Federal Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment (SNCA) to develop recommendations to increase the SNCA's relevance and usability. The recommendations build on the conclusions of a 2013 report by the predecessor SNCA advisory committee and suggest next steps for (1) engagement, (2) provision of core scientific products, (3) tailoring of information and tools to provide insights under uncertainty, and (4) evaluation of products and outcomes. The recommended process focuses on providing insights relevant to consideration of risks and solutions. While resulting in a wide range of products and outcomes on an ongoing basis, aggregation and assessment of emerging insights and good practice for supporting decision making under uncertainty would recur over a four-year adaptive management cycle in the context of the preparation of the US national assessment report mandated under the Global Change Research Act. Uncertainty about the future role of Federal agencies in the assessment process and opportunities for increased engagement by non-Federal actors

  19. Developing an Integrated Model Framework for the Assessment of Sustainable Agricultural Residue Removal Limits for Bioenergy Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    David Muth, Jr.; Jared Abodeely; Richard Nelson; Douglas McCorkle; Joshua Koch; Kenneth Bryden

    2011-08-01

    Agricultural residues have significant potential as a feedstock for bioenergy production, but removing these residues can have negative impacts on soil health. Models and datasets that can support decisions about sustainable agricultural residue removal are available; however, no tools currently exist capable of simultaneously addressing all environmental factors that can limit availability of residue. The VE-Suite model integration framework has been used to couple a set of environmental process models to support agricultural residue removal decisions. The RUSLE2, WEPS, and Soil Conditioning Index models have been integrated. A disparate set of databases providing the soils, climate, and management practice data required to run these models have also been integrated. The integrated system has been demonstrated for two example cases. First, an assessment using high spatial fidelity crop yield data has been run for a single farm. This analysis shows the significant variance in sustainably accessible residue across a single farm and crop year. A second example is an aggregate assessment of agricultural residues available in the state of Iowa. This implementation of the integrated systems model demonstrates the capability to run a vast range of scenarios required to represent a large geographic region.

  20. Visual Impairment Screening Assessment (VISA) tool: pilot validation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowe, Fiona J; Hepworth, Lauren R; Hanna, Kerry L; Howard, Claire

    2018-03-06

    To report and evaluate a new Vision Impairment Screening Assessment (VISA) tool intended for use by the stroke team to improve identification of visual impairment in stroke survivors. Prospective case cohort comparative study. Stroke units at two secondary care hospitals and one tertiary centre. 116 stroke survivors were screened, 62 by naïve and 54 by non-naïve screeners. Both the VISA screening tool and the comprehensive specialist vision assessment measured case history, visual acuity, eye alignment, eye movements, visual field and visual inattention. Full completion of VISA tool and specialist vision assessment was achieved for 89 stroke survivors. Missing data for one or more sections typically related to patient's inability to complete the assessment. Sensitivity and specificity of the VISA screening tool were 90.24% and 85.29%, respectively; the positive and negative predictive values were 93.67% and 78.36%, respectively. Overall agreement was significant; k=0.736. Lowest agreement was found for screening of eye movement and visual inattention deficits. This early validation of the VISA screening tool shows promise in improving detection accuracy for clinicians involved in stroke care who are not specialists in vision problems and lack formal eye training, with potential to lead to more prompt referral with fewer false positives and negatives. Pilot validation indicates acceptability of the VISA tool for screening of visual impairment in stroke survivors. Sensitivity and specificity were high indicating the potential accuracy of the VISA tool for screening purposes. Results of this study have guided the revision of the VISA screening tool ahead of full clinical validation. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  1. Re-evaluating Sustainability Assessment: Aligning the vision and the practice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bond, Alan J.; Morrison-Saunders, Angus

    2011-01-01

    Sustainable Development is the core goal of the expanding field of Sustainability Assessment (SA). However, we find that three key areas of debate in relation to SA practice in England and Western Australia can be classified as policy controversies. Through literature review and analysis of documentary evidence we consider the problem of reductionism (breaking down complex processes to simple terms or component parts) as opposed to holism (considering systems as wholes); the issue of contested understandings of the meaning of sustainability (and of the purpose of SA); and the definition of 'inter-generational' in the context of sustainable development and how this is reflected in the timescales considered in SA. We argue that SA practice is based on particular framings of the policy controversies and that the critical role of SA in facilitating deliberation over these controversies needs to be recognised if there is to be a move towards a new deliberative sustainability discourse which can accommodate these different framings.

  2. Assessing the sustainable construction of large construction companies in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adewale, Bamgbade Jibril; Mohammed, Kamaruddeen Ahmed; Nasrun, Mohd Nawi Mohd

    2016-08-01

    Considering the increasing concerns for the consideration of sustainability issues in construction project delivery within the construction industry, this paper assesses the extent of sustainable construction among Malaysian large contractors, in order to ascertain the level of the industry's impacts on both the environment and the society. Sustainable construction explains the construction industry's responsibility to efficiently utilise the finite resources while also reducing construction impacts on both humans and the environment throughout the phases of construction. This study used proportionate stratified random sampling to conduct a field study with a sample of 172 contractors out of the 708 administered questionnaires. Data were collected from large contractors in the eleven states of peninsular Malaysia. Using the five-level rating scale (which include: 1= Very Low; 2= Low; 3= Moderate; 4= High; 5= Very High) to describe the level of sustainable construction of Malaysian contractors based on previous studies, statistical analysis reveals that environmental, social and economic sustainability of Malaysian large contractors are high.

  3. 48 CFR 970.5223-7 - Sustainable acquisition program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... preferable and sustainable manner that will promote the natural environment and protect the health and well... contract, the Contractor shall provide its services in a manner that promotes the natural environment... Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) the Green Electronics Council site. (6) Green house gas...

  4. 48 CFR 952.223-78 - Sustainable acquisition program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... preferable and sustainable manner that will promote the natural environment and protect the health and well... contract, the Contractor shall provide its services in a manner that promotes the natural environment... Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) the Green Electronics Council site. (6) Green house gas...

  5. Floating houses “lanting” in Sintang: Assessment on sustainable building materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susanto, D.; Lubis, M. S.

    2018-03-01

    One important element in the concept of sustainable building is the use of materials. The higher the use of sustainable material in building, the more sustained the building. Lanting is one type of floating construction, usually made from wood, that can be found in settlement along the river, such as in the city of Sintang, West Kalimantan. Lanting is still survive today because it is still used by community whose lives are tied to the river, and also because of its flexible nature that is able to function as a ‘water building’ as well as ‘land building’, and it is also movable, in addition for land limitation in some places. However, the existence of lanting settlements in the city of Sintang faces insistence because it is considered slum, polluting the environment, the scarcity of wooden materials, disturbing the beauty of the city, and threatened by the concretized river banks by local government. This paper discussed the sustainability of waterfront buildings in the city of Sintang in terms of material uses, through the assessment of ‘green-features’ of the main materials used. Assessment results show that wood is the most green building material and lanting is considered at the highest sustainability level for its use of wooden materials.

  6. Modifying the Soil and Water Assessment Tool to Simulate Cropland Carbon Flux: Model Development and Initial Evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Xuesong; Izaurralde, Roberto C.; Arnold, Jeffrey; Williams, Jimmy R.; Srinivasan, Raghavan

    2013-10-01

    Climate change is one of the most compelling modern issues and has important implications for almost every aspect of natural and human systems. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model has been applied worldwide to support sustainable land and water management in a changing climate. However, the inadequacies of the existing carbon algorithm in SWAT limit its application in assessing impacts of human activities on CO2 emission, one important source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that traps heat in the earth system and results in global warming. In this research, we incorporate a revised version of the CENTURY carbon model into SWAT to describe dynamics of soil organic matter (SOM)- residue and simulate land-atmosphere carbon exchange.

  7. Assessing the Sustainability of the Built Environment in Mountainous Rural Villages in Southwest China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Wan

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Mountainous rural areas such as those in southwest China are developing rapidly. This requires scientific understanding and a framework for assessing the sustainability of the built environment that is suitable to such areas. At present, no such framework exists. This lack of assessment options has contributed to the unsustainable development of these areas, which has caused a series of environmental, social, and economic problems. This article analyzes existing assessment frameworks, reviews the theory on sustainable rural development as it applies to rural southwest China, and proposes a new assessment framework that is more suitable to this region and others like it. This framework is based on a sustainable development model for rural areas that emphasizes endogenous development; addresses the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability; and takes the natural and social conditions of mountainous rural areas into account. Our study tested its applicability to rural southwest China and its sensitivity to local conditions and found them to be better than those of existing assessment frameworks.

  8. Environmental sustainability assessment of palm biodiesel production in Thailand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silalertruksa, Thapat; Gheewala, Shabbir H.

    2012-01-01

    The study assesses the environmental sustainability of palm biodiesel production systems in Thailand by focusing on their energy efficiency and environmental impact potentials. The Net Energy Balance (NEB) and Renewability indicate energy gain for palm biodiesel and its co-products as compared to fossil energy inputs. In addition, life cycle assessment also reveals lower values of environmental impact potentials of biodiesel as compared to conventional diesel. For example, palm biodiesel can provide greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction of around 46–73% as compared to diesel. Nitrogen-fertilizer production and application in the plantation and the air emissions from the ponds treating palm oil mill effluent (POME) are found to be the major environmental aspects. However, the energy and environmental performances depend on various factors such as the management efficiency of empty fruit bunches (EFB) and POME and the possible land-use change in the future. Recommendations are made for improving environmental performance of palm biodiesel and for securing the long-term availability of crude palm oil supply with a view towards sustainable palm biodiesel production. -- Highlights: ► Environmental sustainability of palm biodiesel production in Thailand is assessed. ► Palm biodiesel can provide GHG reduction of around 46–73% as compared to diesel. ► Net energy ratio and renewability of palm biodiesel both range between 2 and 4. ► Efficient use of by-products in the value chain enhances environmental benefits.

