TRACI 2.0: the tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts 2.0

TRACI 2.0, the Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts 2.0, has been expanded and developed for sustainability metrics, life cycle impact assessment, industrial ecology, and process design impact assessment for developing increasingly sustainable products, processes, facilities, companies, and communities. TRACI 2.0 allows the quantification of stressors that have potential effects, including ozone depletion, global warming, acidification, eutrophication, tropospheric ozone (smog) formation, human health criteria-related effects, human health cancer, human health noncancer, ecotoxicity, and fossil fuel depletion effects. Research is going on to quantify the use of land and water in a future version of TRACI. The original version of TRACI released in August 2002 (Bare et al. J Ind Ecol 6:49–78, 2003) has been used in many prestigious applications including: the US Green Building Council’s LEED Certification (US Green Building Council, Welcome to US Green Building Council, 2008), the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s BEES (Building for Environment and Economic Sustainability) (Lippiatt, BEES 4.0: building for environmental and economic sustainability technical manual and user guide, 2007) which is used by US EPA for Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (US Environmental Protection Agency, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP), 2008d), the US Marine Corps’ EKAT (Environmental Knowledge and Assessment Tool) for military and nonmilitary uses (US Marine Corps, Environmental knowledge and assessment tool (EKAT): first time user’s guide, 2007), and within numerous college curriculums in engineering and design departments.     

Development of an assessment framework for green highway construction

Abstract

The objective of this research is to develop a framework for the assessment of green highway projects. Highway construction is chosen from among the various types of large‐scale infrastructure because they cover broad areas and take up a large share of a nation's infrastructure development. After completing a literature review we employ the Max‐Min Fuzzy Delphi method to identify the major categories and their corresponding items most suitable for assessing the “greenness” of a highway project. The five major categories identified are: preservation of the eco‐system, plantations to reduce CO₂ emission, preservation of material resources, waste reduction, and water conservation. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is then employed to determine the weighting of the major categories as well as the sub items in each category. The end result is an assessment rating framework to assess the “greenness” of a highway construction project.     

可再生能源应用在绿色建筑评价中的作用

可再生能源的建筑应用是降低建筑物对化石能源消耗的重要手段,也是绿色建筑评价中的“节能与能源利用”板块的重要组成部分.可再生能源为建筑减少对化石能源的消耗如何量化,在绿色建筑的评定中能够带来多少收益,一直以来是业内关注的问题.本文从中外建筑节能标准中对可再生能源应用的能耗折减方法出发,结合我国绿色建筑评价体系中可再生能源应用的得分点,探讨可再生能源应用在绿色建筑评价中的作用.     

中韩绿色建筑评价对比分析（1）：GBCC 2011与ESGB 2006

自2006年我国颁布《绿色建筑评价标准》以来,全国已评出1000多项绿色建筑评价标识项目,为我国推进绿色建筑的发展起到了至关重要的作用。但随着我国经济及科技的发展,该评价标准也逐渐暴露出不少缺点。2011年底,韩国也根据本国的绿色建筑的发展情况颁布了最新的《绿色建筑评价标准》,该标准相比以往的标准有较大的进步。通过对2011年底韩国颁布的《绿色建筑评价标准》与我国的《绿色建筑评价标准》的对比研究,深入探讨了我国绿色建筑评价的不足,为进一步完善我国绿色建筑评价体系提供参考。     

Optimizing Army Sustainability at Fort Bragg: A Case Study Connecting Life-Cycle Cost Analysis with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings

Abstract:

In 2006, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment announced the Army's desire to transition to the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings rating scheme in an effort to institutionalize sustainable practices across all Army facilities. This article describes an engineering management tool developed for project managers at Fort Bragg's Directorate of Housing and Public Works used to determine the most cost-effective route to building certification and to support the Army goal of sustainability. The results expose practicing engineering managers to a significant issue concerning Army sustainability, where numerous engineering management methods are employed for more effective decision-making. Future research is needed to convert retrofit project life-cycle costs from specific location sources to national values.     

