Analysis of the Embodied Environmental Impact of Building Project Based on the Ecological Footprint

ICCREM 2014 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuangqin Yin ◽  
Chunjing Shang ◽  
Chenglong Chu ◽  
Yanrong Li
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Building Project

scholarly journals The Ecological Footprint of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines: Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7425
Author(s):  
Peter Kurzweil ◽  
Alfred Müller ◽  
Steffen Wahler
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Vaccine Dose ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Road Transportation ◽  
Last Mile ◽  
Cooling Technology ◽  
Chain Organization ◽  
Last Mile Delivery

Compared to the medical, economic and social implications of COVID-19 vaccinations, little attention has been paid to the ecological balance to date. This study is an attempt to estimate the environmental impact of two mRNA vaccines in terms of CO2 equivalents with respect to their different freezing strategies and supply chain organization. Although it is impossible to accurately calculate the actual environmental impact of the new biochemical synthesis technology, it becomes apparent that transport accounts for up to 99% of the total carbon footprint. The emissions for air freight, road transportation and last-mile delivery are nearly as 19 times the emissions generated from ultra-deep freeze technologies, the production of dry ice, glass and medical polymers for packaging. The carbon footprint of a single mRNA vaccine dose injected into a patient is about 0.01 to 0.2 kg CO2 equivalents, depending on the cooling technology and the logistic routes to the vaccination sites in Germany.

scholarly journals The Ecological Footprint Accounting of Products: When Larger Is Not Worse

Resources ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Patrizi ◽  
Valentina Niccolucci ◽  
Riccardo Pulselli ◽  
Elena Neri ◽  
Simone Bastianoni
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Product System ◽  
Sustainability Evaluation ◽  
Competitive Systems ◽  
The Status ◽  
Resource Accounting ◽  
Selection Of

One of the main goals of any (sustainability) indicator should be the communication of a clear, unambiguous, and simplified message about the status of the analyzed system. The selected indicator is expected to declare explicitly how its numerical value depicts a situation, for example, positive or negative, sustainable or unsustainable, especially when a comparison among similar or competitive systems is performed. This aspect should be a primary and discriminating issue when the selection of a set of opportune indicators is operated. The Ecological Footprint (EF) has become one of the most popular and widely used sustainability indicators. It is a resource accounting method with an area based metric in which the units of measure are global hectares or hectares with world average bio-productivity. Its main goal is to underline the link between the (un)sustainability level of a product, a system, an activity or a population life style, with the land demand for providing goods, energy, and ecological services needed to sustain that product, system, activity, or population. Therefore, the traditional rationale behind the message of EF is: the larger EF value, the larger environmental impact in terms of resources use, the lower position in the sustainability rank. The aim of this paper was to investigate if this rationale is everywhere opportune and unambiguous, or if sometimes its use requires paying a special attention. Then, a three-dimensional modification of the classical EF framework for the sustainability evaluation of a product has been proposed following a previous work by Niccolucci and co-authors (2009). Finally, the potentialities of the model have been tested by using a case study from the agricultural context.

scholarly journals THE EVALUATION OF CEREAL FARMS USING ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT METHOD

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-218
Author(s):  
Kęstutis Biekša
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Support Service ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Increase Energy Efficiency ◽  
Sustainable Process Index ◽  
Development Concept

Economic activities developed in the framework of sustainable development concept have to ensure balanced economic and technological development without weakening the social and natural environmental conditions. Environmental impact assessment using ecological footprint method helps to choose sustainable economic activities and technologies which are appropriate to sustainable development concept and has less impact to environment. This method is usually used as a public ecological and environmental educational tool and sometimes applied for creation of measures and programs for sustainable regional and economic development. The research problem is to determine whether the ecological footprint method is an appropriate tool to measure environmental impact of agricultural entities in accordance with sustainable development aspects. The paper aim is to evaluate the cereal farms using sustainable process index which is a member of ecological footprint method. The analysis was performed by analyzing the cereal farms which are growing wheat, rye and oats crops in Austria and Lithuania. The calculation was carried out using SPIonExcel software program. The results showed that the most significant environmental impacts arise from the use of fertilizers and the use of agricultural machinery (tractors and harvesters and the biggest share from the total ecological footprint goes to the pollution of air and water. The research also showed that if the ecological footprint method is used with a support service this can be a useful instrument for farmers showing how to improve farming from the ecological viewpoint and how to increase energy efficiency and reduce the use of primary resources.

scholarly journals Analysis of reports on the impact of building investments on Natura 2000 sites in Poland based on own research

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-259
Author(s):  
Jolanta Harasymiuk
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
The Public ◽  
Release Of Information ◽  
Building Project ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Construction Works

The paper presents the results of several analyses of reports on the impact of SFRs on Natura 2000 sites. The reports enumerated are documents which are the basis for the assessment of an undertaking (building project) on valuable natural areas. Legal regulations determine fairly precisely the scope of a report on the impact of an undertaking on the environment, although they are imprecise in regards to how the impact on Natura 2000 sites should be evaluated. The reports are prepared at the request of investors, who are not interested in demonstrating a significant impact of construction works and planned building structures on the condition that the protected features and the integrity of Natura 2000 sites. An incomplete report may foster neglect of environmental threats and be contradictory to the basic aim of the assessment, which it to exclude a possible occurrence of a significant impact of a building on the Natura 2000 network. The present paper shows analyses of reports in the context of the content required by the Act of 23 November 2008 on the release of information about environment and its protection, participation of the public in the environment, and protection and assessments of the environmental impact. The analysis presented in this article has shown that the reports did not have the characteristics of an expert environmental examination, wich is commonplace with respect reports on the environmental impact required in a classical impact assessment. Some reports were incomplete, and the predicted impact on Natura 2000 sites was not based on actual data.

