Reflections on Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research with Undergraduate Students

Purpose – The purpose of the article was to convey experiences with pioneering interdisciplinary sustainability research by involving undergraduate students. Experiences with initiating and conducting multiple research projects spanning engineering and sustainability are described, and recommendations for programs and faculty in other institutions of higher education that plan to implement or support similar endeavors are discussed. Design/methodology/approach – The article and presented conclusions are based on three separate research projects, where specific examples as to how those projects were developed as well as challenges and rewards faced during the project are described. Findings – It is concluded that faculty should not refrain from working with students from different backgrounds and disciplines. Bringing different backgrounds and perspectives to a project enables a big picture view of problems at hand and leads to better solutions that are more in line with the three pillars of sustainability, while at the same time providing valuable hands-on experience to undergraduate students. Originality/value – By its very definition, sustainability is an interdisciplinary field and, thus, requires novel approaches for education and research compared to other settled fields of science. A viable way to increase the role of sustainability in higher education is to foster interdisciplinary research and teaching. The institutions role in promoting such efforts has been discussed together with example strategies that were found to be successful as well as those that were not. The article presents results of potential successes in projects where the traditional disciplinary bounds have been breached, and an interdisciplinary approach has been used to achieve project goals. The article also gives examples on what types of sustainability research can be conducted with undergraduate students

Service Life Prediction of Residential Interior Finishes for Life Cycle Assessment

Service life of building products has an important influence on life cycle assessment (LCA) results of buildings. The goal of this study was to propose a systematic approach to estimate service life of building products by including both technical and social factors. A hybrid service life prediction method, combining the statistical approach described in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard G166, with the Factor Method adopted by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 15686 was proposed. In their current forms, the two methods are not suitable to provide accurate lifetime estimates for the wide variety of products that are used in buildings. Statistical analysis was preferred over a deterministic approach. Regression analysis was used to define Weibull distribution parameters for each product. These distributions were then used to calculate the mean estimated service life of products with an 80% confidence interval. Using actual lifetime observed from practice instead of design lifetime for reference service life was preferred. This enables the use of a smaller range of coefficients for each factor affecting service life, which decreases subjectivity and increases reliability of results. Example service life estimates were demonstrated for common residential interior finishes that are replaced more frequently, and therefore require more maintenance planning and potentially have significant environmental impacts. Unless additional data points were gathered for investigated products, the presented lifetime distribution results can be directly applied to LCA studies

Assessing the Resilience of LEED Certified Green Buildings

The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification program is dedicated to the design of sustainable buildings by incentivizing reductions in energy, water, and building materials consumption, while at the same time enhancing occupant health and overall community connectivity. While green buildings certified by the program do reduce the environmental footprint of buildings, they must also be designed for resilience to withstand external stressors that may arise over the buildings’ lifetime for it to be truly sustainable. Therefore, a resilient building should be able to adapt and remain functional while under pressure from more frequent and severe climatic events. The goal of the study was to analyze existing inherent overlaps between resilient design principles and the LEED certification system. Synergistic opportunities together with improvements for better integrating resilient design into the LEED checklist, and hence green buildings, by modifying existing or proposing new credits were discussed. The use of climate projections instead of historical climate data during design was recommended. Regional priority credits need to be specified further to address the unique regional needs of each project to improve resilience in light of a particular region’s future climate outlook

Vulnerability of Coastal Connecticut to Sea Level rise: Land Inundation and Impacts to Residential Property

Vulnerability indices at the global or national scales require considerable data aggregation where local economic and social impacts remain unnoticed. The goal of this study was to analyze the extent of inundated land from sea level rise and its economic impacts to residential property in coastal communities. Geographic data were integrated with economic and social data at parcel level resolution through GIS. Cumulative land inundation in seven coastal municipalities was calculated as 15 and 25 km2, while direct economic costs to residential property was estimated to be $1.3 billion and$2.2 billion for 1 and 2 m sea level rise, respectively. Normalised results were $14 million/km coastline and$4 million/km combined coastline and rivers for 1 m sea level rise. Results indicate that while impacts will mainly occur along the coastline, inland parcels as far as 3 km from the coastline situated along rivers are equally at risk of flooding. While results of the study can be used to estimate economic impacts for other locations that share similar geographic characteristics and development patterns, land use types, proximity to water bodies, and property values are some factors that may lead to differences when these numbers are extrapolated elsewhere

