<p> Colleges and universities throughout the world are not only significant consumers of energy and natural resources but also have the social, economic and political impacts of small cities. How can these complex organizations reduce these complex and interconnected impacts while simultaneously educating the leaders of tomorrow? </p><p> Villanova University is committed to evolving an &ldquo;ethos of sustainable living&rdquo; to achieve these challenging opportunities. The hypothesis of this MS thesis is that the UN Sustainable Development Goals can be utilized as the core planning and decision framework for evolving this &ldquo;ethos&rdquo; throughout the 21st Century. A comprehensive quantitative sustainability decision-support process has been developed utilizing the SDGs. It will guide Villanova through the process of developing its sustainability plan. This unique approach is not only applicable to Villanova but also to other colleges and universities on a global basis.</p><p>

<p> The use of wood pellet boilers for residential space heating has significantly increased over the past decade. Wood pellets are a biomass-based renewable energy made by pelletizing debarked wood fiber. Compared to log wood and wood chips, wood pellets have higher energy density, relatively uniform fuel quality, easier to automate their use, and therefore, are being more widely used.</p><p> A typical wood pellet heating system has three components: the boiler (energy generation unit), the thermal energy storage (TES) tank (energy storage unit), and the building (energy consumption unit). The three components form into two loops: the boiler to TES tank loop and the TES tank to building loop. </p><p> Three modern wood pellet boilers were installed and monitored in this research. Two 25 kW boilers (PB and WPB) were installed in the end of 2014 and a 50 kW boiler (LGB) was installed in March of 2016. PB is used only for radiant floor heating and WPB is used for traditional baseboard/cast iron radiators space heating as well as providing domestic hot water (DHW) supply. LGB boiler is used for concrete slab heating. The three boiler installations provide different methods of heating and different levels of building heat demand.</p><p> This research first evaluated the performance of residential scale wood pellet boilers (25 &ndash; 50 kW) in terms of boiler operation characteristics, thermal efficiency, boiler emissions, TES tank stratification and discharge efficiency, etc. Comparisons were also made among different boilers and suggestions for improvements were made. A process dynamic simulation using VMGSim was built up based on the field monitoring data. Good agreement between the simulation and field data was found. The model was then used to size the TES tank with respect to different boiler capacities and heating demands. A system sizing algorithm was provided in the end. The results will be used to compose a guidance document for wood pellet boiler heating systems. </p>

<p> Energy is used in buildings, industries, and transportation and has effects on people&rsquo;s lives. These effects are nationwide, worldwide, and varied. The effects comprise the economy of nations, such as the United States&rsquo; dependence on foreign oil. Also, human health and environment can be effected by building energy use. On a larger scale, carbon emissions, which are directly tied to building energy use, affect the planet. </p><p> According to the Energy Information Administration report, commercial buildings consume 40 % of the total energy in the United States. Sustainable building mandates stipulate efficient and alternative uses for the limited supply of energy, but calculations for verification and validation must be achieved in order to maintain accountability and to ensure successful energy conservation strategies over time. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a certification program that is used as a benchmark for sustainable building design. A building must satisfy the minimum number of design requirements identified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to be awarded a LEED Green Building certification. There are no future changes on certification, but there is an opportunity to recheck how a sustainable building performs during the post-occupancy operation. </p><p> According to the energy consumption data from Student Housing Energy Bill, this research will compare the predicted to actual performance for buildings that meet the LEED platinum mandate. The result of this comparison can be useful in improving the measurement process for expecting building energy consumption and developing support methodologies to help improve post-occupancy building performance.</p>

<p> Parking shortage in hospitals are a pivotal issue that often finds itself without a suitable solution for many hospitals in Malaysia and worldwide. The continuous lack of parking spaces in hospitals has contributed to illegal parking, significant road obstructions, vandalism, all of which causes hardship to the people. Rising car ownership and the lack of public transportation incites emotional turmoil among people and provides further grief.</p><p> The thesis entitled 'The socio-economic impact of introducing a sustainable multilevel mechanical parking garage to resolve the shortage of parking spaces for Serdang Hospital with minimal hardship to the people' tries to evaluate the impact of pricing optimization, consumer behavior, and the strategic relevance technology plays to Serdang Hospital.</p><p> This thesis intends to recognize the importance of collecting data for qualitative research and gaining insights of the public regarding the introduction of a new concept with minimal hardship to the people. The applicability and acceptability of this new technology in the study are measured using survey data, on-site data collection, personal observation, and interviews.</p><p> In this research, the parking issues and the drawbacks of conventional parking techniques are highlighted, and new concepts of parking used in other developing countries are identified. There is a gap in discussing the socioeconomic impact in the evolution of parking structures in Malaysia and how pricing impacts the decision for change. The research hopes to add to this gap by examining Serdang Hospital as a case study.</p><p> This research aims to pave the way for a better future for hospital parking not only for Serdang Hospital but all Malaysian hospitals in general. There are parking garages that operate at a profit, break even, and also at a loss. </p><p> A simple assessment of the financial feasibility had proven to be an economic gain to the hospital with additional revenue acquired from the rental of billboards. Nonetheless, it is imperative to view the multilevel mechanical parking garage as a long-term solution because if not now, at some point the reality is, they will still need to build a parking garage to resolve the shortage of parking spaces even if the hospital takes a loss.</p><p>

