scholarly journals Multivariate Optimization in Large-Scale Building Problems: An Architectural and Urban Design Approach for Balancing Social, Environmental, and Economic Sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10052
Author(s):  
Grant Mosey ◽  
Brian Deal
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Urban Site ◽  
Sorting Algorithm ◽  
Economic Sustainability ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Single Objective

This paper explores the promise of genetic algorithms as a tool for optimization of buildings at a neighborhood scale across the conflicting demands of social, environmental, and economic sustainability. A large urban site in Chicago, Illinois, is selected to test the viability of using a multi criteria genetic algorithm to optimize the potential building mix in a newly planned development. Two variables, the number of buildings of a given use-type and their height, are analyzed against cost functions for social, economic, and environmental objectives. Single-objective algorithms are utilized to optimize the variables individually. A non-dominated genetic sorting algorithm (NGSAII) is then utilized to identify the Pareto-optimal solutions considering the three objectives simultaneously. Single-objective results are found to vary substantially by objective, with different variable values for social, economic, and environmental sustainability. For multi-objective algorithms, the results support Campbell’s notion of the three nodes of sustainability being in conflict. Solutions performing well across economic and environmental objectives were most common. Solutions performing well among environmental and social objectives were less common. Solutions performing well across economic and social performance were rare. This suggests that while economic and environmental conflicts are to some degree resolvable, conflicts between social and either of economic or environmental performance are more difficult to resolve. The failure of any solution to perform well across all three objectives lends credence to the idea of design as a series of trade-offs and that one super optimum solution may not exist. The process provides insights into the trade-offs implicit in the building design and development process and raises questions regarding the balancing of competing sustainability objectives.

Multiple-source Record Linkage in a Rural Industrial Community, 1680–1820

1994 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve King
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Multiple Source ◽  
Demographic Analysis ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Industrial Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
Broad Outline

Re-creating the social, economic and demographic life-cycles of ordinary people is one way in which historians might engage with the complex continuities and changes which underlay the development of early modern communities. Little, however, has been written on the ways in which historians might deploy computers, rather than card indexes, to the task of identifying such life cycles from the jumble of the sources generated by local and national administration. This article suggests that multiple-source linkage is central to historical and demographic analysis, and reviews, in broad outline, some of the procedures adopted in a study which aims at large scale life cycle reconstruction.

Land Use Change and Commodity Frontiers

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Cáceres ◽  
Esteban Tapella ◽  
Diego A. Cabrol ◽  
Lucrecia Estigarribia
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Fast Pace ◽  
Forest Use ◽  
The Government ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Management Recommendations

Argentina is experiencing an expansion of soya and maize cultivation that is pushing the agricultural frontier over areas formerly occupied by native Chaco forest. Subsistance farmers use this dry forest to raise goats and cattle and to obtain a broad range of goods and services. Thus, two very different and non-compatible land uses are in dispute. On the one hand subsistance farmers fostering an extensive and diversified forest use, on the other hand, large-scale producers who need to clear out the forest to sow annual crops in order to appropriate soil fertility. First, the paper looks at how these social actors perceive Chaco forest, what their interests are, and what kind of values they attach to it. Second, we analyze the social-environmental conflicts that arise among actors in order to appropriate forest’s benefits. Special attention is paid to the role played by the government in relation to: (a) how does it respond to the demands of the different sectors; and (b) how it deals with the management recommendations produced by scientists carrying out social and ecological research. To put these ideas at test we focus on a case study located in Western Córdoba (Argentina), where industrial agriculture is expanding at a fast pace, and where social actors’ interests are generating a series of disputes and conflicts. Drawing upon field work, the paper shows how power alliances between economic and political powers, use the institutional framework of the State in their own benefit, disregarding wider environmental and social costs. 

scholarly journals Mapping the adaptive landscape of a major agricultural pathogen reveals evolutionary constraints across heterogeneous environments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anik Dutta ◽  
Fanny E. Hartmann ◽  
Carolina Sardinha Francisco ◽  
Bruce A. McDonald ◽  
Daniel Croll
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Stress Factors ◽  
Life History Trait ◽  
Adaptive Landscape ◽  
Heterogeneous Environments ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Trade Offs

