Abstract: Waste Load Allocation (WLA) strategies usually
intend to find economic policies for water resource management.
Water quality trading (WQT) is an approach that uses discharge
permit market to reduce total environmental protection costs. This
primarily requires assigning discharge limits known as total
maximum daily loads (TMDLs). These are determined by monitoring
organizations with respect to the receiving water quality and
remediation capabilities. The purpose of this study is to compare two
approaches of TMDL assignment for WQT policy in small catchment
area of Haraz River, in north of Iran. At first, TMDLs are assigned
uniformly for the whole point sources to keep the concentrations of
BOD and dissolved oxygen (DO) at the standard level at checkpoint
(terminus point). This was simply simulated and controlled by
Qual2kw software. In the second scenario, TMDLs are assigned
using multi objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) method
in which the environmental violation at river basin and total treatment
costs are minimized simultaneously. In both scenarios, the equity
index and the WLA based on trading discharge permits (TDP) are
calculated. The comparative results showed that using economically
optimized TMDLs (2nd scenario) has slightly more cost savings rather
than uniform TMDL approach (1st scenario). The former annually
costs about 1 M$ while the latter is 1.15 M$. WQT can decrease
these annual costs to 0.9 and 1.1 M$, respectively. In other word,
these approaches may save 35 and 45% economically in comparison
with command and control policy. It means that using multi objective
decision support systems (DSS) may find more economical WLA,
however its outcome is not necessarily significant in comparison with
uniform TMDLs. This may be due to the similar impact factors of
dischargers in small catchments. Conversely, using uniform TMDLs
for WQT brings more equity that makes stakeholders not feel that
much envious of difference between TMDL and WQT allocation. In
addition, for this case, determination of TMDLs uniformly would be
much easier for monitoring. Consequently, uniform TMDL for TDP
market is recommended as a sustainable approach. However,
economical TMDLs can be used for larger watersheds.
Abstract: Fibre cement plates, often used in construction,
generally are made using quartz as an inert material, cement as a
binder and cellulose as a fibre. This paper, first of all, investigates the
mechanical properties and durability of fibre cement plates when
quartz is both partly and fully replaced with diatomite. Diatomite
does not only have lower density compared to quartz but also has
high pozzolanic activity. The main objective of this paper is the
investigation of the effects of supplementary cementing materials
(SCMs) on the short and long term mechanical properties and
durability characteristics of fibre cement plates prepared using
diatomite. Supplementary cementing materials such as ground
granulated blast furnace slug (GGBS) and fly ash (FA) are used in
this study. Volume proportions of 10, 20, 30 and 40% of GGBS and
FA are used as partial replacement materials to cement. Short and
long term mechanical properties such as compressive and flexural
strengths as well as sorptivity characteristics and mass were
investigated. Consistency and setting time at each replacement levels
of SCMs were also recorded. The effects of using supplementary
cementing materials on the carbonation and sulphate resistance of
fibre cement plates were then experimented. The results, first of all,
show that the use of diatomite as a full or partial replacement to
quartz resulted in a systematic decrease in total mass of the fibre
cement plates. The reduction of mass was largely due to the lower
density and finer particle size of diatomite compared to quartz. The
use of diatomite did not only reduce the mass of these plates but also
increased the compressive strength significantly as a result of its high
pozzolanic activity. The replacement levels of both GGBS and FA
resulted in a systematic decrease in short term compressive strength
with increasing replacement levels. This was essentially expected as
the total rate of hydration is much lower in GGBS and FA than that
of cement. Long term results however, indicated that the compressive
strength of fibre cement plates prepared using both GGBS and FA
increases with time and hence the compressive strength of plates
prepared using SCMs is either equivalent or more than the
compressive strength of plates prepared using cement alone.
Durability characteristics of fibre cement plates prepared using SCMs
were enhanced significantly. Measurements of sopritivty
characteristics were also indicated that the plates prepared using
SCMs has much lower water absorption capacities compared to
plates prepared cement alone. Much higher resistance to carbonation
and sulphate attach were observed with plates prepared using SCMs.
