The climate change-road safety-economy nexus:a system dynamics approach to understanding complex interdependencies

Road accidents have the highest externality costs to society and to the economy, even when compared to the externality damages associated with air emissions and oil dependency. Road safety is one of the most complicated topics, which involves many interdependencies, and so, a sufficiently thorough analysis of roadway safety will require a novel system-based approach in which the associated feedback relationships and causal effects are given appropriate consideration. The factors affecting accident frequency and severity are highly dependent on economic parameters, environmental factors and weather conditions. In this study, we try to use a system dynamics modeling approach to model the climate change-road safety-economy nexus, thereby investigating the complex interactions among these important areas by tracking how they affect each other over time. For this purpose, five sub-models are developed to model each aspect of the overall nexus and to interact with each other to simulate the overall system. As a result, this comprehensive model can provide a platform for policy makers to test the effectiveness of different policy scenarios to reduce the negative consequences of traffic accidents and improve road safety

Measures of a sustainable commute as a predictor of happiness

The ways in which we travel—by what mode, for how long, and for what purpose—can affect our sense of happiness and well-being. This paper assesses the relationships between measures of the sustainability of transportation systems in U.S. metropolitan areas and subjective well-being. Associations between self-reported happiness levels from the Gallup Healthways Well-being Index and commute data were examined for 187 core-based statistical areas (CBSA). Wealsosupplementthisquantitativeanalysisthroughbriefcasestudiesofhigh-andlow-performing happiness cities. Our quantitative results indicate that regions with higher commute mode shares by non-automobile modes generally had higher well-being scores, even when controlling for important economic predictors of happiness. We also find that pro-sustainable transportation policies can have implications for population-wide happiness and well-being. Our case studies indicate that both high and low scoring happiness cities demonstrate a dedicated commitment to improving sustainable transportation infrastructure. Our study suggests that cities that provide incentives for residents to use more sustainable commute modes may offer greater opportunity for happiness than those that do not

How circular design can contribute to social sustainability and legacy of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™? The case of innovative shipping container stadium

The circular economy proposes a paradigm shift from the ‘take-make-waste’ type of economic system and aims to foster innovation, resource efficiency, and waste prevention. Mega sporting events can be considered great opportunities to promote sustainable cities and communities and leave a lasting positive legacy after the post-game stage. Qatar will organize the upcoming FIFA World Cup in 2022 and Ras Abu Aboud (RAA) is designed as a fully reusable and modular shipping container stadium, which will be dismantled, relocated, and reused after the tournament. This study aims to present the first comprehensive analysis on the social sustainability and legacy aspects of a circular and sharing economy application for the FIFA World Cup organization. The research analyzes the entire life cycle phases of the RAA stadium including the raw material production, construction, operations, and end-of-life. The Ecoinvent v.3.7.1 is used to quantify the midpoint environmental and endpoint human health impacts. For its operation phase assessment, two operation scenarios are comparatively analyzed: one-year temporary operation (Scenario 1) and 50 years of permanent operation (Scenario 2). Later, a simulation-based sensitivity analysis is conducted. Finally, we discussed how circular and modular design thinking can bring long-lasting legacy post-event, through reuse and recycling from a socio-economic perspective. An important finding shows that circular design under Scenario 1 can save up to 60% of human health impacts and significantly reduce the material footprint and dependence on imported construction materials. This research will enhance future awareness for sustainability benefits of circular and sharing economy application adopted by mega sporting events concerning the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and FIFA's post-game legacy and sustainability strategies

Carbon footprint of construction industry: A global review and supply chain analysis

This paper conducts a global review and a macro-level supply chain analysis focusing on carbon footprint of construction industry worldwide for the period between 2009 and 2020 using the Scopus database. A total of 1833 journal articles are revealed with focus on carbon footprint in the field of construction in general, of which only 115 (6% of the total) studies have a macro-level analysis of the construction sector, providing a more holistic overview of the construction sector from various aspects. These macro-level studies were reviewed and classified based on journal, country, year, method, scope of analysis, type of construction, and period. The findings showed that approximately 60% of these studies focus on the Chinese construction industry and the majority of studies analyzed national-level (75%) and city-level (18%) carbon footprints of construction. On the contrary, global-level analysis has a lower share, which accounted for only 6% of reviewed articles. The review showed that more than 20% of studies use the input-output analysis as the main methodological approach to quantify macro-level carbon emission from construction sector, which is followed by the process-based life cycle assessment with 10% share, where more bottom-up approaches are employed. There are only a handful of articles found in the literature using a hybrid life cycle assessment and global multiregional input-output analysis for carbon footprint accounting of construction. Furthermore, there is also no study found in the literature, which presented a comprehensive regional and global supply chain analysis of construction carbon footprints. The results revealed that the largest portion of carbon emissions stem from the regional and global supply chains of the construction industries. The authors concluded that carbon reduction policies should not only consider the limited regional impacts; however, it must take into account the role of indirect, complex and interconnected global supply chains of construction industries