随机需求下绿色农产品三级供应链协调

考虑市场随机需求、产品绿色度、绿色研发成本等因素，研究绿色农产品三级供应链协调问题。首先，构建了不同决策模式下供应链成员的利润模型，发现合作可提高供应链整体收益，随后构建"收益共享-成本共担"混合契约对绿色农产品供应链进行协调。研究结论表明：混合契约能够降低绿色农产品售价，提高绿色度，增加绿色农产品市场需求；合理比例的收益共享和成本共担可使各个绿色供应链成员达到共赢。最后通过算例分析验证了契约模型的正确性。     

绿色公共建筑项目中暖通空调节能设计浅析

随着资源的日益匮乏,能源节约已经越来越受重视。对于建筑节能来说,绿色建筑已经成为当今世界发展的主流。想要达到降低建筑能耗目的,从《绿色建筑评价标准》来看,与暖通空调专业相关的内容在绿色评价体系中占有相当大的权重。依据《绿色建筑评价标准》,分别在控制项、一般项、优选项三个评价方面,针对与绿色公共建筑中的暖通空调专业相关的评价指标进行讨论,意在为暖通空调在绿色建筑中的应用提供一些指导。     

Environmental and human health impact assessment of major interior wall decorative materials

Despite the growing interest in green products in the interior wall decorative material market, knowledge gaps exist because determining which product is more environmental and user friendly than the others is difficult. This work assesses the environmental and human health profiles of interior latex and wallpaper. Two interior latex products of different raw material ratios and one non-woven wallpaper product are considered. The environmental impact assessment follows life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and applies Building Environmental Performance Analysis System (BEPAS). The human health impact is based on impact-pathway chain and is performed using Building Health Impact Analysis System (BHIAS). The assessment scope, associated emissions, and territorial scope of various emissions are defined to facilitate comparison study of interior wall decorative products. The impacts are classified into 15 categories belonging to three safeguard areas: ecological environment, natural resources, and human health. The impacts of categories are calculated and monetized using willingness to pay (WTP) and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) and summarized as an integrated external cost of environmental and human health impacts. Assessment results reveal that the integrated impact of interior latex is lower than that of non-woven wallpaper, and the interior latex of low quality causes low life cycle integrated impact. The most impacted categories are global warming, respiratory effects, and water consumption. Hotspots of product manufacturing are recognized to promote green product design.     

绿色产品设计的评价方法和评价体系

绿色产品设计的核心是设计方案的评价与优化。探讨了绿色产品的评价模型及其评价方法,提出了评价的基准,准则,目标和评价决策方法,构造了绿色产品的评价体系。     

Synthesis, characterization, and green luminescence in ZnO nanocages

In this paper, we report the synthesis, characterization and observation of green luminescence in ZnO nanocages. A novel low temperature solution-based technique has been developed for growing highly porous ZnO nano-cages from coarse ZnO precursor powders. Various samples, prepared in this study, were characterized using several different characterization tools such as X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, Raman, Photoluminescence and Optical Transmission Spectroscopy. It has been shown that ZnO nanocages exhibit green luminescence, with PL data showing a broad green peak at 510 nm. The shift and broadening in the luminescence peaks are understood to arise because of the onset of deep level defects in the system.     

A paler shade of green: implications of green product deletion on supply chains

Product management activities by operations, marketing, and finance functions have typically focused on the innovation, acquisition, growth, and management of product lines and products. The same is true when considering product management for green products. The latter stages of critical strategic decisions related to product deletion or discontinuation have received less emphasis. In this conceptual paper, the focus is on green product deletion implications for supply chain management and operations. Organisations may view green product deletion as evolving from a deep green to a paler shade of green in their product offerings. A proposed strategic framework pays particular attention to the implications of the green product deletion decision for supply chain processes and operational competencies. In this situation, lessened organisational greenness needs to be weighed against other organisational and operational competencies. The strategic and inter-organisational relationships associated with this decision help set the stage for future research on this critical, yet neglected, organisational and operational supply chain issue.     

What hampers green product innovation: the effect of experience

ABSTRACT

Based on representative firm-level survey data for Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, this study systematically analyses the relevance and drivers of barriers to green product innovation using the example of green energy technologies. ‘Low willingness to pay’, ‘high development costs’, ‘high commercial uncertainty’, and ‘lack of favourable political framework’ are identified as the most important barriers. Moreover, we find that the firms’ innovation experience is an important driver of the level of green innovation barriers. Green innovation barriers are more accentuated for firms with green innovation activity than for firms with no green innovation activity. However, experience from different fields of green innovation and experience from non-green innovation activities help to limit these barriers.     

Freeze cast carbon nanotube-alumina nanoparticle green composites

CNT-Al₂O₃ nanoparticle suspensions without and with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were freeze-cast into green samples. SDS drastically improves Carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersion and CNT-Al₂O₃ nanocomposite homogeneity. Green density of the CNT-Al₂O₃ nanocomposites decreases with CNT addition. Green strength of the CNT-Al₂O₃ nanocomposites increases with the CNT content when CNTs are well separated. The CNT-Al₂O₃ nanocomposites show medium energy fracture mode during equibiaxial flexural strength testing and change color in response to CNT content and distribution in the Al₂O₃ nanoparticle matrix.     

US EPA/academia collaboration for a green engineering textbook for chemical engineering

This paper describes the collaborative efforts between the Chemical Engineering Branch of the U.S. EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and academia to develop a textbook titled Green engineering: environmentally conscious design of chemical processes. Development of the green engineering textbook was initiated in the fall of 1998 as part of the Green Engineering Program. An important goal of the Green Engineering Program is to incorporate "green" or environmentally conscious thinking and approaches in the academic and industrial communities regarding the design, commercialization, and use of processes and products. Initially, the Green Engineering Program focused on the academic community, with the aim to produce the next generation of engineers with knowledge to design environmentally beneficial processes. The flagship of the program is the green engineering textbook, published in the fall of 2001, that applies classroom initiatives to real world engineering problems. To date, it is estimated that up to 50 engineering departments, both domestically and abroad, are using the textbook and/or incorporating the materials into their curricula. Schools using green engineering are achieving Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) criteria 2000, which includes having a working knowledge of the environment.     

非对称信息下考虑政府补贴的绿色供应链博弈模型

考查由1个生产商和1个零售商构成的两级绿色供应链系统,绿色产品的市场需求由产品价格和产品绿色度共同决定。假设消费者对绿色产品的偏好程度是非对称信息,生产商无法准确预测消费者的绿色偏好。构建3种不同情形下的博弈模型,得到3种情形下的批发价、产品绿色度、零售价、生产商利润和零售商利润的最优解。比较分析3种情形下最优解的不同变化,并分析消费者的绿色偏好程度对最优决策和利润产生的不同影响。     

Reflecting on the preparation of guidelines for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of nuclear power programmes

In this paper, the ‘guidelines for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of nuclear power programmes’ by the International Atomic Energy Agency are introduced. This includes a reflection on their preparation process and contents as well as consultation feedback. The preparation process started with two meetings of international nuclear and SEA experts and the creation of a writing team which prepared an initial set of draft guidelines. This was followed by various consultation exercises. The guidelines are organised along an allocation of tasks within a tiered system of energy related policies, plans, programmes and projects. Whilst consultation showed that there was agreement on the approach to most issues, no consensus was present on the extent to which economic and social issues should be fully integrated with environmental considerations. Strong support was given to the way quality review is designed, going beyond focusing on the main SEA reports to cover procedural and participatory aspects next to elements of a comprehensively tiered decision making framework, the ability to influence decisions as well as the quality (expertise and experience) of those involved in conducting the SEA.

Abbreviation: SEA: Strategic Environmental Assessment; EIA: Environmental Impact Assessment; IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency     

A Calibration and Quality Assurance Program for Environmental Radon Measurements

The ideal facility for assessing the quality of radon measurements at environmental levels consists of: (1) an instrument whose response to radon and its progeny is determined from measurements of a certified or standard ²²⁶Ra source, and (2) a calibration room with a known radon concentration.The linkage between these two elements and additional quality control requirements are discussed here for some Environmental Measurements Laboratory radon measurements programs.     

Asymmetric inter-linkages between green technology innovation and consumption-based carbon emissions in BRICS countries using quantile-on-quantile framework

The role of reliable Carbon emission measures and relevant climate policy is imperative in realizing Sustainable Development Goals. A large extent of the literature concludes the emissions-mitigating effect of green innovations in a linear framework and ignored structural changes, technological revolutions, and socio-economic reforms that create non-linearity. Apart from that, there is a murky relationship between emissions and green innovation, where two-way links exist between both variables. Therefore, this study draws the inter-linkages between green technology innovation (GI) and carbon emissions (consumption-based and terrestrial emissions) in BRICS countries using monthly data from 1990 to 2017. Our preliminary findings strictly reject the preposition of data normality and highlight that the observed relationship is quantile-dependent. Therefore, a complete set of non-linear modeling is employed that included; Quantile unit root, Quantile cointegration, Quantile causality, and Quantile on Quantile regression to unveil hidden unit root, cointegration, causality, and association between variables. The results exhibit that the emissions-mitigating effect of GI is only pronounced at higher emissions quantiles in Brazil, China, India, and Russia, whereas at lower emissions quantile, GI is weekly or positively linked with carbon emissions. On the flipside, higher carbon emissions instigate GI across medium to higher emissions quantiles in Brazil, China, and India. Unlike them, Russia produces different outcomes, where higher emissions are associated with lower GI across all quantiles. The overall results suggest that GI (carbon emissions) mitigate (instigate) carbon emissions (GI) when a country is embodied with higher level of emissions.     

From user requirements to commonality specifications: an integrated approach to product family design

Many companies design families of products based on product platforms that enable economies of scale and scope while satisfying a variety of market applications. Product family design is a difficult and challenging task, and a variety of methods and tools have been created to support this platform-based product development. Unfortunately, many of these methods and tools have been developed—and consequently exist—in isolation from one other. In this paper, we introduce an approach to integrate several of these disparate tools into a framework to translate user needs and requirements into commonality specifications during product family design. The novelty of the approach lies in how we integrate the market segmentation grid, Generational Variety Index (GVI), Design Structure Matrix (DSM), commonality indices, mathematical modeling and optimization, and multi-dimensional data visualization tools to identify what to make common, what to make unique, and what parameter settings are best for each component and/or subsystem in the product family. The design of a family of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) demonstrates the proposed approach and highlights its benefits and limitations.     

From global to local: impact assessment and social implications related to wind energy projects in Oaxaca,Mexico

In order to forecast likely impacts, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been applied worldwide. There are numerous social and cultural impacts that can hardly be addressed in a single EIA, and raise the awareness of social issues and proper assessment therein. This paper analyzes the social conflicts related to wind development projects in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico using a qualitative approach. By conducting a Constellation Analysis (CA) in our case studies, this article aims at: 1) identifying the challenges and improvement opportunities for the social and environmental assessment of wind energy projects in Oaxaca, and 2) presenting CA as a novel approach to visualize and identify social and environmental issues. This paper emphasizes the relevance of earlier assessment of social implications to projects. This example can contribute to a better understanding of further research at Mexico’s regional and national levels, as well as in other regions or countries with similar development patterns.

Abbreviations: CA: Constellation Analysis; CDM: Clean Development Mechanism; CFE as in Spanish: Federal Electricity Commission; CIC: Community Interest Company; EIA: Environmental Impact Assessment; ESF: Environmental and Social Framework; FPIC: Free, Prior and Informed Consent; IFC: International Finance Corporation; ILO: International Labour Organization; LGEEPA as in Spanish: General Law on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection; NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act; PDD: Project Design Document; SEMARNAT as in Spanish: Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources; SENER as in Spanish: Secretariat of Energy; SIA: Social Impact Assessment; UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; WB: World Bank.