AbstractThe adaptive potential of pathogens in novel or heterogeneous environments underpins the risk of disease epidemics. Antagonistic pleiotropy or differential resource allocation among life-history traits can constrain pathogen adaptation. However, we lack understanding of how the genetic architecture of individual traits can generate trade-offs. Here, we report a large-scale study based on 145 global strains of the fungal wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici from four continents. We measured 50 life-history traits, including virulence and reproduction on 12 different wheat hosts and growth responses to several abiotic stressors. To elucidate the genetic basis of adaptation, we used genome-wide association mapping coupled with genetic correlation analyses. We show that most traits are governed by polygenic architectures and are highly heritable suggesting that adaptation proceeds mainly through allele frequency shifts at many loci. We identified negative genetic correlations among traits related to host colonization and survival in stressful environments. Such genetic constraints indicate that pleiotropic effects could limit the pathogen’s ability to cause host damage. In contrast, adaptation to abiotic stress factors was likely facilitated by synergistic pleiotropy. Our study illustrates how comprehensive mapping of life-history trait architectures across diverse environments allows to predict evolutionary trajectories of pathogens confronted with environmental perturbations.

scholarly journals Strategic deployment of riparian buffers and windbreaks in Europe can co-deliver biomass and environmental benefits

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oskar Englund ◽  
Pål Börjesson ◽  
Blas Mola-Yudego ◽  
Göran Berndes ◽  
Ioannis Dimitriou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Riparian Buffers ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Nitrogen Emissions ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
Eu Policies

AbstractWithin the scope of the new Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, in coherence with other EU policies, new incentives are developed for farmers to deploy practices that are beneficial for climate, water, soil, air, and biodiversity. Such practices include establishment of multifunctional biomass production systems, designed to reduce environmental impacts while providing biomass for food, feed, bioenergy, and other biobased products. Here, we model three scenarios of large-scale deployment for two such systems, riparian buffers and windbreaks, across over 81,000 landscapes in Europe, and quantify the corresponding areas, biomass output, and environmental benefits. The results show that these systems can effectively reduce nitrogen emissions to water and soil loss by wind erosion, while simultaneously providing substantial environmental co-benefits, having limited negative effects on current agricultural production. This kind of beneficial land-use change using strategic perennialization is important for meeting environmental objectives while advancing towards a sustainable bioeconomy.

scholarly journals An integrated life cycle and water footprint assessment of nonfood crops based bioenergy production

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Li ◽  
Fengyin Xiong ◽  
Zhuo Chen
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Integrated Analysis ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Bioenergy Production ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Hybrid Pennisetum

AbstractBiomass gasification, especially distribution to power generation, is considered as a promising way to tackle global energy and environmental challenges. However, previous researches on integrated analysis of the greenhouse gases (GHG) abatement potentials associated with biomass electrification are sparse and few have taken the freshwater utilization into account within a coherent framework, though both energy and water scarcity are lying in the central concerns in China’s environmental policy. This study employs a Life cycle assessment (LCA) model to analyse the actual performance combined with water footprint (WF) assessment methods. The inextricable trade-offs between three representative energy-producing technologies are explored based on three categories of non-food crops (maize, sorghum and hybrid pennisetum) cultivated in marginal arable land. WF results demonstrate that the Hybrid pennisetum system has the largest impact on the water resources whereas the other two technology options exhibit the characteristics of environmental sustainability. The large variances in contribution ratio between the four sub-processes in terms of total impacts are reflected by the LCA results. The Anaerobic Digestion process is found to be the main contributor whereas the Digestate management process is shown to be able to effectively mitigate the negative environmental impacts with an absolute share. Sensitivity analysis is implemented to detect the impacts of loss ratios variation, as silage mass and methane, on final results. The methane loss has the largest influence on the Hybrid pennisetum system, followed by the Maize system. Above all, the Sorghum system demonstrates the best performance amongst the considered assessment categories. Our study builds a pilot reference for further driving large-scale project of bioenergy production and conversion. The synergy of combined WF-LCA method allows us to conduct a comprehensive assessment and to provide insights into environmental and resource management.

scholarly journals System design for inferring colony-level pollination activity through miniature bee-mounted sensors

