Design for sustainability: case of designing an urban household organic waste management system

Beyond product design, if the notion of product `lifecycle design' enforces the consideration of requirements from all the lifecycle phases of products, design for sustainability enforces the consideration of lifecycle design in the context of the lifecycles of other products, processes, institutions and their design. Consequently, sustainability requirements that need to be met by design are very diverse. In this article, we portray the nature of design process to address sustainability requirements. This is done taking an example of designing a urban household organic waste management system that requires less water and reclaims the nutrients.

Aquatic ecology, economy and society: the place of aquatic ecology in the sustainability agenda

This article explores aspects of sustainability and the importance of sustainable development, including the place of the crucially important resource of fresh water and of freshwater ecosystems. It examines the treatment of natural resources by the economic system that underpins global business, outlines some progress towards more sustainable approaches to business, and recommends steps to re-establish science as the driver of wise policies that contribute to sustainable development.

Design for Survival: Sustainability for Planet and Structure

Buildings in Port Aransas encounter drastic environmental challenges: the potential catastrophic storm surge and high winds from a hurricane, and daily conditions hostile to buildings, vehicles, and even most vegetation. Its location a few hundred feet from the Gulf of Mexico and near-tropical latitude expose buildings to continuous high humidity, winds laden with scouring sand and corrosive salt, and extremes of temperature and ultraviolet light. Building construction methods are able to address each of these, but doing so in a sustainable way creates significant challenges. The new research building at the Marine Science Institute has been designed and is being constructed to meet the demand for both survivability and sustainability. It is tracking towards formal certification as a LEED Gold structure while being robust and resistant to the harsh coastal environment. The effects of a hurricane are mitigated by elevating buildings and providing a windproof envelope. Ground-level enclosures are designed to be sacrificial and non-structural so they can wash or blow away without imposing damage on the upper portions of the building, and only non-critical functions and equipment will be supported within them. Design features that integrate survivability with sustainability include: orientation of building axis; integral shading from direct summer sunlight; light wells; photovoltaic arrays; collection of rainwater and air conditioning condensate for use in landscape irrigation; reduced impervious cover; xeriscaping and indigenous plants; recycling of waste heat from air conditioning systems; roofing system that reflects light and heat; long life, low maintenance stainless steel, high-tensile vinyl, hard-anodized aluminum and hot-dipped galvanized mountings throughout; chloride-resistant concrete; reduced visual impact; recycling of construction materials.

Singapore's biomedical science sector development strategy: is it sustainable?

This paper outlines the strategic efforts undertaken by Singapore to establish its national capability in the biomedical science sector, reviews the commercial base as a result of these efforts and compares Singapore's approach to the UK and the US development models, discusses the challenges that Singapore faces and raises some questions on the long term sustainability of the sector.

Linking energy policy, electricity generation and transmission using strong sustainability and co-optimization

The design of a sustainable electricity generation and transmission system is based on the established science of anthropogenic climate change and the realization that depending on imported fossil-fuels is becoming a measure of energy insecurity of supply. A model is proposed which integrates generation fuel mix composition, assignment of plants and optimized power flow, using Portugal as a case study. The result of this co-optimized approach is an overall set of generator types/fuels which increases the diversity of Portuguese electricity supply, lowers its dependency on imported fuels by 14.62% and moves the country towards meeting its regional and international obligations of 31% energy from renewables by 2020 and a 27% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2012, respectively. The quantity and composition of power generation at each bus is specified, with particular focus on quantifying the amount of distributed generation. Based on other works, the resultant, overall distributed capacity penetration of 19.02% of total installed generation is expected to yield positive network benefits. Thus, the model demonstrates that national energy policy and technical deployment can be linked through sustainability and, moreover, that the respective goals may be mutually achieved via holistic, integrated design. ©2009 IEEE.

Study on the sustainability of FPC produced from Kilka (Clupeonella engrauliformis, C. grimmi and C. cultriventris) in two vacuum packaging and modified atmosphere packaging at different environmental factors

