Society’s reliance on Information Technology (IT) has increased tremendously in the last few decades. Unfortunately, the growth of the IT sector has occurred at the expense of the environment. The adverse environmental impact of IT operations is partly due to the production and disposal of IT equipment, which can result in harmful pollution and toxic materials being released into the environment. Furthermore, IT equipment consumes large amounts of electricity, and this results in significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) being released into the atmosphere. Since CO2 is classified as a greenhouse gas, it contributes to the phenomenon of climate change. Organisations are socially and ethically required to minimise the environmental impact of their IT operations. However, in addition to fulfilling their responsibility towards environmental sustainability, organisations can gain a competitive advantage through adopting green IT practices. In order to reap the benefits of green IT and to fulfil their social and ethical responsibilities, organisations need to formulate and implement a comprehensive green IT strategy. When formulating strategic decisions, the use of a clear decision process enhances the effectiveness of such decisions. As a result, top IT management require a model or framework which could guide their thinking and allow for a clear decision process when formulating green IT strategy. However, after an extensive search of the literature had been conducted, a research gap was identified for the definition of a model which deals specifically with the formulation and execution of green IT strategy. As a result, this treatise sets out to answer the question of what organisations should consider when formulating and implementing green IT strategy. To answer the research question, the treatise defines a model for green IT strategy. The model was defined by conducting a content analysis of the literature on green IT. The content-analysis ABSTRACT iii research technique was utilised to identify the underlying concepts within the literature related to green IT strategy formulation and execution. The resulting model indicates that green IT strategy formulation requires holistic thinking, since several forces affect green IT strategy. As a result, these forces should be considered when a green IT strategy is to be formulated. However, even if a strategy is formulated by considering all the forces at play, it is of little use if it is not implemented effectively. The model indicates that green IT strategy should be implemented though a series of practices. These practices are not limited to IT practices alone, but include, in addition, several business practices. This indicates that green IT adoption extends far beyond the mere implementation of green technology.

Submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / There is a growing need for co-ordination of design, sustainability, economic and environmental aspects of infrastructure projects. The provision of civil infrastructure has a major impact on the natural environment and on the quality of life. A literature review conducted highlighted that infrastructure development was focused mainly on the financial and engineering aspects of projects. There is an urgent need to apply technologies and methods that deliver better and more sustainable performance of civil infrastructure as well as a need to establish a standard of measurement for greener infrastructure. The literature review revealed that the existing tools do not adequately rate and monitor civil engineering infrastructure design decisions from concept stage, through to detailed design and implementation. The objectives of the research were to identify green design technologies that can be used in township infrastructure and to encourage sustainable design on infrastructure township services, at various stages of the project. This would require the development of a green reporting system that incorporates environmentally friendly infrastructure design solutions. This study identified alternative eco-efficient civil infrastructure design solutions and developed sustainability criteria to analyse the eco-efficiency of infrastructure projects. The study proposed a Green Township Infrastructure Design Toolkit aimed at ensuring high-performance, eco-efficient, economical and environmentally friendly design decisions on stormwater, roads, water and sanitation related to township infrastructure projects. Various case studies were undertaken on a range of infrastructure projects to ensure consistency and reliability of the toolkit. Through a series of green reports, developed for each stage of a project, the toolkit measured the environmental efficiency of the design solutions. Recommendations suggest that engineering practitioners should endeavour to integrate greener engineering solutions into the traditional method of designing of infrastructure projects. The Green Township Infrastructure Design Toolkit with the use of its green reporting tools ensures the design of sustainable township infrastructure services, by progressively ensuring efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable provision of infrastructure services. / D

No description available.