  9. Sustainability Assessment of the Residential Land Use in Seven Boroughs of the Island of Montreal, Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ricardo Enrique Vega-Azamar

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available High resource utilization in the residential sector, and the associated environmental impacts, are central issues in the growth of urban regions. Land-use urban planning is a primary instrument for the proper development of cities; an important point is the consideration of the urban form’s influence on resource utilization intensity. Emergy synthesis, an energy-based methodological approach that allows the quantification and integration of both natural and human-generated flows interacting in urban environments, was used to assess sustainability of the residential land use of seven boroughs on the Island of Montreal. Natural resources, food, water, acquired goods and services, electricity and fuels were the main flows considered in the analysis. Results suggest that income, household size and distance to downtown are the variables affecting resource utilization intensity more noticeably and that allocation of green area coverage is an important parameter for controlling land use intensity. With the procedure used for calculating resource use intensity in the seven boroughs, it is possible to generate a tool to support urban planning decision-making for assessing sustainable development scenarios. Future research should consider urban green space potential for accommodating local waste treatment systems, acting as a greenhouse gas emissions sink and promoting human health.

  10. The DPSIR approach applied to marine eutrophication in LCIA as a learning tool

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cosme, Nuno Miguel Dias; Olsen, Stig Irving

    assessment and response design ultimately benefit from spatial differentiation in the results. DPSIR based on LCIA seems a useful tool to improve communication and learning, as it bridges science and management while promoting the basic elements of sustainable development in a practical educational...... eutrophication. The goal is to promote an educational example of environmental impacts assessment through science-based tools to predict the impacts, communicate knowledge and support decisions. The example builds on the (D) high demand for fixation of reactive nitrogen that supports several socio......: environmentally sustainable, technologically feasible, economically viable, socially desirable, legally permissible, and administratively achievable. Specific LCIA indicators may provide preliminary information to support a precautionary approach to act earlier on D-P and contribute to sustainability. Impacts...

  11. Assessing organisational culture for quality and safety improvement: a national survey of tools and tool use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mannion, R; Konteh, F H; Davies, H T O

    2009-04-01

    There is growing international interest in managing organisational culture as a lever for healthcare improvement. This has prompted a practical need to understand what instruments and tools exist for assessing cultures in healthcare contexts. The present study was undertaken to determine the culture assessment tools being used in the English NHS and assess their fitness for purpose. Postal questionnaire survey of clinical governance leads in 275 English NHS organisations, with a response rate of 77%. A third of the organisations were currently using a culture assessment instrument to support their clinical governance activity. Although we found a high degree of satisfaction with existing instruments, in terms of ease of use and relevance, there is an immediate practical need to develop new and better bespoke culture assessment tools to bridge the gap between the cultural domains covered by extant instruments and the broader range of concerns of clinical governance managers. There is growing interest in understanding and shaping local cultures in healthcare, which is not yet matched by widespread use of available instruments. Even though extant tools cover many of the most important cultural attributes identified by clinical governance managers, the over-riding focus of tools in use is on safety rather than a holistic assessment of the dimensions of healthcare quality and performance.

  12. Sustainability of Indian Agriculture: Towards An Assessment

    OpenAIRE

    V M Rao

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents a systemic framework to look at the prospects for sustainability of Indian agriculture. The framework is based on trends, indicators and assessment by experts spanning three domains which are the principal influences shaping the growth, efficiency and stability of agriculture. The domains are: natural resources covering land, water, climate and environment; human development comprising the characteristics of farmers as producers and entrepreneurs; and, technology and insti...

  13. Are Local Food Chains More Sustainable than Global Food Chains? Considerations for Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gianluca Brunori

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper summarizes the main findings of the GLAMUR project which starts with an apparently simple question: is “local” more sustainable than “global”? Sustainability assessment is framed within a post-normal science perspective, advocating the integration of public deliberation and scientific research. The assessment spans 39 local, intermediate and global supply chain case studies across different commodities and countries. Assessment criteria cover environmental, economic, social, health and ethical sustainability dimensions. A closer view of the food system demonstrates a highly dynamic local–global continuum where actors, while adapting to a changing environment, establish multiple relations and animate several chain configurations. The evidence suggests caution when comparing “local” and “global” chains, especially when using the outcomes of the comparison in decision-making. Supply chains are analytical constructs that necessarily—and arbitrarily—are confined by system boundaries, isolating a set of elements from an interconnected whole. Even consolidated approaches, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA, assess only a part of sustainability attributes, and the interpretation may be controversial. Many sustainability attributes are not yet measurable and “hard” methodologies need to be complemented by “soft” methodologies which are at least able to identify critical issues and trade-offs. Aware of these limitations, our research shows that comparing local and global chains, with the necessary caution, can help overcome a priori positions that so far have characterized the debate between “localists” and “globalists”. At firm level, comparison between “local” and “global” chains could be useful to identify best practices, benchmarks, critical points, and errors to avoid. As sustainability is not a status to achieve, but a never-ending process, comparison and deliberation can be the basis of a

  14. Teamwork Assessment Tools in Obstetric Emergencies: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onwochei, Desire N; Halpern, Stephen; Balki, Mrinalini

    2017-06-01

    Team-based training and simulation can improve patient safety, by improving communication, decision making, and performance of team members. Currently, there is no general consensus on whether or not a specific assessment tool is better adapted to evaluate teamwork in obstetric emergencies. The purpose of this qualitative systematic review was to find the tools available to assess team effectiveness in obstetric emergencies. We searched Embase, Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Google Scholar for prospective studies that evaluated nontechnical skills in multidisciplinary teams involving obstetric emergencies. The search included studies from 1944 until January 11, 2016. Data on reliability and validity measures were collected and used for interpretation. A descriptive analysis was performed on the data. Thirteen studies were included in the final qualitative synthesis. All the studies assessed teams in the context of obstetric simulation scenarios, but only six included anesthetists in the simulations. One study evaluated their teamwork tool using just validity measures, five using just reliability measures, and one used both. The most reliable tools identified were the Clinical Teamwork Scale, the Global Assessment of Obstetric Team Performance, and the Global Rating Scale of performance. However, they were still lacking in terms of quality and validity. More work needs to be conducted to establish the validity of teamwork tools for nontechnical skills, and the development of an ideal tool is warranted. Further studies are required to assess how outcomes, such as performance and patient safety, are influenced when using these tools.

  15. An approach to quantitative sustainability assessment in the early stages of process design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tugnoli, Alessandro; Santarelli, Francesco; Cozzani, Valerio

    2008-06-15

    A procedure was developed for the quantitative assessment of key performance indicators suitable for the sustainability analysis of alternative processes, mainly addressing the early stages of process design. The methodology was based on the calculation of a set of normalized impact indices allowing a direct comparison of the additional burden of each process alternative on a selected reference area. Innovative reference criteria were developed to compare and aggregate the impact indicators on the basis of the site-specific impact burden and sustainability policy. An aggregation procedure also allows the calculation of overall sustainability performance indicators and of an "impact fingerprint" of each process alternative. The final aim of the method is to support the decision making process during process development, providing a straightforward assessment of the expected sustainability performances. The application of the methodology to case studies concerning alternative waste disposal processes allowed a preliminary screening of the expected critical sustainability impacts of each process. The methodology was shown to provide useful results to address sustainability issues in the early stages of process design.

  16. Sustainable-value stream mapping to evaluate sustainability performance: case study in an Indonesian furniture company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hartini Sri

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Lean manufacturing tools do not consider environmental and societal benefits. The conventional value stream mapping (VSM methodology examines the economics of a manufacturing line, most of which are in regards to time (cycle time, lead time, change-out time, etc.. Incorporating the capability to capture environmental and societal performance visually through VSMs will increase its usefulness as a tool that can be used to assess manufacturing operations from a sustainability perspective. A number of studies have addressed the extension of VSM to incorporate additional criteria. A vast majority of these efforts have focused on adding energy-related metrics to VSMs, while several other studies refer to ‘sustainable’ VSM by including environmental performance in conventional VSMs. This research has developed a method for VSM integrated with environment metric and social metric for ensuring sustainable manufacture. The proposed technique is capable of visualizing and evaluating manufacturing process performance from sustainability view point. The capability of proposed technique has been tested by an application study on furniture company. The study provides insights to practitioners to visualize process performance in economic, environment and social metric.

  17. Sustainability indicators - a tool for regional co-operation

    OpenAIRE

    Koitka, Heike

    2002-01-01

    Sustainability indicators are more than just numbers. Besides their main function of illustrating the complex vision of sustainability they could support some factors for success of regional co-operation through their development. Today the discussion on indicators and co-operation is mainly separated from each other. Sustainability indicators are developed on all spatial levels from neighbourhoods up to the United Nations. In some cases the indicators are developed but remain unused. Regiona...

  18. Clinical reasoning in nursing: teaching strategies and assessment tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emília Campos de Carvalho

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: To present the concept and development of teaching strategies and the assessment tools regarding clinical reasoning for accurate practice. Method: This is a theoretical reflection based on scientific studies. Results: Comprehension of the essential concepts of the thought process and its articulation with the different teaching strategies and the assessment tools which has allowed presenting ways to improve the process of diagnostic or therapeutic clinical reasoning. Conclusion: The use of new strategies and assessment tools should be encouraged in order to contribute to the development of skills that lead to safe and effective decision making.