Fish protein concentrate (FPC) is a healthy, sustainable and high nutritive product which sanitized produced from fishes in which, protein and other nutrients are more concentrated than in fresh fishes. The aim of this research is to study on the sustainability of FPC produced from Kilka (Clupeonella engrauliformis , C. grimmi and C. cultriventris) in two Vaccum Packaging and Modified Atmosphere Packaging at different environmental factors during six months. In our study the analysis of FPC protein showed 91.2%, lipid: 0.5%, ash: 3.6%, moisture: 2.3%, Total Volatile Nitrogen: 10 ml/100gr and peroxide: 5meq/kg. Amino acids and fatty acids were also determined. Bacteria and Fungi were lower than 1000 colony. Samples are kept in different condition of temperature (5, 20 and 35 degree centigrade), humidity (25, 40 and 90 percent) and light and dark environment in six month. Lipid rate in FPC after 6 months in VP and MAP (60% C02, 30 % N2 and 10% O2), packages was decreased but was not significant (P>0.05). It was also detected that increase temperature lead to more decrease in lipid content. Protein rate of FPC was decreased from 91.2% to 73.6% during six months at 35°C in VP Package and from 91.2% to 69.4% in MAP package. These changes were significant (P<0.05). TVN and PV rate in FPC after 6 months in VP and MAP packages was increased but was significant (P<0.05). Amino acids and fatty acids were also determined. But more changes in MAP packages was detected.

Sustainability: A new imperative in contaminated land remediation

Land is not only a critical component of the earth's life support system, but also a precious resource and an important factor of production in economic systems. However, historical industrial operations have resulted in large areas of contaminated land that are only slowly being remediated. In recent years, sustainability has drawn increasing attention in the environmental remediation field. In Europe, there has been a movement towards sustainable land management; and in the US, there is an urge for green remediation. Based on a questionnaire survey and a review of existing theories and empirical evidence, this paper suggests the expanding emphasis on sustainable remediation is driven by three general factors: (1) increased recognition of secondary environmental impacts (e.g., life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, energy consumption, and waste production) from remediation operations, (2) stakeholders' demand for economically sustainable brownfield remediation and "green" practices, and (3) institutional pressures (e.g., social norm and public policy) that promote sustainable practices (e.g., renewable energy, green building, and waste recycling). This paper further argues that the rise of the "sustainable remediation" concept represents a critical intervention point from where the remediation field will be reshaped and new norms and standards will be established for practitioners to follow in future years. This paper presents a holistic view of sustainability considerations in remediation, and an integrated framework for sustainability assessment and decision making. The paper concludes that "sustainability" is becoming a new imperative in the environmental remediation field, with important implications for regulators, liability owners, consultants, contractors, and technology vendors. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Analysis of arable land loss and its impact on rural sustainability in Southern Jiangsu Province of China

Rapid urbanization and industrialization in southern Jiangsu Province have consumed a huge amount of arable land. Through comparative analysis of land cover maps derived from TM images in 1990, 2000 and 2006, we identified the trend of arable land loss. It is found that most arable land is lost to urbanization and rural settlements development. Urban settlements, rural settlements, and industrial park-mine-transport land increased, respectively, by 87 997 ha (174.65%), 81 041 ha (104.52%), and 12 692 ha (397.99%) from 1990 to 2006. Most of the source (e.g., change from) land covers are rice paddy fields and dryland. These two covers contributed to newly urbanized areas by 37.12% and 73.52% during 1990-2000, and 46.39% and 38.86% during 2000-2006. However, the loss of arable land is weakly correlated with ecological service value, per capita net income of farmers, but positively with grain yield for some counties. Most areas in the study site have a low arable land depletion rate and a high potential for sustainable development. More attention should be directed at those counties that have a high depletion rate but a low potential for sustainable development. Rural settlements should be controlled and rationalized through legislative measures to achieve harmonious development between urban and rural areas, and sustainable development for rural areas with a minimal impact on the ecoenvironment. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Operationalizing the social-ecological systems framework to assess sustainability.

Environmental governance is more effective when the scales of ecological processes are well matched with the human institutions charged with managing human-environment interactions. The social-ecological systems (SESs) framework provides guidance on how to assess the social and ecological dimensions that contribute to sustainable resource use and management, but rarely if ever has been operationalized for multiple localities in a spatially explicit, quantitative manner. Here, we use the case of small-scale fisheries in Baja California Sur, Mexico, to identify distinct SES regions and test key aspects of coupled SESs theory. Regions that exhibit greater potential for social-ecological sustainability in one dimension do not necessarily exhibit it in others, highlighting the importance of integrative, coupled system analyses when implementing spatial planning and other ecosystem-based strategies.

