scholarly journals Systematic Design, Optimization, and Sustainability Assessment for Generation of Efficient Wastewater Treatment Networks

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1326
Author(s):  
Emmanuel A. Aboagye ◽  
Sean M. Burnham ◽  
James Dailey ◽  
Rohan Zia ◽  
Carley Tran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Non Linear Programming ◽  
Sustainability Analysis ◽  
Sustainable Process Index ◽  
The Cost

Due to population growth and economic development, there has been an increase in global wastewater (WW) generation footprint. There are different technologies associated with the wastewater treatment (WWT) process. The challenge is to select technologies that minimize the cost of treatment, as well as meet purity requirements. Further, there is a need to integrate sustainability analysis to facilitate a holistic decision. With the application of systems engineering, sustainable and cost-effective solutions can be achieved. In this work, we apply systems engineering to generate a sustainable and cost-effective solution. A superstructure was generated by categorizing technologies into four treatment stages. After modeling all functional equations for each technology, an optimization problem was formulated to determine the best path for the treatment process. Mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP), which implements a 0–1 binary integer constraint for active/inactive technologies at each stage was used. Sustainability analysis was performed for each representative case study (municipal and pharmaceutical WWT) using the sustainable process index (SPI). The total cost of municipal WWT is 1.92 USD/m3, while that for the pharmaceutical WWT is 3.44 USD/m3. With the treatment of WW, there is a reduction of over 90% ecological burden based on the SPI metric.

scholarly journals How Energy Retrofit Maintenance Affects Residential Buildings Market Value?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umberto Mecca ◽  
Giuseppe Moglia ◽  
Paolo Piantanida ◽  
Francesco Prizzon ◽  
Manuela Rebaudengo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Property Values ◽  
Market Value ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Real Estate Market ◽  
Energy Retrofit ◽  
Reference Framework ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Italian Legislation

By now, it is clear the built environment could play an important role in fighting climate change, since it accounts for around 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions. Generally speaking, Italian residential stock is over 50 years old and around 16% of that needs large interventions due to its poor maintenance condition. So, the maintenance in this context can play a pivotal role in acheiving both energy efficiency and asset valorization. Introduced by a reference framework for the question in the title, this paper presents the case study: a portion of a working-class neighborhoods near the metropolitan city of Turin, marked by very recurrent typologies for the period (early seventies). The local real estate market is discussed to investigate the extraordinary maintenance impact on the property values: the paper considers the market value increase due to the energy class upgrade and the external look improvement. Individual owners putting money on this group of works get a very cost-effective investment and take advantage of Italian legislation supporting these kinds of interventions: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and in turn greater than the cost assumed for the renovation work.

scholarly journals Exploring sustainability of affordability initiatives: a library case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-456
Author(s):  
Jeanne Hoover ◽  
Cindy Shirkey ◽  
Lisa Sheets Barricella
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Streaming Video ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Analysis ◽  
Grant Program ◽  
The Cost ◽  
East Carolina University

Purpose The cost of textbooks continues to rise for college students along with the cost of tuition. These costs can impact student success. In response to the rising costs, higher education institutions have started affordability initiatives. These initiatives are frequently housed in academic libraries. Joyner Library at East Carolina University (ECU) addresses affordability through three initiatives: Course-Adopted Textbook program, Alternative Textbook Mini-Grant program and Streaming Video licensing. Design/methodology/approach This paper will explore the above-mentioned three programs in-depth and perform a sustainability analysis on each program. Findings After reviewing the affordability initiatives discussed in the case study, the authors found that there were varying degrees of sustainability for the programs. Originality/value ECU is not alone in addressing affordability through multiple initiatives, and this case study paper will address long-term sustainability of these initiatives, especially during a time when libraries are experiencing shrinking budgets.