  19. Students’ Assessment of Campus Sustainability at the University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismaila R. Abubakar

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Higher education institutions are major drivers of change in achieving environmental sustainability both within college campuses and beyond campuses in communities at large. However, achieving campus sustainability is not possible without the involvement of students as one of the major stakeholders of a university. Based on survey of 152 students of the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, this study explores students’ assessment of campus sustainability components: curriculum and research; campus operations; and community involvement. The results show that even though the students indicate a great deal of awareness and concern about campus environmental sustainability, they lack interest and willingness to participate in initiatives towards achieving sustainability. Apart from some sustainable landscaping and waste recycling practices, there are few sustainability initiatives in transportation and energy and water conservation on the campus. Offered courses and student projects have also been reported to have modest focus on sustainability. The article concludes by highlighting the roles of incorporating sustainability into campus operations, and training university students in promoting environmental sustainability in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

  20. Indigenous youth-developed self-assessment: The Personal Balance Tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barraza, Rachelle; Bartgis, Jami

    2016-01-01

    The Fresno American Indian Health Project (FAIHP) Youth Council developed and pilot tested a strength-based, holistic, and youth-friendly self-assessment tool grounded in the Medicine Wheel, a framework and theoretical orientation for teaching wellness in many tribal communities. This paper summarizes the development of the Youth Personal Balance Tool and the methods used for tool revisions through two separate pilot studies and ongoing process evaluations across 3 years. Using a community-based participatory evaluation model, FAIHP leveraged community resources to implement an annual youth Gathering of Native Americans to support youth in healing from historical and intergenerational trauma and restoring communities to balance by making them a part of the solution. This tool is one of many outcomes of their work. The Youth Council is offering the tool as a gift (in line with the cultural value of generosity) to other Indigenous communities that are searching for culturally competent self-assessment tools for youth. The authors believe this tool has the potential to progress the field in strength-based, holistic, youth-friendly assessment as a culturally competent method for Indigenous evaluation and research.

  1. Using urban forest assessment tools to model bird habitat potential

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lerman, Susannah B.; Nislow, Keith H.; Nowak, David J.; DeStefano, Stephen; King, David I.; Jones-Farrand, D. Todd

    2014-01-01

    The alteration of forest cover and the replacement of native vegetation with buildings, roads, exotic vegetation, and other urban features pose one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. As more land becomes slated for urban development, identifying effective urban forest wildlife management tools becomes paramount to ensure the urban forest provides habitat to sustain bird and other wildlife populations. The primary goal of this study was to integrate wildlife suitability indices to an existing national urban forest assessment tool, i-Tree. We quantified available habitat characteristics of urban forests for ten northeastern U.S. cities, and summarized bird habitat relationships from the literature in terms of variables that were represented in the i-Tree datasets. With these data, we generated habitat suitability equations for nine bird species representing a range of life history traits and conservation status that predicts the habitat suitability based on i-Tree data. We applied these equations to the urban forest datasets to calculate the overall habitat suitability for each city and the habitat suitability for different types of land-use (e.g., residential, commercial, parkland) for each bird species. The proposed habitat models will help guide wildlife managers, urban planners, and landscape designers who require specific information such as desirable habitat conditions within an urban management project to help improve the suitability of urban forests for birds.

  2. Recov'Heat: An estimation tool of urban waste heat recovery potential in sustainable cities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goumba, Alain; Chiche, Samuel; Guo, Xiaofeng; Colombert, Morgane; Bonneau, Patricia

    2017-02-01

    Waste heat recovery is considered as an efficient way to increase carbon-free green energy utilization and to reduce greenhouse gas emission. Especially in urban area, several sources such as sewage water, industrial process, waste incinerator plants, etc., are still rarely explored. Their integration into a district heating system providing heating and/or domestic hot water could be beneficial for both energy companies and local governments. EFFICACITY, a French research institute focused on urban energy transition, has developed an estimation tool for different waste heat sources potentially explored in a sustainable city. This article presents the development method of such a decision making tool which, by giving both energetic and economic analysis, helps local communities and energy service companies to make preliminary studies in heat recovery projects.

  3. How to Assess Transformative Performance towards Sustainable Development in Higher Education Institutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mader, Clemens

    2012-01-01

    This article highlights the role of sustainability appraisal for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Traditional HEI appraisal systems lack a way to assess the integration of sustainability principles reflecting societal needs with the consequences of research, education and management of HEIs. Two appraisal systems are discussed. The Austrian…

  4. Tools for the assessment of childhood apraxia of speech.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gubiani, Marileda Barichello; Pagliarin, Karina Carlesso; Keske-Soares, Marcia

    2015-01-01

    This study systematically reviews the literature on the main tools used to evaluate childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). The search strategy includes Scopus, PubMed, and Embase databases. Empirical studies that used tools for assessing CAS were selected. Articles were selected by two independent researchers. The search retrieved 695 articles, out of which 12 were included in the study. Five tools were identified: Verbal Motor Production Assessment for Children, Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Speech Skill, The Orofacial Praxis Test, Kaufman Speech Praxis Test for Children, and Madison Speech Assessment Protocol. There are few instruments available for CAS assessment and most of them are intended to assess praxis and/or orofacial movements, sequences of orofacial movements, articulation of syllables and phonemes, spontaneous speech, and prosody. There are some tests for assessment and diagnosis of CAS. However, few studies on this topic have been conducted at the national level, as well as protocols to assess and assist in an accurate diagnosis.

  5. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Sediment Remediation at the London Olympic Park

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, D.; Al-Tabbaa, A.

    2013-12-01

    In recent years, there is an emerging 'green and sustainable remediation' (GSR) movement. It is drawing increasing attention from both the government and the industry, because this GSR movement is promising in accelerating process in addressing the contaminated land issue, by overcoming regulatory barriers, encouraging technological innovation, and balancing life cycle environmental stewardship with economic vitality and social well-being. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used by both researchers and industrial practitioners in an initiative to make environmental remediation greener and more sustainable. Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), aiming at expanding the traditional LCA model in both breadth and depth (e.g. to incorporate both environmental and social-economic sustainability), is an important research direction in the existing LCA research field. The present study intends to develop a LCSA method based on a hybrid LCA model and economic input-output (EIO) data. The LCSA method is applied to a contaminated sediment remediation project conducted at the London Olympic Park site.

  6. A Sustainability Assessment Methodology for Prioritizing the Technologies of Groundwater Contamination Remediation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    An, Da; Xi, Beidou; Wang, Yue

    2016-01-01

    More and more groundwater has 23 been polluted recently, and technologies for groundwater contamination remediation are of vital importance; however, it is usually difficult for the users to select the most suitable technology among multiple alternatives. In order to address this, this study aims...... at developing a sustainability assessment framework for prioritizing the technologies for groundwater contamination remediation by combining the concept of sustainability and multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method. A criterion system which consists of six criteria in three aspects has been proposed...... for sustainability assessment of technologies for groundwater contamination remediation, and a novel MCDM method by combining the logarithmic fuzzy preference programming based fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and the improved ELECTRE method has been developed for prioritizing the alternatives. In order...

  7. Metal Vapor Arcing Risk Assessment Tool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Monika C.; Leidecker, Henning W.

    2010-01-01

    The Tin Whisker Metal Vapor Arcing Risk Assessment Tool has been designed to evaluate the risk of metal vapor arcing and to help facilitate a decision toward a researched risk disposition. Users can evaluate a system without having to open up the hardware. This process allows for investigating components at risk rather than spending time and money analyzing every component. The tool points to a risk level and provides direction for appropriate action and documentation.

  8. Sustainability assessment of stormwater management systems and the importance of pollutants in runoff

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brudler, Sarah; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Karsten; Ammitsøe, Christian

    substance groups present in runoff, metals cause the highest impacts. To integrate this method into holistic sustainability assessment, we assess the complete life cycle of a complex stormwater management. We show that runoff discharges have a high relative importance: The impacts exceed the combined......We develop a method to systematically include impacts caused by runoff discharge into the sustainability assessment of stormwater management systems. By defining priority pollutants and calculating mean concentrations, an average ecotoxicity impact per litre of runoff is calculated. Of all assessed...... impacts of implementation, maintenance and decommissioning of the stormwater management system....

  9. Sustainable hydropower in Lower Mekong Countries: Technical assessment and training travel report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hadjerioua, Boualem [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Witt, Adam M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

    2015-08-01

    The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through their partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), requested the support of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to provide specialized technical assistance as part of the Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong (SIM) Program in Thailand. Introduced in July 2013 by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, SIM is a U.S. Government Inter-Agency program that provides Lower Mekong partner countries with targeted, demand-driven technical and scientific assistance to support environmentally sound, climate conscious and socially equitable infrastructure, clean energy development, and water resources optimization. The U.S. Government is committed to supporting sustainable economic development within the region by providing tools, best practices, technical assistance, and lessons learned for the benefit of partner countries. In response to a request from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), a SIM project was developed with two main activities: 1) to promote hydropower sustainability and efficiency through technical assessment training at two existing hydropower assets in Thailand, and 2) the design and implementation of one national and two or three regional science and policy workshops, to be co-hosted with EGAT, to build common understanding of and commitment to environmental and social safeguards for Mekong Basin hydropower projects. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is leading the technical assessment (Activity 1), and has contracted ORNL to provide expert technical assistance focused on increasing efficiency at existing projects, with the goal of increasing renewable energy generation at little to no capital cost. ORNL is the leading national laboratory in hydropower analysis, with a nationally recognized and highly qualified team of scientists addressing small to large-scale systems (basin-, regional-, and national-scale) energy generation optimization analysis for DOE. The

  10. Apps for asthma self-management: a systematic assessment of content and tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huckvale Kit

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Apps have been enthusiastically adopted by the general public. They are increasingly recognized by policy-makers as a potential medium for supporting self-management of long-term conditions. We assessed the degree to which current smartphone and tablet apps for people with asthma offer content and tools of appropriate quality to support asthma self-management. Methods We adapted systematic review methodology to the assessment of apps. We identified English-language asthma apps for all ages through a systematic search of official app stores. We systematically assessed app content using criteria derived from international guidelines and systematic review of strategies for asthma self-management. We covered three domains: comprehensiveness of asthma information, consistency of advice with evidence and compliance with health information best practice principles. Results We identified 103 apps for asthma in English, of which 56 were sources of information about the condition and 47 provided tools for the management of asthma. No apps offered both types of functionality. Only three information apps approached our definition of comprehensiveness of information about asthma. No apps provided advice on lay management of acute asthma that included details of appropriate reliever medication use. In 32 of 72 instances, apps made unequivocal recommendations about strategies for asthma control or prophylaxis that were unsupported by current evidence. Although 90% of apps stated a clear purpose, compliance with other best practice principles for health information was variable. Contact details were located for 55%, funding source for 18% and confidentiality policy for 17%. Conclusions No apps for people with asthma combined reliable, comprehensive information about the condition with supportive tools for self-management. Healthcare professionals considering recommending apps to patients as part of asthma self-management should exercise

  11. Review of Multi-Criteria Decision Aid for Integrated Sustainability Assessment of Urban Water Systems - MCEARD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Integrated sustainability assessment is part of a new paradigm for urban water decision making. Multi-criteria decision aid (MCDA) is an integrative framework used in urban water sustainability assessment, which has a particular focus on utilising stakeholder participation. Here ...

