Cycle Approach Research Articles

Supporting sustainability assessment of building element materials using a BIM-plug-in for multi-criteria decision-making

The environmental crisis requires the immediate implementation of accurate and robust sustainable solutions throughout the building life cycle. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is a scientifically recognised method that integrates the triple dimensions of the life cycle approach, and thereby enabling the evaluation of the performance of mitigation strategies implemented in building projects. However, implementing the LCSA in buildings is limited by the weighting of environmental, economic, and social dimensions to select the best option regarding the numerous materials available. In order to fill this knowledge gap, the paper aims to present the developed Smart BIM3LCA tool, which supports multi-dimensional assessment during the project´s early design steps. Automatic integration of the LCSA, a multi-criteria decision-making tool such as TOPSIS, and building information modelling (BIM), was developed to support the selection of building materials. The BIM plug-in was then validated through its application to a multi-family residential building to select the most sustainable materials during the project´s early design stage.

Balancing Efficiency and Environmental Impacts in Greek Viticultural Management Systems: An Integrated Life Cycle and Data Envelopment Approach

Greek wines excel in quality and exports, but the viticultural sector faces significant challenges from complex supply chains, shifting European policies, and the growing need for sustainability amidst climate change and economic pressures. External environmental costs could affect significantly the decision-making process of farmers, reflecting a broader evaluation of sustainability in viticulture. This study evaluates the economic and environmental impacts of organic, integrated, and conventional viticulture management systems in Drama, Greece using a life cycle (LC) approach and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to determine efficiency, quantify environmental impacts in monetary terms, and incorporate these costs into the analysis. Organic management systems have lower energy consumption and emissions compared to integrated and conventional systems, with organic systems ranging from 4546 to 6573 kWh/ha in energy use and 1358 to 1795 kg CO2 eq./ha in emissions, while integrated and conventional systems range from 9157 to 12,109 kWh/ha and 2961 to 3661 kg CO2 eq./ha. The DEA analysis reveals that most organic systems perform efficiently when accounting for environmental costs, whereas conventional systems face significant efficiency declines, with only a few maintaining optimal performance. Policy-supported transitions based on the provider gets principle are crucial for balancing economic and environmental goals in viticulture, as the integration of shadow prices significantly impacts efficiency.

Implementing Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) in Chatbots for Multi Usaha Raya

The furniture industry is an important sector in Indonesia that supports the economy and provides quality furniture. An in-depth understanding of the furniture business is essential for industry players to improve operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. This research aims to develop a chatbot for Multi Usaha Raya furniture company to improve customer service and operational efficiency. In its development, the Machine Learning Model Development Life Cycle (MDLC) and deep learning approach using the Flask platform are employed. LSTM, a type of recurrent neural network (RNN) architecture capable of handling long-term dependencies, is utilized in this chatbot model. The model training results show an accuracy of 99%, validation accuracy of 96%, loss of 0.1%, and validation loss of 0.2% after 200 epochs, demonstrating the effectiveness of the LSTM algorithm for developing a chatbot in this company.

Wastewater treatment plants circular performance models evaluation: Portugal case-study

Population growth, economic growth, and changes in societal habits have led to significant changes in resource consumption. Therefore, it's crucial to accelerate the “reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover” of resources to ensure the balance of ecosystems, and water is surely one of the most fundamental resources. The acceleration of this approach in the water cycle makes sense only if we combine a circular economy (CE) transition with a sustainable perspective. In this context, more rational usage of water resources (which are under pressure) and more sustainable wastewater practices are expected to be a way towards the CE in the water and wastewater sector. This study provides a description and evaluation of existing frameworks that can be used to measure and assess the level of circularity of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The treatment of urban wastewater requires new concepts of management and operation for the adaptation of existing plants, which lack robustness and flexibility, to face these new challenges and requirements because we can no longer continue to look at the WWTP only as treatment units, but as wastewater resource recovery facilities. This transformation must be transposed according to a matrix that allows the assessment to describe the current situation, analyse the problem, identify vulnerabilities and opportunities, identify, and evaluate measures, and identify and evaluate strategies. Considering that decision-makers face profound uncertainties such as climate change, population growth, population needs, innovative technologies, economic developments, ecosystem preservation and the impacts of human and natural activities.

