Environmental Performance Evaluation Research Articles

Evaluation of energy and environmental performances of Solar Photovoltaic-based Targeted Poverty Alleviation Plants in China

The projects that combine solar photovoltaics (PV) and poverty alleviation (PA) are the explorations of sustainable development (SD) from the Chinese government, aiming at both reducing the number of rural poor and the intensity of carbon emissions. Currently, the actual energy and environmental performances of those Photovoltaic-based Targeted Poverty Alleviation Plants (PV-PAPs) remain to be validated. Based on the field survey data from 23 grid-connected PV-PAPs in 7 provinces of China, with a total installed capacity of 51.39 MW, this study evaluated their energy and environmental benefits by adopting the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the Net Energy Analysis (NEA) methods. The following indicators of PV-PAPs were calculated: Energy Payback Time (EPBT), Energy Return on Investment (EROIPE-eq), Greenhouse Gas Emission Rate (GHGe-R) and Carbon Payback Time (CPBT). The results show that: (1) The EPBT of 23 power stations would be 0.79–1.94 years, the EROIPE-eq range from 15.48 to 38.15, the range of GHGe-R would be 43.34–106.78 g/kWh, and the CPBT range from 1.88 to 5.11 years. Even in areas with poor solar radiation, PV-PAPs still have good energy efficiency and environmental benefits. (2) The indirect environmental cost incurred by human factors should be highlighted. It might lead to the change of benefits, such as the GHGe-R, which might fluctuate from 0 to 51.44 g/kWh for the power plants with similar technical specifications. (3) Compared with traditional coal-fired electricity generation (EG), the PV EG could reduce carbon emissions by 87.35–94.9%. This study reveals the status and effects of PV-PAPs in China, and provides practical evidence for further large-scale practice of solar PV in China, which could also provide a basis for decision-making of policy makers. Finally, policy recommendations were proposed to help promote the SD of the PV industry in China.

Life Cycle Assessment of Green Production of Glass Substrate

In this study, the LCA assessment model of CML was employed to analyze the environmental burden caused by the production of glass substrates, and the evaluation of the environmental performance of five stages of preparation of ingredients, including glass melting, precision clarification, overflow molding and post process, was also conducted. The results show that the global warming potential is the dominant impact category in the comprehensive environmental burden with a normalized value of 4.64×10-14, followed by the acidification potential (2.57×10-14), photochemical oxidation potential (2.82×10-15). And the relative contribution of abiotic depletion potential and human toxicity to the comprehensive environmental burden is rather limited, with the normalized values of 8.31×10-17 and 1.21×10-16, respectively. The single score of environmental impact due to the whole production system is 2.37×10-13, wherein the environmental impact values of the processes of preparation of ingredients, glass melting, precision clarification, overflow molding, and post are 1.07×10-15, 9.10×10-14 (highest), 2.26×10-14, 7.36×10-14, and process 4.90×10-14, respectively. The preparation of the batch, the glass melting, the overflow molding and the post process mainly cause the environmental effects of global warming potential and acidification potential, the cumulative values of which are 1.13×10-13 and 9.01×10-14, respectively. The precision clarification stage mainly causes the environmental effect of acidification potential, the value of which is 2.02×10-14 and much higher than those of other environmental impact categories.

A Novel QoS Framework for Network Slicing in 5G and Beyond Networks Based on SDN and NFV

Along with the development of 5G, NS plays an important role in the application of mobile networks to meet all kinds of personalized requirements. In terms of NS concept, network operators can vertically split a physical network into multiple logically separate networks to flexibly meet QoS requirements, which are mainly represented as higher bandwidth and lower latency. In this article, we propose a novel QoS framework of NS in 5G and beyond networks based on SDN and NFV to guarantee key QoS indicators for different application scenarios, such as eMBB, mMTC and URLLC. In this QoS framework, a 5G network is divided into three parts, RAN, TN and CN, to form three types of NS with different network resource allocation algorithms. The performance evaluation in the simulation environment of Mininet shows that the proposed QoS framework can steer different flows into different queues of OVS, schedule network resources for various NS types and provide reliable E2E QoS for users according to preconfigured QoS requirements.

Evaluation of Water Environment Performance Based on a DPSIR-SBM-Tobit Model

Environmental problems - specifically relating to water - have become the key factors restricting sustainable development. To evaluate the performance of water environment, this study takes 31 provinces in China as the research area and constructs a water environment performance evaluation index system based on a DPSIR framework (Drivers, Pressures, State, Impact and Response). The undesirable output slack measure model (SBM) is used to calculate the water environment performance of 31 provinces from 2005 to 2017. According to the study, the performance of the water environment in China shows a trend of decline, and the overall performance is low. The water environment performance in different provinces shows obvious differences. The Tobit model is then introduced to analyze the influence of indicators on water environment efficiency. The driving force indicators have significant negative effects on water environment performance. The pressure indicators have significant positive effects on the water environment performance. The state indicators play a significant role in promoting the improvement of water environment performance. With regard to the impact indicators, both industrial added value water consumption and GDP growth rate have significant negative effects on water environment performance. The impact of different response measures on water environment performance is inconsistent.

重量貨物車のリアルワールドにおける環境性能評価:－NOxセンサベースの車載計測器（SEMS)による通常運送業務走行データの収集と解析－

重量貨物車のリアルワールドにおける環境性能評価:－NOxセンサベースの車載計測器（SEMS)による通常運送業務走行データの収集と解析－

Evaluation of environmental performance of dietary patterns in the United States considering food nutrition and satiety

Food production substantially depletes the environment in different ways, but little is known about how overall dietary patterns relate to these environmental impacts. The objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental performance of different dietary patterns among U.S. adults using life cycle assessment (LCA). A “typical” dietary pattern was compared with those recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including “healthy U.S.”, Mediterranean and lacto-ovo vegetarian. Supplemental functional units (FUs) were applied to incorporate the functions of food to provide nutrition and satiety, namely Nutrient Rich Foods Index 9.3 (NRF9.3), Nutritional Quality Index (NQI), and Fullness Factor™ (FF). Life cycle inventory data was collected for 14 food categories consisting of 76 component foods, and their midpoint environmental impacts were calculated, with particular focus on global warming potential. Diets in accordance with different patterns were constructed from selected component foods at a reference energy amount of 2000 kcal. Vegetarian diets on average generated the lowest carbon footprint regardless of the FU. However, large possible variations in the environmental profiles of the compared diets were identified due to the wide range of food choices within a pattern, which showed highly different nutrition and satiety scores even within the same food category. Animal products, including meat and dairy especially, and discretionary foods were identified as the specific food categories that contributed the most to the global warming potential. Discretionary foods consistently exhibited higher impacts on the basis of nutritional FUs due to their low nutrient density. The results can be implied as practical guidelines to help reduce the carbon footprint associated with current U.S. diets without compromising their nutritional adequacy and satiety.

Comparison of municipalities considering environmental sustainability via neutrosophic DEMATEL based TOPSIS

Considering the increasing risk of various events to the environment, environmental sustainability has taken much more attention both by the academics and practitioners than the other topics. Every organization has its own responsibilities. However, public institutions have a more important role, since they have direct effect on all the community considering environmental sustainability. At this point, the performance evaluation of the municipalities becomes important and enables an effective management by not only indicating the existing status of the municipalities but also revealing the gaps for improvement. Hence, regarding the importance of environmental sustainability and performance evaluation, this study firstly provides the environmental sustainability dimensions with related indicators and presents an integrated methodology based on Neutrosophic Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (N-DEMATEL) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) for the performance comparison of municipalities. Different from the classical DEMATEL, N-DEMATEL addresses the inherent ambiguity and indeterminacy of decision making process while revealing the importance of factors considering the interaction between them. Afterwards, TOPSIS is used to determine the rank of the municipalities. So as to show the applicability of the proposed methodology, an application is performed in the district municipalities of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

Environmental Performance Evaluation and Analysis Using ISO 14031 Guidelines in Construction Sector Industries

The construction sector is garnering increasing concern as an industry that generates significant pollution while suffering from a lack of adequate environmental performance evaluations. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the environmental performance of construction sector industries using the ISO 14031 standard in three dimensions: planning, using data and information, and reviewing and improving environmental performance evaluations. Using a descriptive and correlational approach, this study described and analyzed the level of implementation using a 7-point Likert scale questionnaire distributed to 1000 organizations in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaires were completed between May and December of 2018 and the results were measured against similar studies. The mean positive percentage responses were 31.36 and expressed the implementation levels of the three dimensions of environmental performance. The corresponding values for the three dimensions’ items were 33.36, 29.83, and 30.95 respectively. The minimum Kendall correlation coefficients for each item in a dimension were 0.79, 0.79, and 0.83, respectively. The maximum correlation values between an item and a dimension to which the item did not belong were 0.25. This study answers a fundamental question regarding the implementation level values of environmental performance in construction organizations based on the ISO 14031 standard model and analyzes the pairwise correlation among the descriptor variables of the model. Further studies are needed to investigate the model structure using the principle component, factor analysis, and cluster analysis.

Construction and countermeasure discussion on government performance evaluation model of air pollution control: A case study from Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

The main purpose of this paper is to build an objective and effective environmental performance evaluation model of air pollution control. Based on the severe air polluted region in China, that is Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, this evaluation model consists of four parts, including economic benefits, public service, government management and development potential, and uses the balanced scorecard theory. The weights of the indexes are measured by comprehensive evaluation method, which combined entropy weight method and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). To test the applicability of the evaluation method to different stages, back propagation (BP) neural network is introduced to simulate air pollution control in the future. The results reveal that the environmental performance of air pollution control in Beijing had an upward trend during 2010–2016, and the trend would continue in the next five years. The environmental performance of Tianjin continuously increased, especially from 2014 to 2016. Tianjin has great potential of air pollution control in the future. The environmental performance of air pollution control in Hebei fluctuated from 2010 to 2016 and it dropped to the lowest level in 2015, which mainly due to the large increase in number of days with air quality levelⅡor above compared with 2014 and the nonsignificant growth in the amount of expenditure on atmospheric prevention and control, the amount of investment in the control of industrial pollution sources and the number of law enforcement personnel. Moreover, the environmental performance of air pollution control closely related with industrial structure, especially with the proportion of the tertiary industry. The upgrading of urban industrial structure and the coordinated development of green industry should be implemented to restructure the environmental transformation in air-polluted region.

Standardizing environmental performance evaluation of manufacturing systems through ISO 20140

Abstract To evaluate the environmental performance of manufacturing systems, practitioners often deploy ad-hoc methods or implement one-off solutions that are difficult to replicate in similar scenarios. Such situations can drive-up costs and cause significant delays. Hence, there is a strong need for standard methods that help describe and replicate environmental performance evaluation (EPE) processes. In response, ISO 20140 provides guidelines for converting and aggregating environmental performance evaluation data. This paper provides an overview of ISO 20140, and showcases the usefulness of ISO 20140 by describing and analyzing the usage view of the EPE process. The analysis is conducted with an evaluation experiment about the machining of a mill-tern part, in which energy consumption of a variety of process modes such as active machining, tools change, rapid traverse, and pausing, are evaluated. The experiment is jointly conducted by National Institute of Standards and Technology in the United States and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan.

Environmental performance evaluation in developing the plan of coordination of an isolated intersection

This article analyzes existing research in the field of assessing the effectiveness of changing the coordination plan of a traffic light object. As a result of the studies, the basic parameters necessary for the assessment, such as vehicle delays, fuel consumption and the amount of harmful emissions, are determined. An approach is proposed for determining the amount of harmful emissions and the degree of their reduction when establishing the necessary coordination plan. An experiment was carried out and the results obtained were evaluated.

Performance evaluation of environmental management for sustainable development of enterprises based on human resource management

With the development of the social economy and the continuous improvement of the market economy system, strengthening human resource management is the key to improving market competitiveness. This paper believes that the development of the production process of an enterprise guides the environmental performance evaluation content of each mode of production differently. Therefore, while using environmental performance to evaluate companies, it is also necessary to examine the evaluation content of corporate environmental performance under different production methods. This paper uses the expert survey method to study the performance evaluation. Two members of the expert group actively hope to obtain economic benefits through environmental protection measures, while other expert members have different opinions on this ratio.

積雪寒冷地の都心型エネルギー供給オフィスビルにおける環境性能評価 第６報 アンケート調査

積雪寒冷地の都心型エネルギー供給オフィスビルにおける環境性能評価 第６報 アンケート調査

Simulation of greenhouse gas emissions of small ships considering operating conditions for environmental performance evaluation

This study developed a method for simulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions considering changes in conditions that may occur during the actual operation of small ships. Additionally, we analyzed and compared the results of the proposed method with that of existing emission simulations according to life-cycle assessment (LCA), thus verifying the proposed method’s effectiveness. Through the results of the study, we confirmed that the proposed method improves the simulation by considering emissions due to ship operation, whereas existing methods focus on emissions caused by raw material production. Additionally, the proposed method could identify and quantify the relationship between changes in operating conditions and GHG emissions. We expect this GHG emissions simulation technique to help improve the environmental performance of ships in the future.

積雪寒冷地の都心型エネルギー供給オフィスビルにおける環境性能評価 第４報 ペリメータの環境特性と行動の実態調査

積雪寒冷地の都心型エネルギー供給オフィスビルにおける環境性能評価 第４報 ペリメータの環境特性と行動の実態調査

Parameters related to building components’ life-cycle analysis in methods for buildings’ environmental performance assessment

In this study, the integration of factors related to life cycle analysis and assessment of building materials and components in the context of widely used methods applied for the evaluation of buildings’ environmental performance is examined. The reviewed assessment systems are BREEAM, LEED, CASBEE, DGNB, HQE and SBTool, with the analysis being focused on their versions referring to new office buildings. Issues related to the content and type of indicators and criteria used for the evaluation of factors referring to life cycle assessment, as well as to the way these rating elements are introduced into the structure and the evaluation process of the aforementioned methods, are examined. In this context, the relative standards and the appropriate –if any– databases and tools mentioned within each method are also demonstrated. The results of this work are systematically presented. The analysis is complemented by the examination of the inclusion of life cycle assessment-related factors in Level(s), a common European framework currently under trial. The present study aims at contributing to the identification of similarities and differences and at highlighting the current trends among widely used buildings’ environmental performance rating systems with regard to the approach they adopt considering building components’ life cycle assessment.

Life cycle modeling for environmental management: a review of trends and linkages.

With the dynamics in current industry-environment interaction, it has become essential to diagnose the impacts that one is leaving on the environment. The requirement of assessment has brought many changes in the analysis techniques and research methodologies. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one such validated technique as a scientific tool in the diagnosis of environmental impacts with accuracy. Over the past few years, LCA has attracted more attention with different approaches and applications. But, there is a lack of efforts to review the LCA applications for environmental management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the trends and to address the evolution of linkages in the field of LCA modeling and environmental management. The review employs the PRISMA statement for systematic literature review amalgamated with a visualization technique using VoSviewer. The meta-analysis addressing the findings from the academic articles published until the end of May 2019 using the Scopus online database was considered. The study reveals a total of 23 eligible papers regarding LCA modeling and environmental management. Analysis of these articles and keyword visualization network depicts that most of the studies on LCA modeling application were based on waste management-related decision-making and construction sector focusing primarily on environmental impacts, environmental performance evaluations, and scenario modeling for decision support. This study not only contributes in summarizing the LCA research trends of the methods in the application areas but also attempts to identify the potential scope and research directions. LCA thus has proven to be an excellent evaluative tool for future analysis.

A környezeti teljesítményértékelés indikátorai – elmélet és vállalati esettanulmány

In the last decades there was a change in the field of corporate performance evaluation. Performance management systems, indicator-based systems and new, intellectual capital-based evaluation systems have appeared. Finally new, wide range of corporate evaluating methods was born in theory and in practice too. It is also important to mention, that in a life of organizations there is an improvement in the activity in connection with sustainable development, and also in the usage of methods connecting to sustainable development. Therefore the evaluation in the dimensions of sustainability – in a case of environmental performance evaluation, or evaluation of corporate social responsibility – became more and more emphasised. We concentrate on the theory and practice of environmental performance evaluation. Summarize – based on definitions – the concept of environmental performance evaluation. We concentrate on peculiarities of environmental performance indicators – based on international standards and literature review; and also mention the characteristics of indicator systems. Based on theory, the practice is also important. Therefore we present a case study of a multinational company.

A Multistage Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Model based on AHP for Construction Enterprises through Value Chain Analysis

The comprehensive performance evaluation for engineering project has received much consideration from academic and corporate over the past decade, developing rapidly and becoming a main area of research for dealing with the complexity of construction management. This paper develops a multistage fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model with systematic and synergy-focused appraisal system from a value chain analysis perspective by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), to help the industrial practitioners conduct the performance evaluation in a fuzzy environment by handling the vagueness and subjectivity with parameterized linguistic values. The work presented in this paper may help managers and business professionals not only to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the management but also to distinguish the important criteria for creation in value chain, to remain competitive in the market.

Water Environment Management and Performance Evaluation in Central China: A Research Based on Comprehensive Evaluation System

As a developing country with insufficient water resources, China’s water environment management and performance evaluation have important research value. The three provinces (Henan, Hubei, and Hunan) in central China with typical significance in geographical location and water resources governance were selected as research objects in this paper. Based on the principal component analysis (PCA) method and the pressure-state-response (PSR) model, a comprehensive evaluation system for the water environment in those three provinces during 2011–2017 was established in this paper. The evaluation results show that: (1) The water environment management and performance evaluation of the three provinces in central China were generally poor in 2011–2012, but the overall trend was rising; (2) in 2013–2014, the situation was improved compared to the previous two years, but needed further enhancement; (3) in 2015–2017, the water environment management and performance of the three provinces showed significant improvement. Among them, the Hubei Province had the highest water environment evaluation value (1.692), and the Henan Province had the most significant progress (from 0.043 to 1.671). The contributions of this paper are: (1) The comprehensive evaluation model based on PCA and the PSR model was constructed to analyze the sustainable development of water environment in central China; (2) the performance evaluation system for water environment management, which could comprehensively evaluate the performance of water environment treatment and effectively reveal the correlation between various indicators, was established. The principal factors in water environment management can be obtained by this evaluation system. Based on the analysis of the reasons underlying the above changes, the corresponding policy recommendations for improving water environment management and performance in central China were suggested in order to provide a reference for further improvement of water environment management in developing countries.