Computer Engineering Commons^™

Enabling The Integration Of Sustainable Design Methodological Frameworks And Computational Life Cycle Assessment Tools Into Product Development Practice, Tejaswini Chatty

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Environmental sustainability has gained critical importance in product development (PD) due to increased regulation, market competition, and consumer awareness, leading companies to set ambitious climate targets . To meet these goals, PD practitioners (engineers and designers) are often left to adapt their practices to reduce the impacts of the products they manufacture. Literature review and interviews with practitioners show that they highly valued using quantitative life cycle assessment (LCA) results to inform decision making.

LCA is a technique to measure the environmental impacts across various stages of a product life cycle. Existing LCA software tools, however, are designed for dedicated …

Alternatives To Reducing Aviation Fuel-Burn With Technology: Fully Electric Autonomous Taxibot, Denzil Neo

Student Works

Aircraft taxiing operations in the aerodrome were identified to consume the most jet fuel apart from the cruise phase of the flight. This was also well supported by various research associating taxi operations at large, congested airports, with high jet fuel consumption, high carbon emissions, and noise pollution. Existing literature recognised the potential to address the environmental issues of aerodrome taxi operations by operating External or Onboard Aircraft Ground Propulsion Systems (AGPS). Designed to power aircraft with sources other than their main engines, external Aircraft Ground Power Systems (AGPS) have shown the potential to significantly cut jet fuel consumption and …

Improving The Programmability Of Networked Energy Systems, Noman Bashir

Doctoral Dissertations

Global warming and climate change have underscored the need for designing sustainable energy systems. Sustainable energy systems, e.g., smart grids, green data centers, differ from the traditional systems in significant ways and present unique challenges to system designers and operators. First, intermittent renewable energy resources power these systems, which break the notion of infinite, reliable, and controllable power supply. Second, these systems come in varying sizes, spanning over large geographical regions. The control of these dispersed and diverse systems raises scalability challenges. Third, the performance modeling and fault detection in sustainable energy systems is still an active research area. Finally, …

Eco: A Sustainability Education Chatbot, Joey Gruber

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

There is a lack of access to information about sustainability from what the climate crisis is to how to recycle properly. For both sustainability-informed and uninformed individuals, learning new information about sustainability and reducing their waste in a way that compliments their lifestyle is time-consuming, requires strategic skills, and can cost them money. ECO is an audio and text-based chatbot that teaches users to be more environmentally conscious through waste reduction.

Sustainability In Web Development Through Energy Efficiency, Hannah Bebinger

Honors Projects

As global internet usage expands, websites are growing in both size and complexity. Contrary to the common belief that the internet is immaterial and “environmentally friendly”, web pages have significant negative environmental impacts (Frick, 2015). Websites contribute to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and electricity consumption. Considering the current climate crisis, it is crucial that web developers be aware of the impact that their work has on the environment and actively work to improve site energy efficiency. With a lack of regulation and awareness, the environmental impact of websites has remained unchecked despite growing concerns for sustainability. Further research and …

Zenneck Waves In Decision Agriculture: An Empirical Verification And Application In Em-Based Underground Wireless Power Transfer, Usman Raza, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

In this article, the results of experiments for the observation of Zenneck surface waves in sub GHz frequency range using dipole antennas are presented. Experiments are conducted over three different soils for communications distances of up to 1 m. This empirical analysis confirms the existence of Zenneck waves over the soil surface. Through the power delay profile (PDP) analysis, it has been shown that other subsurface components exhibit rapid decay as compared to the Zenneck waves. A potential application of the Zenneck waves for energy transmission in the area of decision agriculture is explored. Accordingly, a novel wireless through-the-soil power …

Design Of Subsurface Phased Array Antennas For Digital Agriculture Application, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

With the advancement in subsurface communications technology, an overarching solution to a underground phased array antenna design for digital agriculture requires interdisciplinary research involving topics ranging from insights on the constitutive parameters of the soil medium and impact of soil moisture on the array factor to antenna measurements and subsurface communication system design. In this paper, based on the analysis of underground radio wave propagation in subsurface radio channel, a phased array antenna design is presented that uses water content information and beam steering mechanisms to improve efficiency and communication range of wireless underground communications. It is shown the subsurface …

Internet Of Things For Sustainable Human Health, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