The results presented in this paper show that the use of SCMs does
not only support the production of more sustainable construction
materials but also enhances the mechanical properties and durability
characteristics of fibre cement plates.
Abstract: A pilot field study was conducted at the Jagjeetpur
Municipal Sewage treatment plant situated in the Haridwar town in
Uttarakhand state, India. The objectives of the present study were to
study the effect of treated wastewater on the production of various
paddy varieties (Sharbati, PR-114, PB-1, Menaka, PB1121 and PB
1509) and the emission of GHG gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) as
compared to the same varieties grown in the control plots irrigated
with fresh water. Of late, the concept of water footprint assessment
has emerged, which explains enumeration of various types of water
footprints of an agricultural entity from its production to processing
stages. Paddy, the most water demanding staple crop of Uttarakhand
state, displayed a high green water footprint value of 2474.12 m3/
Ton. Most of the wastewater irrigated varieties displayed up to 6%
increase in production, except Menaka and PB-1121, which showed a
reduction in production (6% and 3% respectively), due to pest and
insect infestation. The treated wastewater was observed to be rich in
Nitrogen (55.94 mg/ml Nitrate), Phosphorus (54.24 mg/ml) and
Potassium (9.78 mg/ml), thus rejuvenating the soil quality and not
requiring any external nutritional supplements. A Percentage increase
of GHG gases of irrigation with treated municipal wastewater as
compared to control plots was observed as 0.4% - 8.6% (CH4), 1.1%
- 9.2% (CO2), and 0.07% - 5.8% (N2O). The variety, Sharbati,
displayed maximum production (5.5 ton/ha) and emerged as the most
resistant variety against pests and insects. The emission values of
CH4, CO2 and N2O were 729.31 mg/m2/d, 322.10 mg/m2/d and
400.21 mg/m2/d in water stagnant condition.
This study highlighted a successful possibility of reuse of
wastewater for non-potable purposes offering the potential for
exploiting this resource that can replace or reduce the existing use of
fresh water sources in agriculture sector.
Abstract: This study addresses a concept of the Sustainable Building Environmental Model (SBEM) developed to optimize energy consumption in air conditioning and ventilation (ACV) systems without any deterioration of indoor environmental quality (IEQ). The SBEM incorporates two main components: an adaptive comfort temperature control module (ACT) and a new carbon dioxide demand control module (nDCV). These two modules take an innovative approach to maintain satisfaction of the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) with optimum energy consumption; they provide a rational basis of effective control. A total of 2133 sets of measurement data of indoor air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (Rh) and carbon dioxide concentration (CO2) were conducted in some Hong Kong offices to investigate the potential of integrating the SBEM. A simulation was used to evaluate the dynamic performance of the energy and air conditioning system with the integration of the SBEM in an air-conditioned building. It allows us make a clear picture of the control strategies and performed any pre-tuned of controllers before utilized in real systems. With the integration of SBEM, it was able to save up to 12.3% in simulation of overall electricity consumption, and maintain the average carbon dioxide concentration within 1000ppm and occupant dissatisfaction in 20%.
Abstract: Nowadays, the main goal for modern horticultural
production is an increase the quality. In recent years, the use of
organic fertilizers or biostimulants that can be applied in agriculture
to improve quali-quantitative crop yields has encountered increasing
interest. Biostimulants are gaining importance also for their possible
use in organic and sustainable agriculture, to avoid excessive
fertilizer applications. Consecutive experimental trials were carried
out in the Apulia region (southern Italy) on three herbaceous crops
(cauliflower, pepper, fennel) grown in pots under conventional and
organic fertilization systems without and with biostimulants. The aim
was to determine the effects of three biostimulants (Siapton®10L,
Micotech L, Lysodin Alga-Fert) on quali-quantitative yield
characteristics. At harvest, the quali-quantitative yield characteristics
of each crop were determined. All of the experimental data were
subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA), and when significant
effects were detected, the means were compared using Tukey’s tests.
These data show large differences in these yield characteristics
between conventional and organic crops, particularly highlighting
higher yields for the conventional crops, while variable results were
generally observed when the biostimulants were applied. In this
context, there were no effects of the biostimulants on the quantitative
yield, whereas there were low positive effects on the qualitative
characteristics, as related to higher dry matter content of cauliflower,
and higher soluble solids content of pepper. Moreover, there were
evident positive effects of the biostimulants with fennel, due to the
lower nitrate content. These latter data are in line with most of the
published literature obtained for other herbaceous crops.
Abstract: In this paper, a new concept of closed-loop design for a
product is presented. The closed-loop design model is developed by
integrating forward design and reverse design. Based on this new
concept, a closed-loop design model for sustainable manufacturing by
integrated evaluation of forward design, reverse design, and green
manufacturing using a fuzzy analytic network process is developed. In
the design stage of a product, with a given product requirement and
objective, there can be different ways to design the detailed
components and specifications. Therefore, there can be different
design cases to achieve the same product requirement and objective.
Subsequently, in the design evaluation stage, it is required to analyze
and evaluate the different design cases. The purpose of this research is
to develop a model for evaluating the design cases by integrated
evaluating the criteria in forward design, reverse design, and green
manufacturing. A fuzzy analytic network process method is presented
for integrated evaluation of the criteria in the three models. The
comparison matrices for evaluating the criteria in the three groups are
established. The total relational values among the three groups
represent the total relational effects. In applications, a super matrix
model is created and the total relational values can be used to evaluate
the design cases for decision-making to select the final design case. An
example product is demonstrated in this presentation. It shows that the
model is useful for integrated evaluation of forward design, reverse
design, and green manufacturing to achieve a closed-loop design for
sustainable manufacturing objective.
Abstract: This article is to introduce the meaning and form of
social quality moving process as indicated by members of two suburb
communities with different social and cultural contexts. The form of
social quality moving process is very significant for the community
and social development, because it will make the people living
together with sustainable happiness.
This is a qualitative study involving 30 key-informants from two
suburb communities. Data were collected though key-informant
interviews, and analyzed using logical content description and
descriptive statistics.
This research found that on the social quality component, the
people in both communities stressed the procedure for social qualitymaking.
This includes the generousness, sharing and assisting among
people in the communities. These practices helped making people to
live together with sustainable happiness. Living as a family or appear
to be a family is the major social characteristic of these two
communities.
This research also found that form of social quality’s moving
process of both communities stress relation of human and nature;
“nature overpower humans” paradigm and influence of religious
doctrine that emphasizes relations among humans. Both criteria make
the form of social’s moving process simple, adaptive to nature and
caring for opinion sharing and understanding among each other
before action. This form of social quality’s moving process is
composed of 4 steps; (1) awareness building, (2) motivation to
change, (3) participation from every party which is concerned (4)
self-reliance.
Abstract: Waste load allocation (WLA) policies may use multiobjective
optimization methods to find the most appropriate and
sustainable solutions. These usually intend to simultaneously
minimize two criteria, total abatement costs (TC) and environmental
violations (EV). If other criteria, such as inequity, need for
minimization as well, it requires introducing more binary
optimizations through different scenarios. In order to reduce the
calculation steps, this study presents value index as an innovative
decision making approach. Since the value index contains both the
environmental violation and treatment costs, it can be maximized
simultaneously with the equity index. It implies that the definition of
different scenarios for environmental violations is no longer required.
Furthermore, the solution is not necessarily the point with minimized
total costs or environmental violations. This idea is testified for Haraz
River, in north of Iran. Here, the dissolved oxygen (DO) level of river
is simulated by Streeter-Phelps equation in MATLAB software. The
WLA is determined for fish farms using multi-objective particle
swarm optimization (MOPSO) in two scenarios. At first, the trade-off
curves of TC-EV and TC-Inequity are plotted separately as the
conventional approach. In the second, the Value-Equity curve is
derived. The comparative results show that the solutions are in a
similar range of inequity with lower total costs. This is due to the
freedom of environmental violation attained in value index. As a
result, the conventional approach can well be replaced by the value
index particularly for problems optimizing these objectives. This
reduces the process to achieve the best solutions and may find better
classification for scenario definition. It is also concluded that decision
makers are better to focus on value index and weighting its contents
to find the most sustainable alternatives based on their requirements.
