Optimizing the Structure and Scale of Urban Water Infrastructure: Integrating Distributed Systems

Large-scale, centralized water infrastructure has provided clean drinking water, wastewater treatment, stormwater management and flood protection for U.S. cities and towns for many decades, protecting public health, safety and environmental quality. To accommodate increasing demands driven by population growth and industrial needs, municipalities and utilities have typically expanded centralized water systems with longer distribution and collection networks. This approach achieves financial and institutional economies of scale and allows for centralized management. It comes with tradeoffs, however, including higher energy demands for longdistance transport; extensive maintenance needs; and disruption of the hydrologic cycle, including the large-scale transfer of freshwater resources to estuarine and saline environments.While smaller-scale distributed water infrastructure has been available for quite some time, it has yet to be widely adopted in urban areas of the United States. However, interest in rethinking how to best meet our water and sanitation needs has been building. Recent technological developments and concerns about sustainability and community resilience have prompted experts to view distributed systems as complementary to centralized infrastructure, and in some situations the preferred alternative.In March 2014, the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread partnered with the Water Environment Federation and the Patel College of Global Sustainability at the University of South Florida to convene a diverse group of experts to examine the potential for distributed water infrastructure systems to be integrated with or substituted for more traditional water infrastructure, with a focus on right-sizing the structure and scale of systems and services to optimize water, energy and sanitation management while achieving long-term sustainability and resilience

Carbon Free Boston: Social equity report 2019

OVERVIEW: In January 2019, the Boston Green Ribbon Commission released its Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report, identifying potential options for the City of Boston to meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The report found that reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 requires three mutually-reinforcing strategies in key sectors: 1) deepen energy efficiency while reducing energy demand, 2) electrify activity to the fullest practical extent, and 3) use fuels and electricity that are 100 percent free of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The Summary Report detailed the ways in which these technical strategies will transform Boston’s physical infrastructure, including its buildings, energy supply, transportation, and waste management systems. The Summary Report also highlighted that it is how these strategies are designed and implemented that matter most in ensuring an effective and equitable transition to carbon neutrality. Equity concerns exist for every option the City has to reduce GHG emissions. The services provided by each sector are not experienced equally across Boston’s communities. Low-income families and families of color are more likely to live in residences that are in poor physical condition, leading to high utility bills, unsafe and unhealthy indoor environments, and high GHG emissions.1 Those same families face greater exposure to harmful outdoor air pollution compared to others. The access and reliability of public transportation is disproportionately worse in neighborhoods with large populations of people of color, and large swaths of vulnerable neighborhoods, from East Boston to Mattapan, do not have ready access to the city’s bike network. Income inequality is a growing national issue and is particularly acute in Boston, which consistently ranks among the highest US cities in regards to income disparities. With the release of Imagine Boston 2030, Mayor Walsh committed to make Boston more equitable, affordable, connected, and resilient. The Summary Report outlined the broad strokes of how action to reach carbon neutrality intersects with equity. A just transition to carbon neutrality improves environmental quality for all Bostonians, prioritizes socially vulnerable populations, seeks to redress current and past injustice, and creates economic and social opportunities for all. This Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report provides a deeper equity context for Carbon Free Boston as a whole, and for each strategy area, by demonstrating how inequitable and unjust the playing field is for socially vulnerable Bostonians and why equity must be integrated into policy design and implementation. This report summarizes the current landscape of climate action work for each strategy area and evaluates how it currently impacts inequity. Finally, this report provides guidance to the City and partners on how to do better; it lays out the attributes of an equitable approach to carbon neutrality, framed around three guiding principles: 1) plan carefully to avoid unintended consequences, 2) be intentional in design through a clear equity lens, and 3) practice inclusivity from start to finish

Navigating to New Shores: Seizing the Future for Sustainable and Resilient U.S. Freshwater Resources