scholarly journals Integrating BIM-Based LCA and Building Sustainability Assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7468
Author(s):  
José Pedro Carvalho ◽  
Ismael Alecrim ◽  
Luís Bragança ◽  
Ricardo Mateus
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Building Information Modelling ◽  
Sustainability Criteria ◽  
Sustainability Analysis ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Building Information

With the increasing concerns about building environmental impacts, building information modelling (BIM) has been used to perform different kinds of sustainability analysis. Among the most popular are the life cycle assessment (LCA) and building sustainability assessment (BSA). However, the integration of BIM-based LCA in BSA methods has not been adequately explored yet. This study addresses the relation between LCA and BSA within the BIM context for the Portuguese context. By performing an LCA for a Portuguese case study, a set of sustainability criteria from SBTool were simultaneous assessed during the process. The possibility of integrating BIM-based LCA into BSA methods can include more life cycle stages in the sustainability assessment and allow for normalising and producing more comparable results. BIM automates and connects different stages of the design process and provides information for multi-disciplinary data storage. However, there are still some constraints, such as different BSA/LCA databases and the necessity to manually introduce the embodied life cycle impacts of building materials. The scope of the BSA analysis can be expanded by integrating a complete LCA and be fostered by the support of BIM, effectively improving building sustainability according to local standards.

Can fisheries yield be enhanced by large-scale feeding of a predatory fish stock? A case study of the Icelandic cod stock

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (10) ◽  
pp. 2091-2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn Björnsson
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Gadus Morhua ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Prey Abundance ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Feeding Technique ◽  
Predator Abundance ◽  
The Cost

The concept of large-scale feeding of a predatory fish stock by natural prey species is introduced and evaluated for the Icelandic cod (Gadus morhua L.) stock. The paper addresses the question of whether fisheries yield can be enhanced by relocating food supply in an ecosystem from areas of surplus prey abundance to areas where predator abundance is high and prey abundance low. The benefits of large-scale feeding may be threefold. First, it may increase the growth rate and yield of a predatory fish stock. Second, it may reduce predation on valuable species. Third, it may lower the cost of fishing. For large-scale feeding to be economically feasible it is necessary to have access to large quantities of inexpensive and high-quality feed. In Iceland about 1 000 000 t of capelin, herring, and blue whiting are landed annually for fishmeal production, their price being less than 10% of that of cod. For much of the year these stocks are outside the distributional area of the Icelandic cod stock. The most cost-effective feeding technique must involve purse seiners and pelagic trawlers transporting their catch directly to the feeding locations. Different feeding scenarios, harvesting techniques, and ecological consequences are considered for the Icelandic cod stock.

scholarly journals CLIMADA v1.4.1: Towards a globally consistent adaptation options appraisal tool

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N. Bresch ◽  
Gabriela Aznar-Siguan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Economic Framework ◽  
Impact Modelling ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Impact Events ◽  
Adaptation Options

Abstract. Climate change is a fact and adaptation to a changing environment therefore a necessity. Adaptation is ultimately local, yet similar challenges pose themselves to decision-makers all across the globe and on all levels. The Economics of Climate Adaptation (ECA) methodology established an economic framework to fully integrate risk and reward perspectives of different 10 stakeholders, underpinned by the CLIMADA impact modelling platform. We present an extension of the latter to appraise adaption options in a consistent fashion in order to provide decision-makers from the local to the global level with the necessary facts to identify the most effective instruments to meet the adaptation challenge. We apply the open-source methodology and its Python implementation to a case study in the Caribbean, which allows to prioritize a small basked of adaptation options, namely green and grey infrastructure options as well as behavioural measures, and permits inter-island comparisons. In 15 Anguilla, for example, mangroves avert simulated damages more than 4 times the cost estimated for restoration, while enforcement of building codes shows to be effective in the Turks and Caicos islands. For all islands, cost-effective measures reduce the cost of risk transfer, which covers damage of high impact events that cannot be cost-effectively prevented by other measures. This extended version of the CLIMADA platform has been designed to enable risk assessment and options appraisal in a modular form and occasionally bespoke fashion yet with high reusability of common functionalities to foster usage of the 20 platform in interdisciplinary studies and international collaboration.