<p> We are now challenged with design-oriented goals of sustainability initiatives requiring energy efficiency in the built environment. Stricter energy codes have added more potential fuel load to a structure and its building envelope. However, these sustainability initiatives do not explicitly consider the fire risks and hazards posed by green building designs, significantly affecting the fire protection and life safety of buildings. At present, a quantitative method to compare the relative fire performance of green building materials and the hazards associated with them is not available. The objective of this research is to propose a semi-quantitative fire hazard assessment, assigning values to selected fire hazard variables. The framework to quantify the impact of sustainable initiatives to a model project is provided; the green building facade elements are the focus of the analysis in this research. </p><p> A recent hypothetical case study[67] is the model project for this research, used to demonstrate the novel framework for the development of a semi-quantitative method. It compares the relative fire performance of green building initiatives and the hazards associated with them on a high-rise residential building using cross-laminated timber. The approach employs an index method, establishing an order of magnitude, with relative rankings based on engineering judgement and experience. Levels of impact are assigned; relative hazard levels are estimated, as a weighted function of the importance or influence, of the hazard impact on the various green elements; decision-making matrices are developed and an overall hazard ranking of the building with the designed green building initiatives calculated. </p><p> Some features present mild or moderate hazard to the green building, others present high or severe hazards. The greatest concern is from the facade components; these are related to the energy efficiency credits in green building rating programs. A range of potential mitigation measures are suggested, based on synergistic effects, to provide a means of reducing the fire hazards associated with the green building initiatives. Without mitigating strategies, the fire hazards from green building initiatives can increase, life safety can decrease, and/or building performance in comparison with conventional construction can decrease. An alternate fire risk assessment method is used to compare and evaluate the semi-quantitative technique developed. </p><p> Quantifying the fire hazards of green building initiatives is critical to the performance of all structures. The sustainable intent for a building design must, therefore, be integrated into the approach to provide fire and life safety protection strategies. This integrated approach to design and construction could improve the building performance, reducing risk and achieving synergies, yielding economic, environmental, and human benefits. </p><p>

The civil engineering and architectural communities are highly focused, these days, on designing buildings that maximize utilization of energy available from natural resources. This dissertation presents a quantitative study of the effect of high-rise office building morphology on energy and structural performances for the major climates. The parameters of the building morphologies are varied—the building footprint shape, the placement of the structural core/walls, and the building orientation. The energy analysis is performed using Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2011; while using SAP2000 for the structure analysis and design. The key observations are: (1) the building morphology has a significant effect on the annual energy consumption, (2) placement of the structural core/walls in the east and west sides significantly improve the energy performance, (3) the tradeoff in the cost of placing the structural core/walls to maximize operating energy efficiency is too great, (4) for built to code buildings the energy demand may be considered marginally sensitive to changes in aspect ratio, and (5) high quality thermal properties of code-built envelope systems offer more flexibility to designers with regard to the building site planning without creating negative impacts on total energy demand.

<p> Bangladesh has experienced significant energy shortfalls in the electrical grid since at least 2005 and the majority of people living outside urban areas do not have access to electricity. Solar energy is an attractive form of supplemental electrical energy. One approach to implementing solar electric energy systems in Bangladesh is the Solar Home System (SHS), an off grid Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy system. With over 3 million solar home systems already installed, it is an increasingly important component of rural energy. The SHS as it currently exists only enables limited loads, such as lights and televisions, is relatively expensive and has some significant technical issues. </p><p> This research study attempts to explore how distributed PV can be improved, using Bangladesh as a case study. Literature is reviewed to determine interactions and elements of distributed PV systems. A quantitative Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental and Political (STEEP) index is developed. A software program called <i>poplar</i> is developed to evaluate the existing Solar Home System using the proposed STEEP index. This is compared to an alternative topology incorporating distributed energy storage elements into loads to provide flexibility and scalability in system usage and reliability. The developed model simulation indicates that implementing distributed energy storage elements allows reduction of PV module and storage size. While there is significant uncertainty in the cost and environmental impact of the power electronics, this smaller sizing is correlated with total reduction in system price and environmental impact. The conclusion to this study is that the current SHS configuration may be better optimized by incorporating distributed energy storage into the loads.</p>

<p> Economic benefits of shale gas production in addition to its potential for enabling energy security are driving the strategic development of unconventional natural gas in the U.S. However, shale gas production poses potential detrimental impacts on the surrounding ecosystems. In particular, sustainable management of high salinity wastewater is one of the critical challenges facing shale gas industry. While recycling shale gas wastewater is a practical short-term solution to minimize total water use in the fracturing process it may not be a viable strategy from a long-term management perspective. Moreover, direct disposal into Salt Water Disposal (SWD) wells which is the most common management strategy in the U.S. is not cost effective in Marcellus shale play due to limited disposal capacity.</p><p> This work develops a systems-level optimization framework for guiding economically conscious management of high salinity wastewater in Marcellus shale play in Pennsylvania (PA) with a focus on using membrane distillation (MD) as the treatment technology. Detailed technoeconomic assessment (TEA) is performed to assess the economic feasibility of MD for treatment of shale gas wastewater with and without availability of waste heat. Natural gas compressor stations (NG CS) are chosen as potential sources of waste heat and rigorous thermodynamic models are developed to quantify the waste heat recovery opportunities from NG CS. The information from waste heat estimation and TEA are then utilized in the optimization framework for investigating the optimal management of shale gas wastewater. Wastewater management alternatives ranging from direct disposal into SWD wells to advanced centralized, decentralized, and onsite treatment options using MD are included in the optimization model. </p><p> The optimization framework is applied to four case studies in Greene and Washington counties in southwest and Susquehanna and Bradford counties in Northeast PA where major shale gas development activities take place. The results of this analysis reveal that onsite treatment of wastewater at shale gas extraction sites in addition to treating wastewater at NG CS where available waste heat could be utilized to offset the energy requirements of treatment process are the most economically promising management options that result in major economic benefit over direct disposal into SWD.</p><p>

<p> Coal and biomass slow pyrolysis reactions were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis close coupled to gas chromatography (TG-GC). The pyrolysis mass balance via this system was closed to >99 wt. %. Parallel in-situ Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier-Transform Spectroscopy pyrolysis experiments were used to explain the mechanistic relationship between functional groups and volatile products. Gas and tar evolution profiles correspond to the loss of surface oxygenated functional groups and increases in char aromaticity during pyrolysis. Various pyrolysis conditions including heating rates, particle size, and reaction confinements were investigated secondary pyrolysis reactions via TG-GC. The investigation demonstrated that increasing the residence time of tar in the solid-gas interface by 0.23-0.31 seconds results in a 2.1-2.5 wt. % decrease in tar production with a commensurate 0.6-5.7 wt. % increase in solid product, a 40 wt. % increase in CH₄, and a 10-30 wt. % increase in H₂ between 510 and 575 &deg;C. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF) measured the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of the pyrolysis tar product to be between 200 and 550 amu. Gas chromatographic-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) was used to identify 120 distinct species in pyrolysis tar. Tar products of the different reaction conditions show that extended residence time of pyrolysis tars in the solid-gas interface decreased the average MWD, decreased the H/C ratio, and resulted in a more expansive speciation of nitrogen and sulfur species in the tar. Further investigations of tar show that coal tar vaporizes by 1000 &ordm;C without producing secondary gas products or coke. Biomass was found to produce a 40 wt. % char product plus CO₂, CO, CH₄, C₂H₄, C₂H₆, and H₂. The experimentally measured mass closure insists that the product distributions and profiles from slow pyrolysis are absolute and the error may be directly calculated. These are used to estimate the rates, kinetic parameters and number of reactions during pyrolysis.</p>

<p> The objectives of this research effort focused on the oxidative aging of binders with high recycled asphalt materials. A coordinated program of forced-draft oven aging experiments was conducted on eleven sorts of binder blends including three different types of base binders from TX, NH, and NV, two different types of recycled material (RAP/RAS), and two different types of recycling agents (RA). Implementing the Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) isothermal frequency sweep tests, the oxidation kinetics and rheological performance were determined for the evaluation materials. Results indicated that the oxidative aging rates were influenced by the aging temperature, duration, base binder type, as well as the utilized asphalt modifier, i.e. recycled materials and RAs. It was also noted that the RAs reduced the overall stiffness in the investigated stages of oxidation. However, differential aging rates and hardening susceptibilities were observed between the RA and RAP/RAS additions to each of the three bases, noting that these differences were not consistent with the type of RAS, i.e. MWAS or TOAS. Additionally, the base binder aging properties due to the addition of the recycled material was highly influenced by the RA dosages within each blend.</p><p> Furthermore, the binder blend oxidative aging predictions at binder specific geographical location indicated that using the recycled materials along with the RAs at the optimum dosage, according to the proposed methodology, was able to restore the binder blend properties to the virgin binder.</p><p> The influences of the recycled material and RAs on the PG 64-28P base binder were also investigated through the binder PG grading and mortar testing. Consistent directions for the influence of the evaluation materials were observed within both procedures, suggesting the capability of the mortar procedure in characterizing the effects of RAP and RA materials on virgin binder without the use of chemical extraction.</p><p> The Uniaxial Thermal Stress and Strain Test (UTSST) was also conducted on the PMFC and RPMLC specimens of the NV field project to investigate the influence of the high recycled material and RAs on the asphalt mixtures. Through consideration of the thermo-viscoelastic properties, marked differences in the binder oxidation were noted between the experimental factors. Typically, decreases in the viscous response of the mixtures as well as increases in both the stiffness and brittle behavior were observed with aging and also inclusion of the recycled material. Although the addition of the RAs to the recycled mixtures indicated some extent of properties restoration, crack initiation and fracture were observed to occur in significantly warmer temperatures compared to the virgin mixture.</p><p>