<p> In 2007, vacation rental properties in the United States accounted for more than 22% of the domestic lodging market. These properties are a unique segment of the lodging industry due to their residential design and commercial use. Coastal vacation rental properties represent the largest supply, demand and value of the nation's vacation rental supply. In the case of North Carolina's Outer Banks, tourism is the area's largest source of income, with vacation real estate agencies being the largest accommodation provider. This study uses a multiple regression analysis to investigate the energy consumption of 30 vacation rental homes on Hatteras Island. Hatteras Island's abundant supply of vacation rental homes provided a diverse sample to study energy consumption with a wide range of houses regarding size, age, and location. Since very little research has been conducted on the energy consumption of vacation rental homes, this study aims to contribute detailed information regarding the energy consumption of unique accommodation sector.</p>

<p> Two key architectural concepts that must be taken into account in every design are sustainability and flexibility. These two ideas are inherently tied to one another. Sustainability refers to ideas and processes that provide solutions meant to better our built environment by using renewable resources, and reducing the amount of energy used in order to ensure our planets well-being for future generations. Flexibility refers to the capability of adaptation in order to accommodate different situations and circumstances. Users will always change through time, while a structure remains the same. The goal of flexibility is to allow a building to evolve as its users do in both long and short term. Rooms can be added or removed, exterior connections can change, and uses of rooms can change through out the day as spaces are used differently. Flexibility will extend a building's entire life cycle and reducing the need for expensive renovations by making every space multi-use. Each building's entire life cycle should be taken into account during the design phase, and no building should serve as a single use, this idea will also make them more sustainable. These two concepts will also have very important social and economical implications for the users.</p>

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Economic Input Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) provides economic transactions, environmental emissions, and energy use throughout a product's life cycle based on a dollar amount of the product. A custom EIO-LCA model was conducted to compare three major rigid pavements of Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP), Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavement (JRCP), and Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) within the perspective of economic transactions, greenhouse gases, energy use, hazardous waste, toxic releases, water withdrawals, and transportation movements. The analysis results indicate that CRCP be the most cost-efficient and sustainable choice among the selected rigid pavement alternatives as it requires the lowest life-cycle cost and has the least unfavorable impact on environment when compared to the JPCP and JRCP. Potential improvements could be investigated for the processes of cement manufacturing, power generation and supply, ready-mix concrete manufacturing, and truck transportation because the EIO-LCA results reveal that they are the top sectors contributing to the energy use and greenhouse gases emissions. The results also indicate that some sectors such as storage of materials, landfills, and soil waste management should be taken into account in order to reduce toxic releases. Moreover, the utilization of local human resources as well as raw materials would help to minimize transportation movement. This study shows that EIO-LCA is a valuable tool and presents how it can help decision-makers make a better-informed decision when there are multiple options. In future studies, uncertainties related to location and time should be captured to generalize the results of the EIO-LCA with more sophisticated data collection and stratification protocol.

<p> Distressed rural regions exist throughout the United States and the world. Various economic and social interventions have been made by governments, non-profit agencies, and other institutions to provide relief, often with limited results that were not sustainable. The support of entrepreneurs who start businesses that are locally owned and do not engage in business practices that create environmental and social hazards are seen as a central component in the revitalization distressed regions. However, local businesses often lack the resources that are available to large corporations. This study examined three rural organizations and their social networks in distressed regions of Central Appalachia. A series of interviews was conducted to identify the extent that these organizations provide social capital, marketing assistance, and other essential skills and resources otherwise unavailable to small, local businesses started by entrepreneurs. The results of this study show that networks do increase the number of sustainable enterprises and improve the triple bottom line in distressed regions as well as increase the availability of capital in those regions. Future study is recommended to examine alternative financial strategies for non-profit networks, methods to deepen network relationships, and innovative strategies to develop infrastructure that reduces dependency on outside capital and absentee ownership. </p>

<p> This is an exploratory qualitative case study of the state of sustainability programs within a set of 12 mid-sized U.S. banks compared among themselves and then compared to a set of 12 global banks. This research was designed in two phases. Phase One presented the current state of sustainability within mid-sized U.S. banks and global banks based upon each bank&rsquo;s public data as organized into three sections: a bank profile, major strategic initiatives, and bank sustainability initiatives and programs. Phase Two data were analyzed from 24 interviews with key executives within each bank. A structured interview format was used, and the interviews were conducted in-person, by phone, or via email depending on the respondent&rsquo;s preference.</p><p> The research found that the majority of mid-sized U.S. banks had, from a regulatory view point, achieved the broader aspects of sustainability. Mid-sized U.S. banks had not <i>seized the spirit</i> of sustainability by organizing and communicating their efforts in the context of a voluntary formal reporting mechanism. Mid-sized banks generally relied on government compliance reports to communicate their efforts. By relying on compliance reporting, mid-sized U.S. banks are missing an opportunity to enhance their image and improve reputational and risk management efforts. It was found that the global banks demonstrated a willingness to embrace the <i>spirit </i> of sustainability past any regulatory requirements, but found their efforts were still in the process of integration within their many business units. It was also found that there is a need for one globally accepted reporting mechanism for sustainability performance. At present, there appear to be many competing requirements for reporting on sustainability efforts, which are beginning to tax internal departments of global banks in an effort to meet the information needs of all their stakeholders.</p><p> Using thematic analysis, five key contributions resulted: The first contribution is an understanding of the <i>key components</i> of mid-sized U.S. banks and global bank sustainability programs. The second contribution is identification of the <i>motivators</i> for mid-sized U.S. banks and global banks to establish a sustainability program. Third, a set of criteria was identified to help determine the success of a bank&rsquo;s sustainability program that can be used by mid-sized U.S. banks and global banks <i> (criteria for success).</i> The fourth contribution is the presenting of the <i>current state of sustainability programs</i> for the set of banks used in the study. The fifth contribution is a set of <i>guiding elements and impact benefits</i> that can be used by any size bank executives to improve business results through implementation of a sustainability initiative. </p>