After more than six years of intensive, solution oriented work on U.S. freshwater issues, The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread is concluding its Charting New Waters initiative. Through convening hundreds of experts representing different sectors and perspectives, we have amplified important ideas and innovations that can make a difference. This executive summary of our final report synthesizes insights from the full arc of Charting New Waters and is meant to provide a platform for our many partners and other leaders as they continue to address water resource and infrastructure challenges. Without significant changes, existing water systems will soon no longer be able to provide the services that citizens have come to expect. Recent water crises have illustrated that the economic and social consequences of inaction are far too great for this nation and its communities. It is time to accelerate the adoption and implementation of the transformative solutions we know are possible.Our full report leads with a vision that illustrates what The Johnson Foundation believes is both possible and necessary to achieve if our nation is to successfully navigate our water challenges. It then presents a set of principles, summarized below, to help guide the efforts of leaders in various sectors as they act upon the recommendations we offer. The recommendations themselves, which are also summarized in brief below, fall under the following five key ideas:Optimize the use of available water suppliesTransition to next-generation wastewater systemsIntegrate the management of water, energy and food productionInstitutionalize the value of waterCreate integrated utilitiesThe Johnson Foundation selected the recommendations presented in the report because of their timeliness and promise for leveraging existing momentum. We hope the recommendations shed light on what is needed to catalyze transformative change and the benefits we can reap as a result. We also hope they will inspire additional action to seize the future for sustainable and resilient U.S. freshwater resources

Growing a Green Economy for All: From Green Jobs to Green Ownership

This Democracy Collaborative report provides the first comprehensive survey of community wealth building institutions in the green economy. Featuring ten cases, the report identifies how policy and philanthropy can build on these examples to create "green jobs you can own.

Meeting in the middle: Organizing sustainability goals To redevelop Jacksonville, Florida suburbs

The United States is at a developmental turning point in how it grows, responds to the housing needs of its existing citizens, and utilizes its existing infrastructure. Since 1945, population has doubled, however land use has increased by nearly 400%. This indicates that we are developing at lower densities, which have been shown to increase the environmental, social, and economic costs of development due to infrastructure construction, operations and maintenance, transportation use, and lifestyle. Jacksonville, Florida is spatially the largest city in the USA, and most populated in Florida. Due to the wide array of foreclosed and vacant houses in nearly every suburban community within the city, this thesis explores how adaptive reuse projects can use these lots to increase density, unit variety, and limit new infrastructure construction. This framework will then be made into a comprehensive design for a community housing building fitting into the context of a suburban neighborhood. This thesis demonstrates how a designer can utilize the top down and bottom up organizational methods to help attain a more complete understanding of context and overall goal project goals. By condensing large scale sustainability goals into measurable outcomes, and understanding how the specific context will respond to implementation, sustainability can be realized with appropriate design

Historically Embedded: Embodied Energy's Place in Building Retrofits

Older buildings, buildings over 50 years in age, comprise more than half of the existing buildings in the United States. The importance of reusing buildings and reinvesting in older buildings is the subject of this paper, as well as the rationale for retrofitting the existing building stock. Retention and reuse of these buildings preserves the materials, embodied energy, and human capital already expended in their construction. The recycling of buildings is a beneficial “green” practice, and stresses the importance and values of historic preservation in the overall promotion of heritage and sustainability. My Doctorate of Architecture project will explore many facets of renewal due to Hawaiʻi’s isolation from the rest of the world. An analytical intervention will be applied to Gartley Hall on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus’ quad area. The Gartley model will examine and quantify the embodied energy at various phases of building retrofits. Society has become increasingly aware of our impact on the natural environment. This awareness is due in part to the rising cost of oil and the basic cost of living. Being cognizant of our impact on the environment will help mediate economic inflation and preserve Hawaiʻi’s beauty for future generations. Hawaiʻi was one of the last places on earth settled by man due to its complete isolation in the Pacific Ocean. This isolation has created one of the world’s most unique environments and lifestyles; minimizing each person’s carbon footprint will help preserve our islands’ natural beauty. My project demonstrates the implications and methods of choices a designer, developer, contractor, and building-user make to achieve sustainability in retrofitting existing buildings through an analysis that covers the embodied energy of existing buildings and their potential future uses. This project will analyze and compare the energy and materials previously expended on a building and at various levels of remodel. My conclusions are drawn from precedents, quantitative embodied energy data, and regional transportation variables (Hawaiʻi’s isolation). The final portion of the project identifies the problems and metrics associated with one of the oldest buildings on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus through a lifespan model that considers phasing retrofits, transportation costs, and existing embodied energy

Sustainability assessment on an urban scale: context, challenges, and the most relevant indicators

Dissertação de mestrado em Sustentabilidade do Ambiente ConstruídoO conceito e a prática da sustentabilidade no planejamento urbano ganharam importância global desde o início dos anos 2000 e se tornaram cada vez mais comuns no processo de formulação de políticas. A adoção de estruturas globais como os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável das Nações Unidas, padrões ISO para comunidades sustentáveis e Nível(is) é uma oportunidade para construir vilas e cidades mais sustentáveis, inovadoras e equitativas, com respeito aos recursos naturais e à biodiversidade. No entanto, alcançar a sustentabilidade requer abordar muitas questões fundamentais em vários níveis, e alcançar as metas e objetivos da sustentabilidade representa um grande desafio para todos os segmentos da sociedade. Portanto, a seleção de indicadores de sustentabilidade é essencial para medir com precisão o nível comparativo de sustentabilidade. E, os indicadores de sustentabilidade podem ser implementados de acordo com as limitações e especificações do contexto. No entanto, as ferramentas de avaliação podem nem sempre ser capazes de refletir o nível de sustentabilidade de forma objetiva ou precisa, se não houver estatísticas nacionais atualizadas e confiáveis. Portanto, é necessário refinar e evoluir os itens de avaliação, incorporando as mais recentes tecnologias, regulamentações e experiência na prática. Neste sentido, esta investigação contribui para a melhoria do quadro de avaliação de bairros pré estabelecido pelo iiSBE Portugal, SBToolPT_Urban. A ferramenta fornece orientações para avaliar a sustentabilidade à escala do bairro, em Portugal. Para melhorar o quadro pretendido, o estudo fez uma análise comparativa dos indicadores de três principais ferramentas de avaliação de bairro relevantes para o desenvolvimento urbano sustentável, iiSBE SNTool, BREEAM Communities e LEED for Neighborhood Development, com os indicadores pré-estabelecidos do iiSBE SBToolPT - Urbano como o caso desta pesquisa. Esta comparação e análise permitem identificar os indicadores negligenciados e os fatores essenciais relacionados com a sustentabilidade dos bairros urbanos que pela sua importância têm potencial para serem adaptados pelo SBToolPT-Urban, para o contexto de Portugal. Esses novos indicadores em potencial também são avaliados para estarem alinhados com as Diretivas da UE. Além disso, é analisado o alinhamento dos indicadores do SBToolPT-Urban com as estratégias promovidas pelo(s) Nível(is), ISO 37120 e ODS. Este resultado deste estudo pode ajudar a preencher as lacunas relevantes com a questão da sustentabilidade abordada pela ferramenta e entender seu alinhamento com os critérios e padrões mundiais de avaliação de sustentabilidade. Isso pode influenciar no monitoramento e identificação de áreas problemáticas em relação às questões de sustentabilidade e facilitar comparações de sustentabilidade ao longo do tempo em áreas de bairro, a fim de adaptar novas medições e desenvolver estratégias de melhoria.The concept and practice of sustainability in urban planning have gained since the early 2000s global significance and have become increasingly mainstream in the policy-making process. The adoption of global frameworks like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, ISO standards for sustainable communities, and Level(s), is an opportunity to build more sustainable, innovative, and equitable towns and cities, with respect to natural resources and biodiversity. However, attaining sustainability requires addressing many fundamental issues at various levels, and achieving the goals and objectives of sustainability presents a great challenge for all segments of society. Therefore, the selection of sustainability indicators is essential to accurately measure the comparative level of sustainability. And, the sustainability indicators can be implemented according to the context limitations and specifications. However, the assessment tools may not always be able to reflect the level of sustainability objectively or accurately, if lacking the up-to-date and reliable national statistics. Therefore, refining and evolving of the assessment items is necessary, incorporating the latest technologies, regulations, and experience in practice. In this regard, this research contributes to the improvement of the pre-established evaluation framework of neighbourhoods by iiSBE Portugal, SBToolPT_Urban. The tool provides guidelines for evaluating the sustainability at the neighbourhood scale, in Portugal. In order to improve the intended framework, the study made a comparative analysis of the indicators of three main neighbourhood assessment tools relevant to sustainable urban development, iiSBE SNTool, BREEAM Communities, and LEED for Neighbourhood Development, with the pre-established indicators of iiSBE SBToolPT - Urban as the case of this research. This comparison and analysis make it possible to identify the overlooked indicators and essential factors related to the sustainability of the urban neighbourhoods that due to their importance have the potential to be adapted by SBToolPT -Urban, for the context of Portugal. These potential new indicators are evaluated to be aligned with EU Directives, as well. Besides, the alignment of the SBToolPT -Urban´s indicators with the strategies promoted by Level(s), ISO 37120, and SDGs, are analysed. This result of this study can help to fill the gaps relevant with the sustainability issue covered by the tool, and to understand its alignment with the worldwide sustainability assessment criteria and standards. This can influence the monitoring and identification of problem areas regarding the sustainability issues, and facilitating sustainability comparisons over time in neighbourhood areas, in order to adapt new measurements and developing improvement strategies