Methodological Challenges in Aligning EPDs with Whole Life Carbon Limits for Buildings: A B2B Approach

Abstract The environmental performance from the materials used in buildings is pivotal in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector; buildings are in the top three of the world’s most significant contributors of GHG emissions and are responsible for one-fifth of the overall resource consumption. Alongside multiple countries enforcing legal GHG limits and requiring Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for new buildings, the availability of product-level environmental data, known as Type III Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) has increased exponentially. EPDs were originally used for Business-to-Business purposes but are now the main data source for building-level LCAs. However, this often comes with a large set of uncertainties, as EPDs are still evolving as a documentation approach, and not always readily applicable in the whole life cycle approach. There are a multitude of complex areas to engage into, this study focuses on how use-stage modules are documented in EPDs, and how varied approaches create further complexity and perils in relation to their use in LCA and regulations, in the sense of, potential leading to high uncertainties and wrongful interpretations. The study aims to address the methodological gaps associated with the use of EPDs as data inputs in legally binding LCA requirements particularly concerning modules B1-5, which constitute the embodied part of the use-stage. The findings reveal a significant margin of error if EPDs are not correctly implemented, underscoring the importance of the Business-to-Business documentation approach.

Potential cycling boosts the electrochemical conversion of polyethylene terephthalate-derived alcohol into valuable chemicals

The electrocatalytic valorization of polyethylene terephthalate-derived ethylene glycol to valuable glycolic acid offers considerable economic and environmental benefits. However, conventional methods face scalability issues due to rapid activity decay of noble metal electrocatalysts. We demonstrate that a dynamic potential cycling approach, which alternates the electrode potential between oxidizing and reducing values, significantly mitigates surface deactivation of noble metals during electrochemical oxidation of ethylene glycol. This method enhances catalyst activity by 20 times compared to a constant-potential approach, maintaining this performance for up to 60 h with minimal deactivation. In situ Raman and X-ray absorption spectroscopy show that this effectiveness results from efficient removal of surface oxide during the reaction. The strategy is applicable to polyethylene terephthalate hydrolysates and various noble metals, such as palladium, gold, and platinum, with palladium showing a high conversion rate in recent studies. Our approach offers an efficient and durable method for electrochemical upcycling of biomass-derived compounds.

ENHANCING PERFORMANCE OF MANGO FARMING PROJECTS THROUGH PARTICIPATORY PROJECT MANAGMENT

Objective: This paper advocates for a paradigm shift from the traditional project management to a participatory approach throughout the management cycle, for increased performance of mango farming projects. Theoretical Framework: Theories adopted: i. Project Management Theory: Highlights life cycle stages in uncovering new project insights. ii. Stakeholder Theory: Highlights the unity of stakeholders for enhanced involvement in projects. iii. Participation Ladder Theory: Enhances success through active participation. iv. Theory of Constraints: Confronts project challenges related to time, cost, and scope to achieve beneficial changes. Method: The empirical study was carried out in Makueni County, Kenya. It used descriptive cross-sectional design and multistage rsampling on a population of 12,622, out of which a sample of 375 respondnets selected. Of these, 369 questionnaires were returned and analyzed. Additionally, it involved 15 key informants. Observation and an interview guides collected qualitative data. Descriptive and inferential tools, correlation, F-tests, regression and content analysis analyzed quantitative and qualitative data. Results and Discussion: Results reflected item scores showing the composite mean of 3.2 and standard deviation of 3.0. Revealed is a significant positive correlation coefficient (r = 0.592), p-value (p = 0.000) of the relationship between two variables. Research Implications: This study recommends adopting a participatory project cycle approach, supported by a feasible policy, to guide innovative mango farming practices to enhance the overall performance. Originality/Value: The study contributes to literature by advocating project management cycle approach on performance of mango projects in today’s evolving project environment.