<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>

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / The following paper addresses the importance of sustainability in education and just how imperative it is that students receive an education that includes sustainability values and practices, and where their campuses act as examples of sustainable architecture and as living laboratories. The study was conducted in Tucson Arizona. Three schools from different districts were selected and studied as a means to evaluate the degree of implementation of sustainability principles in their academic curriculum and their built environment, and to identify potential barriers for wide implementation of sustainability principles in schools.

No description available.

<p> What do product design teams value in sustainable design methods? Specifically, what kinds of activities and mindsets comprise different design methods, and which ones do design teams believe drive sustainability, innovation, and other value? How could they be combined to improve sustainable design&rsquo;s value to companies? This study was the first to deconstruct green product design practices into their constituent activities and mindsets to characterize them and hypothesize their potential synergies. It was also the first to empirically test and compare what practitioners value within three of these sustainable design practices&mdash;The Natural Step, Whole System Mapping, and Biomimicry. </p><p> Others have identified mindsets in sustainable design practices, or have identified activities in general engineering design practices, but none have done both for sustainable design practices. Such analysis is important, because most designers do not follow design methods like tunnels of process to pass through completely, but like toolboxes to draw from opportunistically. Here, fourteen design methods, guides, and certifications were deconstructed to categorize their component activities and mindsets, and hypothesize what designers, engineers, and managers would consider useful tools to select for different purposes, or could combine to multiply their value. It also hypothesized some green design methods might be preferred by designers, while others might be preferred by engineers or managers. </p><p> Empirical testing of the activities and mindsets within The Natural Step, Whole System Mapping, and Biomimicry measured their value for general purposes, sustainability, and innovation. It did so by providing 29 workshops on these design methods to 520 participants, with 376 survey respondents: 172 professionals from over 30 different companies and 204 Berkeley students, totaling 1,432 pre- and post-workshop survey responses, due to many people participating in multiple workshops. This testing of multiple design methods was new because most literature on sustainable product design either treats all sustainable design the same, or proposes a specific new design method and studies it. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of survey results validated the earlier deconstruction and found &ldquo;golden tools&rdquo; in each design method: In The Natural Step, Backcasting was most valued, largely for its strategic benefit of focusing thought to accomplish goals, and providing a new lens. In Whole System Mapping, Draw System Map was most valued, largely for broadening scope, visually showing the larger system, and aiding collaboration. In Biomimicry, Nature as Mentor was highly valued as a new lens to approach problems, and for being inspiring; AskNature.org was greatly valued for providing new ideas and for being interesting / engaging. Some of these and other components of the design methods were valued for sustainability, innovation, or both, and some for neither. Results were broken down by demographics (job role, company type, company size, industry sector, and gender) to see if different groups valued different things, as hypothesized above. However, differences were generally too small to be statistically significant at these sample sizes, which implies that sustainable design methods can be taught and used universally between all these groups, even though individuals vary in what they most value and why. </p><p> In addition to these theoretical analyses and empirical tests, 42 professional designers, engineers, and managers were interviewed at the beginning and end of the study to help establish background context for the research, recommend what green design methods to analyze, validate survey responses, and test for longer-term impact of workshops. They valued a wide range of design practices for several different reasons; some design practices were valued for both sustainability and innovation. Differences in responses from sustainable design experts versus traditional design practitioners showed how specialized skills help sustainable design; this implied design teams should not merely use standard design practices while thinking green thoughts. Multiple respondents mentioned the value of combining green design practices with both each other and traditional design practices. The interviews also investigated how design professionals measure innovation, though they were surprisingly resistant to the idea of quantifying it. Interviews also investigated who can best lead sustainability in design teams, why sustainability might provide business value, and how adoption of sustainability might best be driven in design teams. </p><p> This study&rsquo;s results should help designers, engineers, product managers, and others who create our material world to practice sustainable design more effectively. It can help practitioners mindfully choose and combine golden tools from various green design toolboxes to build a better world while building business value.</p><p>