scholarly journals Developing the Ecological Footprint Assessment for a University Campus, the Component-Based Method

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9928
Author(s):  
Salah Vaisi ◽  
Hooshmand Alizadeh ◽  
Werya Lotfi ◽  
Saleh Mohammadi
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
University Campus ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Waste Production ◽  
The Impact

Global warming has become an increasing challenge due to the impact of human activities on the environment. In this regard, university campuses with various activities and departments have a great impact on the environment. Ecological Footprint Analysis (EFA) is a natural resource depletion assessment tool, with a high level of accuracy, that measures the impact of human activities on the environment. Considering the Ecological Footprint (EF) capabilities, this study developed a method to assess the environmental impacts of a university campus using component-based parameters. The goals of the study are to explore the effective components of EF and to propose some policy guidelines to diminish the human impacts on the environment on university campuses. Five components, including natural gas and electricity consumption, water and food usage, and waste production, were measured in a survey from 2013 to 2016 at the building scale. The mean EF of the campus was 16,484 global hectares (gha). Fossil fuel energy had the highest level of environmental impact with 70.73%, followed by waste production and food and water usage with 26.87%, 1.28%, and 1.12%, respectively. The results demonstrate that the EF Index (EFI) of the case study campus was −0.82, which reveals an unsustainable performance. The EF results were illustrated on an Ecological Footprint Map (EFM), which shows the east and west parts of the camps were more unsustainable.

scholarly journals Development of a progressive green university campus maturity assessment tool and framework for Malaysian universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 266 ◽  
pp. 01018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christy P. Gomez ◽  
Ng Yin Yin
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
University Campus ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Green Campus ◽  
Managerial Experience ◽  
Level Of Importance ◽  
Rating Criteria

Globally there is an increasing focus on green and sustainability practice within university campuses. However, this is not the case in Malaysia. This paper proposes a green maturity framework for Malaysian universities based on having identified criteria for achieving greener university campus relevant to Malaysian context. Additionally, obstacles faced by universities in the development of green university campuses are identified. Two sets of questionnaire survey forms were used to collect data. The questionnaire for identifying green campus rating criteria to form the Green University Campus Maturity (GUCM) Assessment Tool based on 9 categories was distributed to GBI facilitators. The criteria’s weightage for scoring was based on the average level of importance as decided by the respondents. The questionnaire for identifying the obstacles faced by universities (Areas to Address) was categorized into economic, organizational and social/behavioural/technical and distributed to the respective Department of Sustainable Development staff in public universities. Lack of relevant managerial experience in implementing green university projects and lack of funding were found to be the main obstacles in the development of green university campus. The GUCM Assessment Tool alongside the Areas to Address can be used as a county-specific GUCM framework for achieving progressive sustainability attainment by Malaysian universities.

A Rapid Automatic Life Cycle Assessment Tool for Eco-Design

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongxian Zhu ◽  
Fu Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Manufacturing Enterprises ◽  
Environmental Footprints ◽  
Time Required

Increasing concerns about global warming, resource depletion, and ecosystem degradation are pushing manufacturing enterprises to consider environmental impacts of the products they make. Tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been developed to quantify environmental performance of a product, yet the implementation of LCA requires a significant amount of time/resources and its potential in assisting eco-design has been limited. Research has been done to conduct automatic LCA using the simplified database for electronics or to investigate the environmental impact of electricity consumption in a manufacturing process. However, a comprehensive and automated approach is in need to perform LCA analysis for a product considering all related materials and manufacturing processes. In this research, a framework for automating LCA analysis for eco-friendly product design has been developed and implemented with a computer program. A case study has been conducted using the proposed automatic LCA tool to perform life cycle analysis in the design process. The result of the tool can, with minimal time required, provide detailed distribution of life cycle impact indicators among direct inputs and assist in making design decisions to reduce the environmental footprints.

scholarly journals The Interrelationship Between Restorative Environments and Visual Preferences in University Campus Landscapes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasser Farghaly ◽  
◽  
Nermine Aly Hany ◽  
Yasmin Moussa
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Campus Planning ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Restorative Environments ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Visual Preferences ◽  
Landscape Character

Educational settings are considered some of the most mentally depleting environments since they require high concentration, creativity, and efficiency. University campuses clearly portray these environments. Therefore, there is an immense need for campus settings where users can take outdoor breaks to restore and redirect their attention. Well-designed outdoor landscapes can have restorative effects on users, and in turn increase their concentration and overall productivity. This interdisciplinary research explores key literature on restorative concepts and visual preferences from the field of environmental psychology. It also examines the restorative campus landscape character from an urban design perspective. However, there are no coherent frameworks that correlate the three dimensions: restorative landscape design concepts, visual landscape preferences, and appropriate campus planning strategies. Therefore, the research summarizes the key literature findings, and merges the three parameters into a comprehensive assessment tool designed explicitly for university campuses. The paper concludes with a proposed tool (framework) that can provide guidelines to help landscape architects and planners to design restorative campus open spaces and recognize their insufficiencies.