Biogenic amorphous FeOOH activated additional intracellular electron flow pathways for accelerating reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethylene

Dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria (DIRB) with extracellular electron transfer (EET) capabilities have shown significant potential for bioremediating halogenated hydrocarbon contaminated sites rich in iron and humic substances. However, the role and microbial molecular mechanisms of iron-humic acid (Fe-HA) complexes in the reductive dehalogenation process of DIRB remains inadequately elucidated. In this study, we developed a sustainable carbon cycling approach using Fe-HA complexes to modulate the electron flux from sawdust (SD), enabling almost complete reductive dechlorination by most DIRB (e.g., Shewanella oneidensis MR-1) that lack complex iron-sulfur molybdo enzymes. The SD-Fe-HA/MR-1 system achieved a 96.52% removal efficiency of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at concentrations up to 250 μmol/L within 60 days. Material characterization revealed that DIRB facilitated the hydrolysis of macromolecular carbon sources by inducing the formation of amorphous ferrihydrite (FeOOH) in Fe-HA complexes. More importantly, the bioavailable FeOOH activated additional intracellular electron flow pathways, increasing the activity of potential dehalogenases. Transcriptome further highlight the innovative role of biogenic amorphous FeOOH in integrating intracellular redox metabolism with extracellular charge exchange to facilitate reductive dechlorination in DIRB. These findings provide novel insights into accelerating reductive dechlorination in-situ contaminated sites lacking obligate dehalogenating bacteria.

Upaya Meningkatkan Motivasi Belajar Peserta Didik melalui Media Pembelajaran Komik dalam Pembelajaran Pjok

This research uses the Classroom Action Research (CAR) method with a cyclical approach to increase student learning motivation in Physical Education, Sports and Health (PJOK) subjects. This research was conducted in two cycles, each consisting of planning, implementation, observation and reflection stages. In Cycle I, the average student learning motivation was 44.05%, while in Cycle II it increased significantly to 74.68%, with an increase of 30.63%. This increase shows positive changes in students' interest and enthusiasm for learning. The research results showed that the use of "comic media" during learning in Cycle II was effective in stimulating students' interest and motivation. This increase in motivation also indicates the success of the emphasis on more interesting and participatory learning. These findings illustrate the positive impact of the improvement efforts made in Cycle II in creating a better learning environment. This research provides a positive view regarding the use of the PTK method with a cycle approach and the implementation of "comic media" in increasing students' learning motivation in PJOK subjects. The implications of these findings emphasize the importance of innovative approaches to learning to achieve more optimal results.

An integrated multi-criteria decision-making approach for life cycle approach in road construction projects

An integrated multi-criteria decision-making approach for life cycle approach in road construction projects

A multi-life cycle assessment of external wall insulation strategies in an Irish domestic retrofit

European Union (EU) policy and initiatives are driving both building renovation and the uptake of low-embodied carbon and circular design in the construction sector. The European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) recast (2021) introduces global warming potential (GWP) methodology, and the future state will likely be embodied carbon targets for which life cycle assessment (LCA) of buildings will be required. External wall insulation (EWI) will have an important role to play in meeting targets. In this context, this paper compares the carbon emission payoff of three alternative EWI strategies that address conventional, low-carbon and circular solutions to EWI respectively, in the retrofit of an existing dwelling. The circular strategy is based on design for disassembly (DfD). Whereas standard LCA is based on a single building life cycle, the literature reviewed shows that the environmental impact assessment of DfD requires a multi-life cycle approach. In the absence of standardised methods for assessment, four multi-cycle LCA methods are selected and applied holistically in a case study investigation. Three allocation methods, 100:0, linear degressive (LD) and enhanced linear degressive (CELD), provide a range of emissions from ‘conservative’ to ‘best case’ over three building life cycles and the fourth method, the Van Gulck method, assesses the benefits of circularity through the concept of ‘multi-cycling’ based on one building life cycle. As each method of assessment will deliver different results, carbon emission payoff is not a fixed value. Findings show that with multiple use, the circular strategy pays off due to avoided production emissions and benefits from end-of-life (EoL) processes that DfD facilitates, that the upfront carbon cost of the circular strategy is minor relative to the carbon emission savings that reuse brings, and that the margin of improvement relative to the alternative strategies increases with each subsequent reuse.