Oceans and Human Health (OHH): a European Perspective from the Marine Board of the European Science Foundation (Marine Board-ESF)

The oceans and coastal seas provide mankind with many benefits including food for around a third of the global population, the air that we breathe and our climate system which enables habitation of much of the planet. However, the converse is that generation of natural events (such as hurricanes, severe storms and tsunamis) can have devastating impacts on coastal populations, while pollution of the seas by pathogens and toxic waste can cause illness and death in humans and animals. Harmful effects from biogenic toxins produced by algal blooms (HABs) and from the pathogens associated with microbial pollution are also a health hazard in seafood and from direct contact with water. The overall global burden of human disease caused by sewage pollution of coastal waters has been estimated at 4 million lost person-years annually. Finally, the impacts of all of these issues will be exacerbated by climate change. A holistic systems approach is needed. It must consider whole ecosystems, and their sustainability, such as integrated coastal zone management, is necessary to address the highly interconnected scientific challenges of increased human population pressure, pollution and over-exploitation of food (and other) resources as drivers of adverse ecological, social and economic impacts. There is also an urgent and critical requirement for effective and integrated public health solutions to be developed through the formulation of politically and environmentally meaningful policies. The research community required to address "Oceans & Human Health" in Europe is currently very fragmented, and recognition by policy makers of some of the problems, outlined in the list of challenges above, is limited. Nevertheless, relevant key policy issues for governments worldwide include the reduction of the burden of disease (including the early detection of emerging pathogens and other threats) and improving the quality of the global environment. Failure to effectively address these issues will impact adversely on efforts to alleviate poverty, sustain the availability of environmental goods and services and improve health and social and economic stability; and thus, will impinge on many policy decisions, both nationally and internationally. Knowledge exchange (KE) will be a key element of any ensuing research. KE will facilitate the integration of biological, medical, epidemiological, social and economic disciplines, as well as the emergence of synergies between seemingly unconnected areas of science and socio-economic issues, and will help to leverage knowledge transfer across the European Union (EU) and beyond. An integrated interdisciplinary systems approach is an effective way to bring together the appropriate groups of scientists, social scientists, economists, industry and other stakeholders with the policy formulators in order to address the complexities of interfacial problems in the area of environment and human health. The Marine Board of the European Science Foundation Working Group on "Oceans and Human Health" has been charged with developing a position paper on this topic with a view to identifying the scientific, social and economic challenges and making recommendations to the EU on policy-relevant research and development activities in this arena. This paper includes the background to health-related issues linked to the coastal environment and highlights the main arguments for an ecosystem-based whole systems approach.

Coastal Zone Ecosystem Services: From science to values and decision making; a case study

This research is concerned with the following environmental research questions: socio-ecological system complexity, especially when valuing ecosystem services; ecosystems stock and services flow sustainability and valuation; the incorporation of scale issues when valuing ecosystem services; and the integration of knowledge from diverse disciplines for governance and decision making. In this case study, we focused on ecosystem services that can be jointly supplied but independently valued in economic terms: healthy climate (via carbon sequestration and storage), food (via fisheries production in nursery grounds), and nature recreation (nature watching and enjoyment). We also explored the issue of ecosystem stock and services flow, and we provide recommendations on how to value stock and flows of ecosystem services via accounting and economic values respectively. We considered broadly comparable estuarine systems located on the English North Sea coast: the Blackwater estuary and the Humber estuary. In the past, these two estuaries have undergone major land-claim. Managed realignment is a policy through which previously claimed intertidal habitats are recreated allowing the enhancement of the ecosystem services provided by saltmarshes. In this context, we investigated ecosystem service values, through biophysical estimates and welfare value estimates. Using an optimistic (extended conservation of coastal ecosystems) and a pessimistic (loss of coastal ecosystems because of, for example, European policy reversal) scenario, we find that context dependency, and hence value transfer possibilities, vary among ecosystem services and benefits. As a result, careful consideration in the use and application of value transfer, both in biophysical estimates and welfare value estimates, is advocated to supply reliable information for policy making.

The Cost of Sustainability Capital and the Creation of Sustainable Value by Companies

We develop and apply a valuation methodology to calculate the cost of sustainability capital, and, eventually, sustainable value creation of companies. Sustainable development posits that decisions must take into account all forms of capital rather than just economic capital. We develop a methodology that allows calculation of the costs that are associated with the use of different forms of capital. Our methodology borrows the idea from financial economics that the return on capital has to cover the cost of capital. Capital costs are determined as opportunity costs, that is, the forgone returns that would have been created by alternative investments. We apply and extend the logic of opportunity costs to the valuation not only of economic capital but also of other forms of capital. This allows (a) integrated analysis of use of different forms of capital based on a value-based aggregation of different forms of capital, (b) determination of the opportunity cost of a bundle of different forms of capital used in a company, called cost of sustainability capital, (c) calculation of sustainability efficiency of companies, and (d) calculation of sustainable value creation, that is, the value above the cost of sustainability capital. By expanding the well-established logic of the valuation of economic capital in financial markets to cover other forms of capital, we provide a methodology that allows determination of the most efficient allocation of sustainability capital for sustainable value creation in companies. We demonstrate the practicability of the methodology by the valuation of the sustainability performance of British Petroleum (BP).