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haron M. Abdel-Raziq ◽  
Daniel M. Palmer ◽  
Phoebe A. Koenig ◽  
Alyosha C. Molnar ◽  
Kirstin H. Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Data Acquisition ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Cluttered Environments ◽  
Robotic Mapping ◽  
Large Scale Data ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Engineered Systems

AbstractIn digital agriculture, large-scale data acquisition and analysis can improve farm management by allowing growers to constantly monitor the state of a field. Deploying large autonomous robot teams to navigate and monitor cluttered environments, however, is difficult and costly. Here, we present methods that would allow us to leverage managed colonies of honey bees equipped with miniature flight recorders to monitor orchard pollination activity. Tracking honey bee flights can inform estimates of crop pollination, allowing growers to improve yield and resource allocation. Honey bees are adept at maneuvering complex environments and collectively pool information about nectar and pollen sources through thousands of daily flights. Additionally, colonies are present in orchards before and during bloom for many crops, as growers often rent hives to ensure successful pollination. We characterize existing Angle-Sensitive Pixels (ASPs) for use in flight recorders and calculate memory and resolution trade-offs. We further integrate ASP data into a colony foraging simulator and show how large numbers of flights refine system accuracy, using methods from robotic mapping literature. Our results indicate promising potential for such agricultural monitoring, where we leverage the superiority of social insects to sense the physical world, while providing data acquisition on par with explicitly engineered systems.

scholarly journals Identifying integrated options for agricultural climate change mitigation

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Tzilivakis ◽  
Kathleen Lewis ◽  
Andrew Green ◽  
Douglas Warner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mitigation Options ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
Change Mitigation

Purpose – In order to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is essential that all industry sectors have the appropriate knowledge and tools to contribute. This includes agriculture, which is considered to contribute about a third of emissions globally. This paper reports on one such tool: IMPACCT: Integrated Management oPtions for Agricultural Climate Change miTigation. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – IMPACCT focuses on GHGs, carbon sequestration and associated mitigation options. However, it also attempts to include information on economic and other environmental impacts in order to provide a more holistic perspective. The model identifies mitigation options, likely economic impacts and any synergies and trade-offs with other environmental objectives. The model has been applied on 22 case study farms in seven Member States. Findings – The tool presents some useful concepts for developing carbon calculators in the future. It has highlighted that calculators need to evolve from simply calculating emissions to identifying cost-effective and integrated emissions reduction options. Practical implications – IMPACCT has potential to become an effective means of provided targeted guidance, as part of a broader knowledge transfer programme based on an integrated suite of guidance, tools and advice delivered via different media. Originality/value – IMPACCT is a new model that demonstrates how to take a more integrated approach to mitigating GHGs on farms across Europe. It is a holistic carbon calculator that presents mitigation options in the context other environmental and economic objectives in the search for more sustainable methods of food production.

scholarly journals Reducing discards in a temperate prawn trawl fishery: a collaborative approach to bycatch research in South Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 2609-2617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Gorman ◽  
Cameron Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Development Process ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Economic Sustainability ◽  
Trawl Fishery ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Logbook Data

Abstract We present the outcomes of a collaborative research programme tasked with reducing bycatch, and thus discards in a temperate Australian prawn trawl fishery. Sea trials in the Gulf of St Vincent, South Australia, assessed the performance of a modified trawlnet that incorporated a rigid polyethylene grid and a T90-mesh codend. Compared with conventional designs, the modified net yielded marked reductions in bycatch (cumulatively >81% by weight), with pronounced decreases in sponge (92%), elasmobranchs (80%), teleost fish (71%), molluscs (61%), and crustaceans (78%). Using commercial logbook data, we estimate that the use of modified nets could reduce discards by ∼240 tons per year. This outcome was achieved with moderate declines in the catch rate (kg h−1) of the target species, Western King Prawn (mean ∼15%), of which almost all were small adults of low commercial value. Adoption of the modified net by industry was realized in March 2012, because it met environmental objectives (i.e. reducing bycatch and improving public perceptions of sustainability), reduced prawn damage, demonstrated commensurate financial returns, and engaged stakeholders throughout the development process. Overall, the project provides a useful example of bycatch research with demonstrable outcomes of improving the ecological and economic sustainability of prawn harvests.

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