Assessment of a Decentralized Solution for Waste Plastic Management in Developing Regions

Rapid population growth, urbanization and availability of pre-packaged consumer goods have led to increased generation and consumption of plastic – so much so that it has become ubiquitous in the environment. An affordable, durable, and lightweight material of construction, plastic is used in innumerable products in every country on earth. However, this explosion of consumption coupled with the material’s significantly low degradability have led to serious plastic accumulation challenges, which are now an imminent threat to terrestrial and marine species globally. These challenges are especially acute in developing countries, where capital and infrastructure constraints, poor governmental regulation and lack of waste management education have led to post-consumer use plastic simply being discarded in unregulated dumps, open plots of land, streets, and waterways. As plastic accumulates in the ecosystem it poses significant negative health consequences due to improper disposal, release of harmful toxins from open incineration, and bioaccumulation of microplastic in the food chain. To address this challenge, this research applies a holistic approach to waste plastic management in developing countries by incorporating the principles of sustainability, appropriate technology, and circular economy to develop a locally managed decentralized circular economy (LMDCE). In a LMDCE, communities in developing regions are empowered to manage waste plastic accumulation at the source of origin by encouraging and implementing locally engineered, simple, and low-cost solutions that reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste plastic for reentrance into the local economy. In this analysis, the trash to tank (3T) approach is advocated as a favorable LMDCE solution for eliminating waste plastic from the ecosystem altogether by converting it into plastic‑derived fuel oil (PDFO) via thermal decomposition. The research further defines countries and communities most suitable for LMDCE; provides a tool for estimating waste plastic generation in regions lacking readily available waste management data; assesses the mass and energy balance of 3T in appropriate technology settings; assesses the composition and stability of PDFO; determines the generation and combustion emissions of PDFO; and identifies supply chain considerations necessary for sustainably implementing LMDCE and 3T. The proposed solution has also been tested in Kampala, Uganda as a case study

Examining Future Data Center Power Supply Infrastructures

The rapid expansion of data processing in the past few years has created a massive demand for data center installations worldwide, and energy conservation strategies have become crucial. The enormous increase in data center installations and their significant contribution to global energy consumption require the implementing of energy saving techniques and participating in supporting the power grid. This thesis presents an architecture-level review of power distribution systems in data centers, examining AC, DC, and hybrid architectures with a focus on enhancing efficiency and reliability One of the key areas that can be enhanced to improve the overall energy efficiency of data centers and the provision of ancillary services for the grid is the Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS). This thesis reviews the current state-of-the-art power supply systems and topologies mainly used in data centers and aims to identify ways to increase the overall energy efficiency of data center power supply systems. Moreover, this work presents a detailed analysis of the power supply losses and proposes systems that can improve the con- version efficiency of UPS systems under various loading conditions. The performance metrics in the data center business need to be more accurate. Therefore, the variety of performance metrics, considering energy efficiency, sustainability, reliability and costs, are analysed in the thesis. The conclusion of the thesis wraps up the findings and provides guidelines for planning the power supply infrastructure for various conditions

RE|Fab : How the 10% Investment Tax Credit Can Aid in the Creation of a Prefabricated System for the Rehabilitation of Non-Designated Historic Structures

Historically known as “the Workshop of the World”, Philadelphia was home to numerous industries that served as financial anchors for the neighborhoods surrounding them. However, due to a loss of industry these anchors have become dangerous, attractors of unsavory activity, and impediments to growth and safety. In order to reconnect the frayed social and economic fabrics that exist surrounding these buildings, a balance must be created between the building’s historic significance and the contemporary needs and potentials of the surrounding area. Although, many of these vacant buildings are old enough to be considered historic most are not historically designated. While there are numerous incentives available to ‘preserve’ buildings that are historically designated, it is the non-designated buildings that often offer more contemporary design flexibility. In order to bring these buildings back to life, the quantitative requirements of the 10% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for the rehabilitation of existing structures will be used as the spring board for the design. In addition, strategies that emphasize rapid, cost effective and flexible retrofit will be emphasized and techniques of prefabrication and rapid deployment will be explored. This thesis project explores how the implementation of a prefabricated, mass customizable, construction system into the rehabilitation of an existing building can help address issues of vacancy within the city. Can the creation of a prefabricated frame and panel system capable of being deployed within a structurally sound existing building begin to restitch the building to the neighborhood and the neighborhood to the city