scholarly journals An Analysis of Variation in the Energy-Related Environmental Impacts of LEED Certified Buildings

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 151-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Christopher Wedding ◽  
Douglas Crawford-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Monte Carlo Analysis ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Us ◽  
Using Data

The US Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED guidelines have become the dominant third-party certification program for “green” buildings in the US. Given that buildings use 37% of all energy and 68% of all electricity while contributing substantially to air emission, waste generation, and water consumption issues in the US, one of LEED's purposes is to address the environmental impacts of energy use in buildings. This research analyzes (1) how well the LEED guidelines measure these impacts and (2) which parameters create the most variation among these impacts. Environmental impacts here refer to emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and particulate matter (PM10); solid waste; nuclear waste; and water consumption. Using data from the US Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the US EPA Energy Star program, and the USGBC, among others, models using Monte Carlo analysis were created to simulate the range of impacts of LEED-certified buildings. Various metrics and statistics were calculated to highlight the significance of variation in these impacts. Future research needs and implications of the results for LEED version 3.0 are also discussed.

Green Building Technologies

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Jeremy Gibberd
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Technical Detail ◽  
Built Environments ◽  
Global Energy ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Structured Approach

Buildings are responsible for 40% of global energy use and produce over a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. These impacts are being acknowledged and addressed in specialist building design techniques and technologies that aim to reduce the environmental impacts of buildings. These techniques and technologies can be referred to collectively as green building technologies. This chapter describes green building technologies and shows why they are vital in addressing climate change and reducing the negative environmental impacts associated with built environments. A structured approach is presented which can be applied to identify and integrate green building technologies into new and existing buildings. By combining global implications with technical detail, the chapter provides a valuable guide to green building technologies and their role in supporting a transition to a more sustainable future.

scholarly journals Experience With Using Code Case 2564 to Design and Certify an Impulsively Loaded Vessel

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent Haroldsen ◽  
Jerome Stofleth ◽  
Mien Yip ◽  
Allan Caplan
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Regulatory Approval ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Us Army ◽  
The Us ◽  
User Design ◽  
Qualification Testing ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Explosive Destruction

Code Case 2564 for the design of impulsively loaded vessels was approved in January 2008. In 2010 the US Army Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Program, with support from Sandia National Laboratories, procured a vessel per this Code Case for use on the Explosive Destruction System (EDS). The vessel was delivered to the Army in August of 2010 and approved for use by the DoD Explosives Safety Board in 2012. Although others have used the methodology and design limits of the Code Case to analyze vessels, to our knowledge, this was the first vessel to receive an ASME explosive rating with a U3 stamp. This paper discusses lessons learned in the process. Of particular interest were issues related to defining the design basis in the User Design Specification and explosive qualification testing required for regulatory approval. Specifying and testing an impulsively loaded vessel is more complicated than a static pressure vessel because the loads depend on the size, shape, and location of the explosive charges in the vessel and on the kind of explosives used and the point of detonation. Historically the US Department of Defense and Department of Energy have required an explosive test. Currently the Code Case does not address testing requirements, but it would be beneficial if it did since having vetted, third party standards for explosive qualification testing would simplify the process for regulatory approval.

scholarly journals The Partisan Mask: Political Orientation, Collectivism, and Religiosity Predict Mask Use During COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hohjin Im ◽  
Peiyi Wang ◽  
Chuansheng Chen
Keyword(s):  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Third Party ◽  
The Us ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
Strong Correlate ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Socioeconomic And Demographic Factors

In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic became an unconventional vehicle to advance partisan rhetoric and antagonism. Using data available at the individual- (Study 1; N = 4,220), county- (Study 2; n = 3,046), and state-level (n = 49), we found that partisanship and political orientation was a robust and strong correlate of mask use. Political conservatism and Republican partisanship were related to downplaying the severity of COVID-19 and perceiving masks as being ineffective that, in turn, were related to lower mask use. In contrast, we found that counties with majority Democrat partisanship reported greater mask use, controlling for various socioeconomic and demographic factors. Lastly, states with strong cultural collectivism reported greater mask use while those with strong religiosity reported the opposite. States with greater Democrat partisanship and strong cultural collectivism subsequently reported lower COVID-19 deaths, mediated by greater mask use and lower COVID-19 cases, in the five months following the second wave of COVID-19 in the US during the Summer of 2020. Nonetheless, more than the majority for Democrats (91.58%), Republicans (77.52%), and third-party members (82.48%) reported using masks. Implications for findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Analysis of Lithium-Ion Batteries for Automotive Applications

Batteries ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Dai ◽  
Jarod C. Kelly ◽  
Linda Gaines ◽  
Michael Wang
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Lithium Ion Batteries ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Life Cycle Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Battery Life

In light of the increasing penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) in the global vehicle market, understanding the environmental impacts of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that characterize the EVs is key to sustainable EV deployment. This study analyzes the cradle-to-gate total energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, SOx, NOx, PM10 emissions, and water consumption associated with current industrial production of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) batteries, with the battery life cycle analysis (LCA) module in the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model, which was recently updated with primary data collected from large-scale commercial battery material producers and automotive LIB manufacturers. The results show that active cathode material, aluminum, and energy use for cell production are the major contributors to the energy and environmental impacts of NMC batteries. However, this study also notes that the impacts could change significantly, depending on where in the world the battery is produced, and where the materials are sourced. In an effort to harmonize existing LCAs of automotive LIBs and guide future research, this study also lays out differences in life cycle inventories (LCIs) for key battery materials among existing LIB LCA studies, and identifies knowledge gaps.

scholarly journals Features and Benefits of Cool Roofs: The Cool Roof Rating Council Program

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle van Tijen ◽  
Rebecca Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Green Buildings ◽  
Cool Roof ◽  
Material Type ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings ◽  
Cool Roofs

Green buildings incorporate many strategies to reduce energy use and environmental impacts and improve occupant health. Cool roofs are one important green building strategy because of the immense positive benefit they can provide. Cool roofs are not a new phenomenon, but they are essential to the construction and maintenance of energy efficient buildings, and new cool roof technologies give architects more options for both material type and color.

Green Building Technologies

2020 ◽  
pp. 482-510
Author(s):  
Jeremy Gibberd
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Technical Detail ◽  
Built Environments ◽  
Global Energy ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Structured Approach

Buildings are responsible for 40% of global energy use and produce over a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. These impacts are being acknowledged and addressed in specialist building design techniques and technologies that aim to reduce the environmental impacts of buildings. These techniques and technologies can be referred to collectively as green building technologies. This chapter describes green building technologies and shows why they are vital in addressing climate change and reducing the negative environmental impacts associated with built environments. A structured approach is presented which can be applied to identify and integrate green building technologies into new and existing buildings. By combining global implications with technical detail, the chapter provides a valuable guide to green building technologies and their role in supporting a transition to a more sustainable future.

Polluting our prisons? An examination of Oklahoma prison locations and toxic releases, 2011–2017

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-438
Author(s):  
Maggie Leon-Corwin ◽  
Jericho R McElroy ◽  
Michelle L Estes ◽  
Jon Lewis ◽  
Michael A Long
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Green Criminology ◽  
Incarceration Rate ◽  
Toxic Releases ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
Using Data

Recent research has highlighted numerous environmental concerns with US prisons, including that prisons are often located on undesirable land that is in close proximity to environmental hazards. We utilize an environmental justice and green criminology perspective to test this in Oklahoma using data on prison sites and toxic releases provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency for a period of seven years (2011–2017). We focus on Oklahoma because it recently became the state with the highest overall incarceration rate and has a history of elevated levels of pollution. Our results find that prison zip codes have greater TRI emissions compared to non-prison zip codes. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the study and directions for future research.

scholarly journals Green Building Rating Systems (GBRSs)

Encyclopedia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 998-1009
Author(s):  
Lia Marchi ◽  
Ernesto Antonini ◽  
Stefano Politi
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
General Evaluation ◽  
Market Driven ◽  
Design Construction

Green Building Rating Systems (GBRSs) are typically third-party, voluntary, and market driven standards that measure buildings’ sustainability level by multi-criteria assessment, and encourage the adoption of environmentally, socially and economically sustainable practices in design, construction and operation of buildings (or neighborhoods). GBRSs aim at guiding and assessing the project throughout all its life cycle, thus limiting the negative impact on the environment, as well as on the building occupants’ health and well-being, and even reducing operational costs. Hundreds of GBRSs are now available worldwide, varying in approaches, application processes, and evaluation metrics. BREEAM, CASBEE, Green Star and LEED are among the most applied worldwide. Despite some differences, they all adhere to the same general evaluation structure: project performances ares measured using a set of relevant indicators, grouped per topics such as water management, energy use, materials, site qualities. Each assessed requirement is assigned a score/judgment, the total of which determines the level of sustainability achieved. In addition to regular updates, a current trend is to improve the effectiveness of protocols, making them more comprehensive and accurate, while keeping them easy to use.

Lifecycle Water Consumption of Geothermal Power Systems

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corrie Clark ◽  
Christopher Harto
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Geothermal Energy ◽  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Binary Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Energy Information Administration ◽  
Geothermal Power

Previous assessments of the sustainability of geothermal energy have focused on resource management and associated environmental impacts during plant operations. Within these constraints, studies have shown that overall emissions, water consumption, and land use for geothermal electricity production have a smaller impact than traditional base-load electricity generation technologies. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), geothermal energy generation in the United States is projected to increase nearly threefold, from 2.37 GW to 6.30 GW, by 2035 (EIA 2012). With this potential for significant growth in geothermal electricity production, there is a need to improve understanding of the environmental impacts across the life cycle of geothermal energy production systems. This paper assesses the use of freshwater in construction, drilling, and production activities of various geothermal power plants. Four geothermal technologies were evaluated: air-cooled enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs), air-cooled hydrothermal binary systems, evaporative-cooled hydrothermal flash systems, and air-cooled geopressured systems that coproduce natural gas. The impacts associated with these power plant scenarios are compared to those from other electricity generating technologies as part of a larger effort to compare the lifecycle impacts of geothermal electricity generation to other power generation technologies.

scholarly journals Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the General Population After Mass Terrorist Incidents: Considerations About the Nature of Exposure

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro Galea ◽  
Heidi Resnick
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
General Population ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
September 11Th ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
The Us ◽  
Using Data

ABSTRACTEpidemiologically, disasters represent multiple forms of possible exposures, including exposure type (eg, natural versus human-made), intensity, and duration. It has been suggested that the consequences of human-made disasters (eg, terrorist incidents) may be more severe than those of natural disasters; recent evidence suggests that there may be a high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among both direct survivors of such attacks and in the general population. Several studies after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks found that the prevalence of PTSD was higher in New York City than it was in the rest of the US and that there was a substantial burden of PTSD among persons who were not directly affected by the attacks. This raises important questions about the meaning of “exposure” to a disaster. Using data from an assessment of PTSD in the first 6 months after September 11th we considered the nature of the PTSD experienced by persons who were not directly affected by the September 11th attacks. These data suggest that persons in the general population may have clinically important posttraumatic stress symptomatology after a mass terrorist incident. Future research should consider mechanisms through which persons in the general population may be at risk for PTSD after such incidents.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document