Global carbon accounting tool (GCAT) for manufacturing supply chains:the world model

This research presents a global carbon accounting tool (GCAT) developed by the Sustainable Systems & Solutions Lab (S3-Lab) at Istanbul Sehir University, Turkey. This tool is able to capture the regional and global carbon footprints of manufacturing supply chains for world's 40 major economies. The GCAT will enable users to conduct carbon footprint analysis for the specific industry of selected country in 5 steps (http://s3-lab.sehir.edu.tr/gcat.html). The European food and drink industry will be chosen as a case study to conduct supply chain-based carbon footprint analyses including production versus consumption based analysis, sector breakdown for supply chain components, scope-based analysis and impact-by-country analysis for supply chain carbon emissions

Uncertainty-Embedded Dynamic Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Framework: An Ex-Ante Perspective On The Impacts Of Alternative Vehicle Options

Alternative vehicle technologies have a great potential to minimize the transportation-related environmental impacts, reduce the reliance of the U.S. on imported petroleum, and increase energy security. However, they introduce new uncertainties related to their environmental, economic, and social impacts and certain challenges for widespread adoption. In this study, a novel method, uncertainty-embedded dynamic life cycle sustainability assessment framework, is developed to address both methodological challenges and uncertainties in transportation sustainability research. The proposed approach provides a more comprehensive, system-based sustainability assessment framework by capturing the dynamic relations among the parameters within the U.S. transportation system as a whole with respect to its environmental, social, and economic impacts. Using multivariate uncertainty analysis, likelihood of the impact reduction potentials of different vehicle types, as well as the behavioral limits of the sustainability potentials of each vehicle type are analyzed. Seven sustainability impact categories are dynamically quantified for four different vehicle types (internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles) from 2015 to 2050. Although impacts of electric vehicles have the largest uncertainty, they are expected (90% confidence) to be the best alternative in long-term for reducing human health impacts and air pollution from transportation. While results based on deterministic (average) values indicate that electric vehicles have greater potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, plug-in hybrid vehicles have the largest potential according to the results with 90% confidence interval

Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Alternative Passenger Vehicles

Sustainable transportation and mobility are key components and central to sustainable development. This research aims to reveal the macro-level social, economic, and environmental impacts of alternative vehicle technologies in the U.S. The studied vehicle technologies are conventional gasoline, hybrid, plug-in hybrid with four different all-electric ranges, and full battery electric vehicles (BEV). In total, 19 macro level sustainability indicators are quantified for a scenario in which electric vehicles are charged through the existing U. S. power grid with no additional infrastructure, and an extreme scenario in which electric vehicles are fully charged with solar charging stations. The analysis covers all life cycle phases from the material extraction, processing, manufacturing, and operation phases to the end-of-life phases of vehicles and batteries. Results of this analysis revealed that the manufacturing phase is the most influential phase in terms of socio-economic impacts compared to other life cycle phases, whereas operation phase is the most dominant phase in the terms of environmental impacts and some of the socio-economic impacts such as human health and economic cost of emissions. Electric vehicles have less air pollution cost and human health impacts compared to conventional gasoline vehicles. The economic cost of emissions and human health impact reduction potential can be up to 45% and 35%, respectively, if electric vehicles are charged through solar charging stations. Electric vehicles have potential to generate income for low and medium skilled workers in the U.S. In addition to quantified sustainability indicators, some sustainability metrics were developed to compare relative sustainability performance alternative passenger vehicles. BEV has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions and ecological land footprint per $ of its contribution to the U.S. GDP, and has the lowest ecological footprint per unit of its energy consumption. The only sustainability metrics that does not favor the BEV is the water- energy ratio, where the conventional gasoline vehicle performed best

Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Alternative Passenger Vehicles

