Sustainability Commons^™

Optimisation Of Retrofit Wall Insulation: An Irish Case Study, Rakshit D. Muddu, D M. Gowda, Anthony James Robinson, Aimee Byrne

Articles

Ireland has one of the highest rates of emissions per capita in the world and its residential sector is responsible for approximately 10% of total national CO2 emissions. Therefore, reducing the CO2 emissions in this sector will play a decisive role in achieving EU targets of reducing emissions by 40% by 2030. To better inform decisions regarding retrofit of the existing building stock, this study proposes Optimum Insulation Thicknesses (OIT) for typical walls in 25 regions in Ireland. The calculation of OIT includes annual heat energy expenditure, CO2 emissions, and material payback period. The approach taken is based on Heating …

Uk-India: Partnerships For Growth With Research And Innovation, Ukri, Ukri India, Newton Bhabha

Public Reports

UKRI India joint funding resulted in 258 projects. Over £150 million in funding from the UK was matched by Indian counterparts, bringing the overall joint investment to the equivalent of over £330 million.

The projects were funded by over 15 funding agencies, bringing together more than 220 lead institutions from the UK and India. These research projects have generated more than £450 million in further funding, mainly from public bodies but also from non-profit organisations and commercial entities.

The projects covered a wide range of subjects, from heritage to renewable energy, generating a large number of outputs in different formats …

Covid-19 Outreach To Refugee And Immigrant Communities In The Southern Tier, Rachael Ali

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

No abstract provided.

Internal And External Changes Within Food Organizations Due To The Pandemic, Samantha Goldman

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

Over the decade preceding the pandemic, the number of people in the U.S. relying on subsidiary benefits such as SNAP, free meals from schools, and food pantries have been increasing. This gradually increasing need over time has been accelerating and was exacerbated by the pandemic. With the pandemic causing increased unemployment and forcing school closures, the number of people reliant on food resources outside of those provided by the government have increased. SNAP recipients reliant on sources outside of food stamps, rose from 27% to 60% between 2018 and October of 2020. Between March 9 and March 23 of 2020, …

Enhancing Wku Sustainable Food Systems Through Education And Local Agriculture Development, Chloe Cooper

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In an effort to increase the amount of locally sourced food utilized by dining services at WKU, the Office of Sustainability, WKU Restaurant Group, and the WKU Agriculture & Research Education Center have partnered to establish garden spaces on campus properties. This project developed a detailed plan for implementation of this effort. In addition, this project established a plan to educate students and the local community alike on the benefits of sustainable farming and locally-sourced food, while also creating profiles on local farmers from whom the university could buy crops in order to further supplement items for dining services. Using …

Pathways To Net Zero: The Impact Of Clean Energy Research, Başak Candemir Phd, Jörg Hellwig Phd, Etienne Vignola-Gagné Phd, Jan-Maarten Van Schalkwijk, Cordelia Sealy Dphil

Public Reports

Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 will require the rapid development and deployment of clean energy technologies. Research is essential to the success of this clean energy transition. This report examines the state of play in clean energy research over the last 20 years and provides expert insights into potential pathways forward.

Ua12/13 Student Affairs - Sustainability, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Office of Sustainability.

The Formatting Of Science Communication And How It Affects Attraction To And Understanding Of Scientific Information, Connor Nichols

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This observational study was performed to develop a better understanding of what kinds of communication formats were most preferred as well as which of those formats were most trusted. Studies have shown that many scientific research papers go largely unread by anyone other than their author and editors. With many issues such as global climate change becoming more important every day, it is important that scientists determine the most effective method of communicating their findings with not only world leaders, but average citizens as well. Using an online survey, participants were asked to review three different formats concerned with three …

The Effect Of Drought On The Bird Species Spiza Americana, Emily Nelson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Climate change is becoming an integral part of our environment. Recognizing its effects on ecosystems and species’ health is important for the future of the natural world. There is an influx of changes that are happening to species, specifically birds due to climate change, and these changes are largely negative. A variation that is happening from the changing climate is an increase in drought conditions, which may have effect on the avifauna community. Drought causes a significant difficulty for species survival in all parts of the globe that includes hardships finding food and unsuccessful nesting. The implications of this problem …

