Does a proactive environmental orientation automatically lead to a ‘win-win’ situation?

A debate on the effect of environmental practices on performance has been taking place in the academic literature over the last two decades. In recent years this has involved researchers looking beyond the direct relationship between practices and performance to consider other potential contributing factors. This paper considers the extent to which environmental proactivity influences the practices that firms adopt and the associated performance outcomes. Data were collected from sample of UK food manufacturers and analysed using multiple regression analysis. Findings suggest that proactivity is an important antecedent to practices but these practices may not lead to improvements beyond environmental performance.

Sustainable non-automotive vehicles: The simulation challenges

Simulation is a well-established and effective approach to the development of fuel-efficient and low-emissions vehicles in both on-highway and off-highway applications.

The simulation of on-highway automotive vehicles is widely reported in literature, whereas research relating to non-automotive and off-highway vehicles is relatively sparse. This review paper focuses on the challenges of simulating such vehicles and discusses the differences in the approach to drive cycle testing and experimental validation of vehicle simulations. In particular, an inner-city diesel-electric hybrid bus and an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) powered forklift truck will be used as case studies.

Computer prediction of fuel consumption and emissions of automotive vehicles on standardised drive cycles is well-established and commercial software packages such as AVL CRUISE have been specifically developed for this purpose. The vehicles considered in this review paper present new challenges from both the simulation and drive-cycle testing perspectives. For example, in the case of the forklift truck, the drive cycles involve reversing elements, variable mass, lifting operations, and do not specify a precise velocity-time profile. In particular, the difficulties associated with the prediction of productivity, i.e. the maximum rate of completing a series of defined operations, are discussed. In the case of the hybrid bus, the standardised drive cycles are unrepresentative of real-life use and alternative approaches are required in the development of efficient and low-emission vehicles.

Two simulation approaches are reviewed: the adaptation of a standard automotive vehicle simulation package, and the development of bespoke models using packages such as MATLAB/Simulink.

Integrating Land-use Planning and Transportation in Belfast: A New Policy Agenda for Sustainable Development

Much of the interest in promoting sustainable development in planning for the city-region focuses on the apparently inexorable rise in the demand for car travel and the contribution that certain urban forms and land-use relationships can make to reducing energy consumption. Within this context, policy prescription has increasingly favoured a compact city approach with increasing urban residential densities to address the physical separation of daily activities and the resultant dependency on the private car. This paper aims to outline and evaluate recent efforts to integrate land use and transport policy in the Belfast Metropolitan Area in Northern Ireland. Although considerable progress has been made, this paper underlines the extent of existing car dependency in the metropolitan area and prevailing negative attitudes to public transport, and argues that although there is a rhetorical support for the principles of sustainability and the practice of land-use/transportation integration, this is combined with a selective reluctance to embrace local changes in residential environment or in lifestyle preferences which might facilitate such principles.

The 'Belfast' timber roof truss - is it sustainable and relevant today?

In the early 19th century the requirement for clear span industrial buildings brought about the development of a variety of timber truss types. The Belfast truss was introduced circa 1860 to meet the demand for efficient wide span industrial buildings. It has essentially a bow-string configuration with a curved top chord, straight horizontal bottom chord and close-spaced lattice web. Several thousand still exist in Ireland, many in buildings of historic significance. This paper sets out to demonstrate the efficiency of the Belfast truss and to show that, by modern structural design criteria, the concept, member sizes and joint details were well chosen. Trusses in historic buildings can be replicated almost exactly as originally fabricated. Results of a theoretical study are compared with the experimental behaviour of two full-scale trusses: one a replacement truss, tested in the laboratory; the other an 80-year-old truss tested on site. In addition, experimental results from a manufacturers archive material of full-scale truss tests carried out about 100 years ago are compared with theoretical models. As well as considering their significance in building conservation the paper proposes that Belfast trusses are an attractive sustainable alternative to other roof structures. The analysis, design, fabrication and testing of trusses have resulted in a better understanding of their behaviour which is not only of historic interest and fundamental to the repair/restoration of existing trusses, but also relevant to the design of modern timber trusses and the promotion of a sustainable form of roof construction.