Resilience of Rail Infrastructure in the U.S. Northeast Corridor

The New Haven Line reports a record number of passengers every year as it continues to experience a steady increase in ridership. In 2012, the railroad reported 39 million passengers, with a further increase of 46% predicted over the next 18 years eventually reaching 57 million trips annually by 2030. Despite the great importance of the rail infrastructure for the region, problems exist for operating under harsh weather-related conditions, and when congestion or frequent malfunctions disrupts system timeliness with speed restrictions. These on-time performance and reliability issues have significant economic, environmental, and societal impacts. The aim of this study was a comprehensive analysis of the history, current operation, and projected future of the New Haven Line in order to overcome its current vulnerabilities and improve its resilience as a viable transportation system. Strategies were explored to advance the resilience of U.S. rail network with an awareness of safety, sustainability, and timeliness. Metro-North and Amtrak were the focus of the study, specifically the seventy-two mile stretch of the New Haven Line providing passenger and freight service between New York and Connecticut. To that end, the existing rail transport infrastructure of the Northeast Corridor of the U.S. has been analyzed, causes of current problems and future potential hotspots have been discussed, and strategies to improve the overall system resilience has been proposed as part of the study. The recommended changes include incorporating existing technologies to withstand inclement weather and making structural upgrades to the tracks and bridges that form the New Haven Line. The current status of each factor together with recommended changes have been discussed

Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Performance of Biochar Compared with Activated Carbon: A Meta-Analysis

As the commercial production and distribution of biochar continues to grow internationally, and its applications diversifying from its early uses as soil amendment, it is important to study the environmental impacts and economic performance of biochar in comparison to activated carbon in order to assess its value. The goal of the study was to assess, through a meta-analysis, the environmental and economic performance of biochar in comparison to activated carbon under an equivalent functional unit to adsorb heavy metals. More than 80 data points on adsorption capacity of biochar and activated carbon were identified through literature, which were statistically analyzed as part of the study. Biochar was found to have lower energy demand and global warming potential impact than activated carbon, where average energy demands were calculated as 6.1 MJ/kg and 97 MJ/kg and average greenhouse gas emissions calculated as −0.9 kg CO2eq/kg and 6.6 kg CO2eq/kg for biochar and activated carbon, respectively. When adsorption of heavy metals were used as the functional unit during analysis, results indicate that there is typically an order of magnitude difference between the two materials, where biochar was found to have lower environmental impacts. The environmental impact resulting from long distance transportation of biochar would not overturn this conclusion. The adsorption cost of biochar was lower than activated carbon to remove chromium and zinc with a 95% confidence. Adsorption cost for lead and copper were found to be comparable, and therefore the specific type of biochar and its price could shift results both ways. There is evidence that biochar, if engineered correctly for the task, could be at least as effective as activated carbon and at a lower cost

Impact of Lifetime on U.S. Residential Building LCA Results

Purpose: Many life cycle assessment (LCA) studies do not adequately address the actual lifetime of buildings and building products, but rather assume a typical value. The goal of this study was to determine the impact of lifetime on residential building LCA results. Including accurate lifetime data into LCA allows a better understanding of a product’s environmental impact that would ultimately enhance the accuracy of LCA results. Methods This study focuses on refining the U.S. residential building lifetime, as well as lifetime of interior renovation products that are commonly used as interior finishes in homes, to improve LCA results. Residential building lifetime data that presents existing trends in the U.S. was analyzed as part of the study. Existing data on product emissions were synthesized to form statistical distributions that were used instead of deterministic values. Product emissions data were used to calculate life cycle impacts of a residential model that was based on median U.S. residential home size. Results were compared to existing residential building LCA literature to determine the impact of using updated, statistical lifetime data. A Monte Carlo analysis was performed for uncertainty analysis. Sensitivity analysis results were used to identify hotspots within the LCA results. Results and discussion Statistical analysis of U.S. residential building lifetime data indicate that average building lifetime is 61 years and has a linearly increasing trend. Interior renovation energy consumption of the residential model that was developed by using average U.S. conditions was found to have a mean of 220 GJ over the life cycle of the model. Ratio of interior renovation energy consumption to pre-use energy consumption, which includes embodied energy of materials, construction activities, and associated transportation was calculated to have a mean of 34% for regular homes and 22% for low-energy homes. Ratio of interior renovation to life cycle energy consumption of residential buildings was calculated to have a mean of 3.9% for regular homes and 7.6% for low-energy homes. Conclusions Choosing an arbitrary lifetime for buildings and interior finishes, or excluding interior renovation impacts introduces a noteworthy amount of error into residential building LCA, especially as the relative importance of materials use increases due to growing number of low-energy buildings that have lower use phase impacts

Application of GIS to Prioritize Brownfield Sites for Green Building Construction Based on LEED Criteria

Although there are many initiatives to create incentives for investors and developers to invest in and redevelop brownfield sites, efficient prioritization of brownfields by taking into account environmental, economic, and social constraints remains a challenge. This study introduces a method to screen numerous brownfields over large geographic areas by using geographic information systems (GIS) and to assess and prioritize such sites for green building suitability based on leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) criteria. A case study was completed for the greater Bridgeport, Connecticut region. With 279 brownfield sites, the city has among the highest number of brownfields in the state. Variables chosen to determine suitability and prioritization were based on LEED version 4 for New Construction and Major Renovation. Chosen variables input into GIS make up 13 points on the LEED checklist. The developed method proved to be efficient for analyzing large numbers of brownfields, making it a viable option for governments and developers alike to make informed decisions for brownfield redevelopment. The study demonstrates that GIS can be used to streamline prioritization of brownfield sites, while at the same time guiding site selection for green buildings

Prospects for Meeting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards in the U.S.

In 2013, the transportation sector accounted for 34% of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions, with no significant change from prior years. Efforts to improve vehicle transportation efficiency and curb associated environmental emissions had led to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for passenger cars and light trucks initially introduced in 1975. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has phased in new standards recently that require an average combined fleetwide fuel economy of 35.1 - 35.4 mpg by 2017, 40.3 - 41.0 mpg by 2021, and 48.7 - 49.7 mpg by 2025. The new legislation has the potential to reduce overall U.S. emissions by close to 6% should the 2025 goals be attained. To reach these targets, compliance levels set to begin in 2017 will require a fine to be paid for every 0.1 mpg a manufacturer’s fleet average is below the compliance target. The goal of this study was to assess the potential for CAFE to achieve the desired average fleet fuel economy goals set forth in the U.S., and evaluate its past effectiveness at reducing actual on-road fuel consumption. The possibility of the 2017-2025 CAFE standards to be more or less successful than the 2011-2016 standards at meeting fuel economy goals were evaluated together with strategies that auto manufacturers would most likely use to meet the 2017 - 2025 CAFE standards. The study analyzed past transportation efficiency trends and future projection models, and explored the industry and consumer-side impacts of the CAFE standard within the proposed timeframe. The possibility of automakers adapting to presented changes quickly to meet the increasingly strict CAFE standards and keeping up with improving the average fleet fuel economy seem difficult at best. While the effectiveness of allowances and credits similar to a cap and trade mechanism has prevented a major shortfall between CAFE standards and average fleet fuel economy to date, it is likely that most manufacturers will not be able to adapt in time to avoid facing fines moving into the future

Embedding Sustainability in Lean Six Sigma Efforts

The emphasis on the concept of sustainability in businesses and operations is growing either due to increasing public interest, regulatory pressures, or corporate social responsibility. However, where and how to integrate sustainability needs further development for broadening its applications. Using Lean and Six Sigma (LSS) principles in sustainability studies is becoming popular in research and practice. The common approach in these studies is to identify a sustainability project followed by current state sustainability performance assessment, and then work towards improving sustainability performance using LSS tools. The goal of this study was to develop a model framework to fully embed sustainability into any LSS project building on current practices. The wide coverage of LSS, its effectiveness record, and its overlap with sustainability goals establish the foundation for expanding LSS methodology to include sustainability concepts. The proposed framework is not specific to an industry, but is intended to be applicable to the wide spectrum of projects where LSS can be applied. Examples were provided from manufacturing and construction industries in the study. The existing methodologies are framed to target only sustainability initiatives while the presented framework aims to integrate sustainability into any type of improvement initiative. Furthermore, existing methodologies focus almost solely on environmental and economic sustainability, whereas the presented study includes social dimension too. Both academicians and professionals will benefit from the presented framework as it provides a different perspective than what is found in literature enabling broader applications, together with concrete steps and examples demonstrating its implementation, use, and potential benefits