Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Framework For Sustainable Material Selection For Multi-Generational Components, Ryan T. Bradley

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The early stages of a product’s design are a critical time for decisions that impact the entire life-cycle cost. Product designers have mastered the first generation; however, they currently do not have the ability to know the impact of their decisions on the multi-generational view. This thesis aims at closing the gap between total life-cycle information and the traditional design process in order to harbor sustainable value creation among all stakeholders involved. A framework is presented that uses a combination of a life-cycle costing methodology and an evolutionary algorithm in order to achieve a sustainability assessment for a true multi-generational …

University Of North Florida Environmental Center Annual Report 2015, Caitlin Kengle, James W. Taylor

Annual Reports

2015 Annual Report of the Environmental Center at the University of North Florida

Integrating Geoscience Into Undergraduate Education About Environment, Society, And Sustainability Using Place-Based Learning: Three Examples, David Gosselin, Steven Burian, Tim Lutz, Julie Maxson

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

From water to energy, and from climate change to natural hazards, the geosciences (marine, Earth, and atmospheric science) have an important role to play in addressing a wide range of societal issues, with particular relevance to how humans can live sustainably on Earth. Although arguably important to developing solutions for many societal issues, more often than not, students have limited exposure to the geosciences in high school or college. To address this geoscience literacy problem, the Interdisciplinary Teaching of Geoscience for a Sustainable Future (InTeGrate) Talent Expansion Center has engaged members of the geoscience community and their colleagues in allied …

Get Two For One—The Same Strategies Help You Go Green And Improve Wellness, Jean S. Waters

White Papers

Going green and losing weight may very well be two of the biggest ever lifestyle buzzwords. Both require conscious effort, planning and systematic changes and both yield beneficial results. Drawing comparisons between green and wellness campaigns, Jean Waters, environmental engineer, discusses costs, benefits and strategies of pursuing sustainability.

Moving Towards A Greener Future: An Investigation Of How Transit-Oriented Development Has The Potential To Redefine Cities Around Sustainability, Margaret E. Smith

Scripps Senior Theses

How does transportation shape the cities we live in? This paper takes a close look at the practice of transit-oriented development to assess its implications for the future of urban areas. Through the design of a hypothetical light rail station in the suburb of Redmond, WA, this paper demonstrates how targeting sustainable development around transit has the potential to influence entire towns to “go green,” and proposes that, moving forward, cities be designed to maximize mobility, livability, and sustainability.

The Use Of Jatropha Curcas To Achieve A Self Sufficient Water Distribution System: A Case Study In Rural Senegal, Alexandra Archer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The use of Jatropha curcas as a source of oil for fueling water pumps holds promise for rural communities struggling to achieve water security in arid climates. The potential for use in developing communities as an affordable, sustainable fuel source has been highly recommended for many reasons: it is easily propagated, drought resistant, grows rapidly, and has high-oil-content seeds, as well as medicinal and economic potential. This study uses a rural community in Senegal, West Africa, and calculates at what level of Jatropha curcas production the village is able to be self-sufficient in fueling their water system to meet drinking, …

Brazilian Women Entrepreneurs: Exploring Strategies For Building Sustainable Business Organizations, Maria Ana Church

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Brazilians create an average of 1.2 million new registered enterprises annually, but some struggle to keep their business in operation. Thirty percent of the new ventures are unable to survive the first year, and 58% go out of business after the first 5 years. The goal of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of Brazilian women entrepreneurs concerning the strategies needed to build sustainable business organizations in Brazil. The individual concepts of sustainable development, sustainability, business strategies, and business models served as the theoretical foundations for the study. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 20 women entrepreneurs …

The Damaging Effects Of Climate Change Denial, Richard Snow, Mary Snow

Publications

It has been said that those who are denying climate change are like the ostrich that sticks her head in the sand, but is this analogy entirely accurate? By hiding from the threat, does the ostrich make the threat go away, mitigate it, or make it greater? Probably, she does not. However, denying the existence of climate change does exacerbate the problem and exponentially so. As the renowned British economist Nicholas Stern reports, the longer world leaders wait to take serious action to curtail climate change, the more it will cost. As the Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on …