Marine transportation in EU currently emits 18% of the total global marine CO2 emissions, which is approximately 140 million tonnes of CO2. In response to this, new regulations aim to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by the year 2030, therefore, green innovations in marine technology are more important than ever. However, reducing carbon emissions requires people to accept these new technologies. In this paper, I explore the role of human-centred design in technology acceptance by using some methods in the design process. The design process included various methods such as user-, heuristic evaluations, expert reviews, role-playing, parallel prototyping, and prototyping. I studied, evaluated, and redesigned the interface of EcoPilot, that is a product which calculates, decreases, and optimizes fuel consumption in marine transportation. The design process of EcoPilot resulted in increased knowledge about the current user experience of marine technology aimed at reducing carbon emissions, as well as conclusions and reflections on how human-centred Design can improve the experience and promote the acceptance of new green technology.

No description available.

Calcium carbonate precipitation and formation of clog particles inside the leachate collection pipe can cause catastrophic failures in landfill operation. This study focuses on quantifying the effectiveness of electronic scale control to reduce the clog formation within the pipe network. A field scale model (40ft × 20ft) was constructed, featuring side-by-side flow of electronically treated and untreated composite leachate. Data obtained in the first phase of this study indicate that electronic scale control system does not have any statistically significant effect on water quality parameters. The second phase of this study identified calcite (CaCO3) to be the predominant phase present in the precipitates using XRD/XRF diffraction pattern analyzed through a search match calculation program (MATCH! Version 3.2.0) which concur with the previous studies. Furthermore, Rietveld refinement using FullProf Suite confirms that there were no differences between the treated and untreated precipitate based on the phases identified in the respective samples. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (MTech (Environmental Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / South Africa is taking a continental lead towards the transition of the green economy, and the energy sector has been identified as one of the cornerstones integral in this transition. This transition pays attention to alternative energy sources to gradually replace fossil fuels. Recently, the production of ethanol is seen as an energy source that is an integral player in achieving a green economy. The ethanol production project is linked to the improvement of the economy, and social well-being concomitant with the enhancement of the environmental quality tenets embodied by the green economy. Scholars have noted that these projects tend to ignore socio-economic realities of under privileged people especially in rural areas and small towns. While the green energy is often presented by the state there is, however, no evidence of the positive as well as negative impacts of ethanol projects on improving the livelihoods of the local communities or contributing to the substance of the local economies while protecting the quality of the environment. This thesis explored the subject of ethanol projects as green economic models in the context of the ethanol project in Cradock. The thesis investigated the socio-economic implications of the ethanol project in Cradock as a green economic model. The research study argues that the inclusion of the local people in decision making for the ethanol project is crucial to securing their benefits from the project. This means that local people should be involved early in the decision making process. Failure to engage the local residents in the initial stages of decision making, may create a lack of sense of ownership resulting in a lack of socio-economic benefits for the residents. The research study adopted a qualitative research design and an inductive approach. The ethanol project in Cradock was used as a case study for the research, and two sampling techniques, purposive sampling and random sampling were used. Interviews, questionnaires and observations were used to collect data from the residents of Cradock, the business sector (hospitality, tourism and agricultural retail), the emerging farmers, the farm workers, the Agrarian Research Development Agency, and Government Departments (Local Economic Development, Department of Agriculture, Department of Rural Development and Land Reform). The findings illustrate that the ethanol project in Cradock is not consistent with the tenets of a green economic model. The results suggested that the project does not improve the livelihood of the community or contribute to the sustenance of the local economies while protecting the quality of the environment. From an environmental perspective, while the ethanol project regarding providing ethanol fuel contributes positively to the global green agenda, it deteriorates the quality of the local environment. The project pollutes the local environment which is a source of livelihood for the local people and the economy. Therefore, the adverse effect of the project on the local environment contributes to a negative effect on the local economy and livelihood of the residents. The results also revealed that the project stakeholders, particularly the residents of Cradock and the emerging farmers, were not involved in the early stages of the project where the benefits were determined. As a result, the stakeholders do not have a sense of ownership of the project, and there are uncertainties about the sustainability of their socio-economic benefits. The ethanol project introduces a shift from the traditional commercial agriculture to the production of biofuel feedstock. This causes an effect on the local economy and livelihood because traditional commercial agriculture has sustained the town for more than 200 years. The thesis raises questions about the notion that ethanol projects are green economic models.