scholarly journals Environmental Impact of Mobility in Higher-Education Institutions: The Case of the Ecological Footprint at the University of A Coruña (Spain)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6190
Author(s):  
Jose-Benito Perez-Lopez ◽  
Alfonso Orro ◽  
Margarita Novales
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Significant Component ◽  
Car Use ◽  
The World ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Ecological footprint (EF) determines the area of ecologically productive territory necessary to produce the resources utilised and to assimilate the waste produced by a given population over a year. Knowing your own EF is the first step in planning and implementing policies to reduce it. Considering that transport is a significant component of the impact of human activity on the environment, this study calculates the EF of the CO2 emissions associated with person mobility (EFM) at the University of A Coruña (UDC). The results presented are based on statistical inference from surveys conducted in 2008, 2016, and 2020. The period 2008–2016 coincides with the effects of the economic crisis, and 2020 with those of the COVID-19 pandemic. The EFM of UDC in 2016 was 2177 global hectares (gha), 148 times its biocapacity. Ninety-two percent of it was generated by car trips. Policies to reduce the environmental impact of mobility should focus on reducing car use. This study analyzes various factors of variability. The EFM per capita of the commutes from the place of residence to the UDC campuses grew between 2008 and 2020 by 17%. The results obtained are compared with those of other nearby universities and around the world.

Sustainability Tourism and Socio-Economic Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 267-285
Author(s):  
Cigdem Unurlu
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
Systematic Point

The main purpose of this study is to assess sustainable tourism theoretically and practically in a systematic point of view and to provide guidance for future plans and policies related to sustainable tourism. In accordance with this purpose, firstly, the concepts of sustainability, sustainable tourism, and socio-economic development have been discussed, and secondly, the purpose, the principles, and the tools of sustainable tourism were evaluated. Within the scope of sustainable tourism, carrying capacity, environmental impact assessment, and ecological footprint phenomenon were examined.

scholarly journals HEREVEA Tool for Economic and Environmental Impact Evaluation for Sustainable Planning Policy in Housing Renovation

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2852 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Rocío Ruiz-Pérez ◽  
Mª Desirée Alba-Rodríguez ◽  
Raúl Castaño-Rosa ◽  
Jaime Solís-Guzmán ◽  
Madelyn Marrero
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Planning Policy ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
New Construction ◽  
Environmental Feasibility ◽  
The 1960S

Dwelling renovation has gained major importance in the European Union due to the current need for the urban regeneration of many cities, most of whose existing buildings (approximately 60%) were built in the 1960s to 1980s. These renovations require improvements in aspects such as structural integrity, accessibility, and the updating of deteriorated or obsolescent installations. This reveals that building renovations constitute a key factor in the future of the European building sector and must be included in strategies both for the reduction of this sector’s environmental impact and for climate change mitigation. In order to determine the effectiveness of renovations and their impact, the HEREVEA (Huella Ecológica de la Rehabilitacion de Viviendas en Andalucia or Ecological Footprint of the Renovation of Dwellings in Andalusia) model is proposed on data obtained from the project’s bill of quantities, its ecological footprint is assessed, and the economic-environmental feasibility of different proposals are evaluated simultaneously. The resulting model is integrated into a geographic information system, which allows georeferenced results. The tool can be used for sustainable and resilient planning policy-making at all government levels, and for the decision-making processes. In this paper, economic and environmental indicators are, for the first time, simultaneously assessed through statistical normalization obtained from 50 cases analyzed in the city of Seville. Furthermore, five case studies are assessed in detail in order to determine the sensitivity of the model. These renovations represent less than 30% of the cost and 6% of the ecological footprint of a new construction project. During the subsequent 25 years, the energy efficiency improvements could significantly reduce the CO2 emissions that are due to direct consumption.

scholarly journals The EMAS Registration of the Livenza Furniture District in the Province of Pordenone (Italy)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Novelli ◽  
Paola Geatti ◽  
Francesco Bianco ◽  
Luciano Ceccon ◽  
Stefania Del Frate ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Analysis ◽  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Impact Evaluation ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Industrial District ◽  
Friuli Venezia Giulia ◽  
Environmental Impact Evaluation

One of the most important manufacturing areas of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region is the territory close to Pordenone, the Livenza furniture district. This industrial district, consisting of industries of wood, wood and cork products, furniture, straw articles, and weave materials, located in 11 municipalities of that area, was the first Italian district to obtain the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Registration in 2006. Data and information from a questionnaire compiled by more than 100 firms and 11 municipalities of the district were used to draw up the territorial environmental analysis (TEA). For the EMAS registration renewal, obtained in 2016, the TEA was updated by reviewing the methodology of the environmental impact evaluation: the ecological footprint (EF) was compared with the carrying capacity (CC) of that area. The results put in light that the EF was greater than the CC. Several actions for reducing the environmental impacts of the district activities were highlighted.

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