Supporting students to become agents of change: Introducing and evaluating the Transition Cycle approach to teaching transformative skills

Human societies are dealing with urgent and daunting societal transition challenges, such as those posed by climate change, inequality, pandemics, and digitalization. In all these cases, we know that they must fundamentally change the way they do and think about things, and urgently so, but do not know how. Uncertainty about the direction of change and resistance to change are ubiquitous. Future generations must be equipped with capabilities for dealing with these challenges. However, there is an apparent mismatch between the skills currently taught and the skills needed to address complexity, uncertainty, and resistance. Using relevant existing frameworks and experiences we created and taught a course focusing on fostering these skills. For this purpose we developed the Transition Cycle, an original educational approach in which students work on a societal transition challenge in four distinct but related phases: imagine, connect, act, and assess. In this paper, we introduce and evaluate the Transition Cycle and its underlying concepts, basic components, implementation in the course, and learning outcomes. We conclude by reviewing lessons learned and raising questions for future research and experimentation.

Carbon Accounting for Permeable Pavement Based on the Full Life Cycle Approach and Its Application

Conventional pavement in aging communities requires renovation in alignment with global carbon reduction initiatives. This study, centered on upgrading facilities in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and the Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), utilized the Energy Expert platform to assess the carbon footprint of permeable pavement using life cycle assessment (LCA). The results revealed that the total carbon emission of the 64,065 m2 permeable pavement was 7066.21 tCO2eq. The carbon emission contribution, from highest to lowest, was the production phase, maintenance phase, end-of-life phase, and construction phase. Notably, transportation alone constituted a substantial portion, amounting to 30.15% of total carbon emissions. Compared to traditional pavements, permeable pavement showcased substantial potential for carbon reduction, primarily during the use phase, by enhancing groundwater recharge and mitigating the urban heat island effect, which is critical in reducing the carbon footprint. The estimated total carbon reduction was 853.10 tCO2eq. Sensitivity analysis highlighted diesel energy use in the maintenance phase (51.20%), transportation of cement raw materials in the production phase (45.80%), and transportation of graded gravel for disposal in the end-of-life phase (3.00%) as key factors. Our findings suggest that adopting specific carbon reduction measures, such as substituting gangue for cement binder, transitioning to manual sweeping, and recycling all discarded materials can achieve notable reductions in the respective phases. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of permeable pavement in reducing carbon emissions, providing insights for the renovation of aging communities.

A training-free non-intrusive air conditioning load monitoring method based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation

Air conditioner (AC) is a grid friendly load, monitoring its operating status plays a key role in evaluating user side potential for participation in demand response. With continuous innovations in AC technology, the AC operation characteristics have shown increasing complexity, which poses significant challenges for non-intrusive AC load monitoring. Furthermore, obtaining labeled training data for target scenarios is often challenging, which hinders deployment of many Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) methods in practice. In this regard, this article proposes a training-free non-intrusive AC load monitoring method based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE), which is very easy to deploy and has good robustness. Firstly, considering various influence factors, a FCE model is constructed based on common knowledge about AC. This model simulates the manual labeling process to locate AC operation periods. Secondly, an AC power estimation method based on weighted filtering is established, in which weighted filter is used to eliminate the non-AC load components that may overlap during AC operation periods. Specifically, an optimization model is constructed to make the cumulative power of the AC events in its working cycle approach zero, with the filter weight vector as the objective variable, in which a heuristic greedy algorithm is used to find the optimal filter weight vector. When multiple feasible solutions with similar objective function values are derived in the solving process, the probability of load events appearing in AC and non-AC operation periods are compared. The final solution is selected, taking into account the likelihood of each feasible solution corresponding to a load event sequence belonging to AC load. The testing results on the PecanStreet dataset and multiple real-world measured datasets prove the effectiveness of the proposed method in monitoring complex ACs with poor waveform consistency.