As tecnologias verdes assumiram uma posição importante para o desenvolvimento da sustentabilidade global, e a transferência de tecnologias pode ser um mecanismo pelo qual as indústrias podem conquistar e manter sua competitividade no mercado e garantir a sustentabilidade, promovendo uma atitude de mudança e de acompanhamento das necessidades humanas, econômicas, sociais e ambientais da era atual. O objetivo geral da tese consistiu em desenvolver um modelo conceitual de processo de transferência de tecnologia verde para os Institutos de Ciência e Tecnologia brasileiros, tendo o NIT como o agente facilitador para a cooperação. Com a revisão sistemática da literatura realizada sobre os processos e modelos de transferência de tecnologia, foi possível verificar que ainda não existem modelos aplicados para tecnologias verdes. Através da ferramenta proposta para avaliar a estrutura de transferência de tecnologia, identificou-se quais as dimensões que integram o modelo e sua relação com os grupos de pesquisa e NITs. O modelo proposto elaborado consistiu em três macrofases: pré-transferência, desenvolvimento e pós-transferência. Através deste modelo é possível apontar, antecipadamente, as principais barreiras que impedem esse processo, além de fomentar desenvolvimentos científicos e tecnológicos futuros, capazes de influenciar de forma significativa nas indústrias, uma vez que anteciparia futuros problemas relativos à propriedade intelectual que possam inviabilizar a cooperação entre universidade-indústria no Brasil. / Green technologies have assumed an important role towards global sustainability development. Technology transfer processes could become the responsible mechanism for industries to assure and keep market competitiveness and sustainability, promoting a change of attitude and monitoring nowadays economical, social and human needs. The main purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual model of green technology transfer process for Brazilian Science and Technology Institutes, focusing on the Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) as the facilitators of such cooperation. Literature review on processes and methodology for technology transfer showed that there is no specific methods for green technologies. Through the proposed tool designed to evaluate technology transfer processes, it was possible to identify the dimensions integrated into the model and into the research group and TTOs. The elaborated model consists of three distinct phases: before, during and after technology transfer process. Such tool besides being able to point out, beforehand, the barriers which interfere negatively on such process, it is able to promote future scientific and technological development capable of significantly influence on industries specially because it can anticipate intellectual property issues that could undermine industry-university cooperation in Brazil.

Global warming has become a major threat to life, yet very little information systems research has been conducted to help sustain the environment and many people do not understand how social media can be used to combat global warming and climate change to save the earth. The purpose of this single qualitative case study was to explore whether social media can be used to increase the use of green technology, thereby reducing the cost of environmental sustainment. According to the integrated sustainability framework, which served as the conceptual framework for the study, firms should include green practices in their business processes, extend green culture to their customers, be innovative, and increase their green market share for the environment to be sustained. Twelve green energy professionals working in the United States were recruited from LinkedIn to participate in the study. Data were collected using structured telephone interviews, and data were analyzed using Stake's data analysis process and member checking. Key themes regarding the use of social media to increase the use of green technology included awareness, education, and reach. Key themes regarding the benefits of green technology outweighing the cost included cleaner, cheaper, and more profitable. This study shows that social media can be used to reach millions of people to educate and keep them aware of the benefits of various green technologies that can be used to live a green-friendly lifestyle towards sustaining the environment, people, and firms. The results of this study may encourage humans to use social media to increase the use of green technology to combat the threat of global warming and climate change.

Sustainable product design is a challenge that must be met by industrial designers. Over the history of the discipline there are numerous occasions where industrial design has contributed to the pollution and degradation of the environment, and at this time they must take the responsibility of educating and encouraging both consumers and business to move to more sustainable consumption and production cycles. This thesis investigates communication of sustainable product attributes through product semantics. The goal of converging these two fields is to make sustainable products more visible in the marketplace and to educate and capture the interest of consumers. The research investigates various consumer product categories and how consumers react to them, with specific emphasis on the products' sustainable qualities. The end result of the research effort is a set of general guidelines for the sustainable designer to use in their design efforts.