The Impact Of Climate Change On Human Health, Mary Snow, Richard Snow

Publications

Climate change is impacting human health. An obvious effect of a warmer environment is more frequent and severe heat waves. During the European heat wave of 2003, there were an estimated 35,000 more deaths than normal in the first two weeks of August. Many of the deaths resulted from cardiovascular complications among the elderly. As heat waves become more commonplace in the future, so will the number of heat strokes and the onset of other cardiovascular problems. Higher summertime temperatures also increase tropospheric ozone concentrations which in turn affects people with asthma and causes lung and heart damage. Increases in …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Sustainable Value And Water Conservation: A Case Study Of Social, Environmental, And Economic Concerns In The Rookery Bay Estuary, Bruce Victor Lilyea

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Stakeholders’ perceptions of social, environmental, and economic concerns in the Rookery Bay Estuary were examined through this research. The purpose of this study was to discover the shared value and common resolution responses for the people of the Rookery Bay area that can extend to other local environmental management scenarios. Using Stakeholder Theory, Rational Choice Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, and Systems Theory as theoretical foundation, the following research questions were considered: RQ1) What are the points of shared value of community stakeholders facing environmental management issues? RQ2) How do the perspectives of the community stakeholders toward the social, environmental, and economic …

Advanced Sustainable Concrete Materials For Infrastructure Applications, Kaylea Ann Smith

Masters Theses

"This study was performed to examine the effects of cement replaced by high volumes of Class C fly-ash on durability characteristics of concrete up to 120 days. Specifically, this study investigates possibility of amending American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) to allow High Volume Fly-ash (HVFA) concrete to cure until later ages prior to testing instead of 28 days. Five mix designs were compared with varying fly-ash percentages from 0 to 70% (by total cementitious mass). No other additives were present in any of the five mix designs. Water-to-cementitious ratio (w/cm) and total cementitious material remained constant as 0.40 …

Economic And Traffic Impacts Following The Installation Of New Bicycle Facilities: A Denver Case Study, Stephen Antonio Rijo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

America is currently experiencing a unique departure from the historical vehicle miles traveled (VMT) trend, often referred to as "peak travel." Decreasing VMT numbers suggest that the US is currently experiencing an unprecedented change in the way individuals utilize transportation systems. The following research calls on a need to understand the importance of improving alternative transportation infrastructure, namely cycling facilities, and how this impacts local businesses and their communities. This research informs the overarching question, "What are the economic and traffic impacts of cycling facilities?" A mixed methods analysis of retail sales tax, traffic count, and RTD transit access data …

Looking Beyond Fossil Fuel Divestment: Combating Climate Change In Higher Education, Robin Xu

Pomona Senior Theses

The young fossil fuel divestment movement is altering the landscape of climate change activism on US campuses. Student-run divestment campaigns are now pushing for institutions of higher education to withdraw their investments from the top 200 public fossil fuel companies. Despite student fervor, however, divestment has remained a controversial tactic for combating climate change. The first half of this thesis examines the stated motives of a selection of institutions that have officially agreed or declined to divest, and investigates the hypothesis that pushing for divestment alone will not achieve broad success because it does not appeal to a wide enough …

Governmental Procurement Restrictions, Deficit Reductions, And The Sustainability Of Alaska Native Corporations, Paul O. Fondren

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) came under political scrutiny in the United States in 2009 during a climate of economic recession and governmental spending reductions. Since then, ANCs have faced increased governmental regulations that immediately changed the ways that their leaders previously achieved growth and success. The purpose of this explanatory case study was to identify elements of ANC strategic plans that lead to success and growth when operationally implemented. The central research questions investigated what executable strategic plans ANC leaders need to ensure sustainable business growth and what practices have led to success and failures. Data were collected from interviews …

Ridazz, Wrenches, And Wonks: A Revolution On Two Wheels Rolls Into Los Angeles, Donald Parker Strauss

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

How can we make cities more livable? Los Angeles, in particular, is a notably challenging place to live. For many, it is hard to see Los Angeles—city or county—as anything other than a huge, sprawling, and some would say placeless place. Los Angeles is known by many as the place that tore up more than 1,000 miles of streetcar lines to make way for millions of cars and hundreds of miles of freeways. Because of this, Los Angeles is also known for its poor air quality and jammed freeways. Those who live in Los Angeles know that it can be …

Technological Factors For The Sustainability Of The Small Business Entrepreneur, Noghor Pessu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technical innovation creates challenges for the small business entrepreneur who uses global activities in the marketplace. Information technology and the technological innovations of the World Wide Web are driving competitiveness in the marketplace with a loss of market share for the individual business owner. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of a purposive sample of 20 small business owners in the metropolitan Atlanta area regarding the effect of technology, technological insertion, and application for long-term sustainability. Rogers's diffusion of innovations theory served as the conceptual framework of this study. Data were gathered …

