Assessing Resource Efficiency of City Neighbourhoods: A Methodological Framework for Structuring and Practical Application of Indicators in Urban Planning

Today, changing framework conditions of living and working in cities drive urban planning processes for refurbishment, notably at the level of neighbourhoods, and provide a window of opportunity to enhance resource efficiency and sustainable urban development. Indicators, as part of sustainability assessment methods, may support the identification of the most beneficial planning alternatives or the selection of measures. However, the fact that a multitude of indicators are proposed in the literature discourages their actual use and hampers a sound application for decision support. To tackle these challenges, a manual has been developed proposing a framework for the use of indicators in urban planning. In this contribution, the theoretical foundations of the proposed framework are analysed. A conceptual outline of the framework is presented, which as its core has a typology of indicators, and its embedding in urban planning processes is discussed. The framework combines a theoretically concise unifying structure with a flexible practical approach for application in diverse areas of resource efficiency. Thus, it shall enhance transparency as well as comparability in the use of indicators, foster communication between stakeholders and in the long run support the application of indicators and use of sustainability assessment methods as regular parts of urban planning

Ökobilanz-Bericht für den Flugzeugvorentwurf von Flugtransportalternativen eines 19-Sitzer Kleinflugzeugs

Life Cycle Assessment of electrified aircraft transportatio

Assessing Resource Efficiency of City Neighbourhoods: A Methodological Framework for Structuring and Practical Application of Indicators in Urban Planning

Today, changing framework conditions of living and working in cities drive urban planning processes for refurbishment, notably at the level of neighbourhoods, and provide a window of opportunity to enhance resource efficiency and sustainable urban development. Indicators, as part of sustainability assessment methods, may support the identification of the most beneficial planning alternatives or the selection of measures. However, the fact that a multitude of indicators are proposed in the literature discourages their actual use and hampers a sound application for decision support. To tackle these challenges, a manual has been developed proposing a framework for the use of indicators in urban planning. In this contribution, the theoretical foundations of the proposed framework are analysed. A conceptual outline of the framework is presented, which as its core has a typology of indicators, and its embedding in urban planning processes is discussed. The framework combines a theoretically concise unifying structure with a flexible practical approach for application in diverse areas of resource efficiency. Thus, it shall enhance transparency as well as comparability in the use of indicators, foster communication between stakeholders and in the long run support the application of indicators and use of sustainability assessment methods as regular parts of urban planning

How Much Excess Heat Might Be Used in Buildings? A Spatial Analysis at the Municipal Level in Germany

Excess heat can make an important contribution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the heating and cooling sector. Due to the local character of heat, the local excess heat potential is decisive for using excess heat. However, the spatially distributed potential and the subdivision of the potential into different subsectors have not been sufficiently investigated in Germany. Here we analyse the excess heat potential in Germany according to different subsectors and spatially distributed to the municipal level. We use data of more than 115,000 records on exhaust gas and fuel input from over 11,000 industrial sites. We calculate the site-specific excess heat potential and check its plausibility using the fuel input of the respective industrial sites. Finally, we compare the excess heat potential with the residential heat demand at the municipal level. Our results show that the excess heat potential in Germany is about 36.6 TWh/a, and that in 148 municipalities, the annual excess heat potential is greater than 50% of the annual heat demand. In conclusion, there is a large potential for excess heat utilisation in Germany. In some regions, more excess heat is available throughout the year than is needed to provide space heat and hot water

Approach to assess the performance of waste management systems towards a circular economy: waste management system development stage concept (WMS-DSC)

In this paper a novel holistic approach to assess the performance of waste management systems (WMSs) is presented. The so called WMS development stage concept (WMS-DSC) can be used by practitioners or decision makers to assess primarily the WMS at the municipal level. The WMS categorization into development stages notably enables a clear identification of symptoms, the causes of possible waste mismanagement and potential measures for improvement. The concept can be used to (i) assess the status quo of a WMS and, based on this, identify possible measures for implementation; (ii) check whether relevant system conditions to implement a specific measure are met; (iii) monitor the progress of a WMS; and (iv) compare the WMSs of different cities. The concept consists of five development stages: stage 1 – absence or lack of essential elements of waste management; stage 2 – reliable collection and improved landfill sites; stage 3 – separate collection and sorting; stage 4 – expansion of the recycling industry; and stage 5 – circular economy (CE), waste as a resource. While stage 1 describes the absence of or a very immature and malfunctioning WMS, stage 5 stands for a fully implemented CE. By equating the highest stage to the objectives that have evolved today globally for a sustainable CE, this concept can be used to identify targets and the most suitable steps for an individual WMS towards a future best practice of CE. • A holistic approach to assess waste management systems’ performance is presented. • A benchmarking tool to estimate the circular economy (CE) evolvement in cities. • Usable for cities both in the Global North and South to identify CE potentials

Ökobilanzierung 2009 : Ansätze und Weiterentwicklungen zur Operationalisierung von Nachhaltigkeit ; Tagungsband der fünften Ökobilanz-Werkstatt, Campus Weihenstephan, Freising, 5. bis 7. Oktober 2009

Als entscheidungsunterstützendes Werkzeug im Sinn nachhaltiger Entwicklung ist Ökobilanzierung einerseits standardisiert, unterliegt andererseits einer steten Weiterentwicklung. Der Tagungsband zur fünften Ökobilanz-Werkstatt 2009 beinhaltet Beiträge und Diskussionen u.a. zur Allokationsfrage, Product Carbon Footprint, Fragestellungen im Zusammenhang nachwachsender Rohstoffe wie Nutzungskonkurrenzen und Flächeninanspruchnahme - um nur einige wenige Stichworte zu nennen