Abstract: An efficient remanufacturing network lead to an
efficient design of sustainable manufacturing enterprise. In
remanufacturing network, products are collected from the customer
zone, disassembled and remanufactured at a suitable remanufacturing
facility. In this respect, another issue to consider is how the returned
product to be remanufactured, in other words, what is the best layout
for such facility. In order to achieve a sustainable manufacturing
system, Cellular Manufacturing System (CMS) designs are highly
recommended, CMSs combine high throughput rates of line layouts
with the flexibility offered by functional layouts (job shop).
Introducing the CMS while designing a remanufacturing network will
benefit the utilization of such a network. This paper presents and
analyzes a comprehensive mathematical model for the design of
Dynamic Cellular Remanufacturing Systems (DCRSs). In this paper,
the proposed model is the first one to date that considers CMS and
remanufacturing system simultaneously. The proposed DCRS model
considers several manufacturing attributes such as multi period
production planning, dynamic system reconfiguration, duplicate
machines, machine capacity, available time for workers, worker
assignments, and machine procurement, where the demand is totally
satisfied from a returned product. A numerical example is presented
to illustrate the proposed model.
Abstract: Agro-industry is one of major industries that have
strong impacts on national economic incomes, growth, stability, and
sustainable development. Moreover, this industry also has strong
influences on social, cultural and political issues. Furthermore, this
industry, as producing primary and secondary products, is facing
challenges from such diverse factors such as demand inconsistency,
intense international competition, technological advancements and
new competitors. In order to maintain and to improve industry’s
competitiveness in both domestics and international markets, science
and technology are key factors. Besides hard sciences and
technologies, modern industrial engineering concepts such as Just in
Time (JIT) Total Quality Management (TQM), Quick Response
(QR), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Lean can be very
effective to support to increase efficiency and effectiveness of these
agricultural products on world stage. Onion is one of Thailand’s
major export products which bring back national incomes. But, it is
also facing challenges in many ways. This paper focused its interests
in onion packing process and its related activities such as storage and
shipment from one of major packing plant and storage in Mae Wang
District, Chiang Mai, Thailand, by applying Toyota Production
System (TPS) or Lean concepts, to improve process capability
throughout the entire packing and distribution process which will be
profitable for the whole onion supply chain. And it will be beneficial
to other related agricultural products in Thailand and other ASEAN
countries.
Abstract: Present paper describes method of obtaining clay
ceramic foam (CCF) and foam concrete (FC), by direct foaming with
high speed mixer-disperser (HSMD). Three foaming agents (FA) are
compared for the FC and CCF production: SCHÄUMUNGSMITTEL
W 53 FLÜSSIG (Zschimmer & Schwarz Gmbh, Germany), SCF-
1245 (Sika, test sample, Latvia) and FAB-12 (Elade, Latvija). CCF
were obtained at 950, 1000°C, 1150°C and 1150°C firing temperature
and have mechanical compressive strength 1.2, 2.55 and 4.3 MPa and
porosity 79.4, 75.1, 71.6%, respectively. Obtained FC has 6-14 MPa
compressive strength and porosity 44-55%. The goal of this work
was development of a sustainable and durable ceramic cellular
structures using HSMD.
Abstract: The use of energy dissipation systems for seismic applications has increased worldwide, thus it is necessary to develop practical and modern criteria for their optimal design. Here, a direct displacement-based seismic design approach for frame buildings with hysteretic energy dissipation systems (HEDS) is applied. The building is constituted by two individual structural systems consisting of: 1) a main elastic structural frame designed for service loads; and 2) a secondary system, corresponding to the HEDS, that controls the effects of lateral loads. The procedure implies to control two design parameters: a) the stiffness ratio (α=Kframe/Ktotal system), and b) the strength ratio (γ=Vdamper/Vtotal system). The proposed damage-controlled approach contributes to the design of a more sustainable and resilient building because the structural damage is concentrated on the HEDS. The reduction of the design displacement spectrum is done by means of a damping factor (recently published) for elastic structural systems with HEDS, located in Mexico City. Two limit states are verified: serviceability and near collapse. Instead of the traditional trial-error approach, a procedure that allows the designer to establish the preliminary sizes of the structural elements of both systems is proposed. The design methodology is applied to an 8-story steel building with buckling restrained braces, located in soft soil of Mexico City. With the aim of choosing the optimal design parameters, a parametric study is developed considering different values of હ and . The simplified methodology is for preliminary sizing, design, and evaluation of the effectiveness of HEDS, and it constitutes a modern and practical tool that enables the structural designer to select the best design parameters.