The sustainable health IoT has the strong potential to bring tremendous improvements in human health and well-being through sensing, and monitoring of health impacts across the whole spectrum of climate change. The sustainable health IoT enables development of a systems approach in the area of human health and ecosystem. It allows integration of broader health sub-areas in a bigger archetype for improving sustainability in health in the realm of social, economic, and environmental sectors. This integration provides a powerful health IoT framework for sustainable health and community goals in the wake of changing climate. In this chapter, a detailed description …

Internet Of Things For Environmental Sustainability And Climate Change, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

Our world is vulnerable to climate change risks such as glacier retreat, rising temperatures, more variable and intense weather events (e.g., floods, droughts, and frosts), deteriorating mountain ecosystems, soil degradation, and increasing water scarcity. However, there are big gaps in our understanding of changes in regional climate and how these changes will impact human and natural systems, making it difficult to anticipate, plan, and adapt to the coming changes. The IoT paradigm in this area can enhance our understanding of regional climate by using technology solutions, while providing the dynamic climate elements based on integrated environmental sensing and communications that …

Internet Of Things For Sustainable Community Development: Introduction And Overview, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

The two-third of the city-dwelling world population by 2050 poses numerous global challenges in the infrastructure and natural resource management domains (e.g., water and food scarcity, increasing global temperatures, and energy issues). The IoT with integrated sensing and communication capabilities has the strong potential for the robust, sustainable, and informed resource management in the urban and rural communities. In this chapter, the vital concepts of sustainable community development are discussed. The IoT and sustainability interactions are explained with emphasis on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and communication technologies. Moreover, IoT opportunities and challenges are discussed in the context of sustainable community …

Internet Of Things In Agricultural Innovation And Security, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

The agricultural Internet of Things (Ag-IoT) paradigm has tremendous potential in transparent integration of underground soil sensing, farm machinery, and sensor-guided irrigation systems with the complex social network of growers, agronomists, crop consultants, and advisors. The aim of the IoT in agricultural innovation and security chapter is to present agricultural IoT research and paradigm to promote sustainable production of safe, healthy, and profitable crop and animal agricultural products. This chapter covers the IoT platform to test optimized management strategies, engage farmer and industry groups, and investigate new and traditional technology drivers that will enhance resilience of the farmers to the …

Internet Of Things For Water Sustainability, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

The water is a finite resource. The issue of sustainable withdrawal of freshwater is a vital concern being faced by the community. There is a strong connection between the energy, food, and water which is referred to as water-food-energy nexus. The agriculture industry and municipalities are struggling to meet the demand of water supply. This situation is particularly exacerbated in the developing countries. The projected increase in world population requires more fresh water resources. New technologies are being developed to reduce water usage in the field of agriculture (e.g., sensor guided autonomous irrigation management systems). Agricultural water withdrawal is also …

Internet Of Things For Sustainable Mining, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

The sustainable mining Internet of Things deals with the applications of IoT technology to the coupled needs of sustainable recovery of metals and a healthy environment for a thriving planet. In this chapter, the IoT architecture and technology is presented to support development of a digital mining platform emphasizing the exploration of rock–fluid–environment interactions to develop extraction methods with maximum economic benefit, while maintaining and preserving both water quantity and quality, soil, and, ultimately, human health. New perspectives are provided for IoT applications in developing new mineral resources, improved management of tailings, monitoring and mitigating contamination from mining. Moreover, tools …

Internet Of Things In Water Management And Treatment, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

The goal of the water security IoT chapter is to present a comprehensive and integrated IoT based approach to environmental quality and monitoring by generating new knowledge and innovative approaches that focus on sustainable resource management. Mainly, this chapter focuses on IoT applications in wastewater and stormwater, and the human and environmental consequences of water contaminants and their treatment. The IoT applications using sensors for sewer and stormwater monitoring across networked landscapes, water quality assessment, treatment, and sustainable management are introduced. The studies of rate limitations in biophysical and geochemical processes that support the ecosystem services related to water quality …

Improving The Sustainability Of The Built Environment By Training Its Workforce In More Efficient And Greener Ways Of Designing And Constructing Through The Horizon2020 Bimcert Project, Barry Mcauley, Avril Behan

Conference papers

The construction industry consumes up to 50% of mineral resources excavated from nature, generates about 33% of CO2 present in the atmosphere and is responsible for 40% of total global energy through both construction and operation of buildings. The realisation that current pervasive construction practices now face globalization, sustainability, and environmental concerns, as well as ever-changing legislation requirements and new skills needed for the information age has resulted in technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) becoming a key enabler in navigating these barriers. To assist in overcoming these barriers, a number of funding initiatives have been put in place …

A Simulation Tool For Evaluating The Environmental Impacts Of Management Scenarios For Modern Broiler Production Systems, Martin Andrew Christie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this work is to provide a simulation tool that allows broiler production practitioners and researchers to simulate the effects of farm design and management practices on resource consumption and environmental impacts. This tool allows the user to design unique farms and simulates on farm processes required to raise broiler chicks to a marketable age. The use can input data such as farm location, broiler breed, flock size, ration type, barn dimensions, and climate control equipment specifications. The algorithms used to simulate broiler breed specific feed intake, broiler weight gain, and other on farm processes such as heating, …

Do Grant Funding And Pro-Environmental Spillovers Influence Household Hazardous Waste Collection?, Kustini Lim-Wavde, Robert J Kauffman, Tin Seong Kam, Gregory S. Dawsond

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Agency and state grant funding should be disseminated in ways so it will result in better management of household hazardous waste (HHW) and environmental sustainability. Since location seems to matter in HHW collection activities, it is important to consider pro-environmental spatial spillovers that occur, based on agency actions and waste collection behavior taking place in other locations. These may influence HHW-related practices in close-by regions. Using a county-level spatio-temporal dataset that consists of economic, demographic, and HHW data in California from 2004 to 2015, we evaluate the impact of HHW grants on HHW collection activities while considering pro-environmental spillovers. We …

Simulation Evaluation Method Of Mission Sustainability For Operational Unit, Yan Xu, Junhai Cao, Tailiang Song, Gao Long, Zhang Qiang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: To analyze and evaluate support capabilities of operational units and scientifically describe the operational mission sustainability of weapon systems, the typical mission models for individual operational unit and operational units were established according to system engineering ideology. The mission status of operational units was defined, and the parameters including mission sustainability and equipment availability of operational units were proposed. An operational unit mission process simulation model was established with the agent-based method, which provides a simulation method for operational unit mission sustainability evaluation and technical means for the operational unit support capability assessment problem. A case study of …

Solar And Rain Catching Canopy. Urban Oasis, Afolabi Ibitoye, Langston Clark, Elena Zimareva, Evan Banks, Alexander Aptekar

Publications and Research

The Urban Oasis is designed to work within existing “pocket parks” in New York City as a combined rainwater collector, personal electronics charging station and resting designation for New Yorkers. Intended to not only lessen the demand on the city power grid by using renewable energy to charge devices, the urban oasis is also intended to mitigate grey water overfill in New York’s combined sewer system and, in general, serve as a model for responsible environmental stewardship in urban areas.

The important technical aspects of the canopy specifically analyzed were:

a) how much rainwater could the canopy be expected to …

Precise Energy Efficient Scheduling Of Mixed-Criticality Tasks & Sustainable Mixed-Criticality Scheduling, Sai Sruti

Masters Theses

"In this thesis, the imprecise mixed-criticality model (IMC) is extended to precise scheduling of tasks, and integrated with the dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) technique to enable energy minimization. The challenge in precise scheduling of MC systems is to simultaneously guarantee the timing correctness for all tasks, hi and lo, under both pessimistic and optimistic (less pessimistic) assumptions. To the best of knowledge this is the first work to address the integration of DVFS energy conserving techniques with precise scheduling of lo-tasks of the MC model.

In this thesis, the utilization based schedulability tests and sufficient conditions for such …

A Data-Driven Approach For Benchmarking Energy Efficiency Of Warehouse Buildings, Wee Leong Lee, Kar Way Tan, Zui Young Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study proposes adata-driven approach for benchmarking energy efficiency of warehouse buildings.Our proposed approach provides an alternative to the limitation of existingbenchmarking approaches where a theoretical energy-efficient warehouse was usedas a reference. Our approach starts by defining the questions needed to capturethe characteristics of warehouses relating to energy consumption. Using an existingdata set of warehouse building containing various attributes, we first cluster theminto groups by their characteristics. The warehouses characteristics derivedfrom the cluster assignments along with their past annual energy consumptionare subsequently used to train a decision tree model. The decision tree providesa classification of what factors contribute to different …

Systems Approach To Link Big Socio-Ecological Geo-Data To Food Systems Sustainability, Quang Bao Le, Chandrashekhar Biradar, Enrico Bonaiuti, Richard Thomas

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Rapid development of multi-dimensionally, multi-scale, timely updated socio-ecological geo-data presents an opportunity as potential information resource for supporting effective decision- making of stakeholders involved with food systems, from daily routines of individuals to strategic decisions of manager and policy-makers. However, the use of this type of big data toward supporting the sustainability of food systems at different scales still fall short of (i) what information commonly needed by food system actors to response and adapt to socio-ecological change and enhance the system performance, (ii) interoperability between different types of data across scales, and (iii) sufficient guidance to utilize big data …

Methodological Abilities Of Integrated Models To Support Agricultural Landscape Resilience: Current Status And Research Perspectives, Quang Bao Le

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

It is important to increase the resilience of rural landscapes in the face of global changes. It is widely recognized that integrated modeling is often a methodological choice to study landscape resilience because the task is often beyond the ability of direct, empirical studies. However, so far there has not yet been a systemized, critical review on methodological abilities current modeling approaches can have for supporting management for agricultural landscape resilience. This review study (i) highlighted the methodological abilities of integrated system modeling ideally needed for agricultural landscape management for resilience, (ii) reviewed strengths and weakness of common integrated modeling …

The Role Of Social Institutions In The Resolution Of International Conflicts Over Shared Fishing Resources, Cezara Păstrăv, Frank Dignum

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

International conflicts over shared fishing resources may rise in numbers in the context of climate change, which has lead, and will continue to lead, to changes in behavior patterns and geographic distribution of fish and other marine resources of interest to the fishing industry. Under these circumstances, being able to quickly adapt to unexpected changes becomes a very desirable trait for the fishing industry. Unfortunately, the current conflict resolution processes are often difficult, time consuming and sometimes not maintained.

We are interested in whether more sustainable mechanisms, that act from the bottom up and are easier to enforce by the …

Exploration Of The Long Term Sustainability Of The French Risk Management, Frédéric Grelot, Bruno Bonté, Zhongyang Fang

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Public flood risk management (FRM) in France, as in other countries like USA, Great Britain, relies on a combination of tools dealing with the negative consequences of flood. Spatial scale of those tools differs: insurance is defined and managed at national scale, land use regulation is defined at national scale but implemented at local scale, protection against flood may be implemented at local or even individual scales. The objective of this communication is to build a model for the analysis of the sustainability of the French FRM. For this, we used a simple but contextualized agent-based model (Cat-Nat ABM).

In …

Experiences With A Serious Online Game For Exploring Complex Relationships Of Sustainable Land Management And Human Well-Being: Landyous, Ralf Seppelt, Romina Martin, Alexander Finger, Christin Henzen, Martin Linder, Katrin Pietzsch, Andreas Werntze, Ute Zander, Jule Schulze

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Land is a limited resource. Its use for one purpose excludes other uses. Addressing the issue of human appropriation of natural resources thus requires understanding of a variety of complex feedbacks between decisions on land use and ecosystem services. The complexity is caused by a large number of mostly nonlinear feedbacks between management strategies, productivity, environmental quality, human well-being, consumption and many other aspects of land use. Here, we present LandYOUs: an educational online game, which aims at explaining and illustrating various options and feedbacks of sustainable land management (SLM) to the interested public, students and stakeholders. The game gives …

Towards A Sustainable Modular Robot System For Planetary Exploration, S. G. M. Hossain

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis investigates multiple perspectives of developing an unmanned robotic system suited for planetary terrains. In this case, the unmanned system consists of unit-modular robots. This type of robot has potential to be developed and maintained as a sustainable multi-robot system while located far from direct human intervention. Some characteristics that make this possible are: the cooperation, communication and connectivity among the robot modules, flexibility of individual robot modules, capability of self-healing in the case of a failed module and the ability to generate multiple gaits by means of reconfiguration. To demonstrate the effects of high flexibility of an individual …

A Sustainable Autonomic Architecture For Organically Reconfigurable Computing Systems, Rashad S. Oreifej

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Sustainable Autonomic Architecture for Organically Reconfigurable Computing System based on SRAM Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) is proposed, modeled analytically, simulated, prototyped, and measured. Low-level organic elements are analyzed and designed to achieve novel self-monitoring, self-diagnosis, and self-repair organic properties. The prototype of a 2-D spatial gradient Sobel video edge-detection organic system use-case developed on a XC4VSX35 Xilinx Virtex-4 Video Starter Kit is presented. Experimental results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed architecture and provide the infrastructure to quantify the performance and overcome fault-handling limitations. Dynamic online autonomous functionality restoration after a malfunction or functionality shift due to changing …