  12. Assessing the Value of Housing Schemes through Sustainable Return on Investment: A Path towards Sustainability-Led Evaluations?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin Dean

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The 2016 United Nations (UN New Urban Agenda clearly reaffirms the concept that sustainable cities require intertwined environmental and social sustainability. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 11—“Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable”—sets (as a primary target the provision of sufficient affordable housing. Despite the central role that housing plays in ensuring sustainability and the importance of both environmental and social pillars in ensuring sustainable development, current evaluative methods that support decision making on social housing interventions fail to capture all of the socio-environmental value contained in the UN SDG 11. This paper addresses the issue by demonstrating how Sustainable Return on Investment can successfully describe and analyse a range of externalities related to the sustainable value generated by social housing regeneration schemes. To achieve this goal, a single case study strategy has been chosen. Two extant projects—a high-rise housing scheme and an environmental-led program developed by City West Housing Trust (a nonprofit housing association based in the Manchester area—have been assessed in order to monetise their social and environmental value through different methods. The findings show that, historically, the environmental and social value of regeneration schemes have been largely disregarded because of a gap in the evaluation methods, and that there is room for significant improvement for future evaluation exercises.

  13. Areas of Inquiry : Guiding FSSD practitioners at the beginning of a change initiative towards sustainability

    OpenAIRE

    Hogenboom, Michaela; Mireault, Amy; Stolz, Thaela

    2012-01-01

    This research aims to support sustainability practitioners at the beginning of a change initiative towards sustainability to increase the success of the change. Moving towards sustainability is a complex journey and requires radical and structural transformational change in companies. Mutual understanding of the company and the practitioner is required to design a suitable change process. Existing tools related to sustainability, change management, corporate analysis and assessment were analy...

  14. Probabilistic Flood Defence Assessment Tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Slomp Robert

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The WTI2017 project is responsible for the development of flood defence assessment tools for the 3600 km of Dutch primary flood defences, dikes/levees, dunes and hydraulic structures. These tools are necessary, as per January 1st 2017, the new flood risk management policy for the Netherlands will be implemented. Then, the seven decades old design practice (maximum water level methodology of 1958 and two decades old safety standards (and maximum hydraulic load methodology of 1996 will formally be replaced by a more risked based approach for the national policy in flood risk management. The formal flood defence assessment is an important part of this new policy, especially for flood defence managers, since national and regional funding for reinforcement is based on this assessment. This new flood defence policy is based on a maximum allowable probability of flooding. For this, a maximum acceptable individual risk was determined at 1/100 000 per year, this is the probability of life loss of for every protected area in the Netherlands. Safety standards of flood defences were then determined based on this acceptable individual risk. The results were adjusted based on information from cost -benefit analysis, societal risk and large scale societal disruption due to the failure of critical infrastructure e.g. power stations. The resulting riskbased flood defence safety standards range from a 300 to a 100 000 year return period for failure. Two policy studies, WV21 (Safety from floods in the 21st century and VNK-2 (the National Flood Risk in 2010 provided the essential information to determine the new risk based safety standards for flood defences. The WTI2017 project will provide the safety assessment tools based on these new standards and is thus an essential element for the implementation of this policy change. A major issue to be tackled was the development of user-friendly tools, as the new assessment is to be carried out by personnel of the

  15. Marine Litter, Eutrophication and Noise Assessment Tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palazov, Atanas; Velcheva, Maya; Milkova, Tanya; Slabakova, Violeta; Marinova, Veselka

    2017-04-01

    MARLEN - Marine Litter, Eutrophication and Noise Assessment Tools is a project under the Programme BG02.03: Increased capacity for assessing and predicting environmental status in marine and inland waters, managed by Bulgarian Ministry of environment and waters and co-financed by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA FM) 2009 - 2014. Project Beneficiary is the Institute of oceanology - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences with two partners: Burgas municipality and Bulgarian Black Sea Basin Directorate. Initial assessment of ecological state of Bulgarian marine waters showed lack of data for some descriptors of MSFD. The main goal of MARLEN is to build up tools for assessment of marine environment by implementing new technologies and best practices for addressing three main areas of interest with lack of marine data in particular: a) Marine litter detection and classification in coastal areas; b) Regular near real time surface water eutrophication monitoring on large aquatory; c) Underwater noise monitoring. Developed tools are an important source of real time, near real time and delay mode marine data for Bulgarian Black Sea waters. The partnership within the project increased capacity for environmental assessments and training of personnel and enhances collaboration between scientific institutes, regional and local authorities. Project results supported implementation of MSFD in Bulgarian marine waters for the benefit of coastal population, marine industry, tourism, marine research and marine spatial planning.

  16. Employability Skills Assessment Tool Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasul, Mohamad Sattar; Rauf, Rose Amnah Abd; Mansor, Azlin Norhaini; Puvanasvaran, A. P.

    2012-01-01

    Research nationally and internationally found that technical graduates are lacking in employability skills. As employability skills are crucial in outcome-based education, the main goal of this research is to develop an Employability Skill Assessment Tool to help students and lecturers produce competent graduates in employability skills needed by…

  17. How to quantify sustainable development: a risk-based approach to water quality management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarang, Amin; Vahedi, Arman; Shamsai, Abolfazl

    2008-02-01

    Since the term was coined in the Brundtland report in 1987, the issue of sustainable development has been challenged in terms of quantification. Different policy options may lend themselves more or less to the underlying principles of sustainability, but no analytical tools are available for a more in-depth assessment of the degree of sustainability. Overall, there are two major schools of thought employing the sustainability concept in managerial decisions: those of measuring and those of monitoring. Measurement of relative sustainability is the key issue in bridging the gap between theory and practice of sustainability of water resources systems. The objective of this study is to develop a practical tool for quantifying and assessing the degree of relative sustainability of water quality systems based on risk-based indicators, including reliability, resilience, and vulnerability. Current work on the Karoun River, the largest river in Iran, has included the development of an integrated model consisting of two main parts: a water quality simulation subroutine to evaluate Dissolved Oxygen Biological Oxygen Demand (DO-BOD) response, and an estimation of risk-based indicators subroutine via the First Order Reliability Method (FORM) and Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). We also developed a simple waste load allocation model via Least Cost and Uniform Treatment approaches in order to consider the optimal point of pollutants control costs given a desired reliability value which addresses DO in two different targets. The Risk-based approach developed herein, particularly via the FORM technique, appears to be an appropriately efficient tool for estimating the relative sustainability. Moreover, our results in the Karoun system indicate that significant changes in sustainability values are possible through dedicating money for treatment and strict pollution controls while simultaneously requiring a technical advance along change in current attitudes for environment protection.

  18. Exposure Assessment Tools by Chemical Classes - Nanomaterials

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA ExpoBox is a toolbox for exposure assessors. Its purpose is to provide a compendium of exposure assessment and risk characterization tools that will present comprehensive step-by-step guidance and links to relevant exposure assessment data bases

  19. A patient self-assessment tool for cardiac rehabilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phelan, C; Finnell, M D; Mottla, K A

    1989-01-01

    A patient self-assessment tool was designed, tested, and implemented to promote cardiac-specific data collection, based on Gordon's Functional Health Patterns, to maximize patient/family involvement in determining a plan of care, and to streamline primary nurses' documentation requirements. Retrospective and concurrent chart reviews provided data for quality assurance monitoring. The results of the monitoring demonstrated that the self-assessment tool markedly improved the patient-specific data base.

  20. Environmental impact assessment of rail infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-29

    This project resulted in three products: a comprehensive "Sustainable Rail Checklist," a rail planning GIS database, and a web GIS tool that integrates sustainability metrics and facilitates a rapid assessment before a formal NEPA process is implemen...