Sustainable transportation and mobility are key components and central to sustainable development. This research aims to reveal the macro-level social, economic, and environmental impacts of alternative vehicle technologies in the U.S. The studied vehicle technologies are conventional gasoline, hybrid, plug-in hybrid with four different all-electric ranges, and full battery electric vehicles (BEV). In total, 19 macro level sustainability indicators are quantified for a scenario in which electric vehicles are charged through the existing U. S. power grid with no additional infrastructure, and an extreme scenario in which electric vehicles are fully charged with solar charging stations. The analysis covers all life cycle phases from the material extraction, processing, manufacturing, and operation phases to the end-of-life phases of vehicles and batteries. Results of this analysis revealed that the manufacturing phase is the most influential phase in terms of socio-economic impacts compared to other life cycle phases, whereas operation phase is the most dominant phase in the terms of environmental impacts and some of the socio-economic impacts such as human health and economic cost of emissions. Electric vehicles have less air pollution cost and human health impacts compared to conventional gasoline vehicles. The economic cost of emissions and human health impact reduction potential can be up to 45% and 35%, respectively, if electric vehicles are charged through solar charging stations. Electric vehicles have potential to generate income for low and medium skilled workers in the U.S. In addition to quantified sustainability indicators, some sustainability metrics were developed to compare relative sustainability performance alternative passenger vehicles. BEV has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions and ecological land footprint per $ of its contribution to the U.S. GDP, and has the lowest ecological footprint per unit of its energy consumption. The only sustainability metrics that does not favor the BEV is the water- energy ratio, where the conventional gasoline vehicle performed best

Integrating Triple Bottom Line Input-Output Analysis Into Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Framework: The Case For Us Buildings

Purpose: With the increasing concerns related to integration of social and economic dimensions of the sustainability into life cycle assessment (LCA), traditional LCA approach has been transformed into a new concept, which is called as life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This study aims to contribute the existing LCSA framework by integrating several social and economic indicators to demonstrate the usefulness of input-output modeling on quantifying sustainability impacts. Additionally, inclusion of all indirect supply chain-related impacts provides an economy-wide analysis and a macro-level LCSA. Current research also aims to identify and outline economic, social, and environmental impacts, termed as triple bottom line (TBL), of the US residential and commercial buildings encompassing building construction, operation, and disposal phases. Methods: To achieve this goal, TBL economic input-output based hybrid LCA model is utilized for assessing building sustainability of the US residential and commercial buildings. Residential buildings include single and multi-family structures, while medical buildings, hospitals, special care buildings, office buildings, including financial buildings, multi-merchandise shopping, beverage and food establishments, warehouses, and other commercial structures are classified as commercial buildings according to the US Department of Commerce. In this analysis, 16 macro-level sustainability assessment indicators were chosen and divided into three main categories, namely environmental, social, and economic indicators. Results and discussion: Analysis results revealed that construction phase, electricity use, and commuting played a crucial role in much of the sustainability impact categories. The electricity use was the most dominant component of the environmental impacts with more than 50 % of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption through all life cycle stages of the US buildings. In addition, construction phase has the largest share in income category with 60 % of the total income generated through residential building\u27s life cycle. Residential buildings have higher shares in all of the sustainability impact categories due to their relatively higher economic activity and different supply chain characteristics. Conclusions: This paper is an important attempt toward integrating the TBL perspective into LCSA framework. Policymakers can benefit from such approach and quantify macro-level environmental, economic, and social impacts of their policy implications simultaneously. Another important outcome of this study is that focusing only environmental impacts may misguide decision-makers and compromise social and economic benefits while trying to reduce environmental impacts. Hence, instead of focusing on environmental impacts only, this study filled the gap about analyzing sustainability impacts of buildings from a holistic perspective. © 2014 Springer-Verlag

Towards Greening The U.S. Residential Building Stock.A System Dynamics Approach

Energy consumption in residential buildings is one of the major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S. Most of the efforts to minimize these emissions contemplate on construction of new high performance green buildings rather than retrofitting the existing residential building stock, which has the greatest emission reduction potential. In this paper, rapidly increasing GHG emissions trend associated with the U.S. residential building stock is addressed. The objective is to reduce or stabilize the increasing GHG emissions trend as a result of sprawling residential building stock across the country. System Dynamics (SD) is utilized to study the mid and long term impacts of green building related policies on the GHG emissions stock. SD model is built based on stock and flow diagram, which is derived from causal loop diagram that consists of 12 endogenous and 2 exogenous variables and causal relationships. Three important action areas are considered for policy making, namely.high performance green building construction, building retrofitting, and net zero building construction. From the three policy fields, a total of 19 policy strategies (7 single and 12 hybrid) is developed and the impacts of the policies on GHG emissions trend are experimented until 2050. Among the proposed policies, retrofitting-focused policies are found to be more effective on stabilizing the GHG emissions trend compared to the policies related to the construction of new net zero and high performance green buildings. On the other hand, hybrid implementation of policies from the three policy fields provided the greatest reduction in the GHG emissions trend. One of the most important outcomes of this study is that focusing on increasing the construction rate of net zero or high performance green buildings alone does not help with stabilizing/reducing the GHG emissions trend unless the retrofitting of existing residential building stock is seriously considered as a strict policy along with green building policies. Analysis results also revealed that the residential green building movement itself is found to be far from being the driver policy in stabilizing the rapidly increasing GHG emissions trend in the long run. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd