30 research outputs found
Holistic assessment of sustainable urban development
Introducing the SUE-MoT (metrics, models and toolkits for whole-life sustainable urban development) series, this paper highlights some of the barriers that need to be addressed if the vision for holistic assessment is to be realised. The complexities of sustainability assessment raised in this paper will be further discussed in detail in the SUE-MoT series of papers that will be published in forthcoming issues of this journal. This paper highlights the priorities to address when assessment tools are presented to decision makers of urban development projects. This discussion is limited to the issues, values and solutions in the UK context
Assessing sustainability in housing LED urban regeneration : insights from a housing association in Northern England
How far do current assessment methods allow the thorough evaluation of sustainable urban regeneration? Would it be useful, to approach the evaluation
of the environmental and social impacts of housing regeneration schemes,
by making both hidden pitfalls and potentials explicit, and budgeting costs
and benefits in the stakeholdersâ perspective? The paper aims at answering
these questions, by focusing on a case study located in the Manchester area,
the City West Housing Trust, a nonprofit housing association. Drawing from
extensive fieldwork and including several interviews with key experts from
this housing association, the paper first attempts to monetize the environmental and social value of two extant projects â a high-rise housing estate
and an environmentally-led program. It then discusses whether and how a
stakeholder-oriented approach would allow more engagement of both current
and potential funders in the projects at hand. Findings from both the literature and the empirical data that was gathered show how in current housing regeneration processes, room for significant improvements in terms of assessment methods still exist. Findings additionally show that the environmental
and social spillovers are largely disregarded because of a gap in the evaluation
tools. This may also hinder the potential contributions of further funders in
the achievements of higher impacts in terms of sustainability
Association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study
Background
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study.
Methods
We analysed cross-sectional data from 28â823 adults (â„40â
years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1â
s (FEV1)/FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income.
Results
Overall, working in settings with potentially high exposure to dusts or fumes was associated with respiratory symptoms but not lung function differences. The most common occupation was farming. Compared to people not working in any of the 11 considered occupations, those who were farmers for â„20â
years were more likely to have chronic cough (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.19â1.94), wheeze (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16â1.63) and dyspnoea (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.53â2.20), but not lower FVC (ÎČ=0.02â
L, 95% CI â0.02â0.06â
L) or lower FEV1/FVC (ÎČ=0.04%, 95% CI â0.49â0.58%). Some findings differed by sex and gross national income.
Conclusion
At a population level, the occupational exposures considered in this study do not appear to be major determinants of differences in lung function, although they are associated with more respiratory symptoms. Because not all work settings were included in this study, respiratory surveillance should still be encouraged among high-risk dusty and fume job workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.publishedVersio
Integrated assessment of urban sustainability
Urban areas are recognised as having a major influence in the drive towards making development more sustainable. Consequently, robust and comprehensive methodologies for the assessment of sustainability in the urban context are essential for urban decision makers such as planners, architects, engineers and managers. This paper describes the method and main findings of a scoping study undertaken by the 'Metrics, Models and Toolkits for Whole Life Sustainable Urban Development' consortium of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's Sustainable Environment Programme in the UK (Sue-MoT) to determine gaps and needs in current urban sustainability assessment tools. The paper also introduces a main programme of research which will address key priorities identified. During the study, 675 tools applicable to the assessment of sustainability in regard to urban developments were identified with 165 of these undergoing evaluations against a series of criteria identified as important for the integrated assessment of urban sustainability. Additionally, stakeholders, including urban decision makers and tool developers, were canvassed on the strengths and weaknesses of current assessment tools and on future user requirements. The results of the work confirmed that there is no tool currently capable of simultaneously covering all assessment criteria but demonstrated the need not for a new tool but for a framework that integrates those that already exist. Consequently, the consortium proposes the development of an integrated sustainability assessment toolkit (ISAT)