A Methodological Framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Construction Projects Incorporating TBL and Decoupling Principles

The triple bottom line (TBL) principle encompasses the idea of continued economic and social well-being with minimal or reduced environmental pressure. However, in construction projects, the integration of social, economic, and environmental dimensions from the TBL perspective remains challenging. Green building rating tools/schemes, such as Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED), Building Research Establishment Environment Assessment (BREEAM), and their criteria, which serve as a yardstick in ensuring sustainability based practices and outcomes, are also left wanting. These green building rating tools/schemes not only fail to comprehensively evaluate the three dimensions (social, economic, and environment) and interaction therewith, but also lack in capturing a life cycle approach towards sustainability. Therefore, this study intends to address the aforementioned challenges. The first part of this study presents the concept of sustainable construction as a system of well-being decoupling and impact decoupling. Findings in the first part of this study provide a rationale for developing a methodological framework that not only encapsulates a TBL based life cycle approach to sustainability assessment in construction, but also evaluates interactions among social and economic well-being, and environmental pressure. In methodological framework development, two decoupling indices were developed, namely, the phase well-being decoupling index (PWBDIK) and phase impact decoupling index (PIDIK). PWBDIK and PIDIK support the evaluation of interdependence among social and economic well-being, and the environmental pressure associated with construction projects in different life cycle phases. The calculation underpinning the proposed framework was illustrated using three hypothetical cases by adopting criteria from GRIHA Precertification and GRIHA v.2019 schemes. The results of these cases depict how the interactions among different dimensions (social, economic, and environment) vary as they move from one phase to another phase in a life cycle. The methodological framework developed in this study can be tailored to suit the sustainability assessment requirements for different phases and typologies of construction in the future.

Does Environmental Regulation Promote Environmental Innovation? An Empirical Study of Cities in China

Promoting environmental innovation through environmental regulation is a key measure for cities to reduce environmental pressure; however, the role of environmental regulation in environmental innovation is controversial. This study used the number of environmental patent applications to measure urban environmental innovation and analyzed the role of urban environmental regulation on urban environmental innovation with the help of the spatial Durbin model (SDM). The results showed that: (1) From 2007 to 2017, the number of environmental patent applications in China has grown rapidly, and technologies related to buildings dominated the development of China’s environmental innovation. (2) Although the number of cities participating in environmental innovation was increasing, China’s environmental innovation activities were highly concentrated in a few cities (Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai), showing significant spatial correlation and spatial agglomeration characteristics. (3) Urban environmental regulation had a positive U-shaped relationship with urban environmental innovation capability, which was consistent with what the Porter hypothesis advocates.

Pengaruh Tekanan Lingkungan, Tekanan Pemegang Saham, dan Ukuran Perusahaan terhadap Kualitas Sustainability Reporting

Company to have good environmental and social performance, besides its financial performance. Stakeholders demand this information in a report called sustainability reporting. The size of a company is directly proportional to the public attention received, so that large companies are more receptive to get negative views. To answer this view, the company will increase the transparency of its information, including sustainability reporting. This study aims to determine the effect of environmental pressure, shareholder pressure, and company size on the quality of sustainability reporting. This research was conducted on 22 companies that participated in ASRRAT in the period 2018-2020 which were selected using purposive sampling. This study uses a panel data logistic regression model. The results show that environmental pressures and company size have a positive influence on the quality of sustainability reporting. Meanwhile, shareholder pressure shows a negative effect on the quality of sustainability reporting. Keywords : Quality of Sustainability Reporting, Environmental Pressure, Shareholder Pressure, Company Size, Asian Sustainability Reporting Rating.

Acoustic MEMS Transducers: Look Ahead of the Bit and Geopressure Monitoring

This paper describes the design and implementation of Acoustic Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (hereinafter referred to asA-MEMS)working in fluid-coupling mode for HP/HT specifications relevant to downhole applications such as drilling, well and reservoir monitoring. Many cutting edges applications ofA-MEMS in Oil & Gas industry are envisaged. The current work refers to the case study of a "Look Ahead of the Bit"/geopressure monitoring technique (hereinafter referred to asPPM) developed by the authors. A–MEMS with magnetic shuttle transducers have been designed so that they are not affected by environmental pressure like piezoelectric devices commonly used in MWD commercial sonic tools, which are impaired by volumetric shrinking/expansion working principle. This performance is also achieved by embedding an environmental pressure compensator tuned in the whole working bandwidth to grant pressure balance even with oscillatory motion at sonic frequencies (up to 5 kHz). Transmitter acoustic power and receiver sensitivity have been optimized in a bandwidth between 500 and 3500 Hz. A couple of A–MEMS prototypes have been built and successfully tested by using an oil filled pressure vessel at downhole T–P conditions (200 °C, 700bar) and an ad-hoc measurement setup including force, displacement, temperature sensors, transmitter (TX) driver, receiver (RX) lock-in amplifier and anacquisition system. Moreover, modal analysis at typical drilling conditions has been carried out by Stewart platform. Shock up to 1000 g and random vibrations up to 12 g RMS in 5 ÷400 Hz bandwidth have been tested. A–MEMS performance have turned out to be consistent with theoretical model predictions andhave exhibited robustness to T P variations and applied structural stress. PPM method has been validated through a triaxial compression cell in a rock mechanics laboratory, implementing a lab scale scenario with a cap rock located above a permeable rock, undergoing all geopressures of interest. However, piezo transducers used in the experiment underwent a significant failure/damage rate along with performance degrading at pressure increasing. These observations confirmed and motivated the need for A-MEMS technology development in downhole applications.