Protocol for a type 3 hybrid implementation cluster randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effect of patient and clinician nudges to advance the use of genomic medicine across a diverse health system

BackgroundGermline genetic testing is recommended for an increasing number of conditions with underlying genetic etiologies, the results of which impact medical management. However, genetic testing is underutilized in clinics due to system, clinician, and patient level barriers. Behavioral economics provides a framework to create implementation strategies, such as nudges, to address these multi-level barriers and increase the uptake of genetic testing for conditions where the results impact medical management.MethodsPatients meeting eligibility for germline genetic testing for a group of conditions will be identified using electronic phenotyping algorithms. A pragmatic, type 3 hybrid cluster randomization study will test nudges to patients and/or clinicians, or neither. Clinicians who receive nudges will be prompted to either refer their patient to genetics or order genetic testing themselves. We will use rapid cycle approaches informed by clinician and patient experiences, health equity, and behavioral economics to optimize these nudges before trial initiation. The primary implementation outcome is uptake of germline genetic testing for the pre-selected health conditions. Patient data collected through the electronic health record (e.g. demographics, geocoded address) will be examined as moderators of the effect of nudges.DiscussionThis study will be one of the first randomized trials to examine the effects of patient- and clinician-directed nudges informed by behavioral economics on uptake of genetic testing. The pragmatic design will facilitate a large and diverse patient sample, allow for the assessment of genetic testing uptake, and provide comparison of the effect of different nudge combinations. This trial also involves optimization of patient identification, test selection, ordering, and result reporting in an electronic health record-based infrastructure to further address clinician-level barriers to utilizing genomic medicine. The findings may help determine the impact of low-cost, sustainable implementation strategies that can be integrated into health care systems to improve the use of genomic medicine.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov. NCT06377033. Registered on March 31, 2024. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06377033?term=NCT06377033&rank=1

Tidal Flood Mitigation Model Using the Life Cycle Approach (LCA) in Coastal Areas of Pekalongan City

Tidal Flood Mitigation Model Using the Life Cycle Approach (LCA) in Coastal Areas of Pekalongan City

Towards end-of-life of photovoltaic systems in Malaysia: An assessment of management strategies using a life cycle approach

This paper presents the development of photovoltaic (PV) end-of-life (EoL) policy options in Malaysia with consideration of the respective environmental impacts and economic implication. Five policy options were initially formulated based on different combinations of voluntary and regulatory approaches, PV module EoL pathways, i.e. recycling, landfill and incineration, and types of EoL PV modules. Then, the environmental impacts of each option were evaluated using life cycle assessment based on seven relevant impact categories. Later, the economic implication of each policy option was determined based on revenue gained from recovered materials and cost of recycling. Results showed that recycling yields net environmental benefits in all impact categories for crystalline silicon (c-Si) modules and almost all impact categories for cadmium telluride (CdTe) modules. While both regulatory and voluntary approaches offer reduced environmental impacts, the former is more beneficial than the latter as it provides higher quantity of recycled EoL PV modules, net environmental benefit, net primary energy avoidance and net economic benefit. Also, the inclusion of both c-Si and CdTe in recycling is preferred as it yields higher quantity of recycled PV modules as well as higher net environmental benefit and net primary energy avoidance gained in most impact categories. However, the net economic benefit is lower than recycling c-Si alone because the cost of recycling CdTe modules is higher than the revenue gained from recovered materials. These findings seek to assist in establishing sustainable EoL PV management.

Design of Master Data Management in the Bank Using Consolidation Approach and Jaro Wrinkler

The main objective of this project is to introduce master data management into the PT XYZ database system through analysis, design, and implementation. A database life cycle (DBLC) approach, consisting of database analysis, design, implementation, and testing, is used for the design phase. Based on the analysis carried out, it was found that two databases belonging to PT XYZ did not have a master data management process, and there was an incomplete master data management and implementation process at PT XYZ. This project ended with the successful of implementation the master data management process, thereby reducing the time required for PT XYZ business process applications. So that all PT XYZ business process applications can produce clean and valid data.