Aligning Public Participation To Stakeholders’ Sustainability Literacy—A Case Study On Sustainable Urban Development In Phoenix, Arizona, Matthew Cohen, Arnim Wiek, Braden Kay, John Harlow

Earth and Environmental Sciences Publications

In public planning processes for sustainable urban development, planners and experts often face the challenge of engaging a public that is not familiar with sustainability principles or does not subscribe to sustainability values. Although there are calls to build the public’s sustainability literacy through social learning, such efforts require sufficient time and other resources that are not always available. Alternatively, public participation processes may be realigned with the sustainability literacy the participants possess, and their capacity can modestly be built during the engagement. Asking what tools might successfully align public participation with participants’ sustainability literacy, this article describes and evaluates …

Financial Statement Disclosure Of Carbon Footprint Costs In The Airline Industry, Carol Anne Tuck-Riggs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Unaccountable corporate polluters profit short term at the expense of global economic sustainability. The purpose of the study was to determine if carbon dioxide (CO2) penalties on the airline emissions would result in financial statement disclosure and emission mitigation. Contributing to environmental accounting, the study was based in corporate social responsibility with a conceptual framework based on economically-centered CO2 studies. A random sample of 69 global airlines, taken from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) memberships, was stratified between EU bound and non-EU bound airlines. The research questions explored (a) the frequency mean …

A Spatial Dynamic Model Of Population Changes In A Vulnerable Coastal Environment, Kenan Li

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Achieving coastal sustainability in low-lying coastal areas is a great challenge. This study developed a spatial dynamic model to study the coupled natural-human responses in the form of population changes in the Lower Mississippi River Basin region. The goal was to identify the key social-economic factors (utility) and selected environmental factors (such as hazards damage, elevation, and subsidence rate) that affect population changes, as well as how population changes affect the local utility and the local environment reciprocally. The study area was partitioned into the “north’ and the “south” by a hypothetical boundary to test the differences of the emergence. …

Empowering Citizens In A Global Era: A Grounded Theory Study Of Community Gardens, Anita Tam

All Dissertations

In our global era, the modern food system can be viewed as consisting of a dominant macro-level corporate food industry, challenged by broad-based meso-level food justice and democracy movements, which are in turn fueled by micro-level community food initiatives. Research has yet to examine the role of community gardens in the context of this complex, multi-level food system. Grounded theory methodology was thus used to explore the deeper meaning of the community gardening experience to participants, in order to better understand the ways in which community gardens may scale up and contribute to democratizing the food system. Analysis of the …

Predicted Performance Of A Skytherm North, A Highly Insulated Building Envelope System And A Frost Protected Shallow Foundation, Kitrina Ann Stratton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

How do you design a durable, sustainable, and financeable Net Zero Energy house for a cold weather climate using little or no external energy that is also affordable? Reviewing all of the factors that would influence the design and materials selection of an appropriate response to the issues, the perfect system for housing people, whether it is in response to affordability, durability, comfort, cultural sensitivity, appearance or being locally appropriate, is using some kind of straw bale construction system with an integrated frost protected shallow foundation and a SkyTherm North design.

The focus and intention of this research is to …

Beyond Sustainability: A New Conceptual Model, Molly Kerby, Gayle Mallinger

Gender & Women's Studies Faculty Publications

Over the last few decades, the notion of sustainability has become an interdisciplinary buzz word. Sustainability has been an integrative concept that includes three constructs or pillars: a) social; b) economic; and c) ecological. Until recently, theoretical approaches based on the three pillars approach have operated in silos rather than exploring the interconnectedness of the constructs. Few models have moved beyond the idea that logical relations exist among the constructs (social, economic, and ecological) to consider factors external to communities, nor have they examined the internal socio-economic factors that influence positive outcomes. While this conceptualization has raised awareness about the …

Sustainability Planning, Environmental Justice And Climate Change: Applications Of The Long Island Markal Model, David S. Friedman, Yehuda Klein, Jose Pillich, Michael T. Sullivan

