Eco-efficiency of electric vehicles in the United States: A life cycle assessment based principal component analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 212 ◽  
pp. 515-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuri C. Onat ◽  
Murat Kucukvar ◽  
Shiva Afshar
Author(s):  
Kavir Patel ◽  
Ashfaaq Mohamed ◽  
Gary W. Van Vuuren

Volatile markets and economic environments can significantly distort the shape and smoothness of yield curve movements. This study explores the influence of movements in United States interest rates on South African interest rates. This study aims to identify the main underlying movements present in the United States and South African yield curves and to further determine the dominant factors that are responsible for driving South African interest rate movements. The principal settings for the study were the United States and South African markets representing, respectively, a developed and developing market. Principal component analysis was used to discern the major drivers of developing and developed market interest rates. The findings show that the principal component analysis technique is able to effectively classify and quantify the movements of yield curves across both markets in terms of three main factors, namely level, slope and curvature shifts. During certain periods, South African yield curve changes were largely driven by variations in United States interest rates and the rand/dollar exchange rate. Results also demonstrated that a volatile market and economic environment can significantly distort the shape and smoothness of yield curve movements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5088
Author(s):  
Ali Karji ◽  
Mostafa Namian ◽  
Mohammadsoroush Tafazzoli

The need to build more facilities has intensified the inherited adverse impacts of the construction industry on the triple bottom lines of sustainability (i.e., people, planet, and profit). The current practice of sustainability in the construction industry is far from reaching the targeted green goals. In order to foster these endeavors, this study aims to explore sustainable construction barriers in the United States. To achieve the objective, first, 12 sustainability barriers were identified based on an excessive and comprehensive literature review and solicitation of experts’ opinions to validate the barriers. Next, a questionnaire survey was developed and distributed among 135 industry professionals to evaluate the relative importance of factors. To offer a practical solution, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the data and find the most effective barriers. The results show that four major barriers, including (1) pre-construction constraints, (2) managerial constraints, (3) legislative constraints, and (4) financial and planning constraints are the most influential challenges that the industry faces to foster sustainable construction. Practical solutions are suggested to tackle sustainable construction barriers. The findings of this study are beneficial to the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry members along with owners and policymakers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 131 ◽  
pp. 509-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley Ingwersen ◽  
Maria Gausman ◽  
Annie Weisbrod ◽  
Debalina Sengupta ◽  
Seung-Jin Lee ◽  
...  

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