Abstract: A large amount of blast furnace slag is generated in
China. Most ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) however
ends up in low-grade applications. Blast furnace slag, ground to an
appropriate fineness, can be used as a partial replacement of
cementitious material in concrete. The potential for using GGBS in
structural concrete, e.g. concrete beams and columns is investigated
at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). With 50% of CEM
I cement replaced with GGBS, peak hydration temperatures
determined in a suspended concrete slab reduced by 20%. This
beneficiary effect has not been further improved with 70% of CEM I
replaced with GGBS. Partial replacement of CEM I with GGBS has a
retardation effect on the early-age strength of concrete. More GGBS
concrete mixes will be conducted to identify an ‘optimum’
replacement level which will lead to a reduced thermal loading,
without significantly compromising the early-age strength of
concrete.
Abstract: In emerging economies, recycling is an opportunity
for the cities to increase the lifespan of sanitary landfills, reduce the
costs of the solid waste management, decrease the environmental
problems of the waste treatment through reincorporate waste in the
productive cycle and protect and develop people’s livelihoods of
informal waste pickers. However, few studies have analysed the
possibilities and strategies to integrate formal and informal sectors in
the solid waste management for the benefit of both. This study seek
to make a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT)
analysis in three recycling associations of Bogotá with the aim to
understand and determine the situation of recycling from perspective
of informal sector in its transition to enter as authorized waste
providers. Data used in the analysis are derived from multiple
strategies such as literature review, the Bogota’s recycling database,
focus group meetings, governmental reports, national laws and
regulations and specific interviews with key stakeholders. Results of
this study show as the main stakeholders of formal and informal
sector of waste management can identify the internal and internal
conditions of recycling in Bogotá. Several strategies were designed
based on the SWOTs determined, could be useful for Bogotá to
advance and promote recycling as a key strategy for integrated
sustainable waste management in the city.
Abstract: After the internet explosion in the 90’s, technology
was immediately integrated into the school system. Technology
which symbolizes advancement in human knowledge was seen as a
setback by many educators. Efforts have been made to help stem this
erroneous believes and help educators realize the benefits of
technology and ways of implementing it in the classrooms especially
in the sciences. This advancement created a constantly expanding gap
between the pupil’s perception on the use of technology within the
learning atmosphere and the teacher’s perception and limitations
hence, the focus of this paper is on the need to refocus on the use of
Science and Technology in enhancing children’s potentials in
learning at school especially in Science for sustainable development
in Nigeria. The paper recommended measures for facilitating the
sustenance of science and technology in Nigerian schools so as to
enhance the potentials of our children in Science and Technology for
a better tomorrow.
Abstract: Improved resource efficiency of production is a key
requirement for sustainable growth, worldwide. In this regards, by
considering the energy and tourism as the extra inputs to the classical
Coub-Douglas production function, this study aims at investigating
the efficiency changes in the North African countries. To this end, the
study uses panel data for the period 1995-2010 and adopts the
Malmquist index based on the data envelopment analysis. Results
show that tourism increases technical and scale efficiencies, while it
decreases technological and total factor productivity changes. On the
other hand, when the production function is augmented by the energy
input; technical efficiency change decreases, while the technological
change, scale efficiency change and total factor productivity change
increase. Thus, in order to satisfy the needs for sustainable growth,
North African governments should take some measures for increasing
the contribution that the tourism makes to economic growth and some
others for efficient use of resources in the energy sector.
Abstract: International and domestic environmental law has
evolved quite rapidly in the last few decades. At the international
level the Stockholm and Rio Declarations paved the way for a broad
based consensus of the international community on environmental
issues and principles. At the Domestic level also many states have
incorporated environmental protection in their constitutions and even
more states are doing the same at least in their domestic legislations.