scholarly journals Modeling streamflow and sediment responses to climate change and human activities in the Yanhe River, China

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingwen Wu ◽  
Chiyuan Miao ◽  
Tiantian Yang ◽  
Qingyun Duan ◽  
Xiaoming Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Sediment Load ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Hydrological Processes ◽  
Pettitt Test ◽  
Elevation Model ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Quantifying the impact of climate change and human activities on hydrological processes is of great importance for regional water-resource management. In this study, trend analysis and analysis of the short-term variations in annual streamflow and sediment load in the Yanhe River Basin (YRB) during the period 1972–2011 were conducted using linear regression and the Pettitt test. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was employed to simulate the hydrological processes. The results show that both annual mean streamflow and annual mean sediment load in the YRB significantly decreased (P < 0.05) during the study period. The relative contributions from climate change and human activities to YRB streamflow decline between 1996 and 2011 were estimated to be 55.8 and 44.2%, respectively. In contrast to the results for streamflow, the dominant cause of YRB sediment-load decline was human activity (which explained 64% of the decrease), rather than climate change. The study also demonstrates that topographical characteristics (watershed subdivision threshold value, digital elevation model spatial resolution) can cause uncertainties in the simulated streamflow and sediment load. The results presented in this paper will increase understanding of the mechanisms of soil loss and will enable more efficient management of water resources in the YRB.

scholarly journals Sustainable Transportation on University Campus: A Case at UiTM Selangor, Puncak Alam Campus, Malaysia and Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 262
Author(s):  
Nurhazirah Hashim ◽  
Veera Pandiyan Kaliani Sundram ◽  
Siti Halijjah Shariff ◽  
Amin Pujiati ◽  
Anindya Ardiansari
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Sustainable Transportation ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
University Campus ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
High Dependency ◽  
Main Technique ◽  
The Impact

  Abstract: The increased awareness of the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and consumption of fossil fuels on the environment has led to world-wide research focused on sustainable transportation solutions. University campuses are one of the affected environments involved in this issue as a high dependency on private vehicles causes’ traffic congestion in the campus area particularly during peak hours leading to concerns about parking especially for the established universities. Therefore, alternative transport solutions should be considered in minimizing the environmental consequences specifically within the campus area. This study aims to examine the extent of sustainable transportation practices implemented by a university campus in a developing country, Malaysia and Indonesia. A survey methodology was applied using self-administered questionnaires as the main technique of data collection. Both, UiTM Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia and Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia are selected as the sample study and the target observations are focused on the transportation pathway which includes transportation modes, passengers, terminal and parking space. The study is expected to enrich the existing sustainable model of Stakeholder Theory to deliver a more robust competency model to provide solutions in creating sustainable transportation in university campuses. Subsequently, the outcome would support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2030), Mid-term Review of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan [2016 – 2020], Indonesia’s long-term development plan to phase IV period 2020-2025 through better adoption of low- carbon supply chain practices in order to reduce GHG emission. This is in line with Malaysia and Indonesia’s commitment in being a key part of the global transition to a low-carbon, and eventually carbon- neutral society by 2050 Keywords: Environmental, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sustainable, Transportation, University

Sustainability of the Use of Mobile Phones

2015 ◽  
pp. 338-353
Author(s):  
A. Paiano ◽  
G. Lagioia ◽  
A. Cataldo ◽  
E. De Benedetto
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Resource Consumption ◽  
Behavioral Patterns ◽  
Waste Production ◽  
Mobile Phone Usage ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Critical Aspects

In the present chapter, a global overview of mobile phone sector is presented. Specific focus is given to the Italian mobile phone sector, the sustainability of which is addressed by taking into account two critical aspects related to the behavioral patterns of the users (namely the energy consumption of mobile phones and associated equipment, and the conflicting link between potential dematerialisation due to the miniaturisation of the devices and the resource consumption and waste generated in this sector). This chapter also assesses the impact of the mobile phone sector on the national electricity consumption in a reference year (i.e., 2009), on the growing consumption of resources and on e-waste production. Additionally, some experimental guidelines for evaluating energy consumption and efficiency of mobile phones, of chargers and of batteries are provided. Finally, resource consumption and the e-waste generated by increased mobile phone usage are analyzed.

scholarly journals Human impacts on global freshwater fish biodiversity

Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 371 (6531) ◽  
pp. 835-838
Author(s):  
Guohuan Su ◽  
Maxime Logez ◽  
Jun Xu ◽  
Shengli Tao ◽  
Sébastien Villéger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Cumulative Change ◽  
River Fragmentation ◽  
Biodiversity Changes ◽  
The Impact

Freshwater fish represent one-fourth of the world’s vertebrates and provide irreplaceable goods and services but are increasingly affected by human activities. A new index, Cumulative Change in Biodiversity Facets, revealed marked changes in biodiversity in >50% of the world’s rivers covering >40% of the world’s continental surface and >37% of the world’s river length, whereas <14% of the world’s surface and river length remain least impacted. Present-day rivers are more similar to each other and have more fish species with more diverse morphologies and longer evolutionary legacies. In temperate rivers, where the impact has been greatest, biodiversity changes were primarily due to river fragmentation and introduction of non-native species.

scholarly journals Quantifying the Impacts of Coal Mining and Soil-Water Conservation on Runoff in a Typical Watershed on the Loess Plateau, China

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 3229
Author(s):  
Binbin Lin ◽  
Yicheng Wang ◽  
Hejia Wang ◽  
Weihua Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Runoff Decrease ◽  
The Impact

Coal mining and soil-water conservation are the two major human interventions on the Loess Plateau in China. Analyzing their impacts on hydrological processes is of great significance for sustainable water resource management. Using hydrological simulation (Soil and Water Assessment Tool, SWAT) and a data-driven method (double mass curve, DMC), the contributions of these two human activities and climate change to the runoff decrease were analyzed in the upper Fenhe River. The runoff in the three affected periods (1967–1987, 1988–1994, and 1995–2017) decreased by 7.5%, 28.2%, and 24.1%, respectively, compared with the base period (1957–1966). In the first affected period (1967–1987), the amount of coal mining activities was small, human activities had little impact on runoff. In the second (1988–1994) and third (1995–2017) periods, as the coal mining and soil-water conservation intensified, their contributions to the runoff decrease rapidly increased. Due to the uncertainties in the model structure and parameters, in addition to the impact of the data accuracy, the results obtained from the two methods were different, but the proportions and the trends of the contribution rates in the different periods were consistent.

scholarly journals The effects of an invasive seaweed on native communities vary along a gradient of land-based human impacts

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Bulleri ◽  
Fabio Badalamenti ◽  
Ljiljana Iveša ◽  
Barbara Mikac ◽  
Luigi Musco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Rocky Reefs ◽  
Invasive Seaweed ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Algal Turfs

The difficulty in teasing apart the effects of biological invasions from those of other anthropogenic perturbations has hampered our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the global biodiversity crisis. The recent elaboration of global-scale maps of cumulative human impacts provides a unique opportunity to assess how the impact of invaders varies among areas exposed to different anthropogenic activities. A recent meta-analysis has shown that the effects of invasive seaweeds on native biota tend to be more negative in relatively pristine than in human-impacted environments. Here, we tested this hypothesis through the experimental removal of the invasive green seaweed,Caulerpa cylindracea, from rocky reefs across the Mediterranean Sea. More specifically, we assessed which out of land-based and sea-based cumulative impact scores was a better predictor of the direction and magnitude of the effects of this seaweed on extant and recovering native assemblages. Approximately 15 months after the start of the experiment, the removal ofC. cylindraceafrom extant assemblages enhanced the cover of canopy-forming macroalgae at relatively pristine sites. This did not, however, result in major changes in total cover or species richness of native assemblages. PreventingC. cylindraceare-invasion of cleared plots at pristine sites promoted the recovery of canopy-forming and encrusting macroalgae and hampered that of algal turfs, ultimately resulting in increased species richness. These effects weakened progressively with increasing levels of land-based human impacts and, indeed, shifted in sign at the upper end of the gradient investigated. Thus, at sites exposed to intense disturbance from land-based human activities, the removal ofC. cylindraceafostered the cover of algal turfs and decreased that of encrusting algae, with no net effect on species richness. Our results suggests that competition fromC. cylindraceais an important determinant of benthic assemblage diversity in pristine environments, but less so in species-poor assemblages found at sites exposed to intense disturbance from land-based human activities, where either adverse physical factors or lack of propagules may constrain the number of potential native colonizers. Implementing measures to reduce the establishment and spread ofC. cylindraceain areas little impacted by land-based human activities should be considered a priority for preserving the biodiversity of Mediterranean shallow rocky reefs.

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