Terms Of Environmental Indicators Research Articles

The effect of energy-saving options on environmental performance of a building: a combination of energy audit-life cycle assessment for a university building.

An energy audit was realized for a building group located on a university campus to measure the environmental sustainability and efficient usage of natural resources. As a result of energy audit, exterior insulation and double-glazing application were came to the front for energy-saving options. Although energy audit provides energy-saving options as output, it is not enough to provide information about how environmental impacts will change if the defined options are used. To determine the improvements in terms of environmental indicators, these options were assessed with life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA was realized for 50 years life span for 1 m3 of the building. CML-IA method was used to conduct LCA analyses. Ecovalue08 was applied as a monetary weighting method since the used CML-IA method has no weighting function. Results show that there are significant improvements (> 5%) on ADPff (11-12.5%) and GWP100 (8.5-9.7%) impacts provided by both of the energy-saving options. Additionally, double glazing would provide a 10.5% improvement on ODP. On the other hand, the exterior insulation application would increase the ODP value of EB by 34%. The impact category of GWP100 is found as the most dominant impact according to Ecovalue08. The ranking of the other impact categories from higher to lower value is HTP, ADPff, and AP.

Efficiency of photoelectric converters intellectual system application on ground electric transport

The development of environmentally friendly road transport is now directly related to the introduction of electric actuators, high-voltage storage systems and the accumulation of electricity in transport. Thus, a significant variety of hybrid traction drive circuits appears, which can be charged from an external power source. However, all of them use hydrocarbon fuel for charging and storage of electricity, which emits CO2 while burning. Clean electric vehicles are the most efficient in terms of environmental indicators, since they use only electricity produced in power plants located far from the operation aureole of the electric vehicle, which allows to improve the environmental situation in megapolises significantly. As you know, energy complexes in different countries have different environmental efficiency and CO2 emissions during power generation are also present. Transition to the use of renewable energy sources, such as solar power plants, can give its effect, since at present, their productivity in the world reaches 400 GW, but the transmission of energy over distances reduces the efficiency. Thus, based on the development trends of solar power plants, it is important to consider the use of photovoltaic cells, the so-called “solar cells” directly on the electric vehicle itself in order to improve environmental friendliness.

Analysis of effectiveness of three forest interventionist techniques and proposal of a new and integrated model of forest restoration

We assessed the efficacy of three different forest intervention techniques, in terms of phytosociological and edaphic responses, that were implemented in 2007. In a farm where trees are planted and managed for cellulose production as well as set aside for environmental conservation, four stands were analysed: three of them were considered degraded and were managed using different intervention techniques (transposition, perch, and abandonment), and a fourth stand comprising pristine vegetation was considered a control (reference). Floristic and phytosociology data were collected in three 10 × 10 m plots established in each stand. Also, a total of 48 soil samples were collected to analyse physical and chemical attributes of the topsoil for the different stands. In terms of biodiversity, all the treatments showed significantly lower values when compared to the reference area. However, the soils in all the treatment and reference stands are similar in terms of physical and chemical attributes. Taking into account the specificities of each restoration technique, we verified that the integrated use of a set of management practices, constituted by the (1) abandonment of the area and (2) following a selective killing of the eucalyptus, is the most suitable and promising model to provide fast and effective restoration in terms of environmental indicators.

An Integrated Decentralized Energy Planning Model considering Demand-Side Management and Environmental Measures

Decentralized energy planning (DEP) is looked upon as an indisputable opportunity for energy planning of villages, isolated islands, and far spots. Nonetheless, at this decentralized planning level, the value of demand-side resources is not fairly examined, despite enjoying great advantages. Therefore, the core task of this study is to integrate demand-side resources, as a competing solution against supply-side alternatives, with decentralized energy planning decisions and demonstrate the rewarding role it plays. Moreover, sustainability indicators (SIs) are incorporated into DEP attempts in order to attain sustainable development. It is emphasized that unless these indicators are considered at lower energy planning levels, they will be ignored at higher planning levels as well. Hence, to the best knowledge of the authors, this study for the first time takes into account greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by utilization of renewable energies in DEP optimization models. To address the issues mentioned previously, multiobjective linear programming model along with a min-max goal programming approach is employed. Finally, using data taken from the literature, the model is solved, and the obtained results are discussed. The results show that DSM policies have remarkably contributed to significant improvements especially in terms of environmental indicators.

ECO-optimization of pre-treatment processes in metal finishing

Saving of bath chemicals and freshwater consumed within metal finishing systems and the reduction of wastewater produced can be important steps towards more sustainable processes. Furthermore, the application of regenerators is usually energy intensive. Accordingly, in an “eco–eco” (ECO) trade-off, importance should be given to both economic benefits as well as to several ecological measures. The approach presented here is the synthesis of an ECO-optimal reuse and recovery network (RRN) based on a simultaneous multi-objective system optimization model with dynamically chosen environmental objective. It includes a conventional cost objective and the potential environmental impact of the system. This second objective is represented by the maximal relative increase of indicator results. This, in turn, derives from a sensitivity analysis of life cycle inventory analysis (LCIA) integrated into mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP). This means, the LCA-rule, which claims that environmental indicators must not be aggregated, can be adhered strictly. In the case study, the synthesis procedure for eco-optimal design is applied to a large scale phosphating. Depending on the weighting ratio for the representative impact factor and the cost in the objective function, Pareto-optimal solution sets were calculated allowing to assess different eco-optimal RRN alternatives and to find a way out of the main dilemma between the contradicting behavior of energy demand and wastewater production. Up to 74 % improvement in terms of environmental indicators could be realized at low cost increase.