The Future Of Living: Exploring Sustainable Residential Developments Through A Case Study Analysis Of The Sustainable City Dubai, Carys Davidson-Huxley

Honors Program Theses

With population growth continuing on an upwards trend and urban living projected to increase in the coming years, a redesign of typical property development is required to ensure that housing demand not only has a lesser impact on the environment, but also meets the needs of communities. Through a combination of literature review, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, this paper presents a case study of The Sustainable City Dubai (TSC), a key sustainable development within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), taking into account its social, economic and environmental strategies and consequent impacts. Investigation has been conducted into the importance of …

Retention Strategies To Ensure Financial Sustainability In Community Colleges, Claudia Yvette Provost

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractA rapid decline in student retention among community colleges reduces revenue and jeopardizes financial sustainability, meaning leaders of community colleges who lack strategies to retain students have lower revenue and financial sustainability. Grounded in the advocacy and participatory worldview conceptual framework, the purpose of this qualitative, single case study was to explore strategies leaders of community colleges used to increase student retention and revenues for achieving financial sustainability. A purposeful sampling of five leaders from a community college in Louisiana who successfully used strategies to increase student retention participated in this study. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and institutional …

West Chester University Zero Waste Atlas Campus Assessment 2021, Alex Freid, Grace Bowden, Andrew James

WCU Campus Sustainability Initiatives

In Spring 2021, West Chester University’s Office of Sustainability hired the Post- Landfill Action Network (PLAN) to support two Sustainability Peer Educators, Grace Bowden ‘21 and Andrew James ‘21, to conduct a holistic assessment of the University’s waste management system. WCU’s Climate Action Plan includes a goal of achieving zero waste (as defined by 90% diversion from landfills and incinerators), with no defined timeline for achievement. The plan also outlines a number of key next steps in working towards that goal, many of which have yet to be achieved as outlined in this report. WCU remains committed to reduce waste …

Characterization Of Microbial Populations In Landfill Leachate, Umut M. Bicim, Hanna Fulford, Lori A. Hoagland, Alejandro R. Sanchez, Amisha D. Shah, Inez Hua

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

In the United States, municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills remain a potential mining source of recoverable materials, including but not limited to critical, precious, and rare earth metals found in electronic waste. This is possible due to collectible leachate that filters through MSW landfills, carrying metals, nutrients of value, and microbes—some of which may hold key metal bioleaching properties—within. The purpose of this study is to begin analyzing leachate from MSW landfills in the American Midwest to understand the composition of microbial communities within these landfills. Landfill leachate samples sourced in northern Indiana, representing the landfill process during unique times …

A Model-Based Exploratory Study Of Sulfur Dioxide Dispersions From Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations In The Southeastern United States, Jesse Winchester, Rezaul Mahmood, William Rodgers, Philip J. Silva, Nanh Lovanh, Joshua D. Durkee, John Loughrin

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

In the Southeastern U. S. there are Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) that emit a variety of gases, including SO₂. Sulfur is emitted as reduced sulfur compounds and can react in the atmosphere to produce SO₂. It is expected that the concentra­tion and spread of SO₂ emissions from these sources would differ between wet and dry periods. In this research, SO₂ emissions from locations representing CAFOs and its dispersion over the south­eastern U.S. were simulated through sensitivity experiments using the Weather Research and Forecasting-Chemistry (WRF- Chem) model. Simulations were performed for dry periods and …

Energy Consumption And Lifecycle Assessment Comparison Of Cutting Fluids For Drilling Titanium Alloy, Navneet Khanna, Prassan Shah, Jwalant Wadhwa, Anjali Pitroda, Julius M. Schoop, Franci Pusavec

Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing Faculty Publications

This study analyzes four cutting conditions (dry, flood, Liquid CO 2 (LCO2), and Liquid N2 (LN 2)) based on energy consumption and ecological impacts for drilling VT-20, a Titanium alloy. The lower cutting and total energy have been consumed for LCO2 as compared to others. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis has been performed using ReCiPe 2016 midpoint (H) to identify the impact of cutting conditions on ecosystem, human health, and natural resources. Cryogenic environment with LN 2 has been found as the most ecological cutting condition next to dry machining, while flood coolant has 94-99% of total impact considering …

Assessing California Commercial Fishing Community Well-Being In The Context Of Marine Protected Area (Mpa) Formation, Samantha Cook

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Marine protected areas (MPAs)—defined geographic areas where fishing and harvesting activity is limited or restricted—have emerged as a popular marine biodiversity and climate resilience strategy worldwide. MPA monitoring efforts often follow MPA designation to help inform the adaptive management of MPAs and MPA networks. In 2012, California completed the largest statewide system of MPAs to date, consisting of 124 MPAs covering 16% of state waters. Following MPA implementation, the state initiated a long-term monitoring program (2019-2022) to help inform the 10-year MPA management review. This two-chapter thesis presents findings from a state-funded project to conduct long-term socioeconomic monitoring for human …

The Quantitative Assessment Of Pond Scum: An Examination Of The Biogeochemistry Of Phosphorus Cycling In The Belgrade Lakes, Abbey M. Sykes

Honors Theses

The internal recycling phosphorus in freshwater lake bottom sediments represents a significant source of hypolimnetic phosphorus (P) release for many of Maine’s lakes. In summer months, Maine lakes often thermally stratify and the lake hypolimnion develops anoxia, leading to a reduction in redox potential at the sediment-water interface. These reducing conditions facilitate the reductive dissolution of ferric iron, and, since phosphorus is often present in freshwater lake sediments as solid FeOOH-PO₄ complexes, results in release of soluble phosphorus into the water column. Our current study presents field and laboratory data from sediment fractionation extractions designed to quantify concentrations of …

Transforming Agriculture In The Pilbara: Interpretation Of Airborne Electromagnetic (Aem) Data, Aaron C. Davis, Mike Donn, John A. Simons, Christopher Schelfhout Dr, Olga Barron

Natural resources commissioned reports

This report focusses on hydrogeophysical and geological interpretation of the inversion results of an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey conducted north of Newman, Western Australia, in October and November 2019. The interpretation of the inversions is regional in scale, although we pay specific attention to interpretation of the near-surface transported cover sequences north and west of the Fortescue River. Specifically, we attempt to locate aquifers and near-surface geological structures that are likely to provide good quality groundwater for future extraction and storage. Analysis of the electrical conductivity structure of the ground also provides an estimate of the depth of the groundwater …

Scottish Marine Renewable Energy: U.S. Approaches For Development Of Wave And Tidal Technologies, Stella Kathryn Fairall

Honors Theses and Capstones

Marine renewable energy, energy harnessed from various ocean resources such as waves, tides, currents, thermal gradients, and marine streams, has incredible potential in the United States. Several European countries have realized the potential of the resource in the North Sea and Atlantic and have created incredibly successful industries already. The United Kingdom, particularly Scotland, is the world leader because of the comprehensive policy, labor force, and markets it has established in order to make MRE a competitive energy source. In the United States, the industry is immature, underfunded, and lacks policy support. In order to establish itself as a world …

Pesticide Occurrence And Persistence Entering Recreational Lakes In Watersheds Of Varying Land Uses, Jessica Satiroff, Tiffany Messer, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Currently little is known of newer pesticide classes and their occurrence and persistence in recreational lakes. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to (1) assess average pesticide concentrations and loadings entering recreational lakes in three mixed land use watersheds throughout the growing season, (2) evaluate pesticide persistence longitudinally within the lakes, and (3) perform an ecotoxicity assessment. Six sampling campaigns were conducted at three lakes from April through October 2018 to measure the occurrence and persistence during pre, middle, and post growing season. Polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) were placed in streams near lake inlets and monthly samples …