Evaluation of decoupling of GDP and CO2 emissions in EU-15

Generally, economic growth is accompanied by an increase in energy consumption, which consequently leads to higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions. These, in turn, are the causes of global warming, which is one of the most acute environmental problems nowadays. Decoupling occurs when environmental pressure can be decreased without the negative effect of the economic growth of a country. This study is focused on the investigation of the decoupling of the economy and environmental pressure. The analysis was carried out for EU-15 countries for the period between 1990 and 2014. For the evaluation of decoupling the Tapio decoupling elasticity method was used. This method provides the extent of decoupling of the economy and environmental pressure for each country. The economy was measured in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), while the environmental pressure was represented by CO2 emissions from the public electricity and heat generation sector. The EU-15 countries were classified into three groups depending on the individual reduction targets following Kyoto Protocol. Group I had high values of reduction targets ranging from -28% to -12.5%, Group II had moderate values of reduction targets situated between -7.5% and 0%, and Group III had mild values of reduction targets from +4% to +27%. The results of this analysis show that there is strong fluctuation of the extent of decoupling between GDP and CO2 emissions for each country in the specified period. Therefore, there are no clear patterns of decoupling intensity that can be observed. However, it is important to notice that in almost every country the decoupling between GDP and CO2 emissions was either strong or weak. This study has shown that generally most of the countries achieved some extent of decoupling between the growth of the economy and the pressure on the environment. The countries that showed the decoupling of more than 80% of the specified period are Luxemburg, Ireland, and Italy. For most of the countries, the decoupling was deteriorated by the financial crisis of 2008. Another possible reason for the decrease in decoupling is the extensive use of renewable energy resources. While their application lowers the CO2 emissions, the high production and operation costs constrict the growth of the economy. Sweden, Finland, and Denmark had such situation.

Evaluation of decoupling of GDP and energy in Central Asia

Currently, economic growth remains the main criterion of development. However, it does come along with threats to the environment, due to its link to the increased energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Decoupling can be used to break this link and stop jeopardizing the environment in the favor of economic progress. This paper focuses on the decoupling between economic growth and energy consumption in each of five Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – from 1990 to 2014. The Tapio decoupling model was implemented in order to determine the decoupling states for each country. Gross domestic product (GDP) was used to represent the economic growth, and the total primary energy supply (TPES) described the environmental pressure. These data were obtained from the IKE World Energy Balances. Both the GDP and the TPES of most of the Central Asian countries had a parabolic trend of initial drop and further increase during the timespan analyzed. This observation can be explained by the collapse of USSR and the transition to market economy. The results of the decoupling analysis can be divided into two stages for Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and into three stages for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, with several different decoupling states observed during each stage. According to the results, the main decoupling states in Central Asia were expansive negative decoupling, expansive coupling, weak decoupling, and strong decoupling. The analysis showed that there is a serious environmental pressure on the economic development in Central Asia.

Experimental Investigations on the Wall-attached Bubble Growth Process in Water With Supersaturated Total Dissolved Gas

Due to dam discharge, waterfalls, sudden increases in water temperature and oxygen production by photosynthesis, the total dissolved gas (TDG) in water is often supersaturated, which may have serious effects on aquatic ecology. When the atmospheric pressure is lower than the TDG pressure in water, the supersaturated dissolved gas in water will slowly release into air. Wall-attached bubbles were formed during the TDG release process. The generation and departure of wall-attached bubbles influence the release process of TDG in water. To simulate the growth period of the wall-attached bubbles under different pressures, a decompression experimental device was designed to record the supersaturated TDG release process. Based on experimental data and mathematical calculations, the quantitative relationship between the bubble growth rate and environmental pressure was obtained. The supersaturated TDG dissipation rate increases monotonically with increasing relative vacuum degree. Based on the wall-attached bubble growth rate calculation method applied in this paper, a formula of the supersaturated TDG adsorption flux based on wall-attached bubbles was proposed, and a prediction method of the TDG release coefficient was established. The simulation results show that with increasing relative vacuum degree, the TDG coefficient increases correspondingly, and the adsorption mechanism of vegetation surface area can be obviously promoted under lower environmental pressure. This study provides an important theoretical basis for the accurate calculation of the TDG release process and provides a scientific basis for the accurate prediction of the spatial and temporal distribution of supersaturated TDG under different environmental conditions.

Variations of Movement, Dispersal, and Morphometrics among Subpopulations of Javan Endemic Damselfly, Drepanosticta spatulifera (Odonata: Platystictidae) in Petungkriyono Forest

Drepanosticta spatulifera is a Javan endemic damselfly. The population is spread unevenly in the Petungkriyono Forest and is threatened due to environmental pressure. The aims of this research are to know the variation of the movement, dispersal, and morphometric among subpopulations of D. spatulifera. Movement and dispersal variation data collection was done using Mark Release Recapture (MRR) for six weeks from early August until mid-September 2020. The collection of morphometric samples was done during the last week of the MRR survey and 46 individuals were measured with 12 continuous characters. During the MRR survey, 596 males of D. spatulifera were marked and 302 were recaptured. D. spatulifera had short movement and dispersal thus no individuals were found across the subpopulations. The distance moved of successive capture and net lifetime movement were dominantly less or equal to five meters. The duration of the MRRsurvey had a low correlation with the dispersal distance of D. spatulifera. In themorphometric variations, closer subpopulations tended to have a similar cluster ofmorphometric characters. Variation of distance moved between successive captureand wing size from Mangli Stream was significantly different from other sites. Thesubpopulation of Mangli, the farthest and higher altitude of the sites, had thehighest distance move, more disperse, and the largest wing size. Our study showedthat D. spatulifera was extremely sedentary damselfly. It will enhance inbreeding andvulnerability to extinction. Therefore, the interaction between the subpopulationsof D. spatulifera in the Petungkriyono Forest needs to be done more.