scholarly journals A Novel Construction Technology for Self-Anchored Suspension Bridge Considering Safety and Sustainability Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2973 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoming Wang ◽  
Xudong Wang ◽  
You Dong ◽  
Chengshu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
Suspension Bridges ◽  
Construction Technology ◽  
Bridge Construction ◽  
Sustainability Index

To promote sustainable development of civil infrastructures, minimizing environmental impact and mobility disruptions have been elevated to a higher priority during decision-making for bridge construction scheme. This study presents a novel temporary pylon-anchor (TPA) technology for construction of self-anchored suspension bridges by considering not only safety performance, but also environmental impacts. A practical assessment method and index of sustainability associated with bridge construction technology are established to facilitate the selection of construction schemes. The sustainability index takes the environmental impact, traffic disruption, onsite construction materials and equipment, onsite construction cost, and onsite construction risk into consideration. The sustainability index associated with both conventional and novel construction methods is assessed and compared in this paper. Specifically, a novel girder-pylon antithrust system (GPAS) is proposed, which is the crucial component of the TPA technology in engineering application. In addition, an analytical approach is developed, considering both global load-carrying capacity and local stress distribution within the design and construction of the GPAS. The applicability and rationality of the proposed construction technology are illustrated by the successful application in real-world engineering. The field tests and sustainability assessment during the construction stage reveal that the proposed sustainability assessment method and analytical approach can facilitate the implementation of sustainable construction for self-anchored suspension bridges by considering both construction safety and sustainability.

scholarly journals Adaptation of the SBTool for Sustainability Assessment of High School Buildings in Portugal—SAHSBPT

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (13) ◽  
pp. 2664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saraiva ◽  
de Almeida ◽  
Bragança
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Sustainable Building ◽  
K 12

The European Union objectives in the Horizon 2020 program aim to reduce environmental impact through strategies such as the improvement of energy efficiency and the use of renewable technologies. With regard to the goal of sustainable development—which integrates environmental, social, and economic dimensions relating to the preservation of the planet and the integrity of consumers—several types of sustainability certification tools are currently used in the construction industry e.g., Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and the Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool) There are international sustainability methodologies designed specifically for high schools and methodologies specific to the Portuguese reality, such as Natura Domus, LiderA (Liderar pelo Ambiente para a construção sustentável, Leading the Environment for Sustainable Construction) and SBtoolPT (Sustainable Building Tool, Portugal). Currently, with the concern in Portugal to requalify schools, it has become necessary to develop a specific methodology for school buildings according to the Portuguese reality. This work highlights the SBTool methodology that is employed in several countries and can be adapted to basic education institutions as the basis for the formulation of responsible citizens and the development of a country. The main aim of this study is to adapt an already existing assessment tool of sustainability (SBToolPT), maintaining some indicators while modifying and adding others, in order to develop a methodology specifically for conducting a Sustainability Assessment of High School Buildings in Portugal—SAHSBPT. In order to achieve this goal, other methodologies that already incorporate parameters relating to the school environment are analyzed, such as LEED BD + C Schools (LEED Building Design and Construction School), BREEAM Education 2008, and the SBTool for K–12 schools.

scholarly journals Thermodynamic sustainability assessment for heating of residential building

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 04028
Author(s):  
Milan Gojak ◽  
Tamara Bajc
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Factor ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Exergy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Sustainability Index ◽  
Energy And Exergy ◽  
Environmental Impact Factor

More than one third of the world’s primary energy demand refers to residential sector. Heating is considered as one of the main part of the energy consumption in buildings. In this study, a thermodynamic sustainability assessment analysis of different energy sources for heating of residential building, with net floor heated area of 162 m2, for Belgrade weather data, was presented. Five options of energy sources were studied, namely: coal, natural gas, electricity, district heating and air-water heat pump. Energy and exergy analyses were conducted and appropriate efficiencies were determined. Energy and exergy flows in boundaries of the building and in the whole chain from primary to final values were analyzed. The environmental impact factor and exergetic sustainability index were determined for all considered energy sources. The exergy efficiency is very low in all analyzed cases, which further implies poor thermodynamic compatibility of energy quality from the supplied side and the energy used for building heating. It was shown that the highest exergy efficiency is for the case of heat pump utilization (about 6%), due to the energy used from environment. The minimum environmental impact factor (15.37) and maximum exergetic sustainability index (0.065) were found for the case of heat pump utilization.

scholarly journals Waste Glass Utilization in Cement-Based Materials for Sustainable Construction: A Review

Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 710
Author(s):  
Di Qin ◽  
Yidan Hu ◽  
Xuemei Li
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Waste Glass ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
Research Trend ◽  
Scientometric Analysis ◽  
Split Tensile Strength ◽  
Cement Based Materials

The construction industry has a significant environmental impact, contributing considerably to CO2 emissions, natural resource depletion, and energy consumption. The construction industry is currently trending towards using alternative construction materials in place of natural materials and cement, thereby reducing the environmental impact and promoting sustainability. Two approaches have been used in this review: scientometric analysis and a comprehensive manual review on the waste glass (WG) utilization in cement-based materials (CBMs) as a sustainable approach. Scientometric analysis is conducted to find out the current research trend from available bibliometric data and to identify the relevant publication fields, sources with the most publications, the most frequently used keywords, the most cited articles and authors, and the countries that have made the most significant contribution to the field of WG utilization in CBMs. The effect of WG on the mechanical properties of CBMs was found to be inconsistent in the literature. The inconsistent effects of WG impede its acceptance in the construction sector. This study intends to shed light on the arguments and tries to explain the opposing perspectives. This article summarizes the findings of various research groups and recommends new viewpoints based on the assessment of fundamental processes. The effect of utilizing WG on fresh and hardened properties of CBMs, including workability, compressive strength, split-tensile strength, and flexural strength, are reviewed. Furthermore, the microstructure and durability of composites containing WG are investigated. Different limitations associated with WG use in CBMs and their possible solution are reported. This study will assist researchers in identifying gaps in the present research. Additionally, the scientometric review will enable researchers from diverse regions to exchange novel ideas and technologies, collaborate on research, and form joint ventures.

scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment of Public Transport, Part I—A Multi-Criteria Assessment Method to Compare Different Bus Technologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 825
Author(s):  
Jonas Ammenberg ◽  
Sofia Dahlgren
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
County Level ◽  
Participatory Process ◽  
Problem Context ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sustainability Performance ◽  
Sustainability Assessments

This article departs from the perspective of Swedish regional transport authorities and focuses on the public procurement of bus transports. Many of these public organizations on the county level have the ambition to contribute to a transition involving the continued marginalization of fossil fuels and improved sustainability performance. However, there are several renewable bus technologies to choose between and it can be difficult to know what alternative (or combination) is preferable. Prior research and the authors’ experiences indicate a need for improved knowledge and supportive methods on how sustainability assessments can support public procurement processes. The purpose of this article is to develop a multi-criteria assessment (MCA) method to support assessments of public bus technologies’ sustainability. The method, which was established in an iterative and participatory process, consists of four key areas and 12 indicators. The article introduces the problem context and reviews selected prior research of relevance dealing with green or sustainable public procurement and sustainability assessments. Further on, the process and MCA method are presented and discussed based on advice for effective and efficient sustainability assessments. In the companion article (Part II), the MCA method is applied to assess several bus technologies involving biodiesel, biomethane, diesel, electricity, ethanol and natural gas.

scholarly journals Machine Learning Approaches for Prediction of the Compressive Strength of Alkali Activated Termite Mound Soil

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4754
Author(s):  
Assia Aboubakar Mahamat ◽  
Moussa Mahamat Boukar ◽  
Nurudeen Mahmud Ibrahim ◽  
Tido Tiwa Stanislas ◽  
Numfor Linda Bih ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Compressive Strength ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Curing Temperature ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Artificial Neural Network Ann ◽  
Curing Regime ◽  
Alkali Activated

Earth-based materials have shown promise in the development of ecofriendly and sustainable construction materials. However, their unconventional usage in the construction field makes the estimation of their properties difficult and inaccurate. Often, the determination of their properties is conducted based on a conventional materials procedure. Hence, there is inaccuracy in understanding the properties of the unconventional materials. To obtain more accurate properties, a support vector machine (SVM), artificial neural network (ANN) and linear regression (LR) were used to predict the compressive strength of the alkali-activated termite soil. In this study, factors such as activator concentration, Si/Al, initial curing temperature, water absorption, weight and curing regime were used as input parameters due to their significant effect in the compressive strength. The experimental results depict that SVM outperforms ANN and LR in terms of R2 score and root mean square error (RMSE).

scholarly journals Attributional & Consequential Life Cycle Assessment: Definitions, Conceptual Characteristics and Modelling Restrictions

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7386
Author(s):  
Thomas Schaubroeck ◽  
Simon Schaubroeck ◽  
Reinout Heijungs ◽  
Alessandra Zamagni ◽  
Miguel Brandão ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Consequential Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Modelling Framework ◽  
Potential Environmental Impact ◽  
Reference Environment ◽  
The Impact

To assess the potential environmental impact of human/industrial systems, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a very common method. There are two prominent types of LCA, namely attributional (ALCA) and consequential (CLCA). A lot of literature covers these approaches, but a general consensus on what they represent and an overview of all their differences seems lacking, nor has every prominent feature been fully explored. The two main objectives of this article are: (1) to argue for and select definitions for each concept and (2) specify all conceptual characteristics (including translation into modelling restrictions), re-evaluating and going beyond findings in the state of the art. For the first objective, mainly because the validity of interpretation of a term is also a matter of consensus, we argue the selection of definitions present in the 2011 UNEP-SETAC report. ALCA attributes a share of the potential environmental impact of the world to a product life cycle, while CLCA assesses the environmental consequences of a decision (e.g., increase of product demand). Regarding the second objective, the product system in ALCA constitutes all processes that are linked by physical, energy flows or services. Because of the requirement of additivity for ALCA, a double-counting check needs to be executed, modelling is restricted (e.g., guaranteed through linearity) and partitioning of multifunctional processes is systematically needed (for evaluation per single product). The latter matters also hold in a similar manner for the impact assessment, which is commonly overlooked. CLCA, is completely consequential and there is no limitation regarding what a modelling framework should entail, with the coverage of co-products through substitution being just one approach and not the only one (e.g., additional consumption is possible). Both ALCA and CLCA can be considered over any time span (past, present & future) and either using a reference environment or different scenarios. Furthermore, both ALCA and CLCA could be specific for average or marginal (small) products or decisions, and further datasets. These findings also hold for life cycle sustainability assessment.

scholarly journals Correction: Optimal sustainability assessment method selection: a practitioner perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Koppiahraj ◽  
S. Bathrinath ◽  
V. G. Venkatesh ◽  
Venkatesh Mani ◽  
Yangyan Shi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Method Selection
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