  1. A new method to assess the sustainability performance of events: Application to the 2014 World Orienteering Championship

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scrucca, Flavio; Severi, Claudio [ECOCONGRESS Scientific Department, Via N. Cristofani 4/a, 06135 Perugia (Italy); Galvan, Nicola [WOC (World Orienteering Championship) Organising Committee 2014, Loc. Parco 3, 38056 Levico Terme (Italy); Brunori, Antonio, E-mail: info@pefc.it [PEFC Italy (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes), Strada dei Loggi 22, 06135 Perugia (Italy)

    2016-01-15

    Nowadays an increasing attention of public and private agencies to the sustainability performance of events is observed, since it is recognized as a key issue in the context of sustainable development. Assessing the sustainability performance of events involves environmental, social and economic aspects; their impacts are complex and a quantitative assessment is often difficult. This paper presents a new quali-quantitative method developed to measure the sustainability of events, taking into account all its potential impacts. The 2014 World Orienteering Championship, held in Italy, was selected to test the proposed evaluation methodology. The total carbon footprint of the event was 165.34 tCO{sub 2}eq and the avoided emissions were estimated as being 46 tCO{sub 2}eq. The adopted quali-quantitative method resulted to be efficient in assessing the sustainability impacts and can be applied for the evaluation of similar events. - Highlights: • A quali-quantitative method to assess events' sustainability is presented. • All the methodological issues related to the method are explained. • The method is used to evaluate the sustainability of an international sports event. • The method resulted to be valid to assess the event's sustainability level. • The carbon footprint of the event has been calculated.

  2. A new method to assess the sustainability performance of events: Application to the 2014 World Orienteering Championship

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scrucca, Flavio; Severi, Claudio; Galvan, Nicola; Brunori, Antonio

    2016-01-01

    Nowadays an increasing attention of public and private agencies to the sustainability performance of events is observed, since it is recognized as a key issue in the context of sustainable development. Assessing the sustainability performance of events involves environmental, social and economic aspects; their impacts are complex and a quantitative assessment is often difficult. This paper presents a new quali-quantitative method developed to measure the sustainability of events, taking into account all its potential impacts. The 2014 World Orienteering Championship, held in Italy, was selected to test the proposed evaluation methodology. The total carbon footprint of the event was 165.34 tCO_2eq and the avoided emissions were estimated as being 46 tCO_2eq. The adopted quali-quantitative method resulted to be efficient in assessing the sustainability impacts and can be applied for the evaluation of similar events. - Highlights: • A quali-quantitative method to assess events' sustainability is presented. • All the methodological issues related to the method are explained. • The method is used to evaluate the sustainability of an international sports event. • The method resulted to be valid to assess the event's sustainability level. • The carbon footprint of the event has been calculated.

  3. PSSD - Planning System for Sustainable Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    PSSD - Planning System for Sustainable Development - is a part of the Baltic Sea Region's INTERREG II C program. The current report describes some theories, methods and tools developed under the PSSD project. First, the theoretical foundation of the project is described. Secondly, the role...... of indicators in sustainable development is discussed and a Web-based indicator generator is described. Thirdly, we describe a number of methods and tools, which support planning for sustainable development. Finally, some technical interface tools - especially a Web-based interface to the methods and tools...

  4. Exposure Assessment Tools by Tiers and Types - Deterministic and Probabilistic Assessments

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA ExpoBox is a toolbox for exposure assessors. Its purpose is to provide a compendium of exposure assessment and risk characterization tools that will present comprehensive step-by-step guidance and links to relevant exposure assessment data bases

  5. Developing a Process for Sustained Climate Assessment in the US Southwest Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duncan, B.; Rick, U. K.; McNie, E. C.

    2017-12-01

    Climate information needs often vary across states, regions, and sectors. While a national assessment provides foundational guidance about the science and impacts of climate change, there is also value in an ongoing climate assessment process with a more targeted regional geographic scale and sectoral focus. Such a process could provide timely and relevant climate information that is sometimes more detailed than what can be included in a national assessment, while also providing a foundation of knowledge and relationships that can be drawn on in larger-scale assessment processes. In the Sustained Climate Assessment in the Southwest project, researchers are investigating opportunities for sustained assessment in the US Southwest National Climate Assessment (NCA) region - an area that consists of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This work is focused on identifying key elements of an ongoing climate assessment process for the region in collaboration with climate service providers and users, with the goal of connecting providers and users to increase access to information and understanding of climate impacts in decision-making contexts. It is focused on four key sectors that represent a range of existing capacity in the region: water, oceans and coasts, agriculture, and transportation. Recommendations for an ongoing assessment process may vary by sector - a reflection of the capacity and opportunity associated with each. In this presentation, we will share case studies of particularly useful or successful existing assessment activities and identify common characteristics across the case studies. We will also share preliminary recommendations for a regional sustained climate assessment process that draws on the broad existing capacity for climate assessment in the region and complements national-scale assessment processes.

  6. A technical investigation on tools and concepts for sustainable management of the subsurface in The Netherlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffioen, Jasper; van Wensem, Joke; Oomes, Justine L M; Barends, Frans; Breunese, Jaap; Bruining, Hans; Olsthoorn, Theo; Stams, Alfons J M; van der Stoel, Almer E C

    2014-07-01

    In response to increasing use of the subsurface, there is a need to modernise policies on sustainable use of the subsurface. This holds in particular for the densely populated Netherlands. We aimed to analyse current practice of subsurface management and the associated pressure points and to establish a conceptual overview of the technical issues related to sustainable management of the subsurface. Case studies on the exploitation of subsurface resources (including spatial use of the subsurface) were analysed, examining social relevance, environmental impact, pressure points and management solutions. The case studies ranged from constructing underground garages to geothermal exploitation. The following issues were identified for the technological/scientific aspects: site investigation, suitability, risk assessment, monitoring and measures in the event of failure. Additionally, the following general issues were identified for the administrative aspects: spatial planning, option assessment, precaution, transparency, responsibility and liability. These issues were explored on their technological implications within the framework of sustainable management of the subsurface. This resulted into the following key aspects: (1) sustainability assessment, (2) dealing with uncertainty and (3) policy instruments and governance. For all three aspects, different options were identified which might have a legal, economic or ethical background. The technological implications of these backgrounds have been identified. A set of recommendations for sustainable management of the subsurface resources (incl. space) was established: (1) management should be driven by scarcity, (2) always implement closed loop monitoring when the subsurface activities are high-risk, (3) when dealing with unknown features and heterogeneity, apply the precautionary principle, (4) responsibility and liability for damage must be set out in legislation and (5) sustainability should be incorporated in all

  7. Local Sustainable Energy Assessment Report of the Guandong Province in China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Jan; Lund, Søren

    The publication reports a sustainable energy assessment at the local project site of the HighARCS project in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province, China. The assessment has been made as a contribution to the elaboration of biodiversity conservation and livelihoods improvement action plans. It proposes...

  8. Rapid assessment as an evaluation tool for polio national ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Rapid assessment as an evaluation tool for polio national immunisation days in Brong Ahafo region, Ghana. ... TM Akande, M Eshetu, G Bonsu ... Conclusion: Rapid assessment is a valuable tool for evaluation of NIDs; it enables timely intervention in covering missed children and helps in careful interpretation of the usual ...

  9. Sustainable Workspace Performance for Steelcase

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tan, Adrian; Bey, Niki

    This report documents the work done in the project “Sustainable Workspace Performance” for Steelcase in the period of October 2006 - December 2007. Today organizations around the world are encouraging and promoting standards for environmentally efficient buildings. Interest in these “green......” buildings have increased immensely, but just like financial metrics do not provide a total view of the effectiveness and efficiency of the workspace, the environmental focus tends to be one dimensional. In this project a framework and a computer-based tool was developed to demonstrate the links between...... was to allow companies to assess their own performance of their workspace in each of the sustainability dimensions relative to their own business context. This is expected to engage and empower companies to take action and make informed sustainable decisions in the design of their workspace....

  10. Sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Chein-Chi; DiGiovanni, Kimberly; Mei, Ying; Wei, Li

    2016-10-01

    This review on Sustainability covers selected 2015 publications on the focus of Sustainability. It is divided into the following sections : • Sustainable water and wastewater utilities • Sustainable water resources management • Stormwater and green infrastructure • Sustainability in wastewater treatment • Life cycle assessment (LCA) applications • Sustainability and energy in wastewater industry, • Sustainability and asset management.

  11. Multifactorial screening for fall risk in community-dwelling older adults in the primary care office: development of the fall risk assessment & screening tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renfro, Mindy Oxman; Fehrer, Steven

    2011-01-01

    Unintentional falls is an increasing public health problem as incidence of falls rises and the population ages. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1 in 3 adults aged 65 years and older will experience a fall this year; 20% to 30% of those who fall will sustain a moderate to severe injury. Physical therapists caring for older adults are usually engaged with these patients after the first injury fall and may have little opportunity to abate fall risk before the injuries occur. This article describes the content selection and development of a simple-to-administer, multifactorial, Fall Risk Assessment & Screening Tool (FRAST), designed specifically for use in primary care settings to identify those older adults with high fall risk. Fall Risk Assessment & Screening Tool incorporates previously validated measures within a new multifactorial tool and includes targeted recommendations for intervention. Development of the multifactorial FRAST used a 5-part process: identification of significant fall risk factors, review of best evidence, selection of items, creation of the scoring grid, and development of a recommended action plan. Fall Risk Assessment & Screening Tool has been developed to assess fall risk in the target population of older adults (older than 65 years) living and ambulating independently in the community. Many fall risk factors have been considered and 15 items selected for inclusion. Fall Risk Assessment & Screening Tool includes 4 previously validated measures to assess balance, depression, falls efficacy, and home safety. Reliability and validity studies of FRAST are under way. Fall risk for community-dwelling older adults is an urgent, multifactorial, public health problem. Providing primary care practitioners (PCPs) with a very simple screening tool is imperative. Fall Risk Assessment & Screening Tool was created to allow for safe, quick, and low-cost administration by minimally trained office staff with interpretation and

  12. A methodology for the sustainability assessment of agri-food systems: an application to the Slow Food Presidia project.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristiana Peano

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available New and alternative models for agri-food production and consumption have brought up questions regarding the effects they have on local development processes in terms of the economic exploitation of rural areas as well as environmental, cultural, and social factors. The agri-food system proposed by the Slow Food (SF Presidia Project, which focuses on farm-to-market systems for local, high-quality, sustainable products, can respond to the new and emerging needs of both rural and urban populaces via several approaches in addition to food production itself. However, evaluating these parameters is challenging. The aim of this study was to develop an indicator-based tool to monitor the sustainability in agri-food systems that considers quality as well as economic, ecological, social, and cultural aspects. We: (i translated the major SF principles of "good," "clean," and "fair" into five major criteria to evaluate sustainability; (ii designed multiple indicators to monitor progress toward sustainability for each of those criteria; and (iii applied the monitoring tools to three case studies as a first attempt at end-use validation. Indicators and criteria were weighted either equally or based on their importance to surveyed stakeholders, i.e., consumers, producers, and scientists/experts. The proposed approach performed well as a tool for a broad sustainability evaluation by effectively combining the indicators with the same feedback. With this approach, we demonstrated that the SF Presidia project increases all dimensions of sustainability and in particular socioeconomic and cultural capital by preserving the environmental and quality aspects of the food products.