Scenario-based LCA for assessing the future environmental impacts of wind offshore energy: An exemplary analysis for a 9.5-MW wind turbine in Germany

BackgroundOffshore wind energy (OWE) will play a significant role in achieving climate neutrality. For example, several scenarios for Germany (e.g., Kopernikus base, Kopernikus 1.5 degree, Prognos CN65, and CN60) depict substantial OWE annual installed capacity additions, especially after 2030. This tendency promotes OWE technology development as deployment expands, allowing manufacturers to gain expertise and optimize wind turbine construction. The global trend towards ever-larger components (e.g., hub height and rotor diameter) is critical to achieving higher-rated capacities. These aspects and others, such as wind quality, influence not only OWE annual electricity production but also its environmental performance. In addition, future supply chains might reduce their environmental impacts and enhance OWE climate change mitigation. In this paper, a prospective life cycle assessment (pLCA) is developed and applied exemplarily for a 9.5-MW offshore wind turbine (OWT) on the North Sea coast of Germany for the years 2030 and 2050. Considering that the current OWTs under construction in Europe have an average capacity of 10 MW, Germany plans to instal OWTs of 9.5-MW. This exemplary OWT describes the potential advances for offshore wind turbines in 2030 and 2050, considering component scale-up and learning effects. Yet, the methodology is adaptable to various installed capacities and regions. This approach allows us to analyse not only the potential future characteristics of wind turbines, but also future developments in OWE supply chains. Therefore, relevant parameters related to OWT construction and operation (e.g., rotor diameter, hub height, distance to the shore, lifetime, etc.) as well as prospective life cycle inventory data for background systems that reflect potential future developments in the broader economy are considered. In this way, scenarios (e.g., optimistic, moderate, and pessimistic) for OWE elucidate the expected environmental impacts, such as climate change, marine eutrophication, and abiotic depletion potential, in 2030 and 2050.ResultsThe findings describe the variability of the environmental impacts of a 9.5-MW offshore wind turbine representing the technologies expected to be available in Germany in 2030 and 2050 and show that climate change impacts could vary between 7 and 18 g CO2-eq per kWh produced in 2030 and between 5 and 17 g CO2-eq per kWh in 2050. However, marine eutrophication could experience a significant increase (100% increase), depending on the consideration of hydrogen as a fuel in the electricity mix, as demonstrated in the climate-neutral scenarios adopted for Germany. Overall, construction efficiency improvements in 2050 might reduce the required materials, leading to a 6% decrease in abiotic depletion potential compared to 2030 values.ConclusionsThis paper highlights the need to consider temporal improvements in LCA studies, particularly when assessing the environmental impacts of offshore wind turbines. The complex nature and rapid growth of offshore wind technology require a comprehensive life cycle approach to deepen our understanding of its potential environmental impacts.

Unraveling the interplay between a small RNA and RNase E in bacteria.

Small RNAs (sRNAs) are major regulators of gene expression in bacteria, exerting their regulation primarily via base pairingwith their target transcripts and modulating translation. Accumulating evidence suggest that sRNAs can also affect the stability of their target transcripts by altering their accessibility to endoribonucleases. Yet, the effects of sRNAs on transcript stability and the mechanisms underlying them have not been studied in wide scale. Here we employ large-scale RNA-seq-based methodologies in the model bacterium Escherichia coli to quantitatively study the functional interaction between a sRNA and an endoribonuclease in regulating gene expression, using the well-established sRNA, GcvB,and the major endoribonuclease, RNase E. Studying single and double mutants of gcvB and rne and analysing their RNA-seq results by the Double Mutant Cycle approach, we infer distinct modes of the interplay between GcvB and RNase E. Transcriptome-wide mapping of RNase E cleavage sites provides further support to the results of the RNA-seq analysis, identifying cleavage sites in targets in which the functional interaction between GcvB and RNase E is evident. Together, our results indicate that the most dominant mode of GcvB-RNase E functional interaction is GcvB enhancement of RNase E cleavage, which varies in its magnitude between different targets.