Suburban Sustainability

As pointed out by many authors, sustainability is often vague and amorphous (See, for example, Dovers, 1989; Faber, et al, 2005; Glavič, et al. 2007). There is a clear need to make analytical and data-driven analyses of established and or proposed plans. MARKAL (MARKet ALlocation model) is an analytical tool that can be used characterize the impacts of sustainability plans at multiple spatial scales: global, national, regional, and local. In this study we apply the Long Island MARKAL model to answer three interrelated issues: 1, the development and incremental improvement of local and regional sustainability plans; 2, the impact of …

Timelessness In Sustainable Product Design, Alex Lobos

Presentations and other scholarship

Shorter product lifespan driven by reduced durability and planned obsolescence is causing severe environmental issues and diminishing user experience. Sustainable Design is addressing this problem with strategies that improve a product’s lifecycle and address important areas of impact in manufacturing, use, and end of life. This article explores how the concept of ‘timelessness’ can be used as an effective strategy for creating products that are cherished and enjoyed by their users, last longer, are easier to repair and have better options for end-of-life. A series of case studies found in commercial products as well as in student projects illustrate how …

Fearless: Gettysburg's Environmental Concerns Organization (Geco), Chrisitina L. Bassler

SURGE

Gettysburg’s Environmental Concerns Organization (GECO) fearlessly advocates for environmental change, promotes awareness and encourages better sustainability practices on our campus, and the world around us.

Last weekend, 19 students from Gettysburg joined the People’s Climate March in New York City. With over 400,000 people – four times the number expected – this was the largest march for environment change in history. Junior Jolina Kenney was instrumental in planning the trip. As an Environmental Science major, She became involved with GECO “as an extension of her interest in the environment.” With the help of professor Lane, Jolina and the GECO team …

Annotated Bibliography: Environmental Education (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

No abstract provided.

Information And Entropy Theory For The Sustainability Of Coupled Human And Natural Systems, Audrey L. Mayer, Richard P. Donovan, Christopher W. Pawlowski

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

For coupled human and natural systems (CHANS), sustainability can be defined operationally as a feasible, desirable set of flows (material, currency, information, energy, individuals, etc.) that can be maintained despite internal changes and changes in the environment. Sustainable development can be defined as the process by which CHANS can be moved toward sustainability. Specific indicators that give insight into the structure and behavior of feedbacks in CHANS are of particular interest because they would aid in the sustainable management of these systems through an understanding of the structures that govern system behavior. However, the use of specific feedbacks as monitoring …

Sustainability Of Dual Water Distribution Systems For Fire Flow Condition, Nazli Yonca Aydin, Larry Mays, Theo G. Schmitt

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

The objective of this study is to compare the sustainability of current water systems when a dual water distribution system (WDS) is used for the non-potable water purposes of fire protection, irrigation, and toilet flushing. Sustainability of urban WDS is evaluated in terms of hydraulic efficiency and water quality. The first step is to assess sustainability of an example urban WDS by using sustainability index (SI). The SI is measured by reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability performance indices. Pressure and water age are selected as main parameters to determine sustainability. Once the SIs for pressure and water age are calculated by …

The Significance Of Micro-Prairie Reconstruction In Urban Environments, Bruno Borsari, Neal Mundahl, Malcom F. Vidrine, Marc Pastorek

The Prairie Naturalist

An aggressive urban sprawl during the last half century has not only contributed to habitat disturbance and extirpation, as well as a loss of knowledge and appreciation for biodiversity. Across the United States, prairie reconstruction has been a very effective approach for developing sustainable landscape designs in city parks and other open spaces. The purpose of this work is to focus on restoration and reconstruction of selected micro-prairies as a vehicle for enhanced place-based education and to partially remediate the consequences of global climate change and loss of pollinators. From the coastal prairies of southwestern Louisiana, to the eastern edge …

Reducing Carbon Emission Of Ocean Shipments By Optimizing Container Size Selection, Edwin Lik Ming Chong, Nang Laik Ma, Kar Way Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Human’s impact on earth through global warming is more or less an accepted fact. Ocean freight is estimated to contribute 4-5% of global carbon emissions and manufacturing companies can aid in reducing this amount. Many companies that ship goods through full container loads do not have the capabilities to ensure the containers they are using minimizes their carbon footprint. One of the reasons is the choice of non-ideal container sizes for their shipments. This paper provides a mathematical model to minimize companies’ shipping carbon footprints by selecting the ideal container sizes appropriate for their shipment volumes. Using data from a …