  13. From Clinical-Developmental Theory to Assessment: The Holistic Student Assessment Tool

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gil Noam

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available A description and test of the Holistic Student Assessment Tool (HSA, an assessment tool to measure children’s and adolescents’ resiliencies in relation to externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. The HSA is based on the authors’ research-based clinical-developmental Clover Leaf Model of resilience and psychopathology, and is one of the first attempts at closing the gap between risk and resilience approaches in developmental assessment. The HSA was tested in a cross-sectional sample of 423 children and adolescents.The results lend support to the HSA as a valid measure of children’s and adolescents’ resiliencies. Furthermore, the resilience scales mostly exhibited the theoretically expected convergent and divergent relationships with the psychopathology scales. In addition, we show how the resilience scales predict adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing symptoms. We contend that evidence-based intervention to address youth aggression needs to be based on sounddevelopmental assessment.

  14. BASINs 4.0 Climate Assessment Tool (CAT): Supporting ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA announced the availability of the report, BASINS 4.0 Climate Assessment Tool (CAT): Supporting Documentation and User's Manual. This report was prepared by the EPA's Global Change Research Program (GCRP), an assessment-oriented program, that sits within the Office of Research and Development, that focuses on assessing how potential changes in climate and other global environmental stressors may impact water quality, air quality, aquatic ecosystems, and human health in the United States. The Program’s focus on water quality is consistent with the Research Strategy of the U.S. Climate Change Research Program—the federal umbrella organization for climate change science in the U.S. government—and is responsive to U.S. EPA’s mission and responsibilities as defined by the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. A central goal of the EPA GCRP is to provide EPA program offices, Regions, and other stakeholders with tools and information for assessing and responding to any potential future impacts of climate change. In 2007, the EPA Global Change Research Program (GCRP), in partnership with the EPA Office of Water, supported development of a Climate Assessment Tool (CAT) for version 4 of EPA’s BASINS modeling system. This report provides supporting documentation and user support materials for the BASINS CAT tool. The purpose of this report is to provide in a single document a variety of documentation and user support materials supporting the use

  15. Judging the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Assessment Tools to Guide Future Tool Development: The use of Clinimetrics as Opposed to Psychometrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westgate, Philip M; Gomez-Pomar, Enrique

    2017-01-01

    In the face of the current Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) epidemic, there is considerable variability in the assessment and management of infants with NAS. In this manuscript, we particularly focus on NAS assessment, with special attention given to the popular Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Score (FNAS). A major instigator of the problem of variable practices is that multiple modified versions of the FNAS exist and continue to be proposed, including shortened versions. Furthermore, the validity of such assessment tools has been questioned, and as a result, the need for better tools has been suggested. The ultimate purpose of this manuscript, therefore, is to increase researchers' and clinicians' understanding on how to judge the usefulness of NAS assessment tools in order to guide future tool development and to reduce variable practices. In short, we suggest that judgment of NAS assessment tools should be made on a clinimetrics viewpoint as opposed to psychometrically. We provide examples, address multiple issues that must be considered, and discuss future tool development. Furthermore, we urge researchers and clinicians to come together, utilizing their knowledge and experience, to assess the utility and practicality of existing assessment tools and to determine if one or more new or modified tools are needed with the goal of increased agreement on the assessment of NAS in practice.

  16. Sustainable Biofuel Crops Project, Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Juhn, Daniel [Conservation International, Arlington, VA (United States). Moore Center for Science and Oceans. Integrated Assessment and Planning; Grantham, Hedley [Conservation International, Arlington, VA (United States). Moore Center for Science and Oceans. Integrated Assessment and Planning

    2014-05-28

    Over the last six years, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed the Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) Approach to help countries design and implement sustainable bioenergy policies and strategies. The BEFS Approach consists of two sets of multidisciplinary and integrated tools and guidance (the BEFS Rapid Appraisal and the BEFS Detailed Analysis) to facilitate better decision on bioenergy development which should foster both food and energy security, and contribute to agricultural and rural development. The development of the BEFS Approach was for the most part funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Recognizing the need to provide support to countries that wanted an initial assessment of their sustainable bioenergy potential, and of the associated opportunities, risks and trade offs, FAO began developing the BEFS-RA (Rapid Appraisal). The BEFS RA is a spreadsheet–based assessment and analysis tool designed to outline the country's basic energy, agriculture and food security context, the natural resources potential, the bioenergy end use options, including initial financial and economic implications, and the identification of issues that might require fuller investigation with the BEFS Detailed Analysis.

  17. Analysis of the evolution of sustainable development in biofuels industry in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen Rosa Loayza Rollano

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an evaluation of sustainable development in the biofuel production sector. The Energy Indicators Tool for Sustainable Development (EISD and the Sustainability Indicators Tool Global Association for Bioenergy (GBEP were applied. Performing a comparison of indicators in each performance (economic, social and environmental, it was found that the production of biofuels in Brazil is positive in most of them. Biofuels showed a favorable trend in economic indicators, not only in terms of cost, but also through the use of energy available to the consumer market. Environmental indicators showed an improvement in the efficient use of land, water and energy resources, while pesticide applications are relatively low in relation to the limits. In addition, it appears that the biofuels industries have contributed positively to rural economies, since the social indicators showed a relatively significant and positive increase in labor supply and salary level of the labor market in this sector. Also appears that existing tools are complementary and the results provide a basis for future discussions and the development of sustainability assessments in systems and bioenergy-related projects.

  18. Sustainability Assessment in Automotive and Electronics Supply Chains—A Set of Indicators Defined in a Multi-Stakeholder Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josef-Peter Schöggl

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In automotive and electronics supply chains, sustainability assessment is gaining increasing importance. More stringent regulations and growing customer pressure are driving the change towards more environmentally, socially and economically responsible supply chains. Since this implies a rising use of resources for data collection, monitoring, exchange and assessment, the objective of this paper is to facilitate supply chain sustainability assessment. The present paper first provides a tailored set of 69 supply chain sustainability indicators for the European automotive and electronics industries. These were derived on the basis of a systematic literature review, together with 13 semi-structured interviews and five focus group workshops, all of which involved sustainability and industry experts. Second, the paper provides a case example of software-based supply chain sustainability data exchange. The extent to which sustainability information is currently exchanged in the two industries is also analyzed. The set of indicators is scientifically relevant since it considers all three dimensions of sustainability and is intended to allow for supply chain-wide sustainability assessment in two specific industries. It is also of high practical relevance since it was developed with and validated by industry experts, and also since it considers industrial and technical requirements for supply chain sustainability assessment in order to increase the efficiency of the work processes.

  19. Sustainability assessment of renewable power and heat generation technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dombi, Mihály; Kuti, István; Balogh, Péter

    2014-01-01

    Rationalisation of consumption, more efficient energy usage and a new energy structure are needed to be achieved in order to shift the structure of energy system towards sustainability. The required energy system is among others characterised by intensive utilisation of renewable energy sources (RES). RES technologies have their own advantages and disadvantages. Nevertheless, for the strategic planning there is a great demand for the comparison of RES technologies. Furthermore, there are additional functions of RES utilisation expected beyond climate change mitigation, e.g. increment of employment, economic growth and rural development. The aim of the study was to reveal the most beneficial RES technologies with special respect to sustainability. Ten technologies of power generation and seven technologies of heat supply were examined in a multi-criteria sustainability assessment frame of seven attributes which were evaluated based on a choice experiment (CE) survey. According to experts the most important characteristics of RES utilisation technologies are land demand and social impacts i.e. increase in employment and local income generation. Concentrated solar power (CSP), hydropower and geothermal power plants are favourable technologies for power generation, while geothermal district heating, pellet-based non-grid heating and solar thermal heating can offer significant advantages in case of heat supply. - highlights: • We used choice experiment to estimate the weights of criteria for the sustainability assessment of RES technologies. • The most important attributes of RES technologies according to experts are land demand and social impacts. • Concentrated solar power (CSP), hydropower and geothermal power plants are advantageous technologies for power generation. • Geothermal district heating, pellet-based non-grid heating and solar thermal heating are favourable in case of heat supply

  20. Developing a Sustainability Assessment Model to Analyze China’s Municipal Solid Waste Management Enhancement Strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hua Li

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This study develops a sustainability assessment model for analysis and decision-making of the impact of China’s municipal solid waste management enhancement strategy options based on three waste treatment scenarios: landfill disposal, waste-to-energy incineration, and a combination of a material recovery facility and composting. The model employs life cycle assessment, health risk assessment, and full cost accounting to evaluate the treatment scenarios regarding safeguarding public health, protecting the environment and conserving resources, and economic feasibility. The model then uses an analytic hierarchy process for an overall appraisal of sustainability. Results suggest that a combination of material recovery and composting is the most efficient option. The study results clarify sustainable attributes, suitable predications, evaluation modeling, and stakeholder involvement issues in solid waste management. The demonstration of the use of sustainability assessment model (SAM provides flexibility by allowing assessment for a municipal solid waste management (MSWM strategy on a case-by-case basis, taking into account site-specific factors, therefore it has the potential for flexible applications in different communities/regions.

  1. Sustainable energy provision: a comparative assessment of the various electricity supply options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Voss, A.

    2000-01-01

    The provision of electricity is of central importance for economic growth and societal development. While numerous societal and economic benefits arise from the use of electricity, the production of electricity can also have negative impacts on the environment and the climate system. The commitment to sustainable development calls for the evaluation of the extent to which the different electricity supply options fulfill the sustainability criteria. The conceptual framework of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can provide a solid basis for a comparative assessment of different electricity supply options with regard to their environmental impacts, raw material requirements as well as their resulting external costs. Results of a comprehensive comparative assessment of nuclear energy and other electricity options are presented. (author)

  2. Reliability of the ECHOWS Tool for Assessment of Patient Interviewing Skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boissonnault, Jill S; Evans, Kerrie; Tuttle, Neil; Hetzel, Scott J; Boissonnault, William G

    2016-04-01

    History taking is an important component of patient/client management. Assessment of student history-taking competency can be achieved via a standardized tool. The ECHOWS tool has been shown to be valid with modest intrarater reliability in a previous study but did not demonstrate sufficient power to definitively prove its stability. The purposes of this study were: (1) to assess the reliability of the ECHOWS tool for student assessment of patient interviewing skills and (2) to determine whether the tool discerns between novice and experienced skill levels. A reliability and construct validity assessment was conducted. Three faculty members from the United States and Australia scored videotaped histories from standardized patients taken by students and experienced clinicians from each of these countries. The tapes were scored twice, 3 to 6 weeks apart. Reliability was assessed using interclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and repeated measures. Analysis of variance models assessed the ability of the tool to discern between novice and experienced skill levels. The ECHOWS tool showed excellent intrarater reliability (ICC [3,1]=.74-.89) and good interrater reliability (ICC [2,1]=.55) as a whole. The summary of performance (S) section showed poor interrater reliability (ICC [2,1]=.27). There was no statistical difference in performance on the tool between novice and experienced clinicians. A possible ceiling effect may occur when standardized patients are not coached to provide complex and obtuse responses to interviewer questions. Variation in familiarity with the ECHOWS tool and in use of the online training may have influenced scoring of the S section. The ECHOWS tool demonstrates excellent intrarater reliability and moderate interrater reliability. Sufficient training with the tool prior to student assessment is recommended. The S section must evolve in order to provide a more discerning measure of interviewing skills. © 2016 American Physical Therapy

  3. MOVEMENT SKILL ASSESSMENT OF TYPICALLY DEVELOPING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: A REVIEW OF SEVEN MOVEMENT SKILL ASSESSMENT TOOLS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wouter Cools

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available The importance of movement is often overlooked because it is such a natural part of human life. It is, however, crucial for a child's physical, cognitive and social development. In addition, experiences support learning and development of fundamental movement skills. The foundations of those skills are laid in early childhood and essential to encourage a physically active lifestyle. Fundamental movement skill performance can be examined with several assessment tools. The choice of a test will depend on the context in which the assessment is planned. This article compares seven assessment tools which are often referred to in European or international context. It discusses the tools' usefulness for the assessment of movement skill development in general population samples. After a brief description of each assessment tool the article focuses on contents, reliability, validity and normative data. A conclusion outline of strengths and weaknesses of all reviewed assessment tools focusing on their use in educational research settings is provided and stresses the importance of regular data collection of fundamental movement skill development among preschool children.

  4. Assessing Usefulness. Do Stakeholders Regard the CDM's SD Tool as Practicial?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Karen Holm; Fenhann, Jørgen Villy; Hinostroza, Miriam L.

    implementation of this requirement. The independent High-Level Panel on the CDM Policy Dialogue has also considered the need for improvement. Subsequently the Conference of the Parties serving as the meetings of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) 7 at Durban called on the CDM Executive Board to develop...... criteria, superficial examinations and difficult stakeholder consultations. Such new approaches include scoring of indicators, priority sectors, checklists as well as improved documentation requirements for verification, municipal approval or on-site visits by DNA staff. When developing the Sustainable...... contributions, and project developers. Host countries of different size and various levels of experience with CDM and sustainability assessment and project developers with expertise for various types of projects were interviewed in a survey about their experiences. Subjects were the sustainability assessment...

  5. Sustainability Assessment of Power Generation Systems by Applying Exergy Analysis and LCA Methods

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stougie, L.; van der Kooi, H.J.; Valero Delgado, A.

    2015-01-01

    The selection of power generation systems is important when striving for a more sustainable society. However, the results of environmental, economic and social sustainability assessments are subject to new insights into the calculation methods and to changing needs, economic conditions and societal

  6. State of the art of contaminated site management in The Netherlands: Policy framework and risk assessment tools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swartjes, F.A.; Rutgers, M.; Lijzen, J.P.A.; Janssen, P.J.C.M.; Otte, P.F.; Wintersen, A.; Brand, E.; Posthuma, L.

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents the policy framework of contaminated site management in The Netherlands and the corresponding risk assessment tools, including innovations that have taken place since an overview was published in 1999. According to the Dutch Soil Protection Act assessment framework, soils are subdivided into three quality classes: clean, slightly contaminated and seriously contaminated. Historic cases of slightly contaminated soils are managed in a sustainable way by re-use of soil material within a region on the basis of risk-based and land use specific Maximal Values and Background Values. In case of serious soil contamination remediation is in principle necessary and the urgency of remediation has to be determined based on site-specific risks for human health, the ecosystem and groundwater. The major risk assessment tools in The Netherlands are the CSOIL exposure model (human health risks and food safety), Species Sensitivity Distributions and the Soil Quality Triad (ecological risks), along with a procedure to assess the risks due to contaminant spreading to and in the groundwater. Following the principle ‘simple if possible, complex when necessary’, tiered approaches are used. Contaminated site practices are supported with web-based decision support systems. - Highlights: ► The Dutch Soil Protection Act distinguishes three quality classes: clean, slightly contaminated and seriously contaminated. ► Serious soil contamination in principle compels remediation and the determination of the urgency of remediation. ► The relevant protection targets in The Netherlands are human health, ecosystems, groundwater and food safety. ► Important risk assessment tools are the CSOIL and VOLASOIL exposure models, SSDs and the TRIAD approach. ► Under the principle ‘simple when possible, complex when necessary’ tiered approaches are used.

  7. Development of a Multi-Domain Assessment Tool for Quality Improvement Projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenbluth, Glenn; Burman, Natalie J; Ranji, Sumant R; Boscardin, Christy K

    2017-08-01

    Improving the quality of health care and education has become a mandate at all levels within the medical profession. While several published quality improvement (QI) assessment tools exist, all have limitations in addressing the range of QI projects undertaken by learners in undergraduate medical education, graduate medical education, and continuing medical education. We developed and validated a tool to assess QI projects with learner engagement across the educational continuum. After reviewing existing tools, we interviewed local faculty who taught QI to understand how learners were engaged and what these faculty wanted in an ideal assessment tool. We then developed a list of competencies associated with QI, established items linked to these competencies, revised the items using an iterative process, and collected validity evidence for the tool. The resulting Multi-Domain Assessment of Quality Improvement Projects (MAQIP) rating tool contains 9 items, with criteria that may be completely fulfilled, partially fulfilled, or not fulfilled. Interrater reliability was 0.77. Untrained local faculty were able to use the tool with minimal guidance. The MAQIP is a 9-item, user-friendly tool that can be used to assess QI projects at various stages and to provide formative and summative feedback to learners at all levels.

  8. Designing Online Assessment Tools for Disengaged Youth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brader, Andy; Luke, Allan; Klenowski, Val; Connolly, Stephen; Behzadpour, Adib

    2014-01-01

    This article reports on the development of online assessment tools for disengaged youth in flexible learning environments. Sociocultural theories of learning and assessment and Bourdieu's sociological concepts of capital and exchange were used to design a purpose-built content management system. This design experiment engaged participants in…

  9. Life cycle considerations for improving sustainability assessments in seafood awareness campaigns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelletier, Nathan; Tyedmers, Peter

    2008-11-01

    It is widely accepted that improving the sustainability of seafood production requires efforts to reverse declines in global fisheries due to overfishing and to reduce the impacts to host ecosystems from fishing and aquaculture production technologies. Reflective of on-going dialogue amongst participants in an international research project applying Life Cycle Assessment to better understand and manage global salmon production systems, we argue here that such efforts must also address the wider range of biophysical, ecological, and socioeconomic impacts stemming from the material and energetic throughput associated with these industries. This is of particular relevance given the interconnectivity of global environmental change, ocean health, and the viability of seafood production in both fisheries and aquaculture. Although the growing popularity of numerous ecolabeling, certification, and consumer education programs may be making headway in influencing Western consumer perceptions of the relative sustainability of alternative seafood products, we also posit that the efficacy of these initiatives in furthering sustainability objectives is compromised by the use of incomplete criteria. An emerging body of Life Cycle Assessment research of fisheries and aquaculture provides valuable insights into the biophysical dimensions of environmental performance in alternative seafood production and consumption systems, and should be used to inform a more holistic approach to labeling, certifying, and educating for sustainability in seafood production. More research, however, must be undertaken to develop novel techniques for incorporating other critical dimensions, in particular, socioeconomic considerations, into our sustainability decision-making.