In this process of evolution environmental law has unleashed a
number of novel principles such as; the participatory principle, the
polluter pays principle, the precautionary principle, the intergenerational
and intra-generational principles, the prevention
principle, the sustainable development principle and so on.
Abstract: Recently, the green architecture becomes a
significant way to a sustainable future. Green building designs
involve finding the balance between comfortable homebuilding and
sustainable environment. Moreover, the utilization of the new
technologies such as artificial intelligence techniques are used to
complement current practices in creating greener structures to keep
the built environment more sustainable. The most common objectives
in green buildings should be designed to minimize the overall impact
of the built environment that effect on ecosystems in general and in
particularly human health and natural environment. This will lead to
protecting occupant health, improving employee productivity,
reducing pollution and sustaining the environmental. In green
building design, multiple parameters which may be interrelated,
contradicting, vague and of qualitative/quantitative nature are
broaden to use. This paper presents a comprehensive critical state- ofart-
review of current practices based on fuzzy and its combination
techniques. Also, presented how green architecture/building can be
improved using the technologies that been used for analysis to seek
optimal green solutions strategies and models to assist in making the
best possible decision out of different alternatives.
Abstract: Degradation of agricultural soils has increased rapidly
during the last 20 years due to the indiscriminate use of pesticides
and other anthropogenic activities. Currently, there is an urgent need
of soil restoration to increase agricultural production. Utilization of
sewage sludge or municipal solid waste is an important way to
recycle nutrient elements and improve soil quality. With these
amendments, nutrient availability in the aqueous phase might be
increased and production of healthier crops can be accomplished.
This research project aimed to achieve sustainable management of
tropical agricultural soils, specifically in Puerto Rico, through the
amendment of water treatment plant sludge’s. This practice avoids
landfill disposal of sewage sludge and at the same time results costeffective
practice for recycling solid waste residues. Coriander
sativum was cultivated in a compost-soil-sludge mixture at different
proportions. Results showed that Coriander grown in a mixture of
25% compost+50% Voladora soi+25% sludge had the best growth
and development. High chlorophyll content (33.01 ± 0.8) was
observed in Coriander plants cultivated in 25% compost+62.5%
Coloso soil+ 12.5% sludge compared to plants grown with no sludge
(32.59 ± 0.7). ICP-OES analysis showed variations in mineral
element contents (macro and micronutrients) in coriander plant
grown I soil amended with sludge and compost.
Abstract: Catalytic combustion of methane is imperative due to
stability of methane at low temperature. Methane (CH4), therefore,
remains unconverted in vehicle exhausts thereby causing greenhouse
gas GHG emission problem. In this study, heterogeneous catalysts of
palladium with bio-char (2 wt% Pd/Bc) and Al2O3 (2wt% Pd/ Al2O3)
supports were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation and then
subsequently tested for catalytic combustion of CH4. Support-porous
heterogeneous catalytic combustion (HCC) material were selected
based on factors such as surface area, porosity, thermal stability,
thermal conductivity, reactivity with reactants or products, chemical
stability, catalytic activity, and catalyst life. Sustainable and
renewable support-material of bio-mass char derived from palm shell
waste material was compared with those from the conventional
support-porous materials. Kinetic rate of reaction was determined for
combustion of methane on Palladium (Pd) based catalyst with Al2O3
support and bio-char (Bc). Material characterization was done using
TGA, SEM, and BET surface area. The performance test was
accomplished using tubular quartz reactor with gas mixture ratio of
3% methane and 97% air. The methane porous-HCC conversion was
carried out using online gas analyzer connected to the reactor that
performed porous-HCC. BET surface area for prepared 2 wt% Pd/Bc
is smaller than prepared 2wt% Pd/ Al2O3 due to its low porosity
between particles. The order of catalyst activity based on kinetic rate
on reaction of catalysts in low temperature was 2wt%
Pd/Bc>calcined 2wt% Pd/ Al2O3> 2wt% Pd/ Al2O3>calcined 2wt%
Pd/Bc. Hence agro waste material can successfully be utilized as an
inexpensive catalyst support material for enhanced CH4 catalytic
combustion.