scholarly journals Strategic Capacity Management With Modular Manufacturing And Outsourcing: A Case Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Garcia ◽  
Ray Venkataraman
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Cost Model ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Fixed Costs ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
The Cost

<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in; margin: 0in 34.2pt 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">This paper proposes that downsizing an industrial manufacturer&rsquo;s capacity is a cost-effective strategy to reduce the cost of conversion while ensuring that adequate capacity is available to meet its business strategy requirements. A case study of a U.S. manufacturer of motors and other mechanical drive systems illustrates a proposed reduction in capacity that utilizes the development and implementation of a cost model to determine the best alternatives for a company whose capacity is not synchronized with its business strategy. The cost model for each alternative is investigated and compared against the &lsquo;Do nothing&rsquo; alternative, using net present value and cash flow analysis to build a case for the most effective course of action. The findings show the benefits of merging manufacturing by separating people, non-people, and fixed costs by facility, product line and product. In addition, the paper also illustrates the benefits of modular manufacturing and outsourcing as a way to further improve costs after the reduction of capacity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></p>

scholarly journals An optimization approach for green tourist trip design

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghazaleh Divsalar ◽  
Ali Divsalar ◽  
Armin Jabbarzadeh ◽  
Hadi Sahebi
Keyword(s):  
Computation Time ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Neighborhood Search ◽  
Optimization Approach ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Integer Linear Model ◽  
The Cost

Abstract In this paper, the Multi-Objective Multi-Modal Green Tourist Trip Design Problem (MO-MM-GTTDP) as the multi-modal variant of the orienteering problem is investigated. For this problem, a Multi-Objective mixed-integer linear model is formulated, which maximizes the total score of the Trip, minimizes the total cost of the trip as well as the total emission produced in the trip. Various transportation modes are considered for the tourist to choose to move between points of interest (POIs). The tourist choice may be affected by the transportation time and cost. Moreover, choosing the transportation mode will have an impact on the amount of trip pollutants. The cost of visiting POIs, as well as the cost of transportation between POIs, is considered as the total cost of the tour. In addition, a Multi-Objective Variable Neighborhood Search (MOVNS) algorithm is designed to solve instances of this problem. Moreover, a, E - constraint method is implemented in CPLEX and used to evaluate the performance of the presented MOVNS. New instances of the problem are generated based on the existed benchmark OP instances. The conclusion is the high quality of the proposed MOVNS algorithm solutions in practically acceptable computation time (few seconds). Finally, a small case study based on real data on several POIs in the city of Tehran is generated and used to demonstrate the performance of the proposed model and algorithm in practice. For this case study, by using the multi-attribute decision-making method of TOPSIS, the obtained non-dominated solutions are ranked, and the best ones are presented to the tourist.

Integrated design of sewers and wastewater treatment plants

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (9) ◽  
pp. 11-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Vollertsen ◽  
T. Hvitved-Jacobsen ◽  
Z. Ujang ◽  
S.A. Talib
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Wastewater Management ◽  
Plant Design ◽  
Sewer System ◽  
Process Simulations

Sewer system design must be integrated with wastewater treatment plant design when moving towards a more sustainable urban wastewater management. This integration allows an optimization of the design of both systems to achieve a better and more cost-effective wastewater management. Hitherto integrated process design has not been an option because the tools to predict in-sewer wastewater transformations have been inadequate. In this study the WATS model - being a new and validated tool for in-sewer microbial process simulations - is presented and its application for integrated sewer and treatment plant design is exemplified. A case study on a Malaysian catchment illustrates this integration. The effects of centralization of wastewater treatment and the subsequently longer transport distances are addressed. The layout of the intercepting sewer is optimized to meet the requirements of different treatment scenarios.

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