  10. Methods and tools for sustainable chemical process design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Loureiro da Costa Lira Gargalo, Carina; Chairakwongsa, Siwanat; Quaglia, Alberto

    2015-01-01

    As the pressure on chemical and biochemical processes to achieve a more sustainable performance increases, the need to define a systematic and holistic way to accomplish this is becoming more urgent. In this chapter, a multilevel computer-aided framework for systematic design of more sustainable...

  11. Sustaining Innovation: Developing an Instructional Technology Assessment Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carmo, Monica Cristina

    2013-01-01

    This case study developed an instructional technology assessment process for the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education (GGSE). The theoretical framework of Adelman and Taylor (2001) guided the development of this instructional technology assessment process and the tools to aid in its facilitation. GGSE faculty, staff, and graduate students…

  12. A clinical assessment tool used for physiotherapy students--is it reliable?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Lucy K; Stiller, Kathy; Hardy, Frances

    2008-01-01

    Educational institutions providing professional programs such as physiotherapy must provide high-quality student assessment procedures. To ensure that assessment is consistent, assessment tools should have an acceptable level of reliability. There is a paucity of research evaluating the reliability of clinical assessment tools used for physiotherapy students. This study evaluated the inter- and intrarater reliability of an assessment tool used for physiotherapy students during a clinical placement. Five clinical educators and one academic participated in the study. Each rater independently marked 22 student written assessments that had been completed by students after viewing a videotaped patient physiotherapy assessment. The raters repeated the marking process 7 weeks later, with the assessments provided in a randomised order. The interrater reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient) for the total scores was 0.32, representing a poor level of reliability. A high level of intrarater reliability (percentage agreement) was found for the clinical educators, with a difference in section scores of one mark or less on 93.4% of occasions. Further research should be undertaken to reevaluate the reliability of this clinical assessment tool following training. The reliability of clinical assessment tools used in other areas of physiotherapy education should be formally measured rather than assumed.

  13. Link practical-oriented research and education: New training tools for a sustainable use of plant protection products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sacchettini, G; Calliera, M

    2017-02-01

    In the Horizon 2020 work programme 2016-17 it is stated that in 2010, 71% of European farm managers were operating on the basis of practical experience only. Education levels greatly vary depending on country, farm managers' age and gender, or farm structures, and this can hamper innovation. Transition towards a more sustainable agriculture requires a renewal and strengthening of the technical skills of all the actors involved and - as a consequence - of the educational system. The EU Directive on the sustainable use of pesticides (EU, 128/2009/EC) requires European Member States to develop training activities targeting occupational exposure to pesticides. The objective of this study is to develop new training tools for operators, addressing the new legal requirements and taking into account what is already available. For this reason, the outcomes of different European and national research projects developed by the Opera Research Centre were used, involving stakeholders in the decision making process, but also considering the real behaviours and perceptions of the final users. As a result, an e-learning tool able to build personalized training programmes, by collecting and integrating existing training material on Plant Protection Products use was developed, together with an e-learning course, with the aim to help operators, advisors and distributors to get prepared for their national certificate test. This work highlights the opportunity to create long-term added value through enhanced collaboration between educators and researchers, and identifies a common set of priorities that has to be taken into account in order to nudge the changes required to achieve a more sustainable use of pesticide and, more in general, sustainable development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Judging the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Assessment Tools to Guide Future Tool Development: The use of Clinimetrics as Opposed to Psychometrics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philip M. Westgate

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available In the face of the current Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS epidemic, there is considerable variability in the assessment and management of infants with NAS. In this manuscript, we particularly focus on NAS assessment, with special attention given to the popular Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Score (FNAS. A major instigator of the problem of variable practices is that multiple modified versions of the FNAS exist and continue to be proposed, including shortened versions. Furthermore, the validity of such assessment tools has been questioned, and as a result, the need for better tools has been suggested. The ultimate purpose of this manuscript, therefore, is to increase researchers’ and clinicians’ understanding on how to judge the usefulness of NAS assessment tools in order to guide future tool development and to reduce variable practices. In short, we suggest that judgment of NAS assessment tools should be made on a clinimetrics viewpoint as opposed to psychometrically. We provide examples, address multiple issues that must be considered, and discuss future tool development. Furthermore, we urge researchers and clinicians to come together, utilizing their knowledge and experience, to assess the utility and practicality of existing assessment tools and to determine if one or more new or modified tools are needed with the goal of increased agreement on the assessment of NAS in practice.

  15. SUSTAINABILITY OF INSECT RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR TRANSGENIC BT CORN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Increasing interest in the responsible management of technology in the industrial and agricultural sectors of the economy has been met through the development of broadly applicable tools to assess the "sustainability" of new technologies. An arena ripe for application of such ana...

  16. Developing a Benchmark Tool for Sustainable Consumption: An Iterative Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heiskanen, E.; Timonen, P.; Nissinen, A.; Gronroos, J.; Honkanen, A.; Katajajuuri, J. -M.; Kettunen, J.; Kurppa, S.; Makinen, T.; Seppala, J.; Silvenius, F.; Virtanen, Y.; Voutilainen, P.

    2007-01-01

    This article presents the development process of a consumer-oriented, illustrative benchmarking tool enabling consumers to use the results of environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) to make informed decisions. LCA provides a wealth of information on the environmental impacts of products, but its results are very difficult to present concisely…

  17. Evaluating Urban Quality: Indicators and Assessment Tools for Smart Sustainable Cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiara Garau

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The analysis of urban sustainability is key to urban planning, and its usefulness extends to smart cities. Analyses of urban quality typically focus on applying methodologies that evaluate quality objectives at environmental, urban, and building levels. Research has shown that a system of indicators can be useful for developing qualitative and quantitative descriptors of urban environments. The first step in this study was to formulate a methodology to measure the quality of urban life based on investigative checklists and objective and subjective indicators, aggregated to develop an index to evaluate a city’s level of smart urban quality. The second step was to apply this methodology to evaluate the city of Cagliari (Italy at the neighbourhood scale, which is considered by literature the most suitable as a self-sufficient spatial unit for showing redevelopment results. In addition to sharing its research findings, this study aims to verify whether the methodology can be applied to similar urban contexts. The main outcomes of this research pertain to opportunities to numerically measure both objective and subjective aspects that affect urban quality. In this way, the most critical areas to be requalified have been highlighted in order to prepare policies congruent with the local context.

  18. How to manage sustainable supply chain? The issue of maturity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agata Rudnicka

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: The issue of managing sustainability in supply chain seems to be more and more complex. There are many aspects that need to be taken into consideration when planning, implementing and monitoring environmental and social conditions of supply chains. Despite many works, already published, on the concept of sustainable development (SD is seems that the issue of assessment and especially the issue of maturity in the light of the SD concept is still not developed enough. Methods: The general aim of the paper is the analysis of the maturity issue in the context of sustainability. The main objective is to conceptualize the idea of maturity in sustainable supply chain. Beside the literature research the own proposition of theoretical model was described. Results: The article describes the issue of maturity as an element of managing sustainable development in the supply chain. The author presented a theoretical model of the maturity. Moreover the author gave some recommendations how to manage the sustainability issues in supply chain in more mature approach and introduced some useful tools among which are: certification, code of conduct and code of ethics, audits, projects etc. Conclusions: The issue of maturity seems to be very useful for proper understanding the idea of sustainable development in supply chain. The developed model can be used as self-assessment method to check at which level of implementation the idea of SD is analyzed in supply chain. Furthermore, the next phase of the planned research in form of practical verification of the model was advised as well as a research of identification of new factors and tools in analyzed area.

  19. National baselines for the Sustainable Development Goals assessed in the SDG Index and Dashboards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt-Traub, Guido; Kroll, Christian; Teksoz, Katerina; Durand-Delacre, David; Sachs, Jeffrey D.

    2017-08-01

    The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) -- agreed in 2015 by all 193 member states of the United Nations and complemented by commitments made in the Paris Agreement -- map out a broad spectrum of economic, social and environmental objectives to be achieved by 2030. Reaching these goals will require deep transformations in every country, as well as major efforts in monitoring and measuring progress. Here we introduce the SDG Index and Dashboards as analytical tools for assessing countries' baselines for the SDGs that can be applied by researchers in the cross-disciplinary analyses required for implementation. The Index and Dashboards synthesize available country-level data for all 17 goals, and for each country estimate the size of the gap towards achieving the SDGs. They will be updated annually. All 149 countries for which sufficient data is available face significant challenges in achieving the goals, and many countries' development strategies are imbalanced across the economic, social and environmental priorities. We illustrate the analytical value of the index by examining its relationship with other widely used development indices and by showing how it accounts for cross-national differences in subjective well-being. Given significant data gaps, scope and coverage of the Index and Dashboards are limited, but we suggest that these analyses represent a starting point for a comprehensive assessment of national SDG baselines and can help policymakers determine priorities for early action and monitor progress. The tools also identify data gaps that must be closed for SDG monitoring.

  20. Annual City Festivals as Tools for Sustainable Competitiveness: The World Port Days Rotterdam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erwin van Tuijl

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Many cities organize annual local festivals for the positive effects on urban development, although success is far from straightforward. This article reviews a case study of the World Port Days in Rotterdam in order to demonstrate how annual city festivals can contribute to sustainable competitiveness, despite limitations as well. We show how this maritime event—that is jointly organized by the business community, the Port Authority and the City Government—offers benefits for citizens as well as for firms. Our empirical results unveil that the business value of the event includes generation of societal support, image improvement, labor market development and networking, while the value for society refers to education, leisure and to a certain degree to social inclusion. The direct value of the event for business in terms of sales and recruitment is limited, while the long-term effects of educational function deserve further attention. Finally, we provide policy lessons that, when properly contextualized, other cities may help to use annual local festivals as tools for sustainable competitiveness.