CEEQUAL är ett klassningssystem utvecklad av ICE, den brittiska Institutionen för Civilingenjörer, för att bättra på anläggningsbranschens sociala, ekonomiska och miljömässiga hållbarhetsarbete. Systemet utvecklades år 2003 och användes fram till år 2011 endast i Storbritannien och Irland. År 2011 utvecklades en internationell version för organisationer som är intresserade av att certifiera projekt i andra delar av världen. Syftet med rapporten är att utvärdera konsekvenser för ett projekt som skall miljöcertifieras. Detta sker med hjälp av tre fallstudier från Skanska Sverige AB: Projekt Skarplöt, exploatering av en åkermark i Västerhaninge. Projekt Folkparksvägen, ombyggnation av en 1500 meter vägsträcka. Projekt Tyresövägen-Simvägen, en avsmalning av Tyresövägen från  motorvägsstandard till stadsväg.           Målet med rapporten är att: Identifiera förbättringsåtgärder för att främja hållbarhet och resurseffektivitet i produktion. Uppskatta vilka resurser förbättringsåtgärderna för certifiering kräver. Resultat från fallstudierna visar att Skanska har väl inarbetade rutiner i företagets ledningssystem, dock finns det förbättringspotential som kan uppnås med integrering av CEEQUALs krav i dagens arbetssätt. Merkostnaden av förbättringsåtgärderna består mestadels av tjänstemannatid för ett utökat samhällsengagemang, planering och bevakning av åtgärder som främjar hållbarhet samt insamling av bevismaterial för certifiering. Ändringar som uppkommer i arbetssättet är projektberoende och belyses i produktionsplaneringsskedet i varje enskilt projekt med hjälp av den extra planeringen som en CEEQUAL certifiering kräver. Rekommendationer för Skanska är att integrera en del av CEEQUALs krav i ledningssystemet och att skapa färdiga mallar som är anpassade till CEEQUALs frågeställningar med avsikt att effektivisera framställning av bevisdokumentationen i varje enskilt projekt. / CEEQUAL is an assessment and award scheme developed by ICE, The Institution of Civil Engineers in Great Britain, in order to improve the Civil engineering industry´s social, economic and environmental sustainability. The system was developed in 2003 and it was only used in the UK and Ireland until 2011. Year 2011, was an international version developed for organizations that are interested in certifying projects in other parts of the world. The report aims to evaluate the consequences for a project that is going to be assessed. This is done by using three case studies from Skanska Sverige AB: Project Skarplöt, exploitation of previous farming land in Västerhaninge. Project Folkparksvägen, refurbishment of a 1500 meter stretch of road. Project Tyresövägen - Simvägen, a narrowing of Tyresövägen from motorway standard to a city road with cycle lanes. The objective of this report is to: Identify improvement measures to promote sustainability and resource efficiency under production. Estimate the resources that such improvements and the works associated with the certification requires. Results of case studies show that Skanska has well-established work practices, however, there is potential for improvement that can be achieved with the integration of CEEQUALs requirements in the company’s management system. The additional cost of the improvement measures consist mostly of extra working time needed to administrate, plan and monitor measures that promote sustainability as well as gather evidence for certification. Adjustments to the production process that arises in the planning stages of the sustainability measures cannot be generalised and depend mostly on the project prerequisites. Recommendations to Skanska are to integrate CEEQUALs requirements in their management system and to create pre-designed templates for the required documentation and procedures in order to streamline planning and monitoring in each individual project that is going to be certified.

Improved production and reduced consumption of beef is often highlighted as key aspects for tackling sustainability issues of the food system because the environmental impact of beef is ~100 times higher than plant-based foods. Both scientist and civil society organisations argue that eating “less but better” beef is important for sustainability. Better quality can encompass better eating quality as well as improved sustainability, but despite the two being very important for overall quality, very little research on interactions between them exists. No tools, applicable in Sweden, allowing for joint assessment have been developed. This study investigates the synergies and trade-offs between eating quality and environmental sustainability by using Swedish beef production as a case study. It reviews peer reviewed literature on factors that contribute to eating quality (flavour, tenderness and juiciness), and four factors that contribute to environmental sustainability (climate, biodiversity, feed/food competition and animal welfare). Based on the findings, an indicator-based sustainability assessment framework and a meat quality grading scheme differentiating Premium and Standard eating quality is developed, aimed to be practical tools for Swedish beef assessments. The study provides a systems-based understanding of synergies and trade-offs that may occur when “less but better” is presented as a strategy for tackling the environmental impact of beef. Results show that there are synergies between eating quality and biodiversity, animal welfare and with the right choices of feed, feed/food competition but with consequent trade-offs with climate impact. The discussion addresses the potential of enhanced eating quality to increase the profitability of Swedish beef production without consequent substantial negative impact on sustainability. The suggested methods have the potential to facilitate a shift from quantity- to quality-based consumption, but further empirical studies are required.

Sustainable development is a principal concept for housing, urban infrastructure, energetics, transportation, or business. Fragmentation of concept definition is a result of abusive term overuse by the entire society. In 2015 UNECE established a clear sustainable housing definition through The Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing and its 34 Rationales. The UN encourages its member states to measure progress in sustainable development through existing or newly developed indicators. Existing commercial housing evaluation tools are insufficient for the Geneva UN Charter concept. Initially, the tools measured the so-called greenness of buildings overlooking anthropocentric and social qualities of housing underlined in the UN Geneva Charter. Commercial certification tools heavily reliant on profits often utilize incorrect concepts of sustainability. That results in false sustainability. This work aspires to introduce a transparent housing sustainability assessment tool for the Czech Republic. Firstly, were identified unique phenomena outlining the concept of housing sustainability. To identified phenomena were consequently nominated and assigned appropriate indicators. While in a different situation is housing interpreted as a human environment, building, home, investment, or fundamental human...

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Life cycle costing (LCC) is the state-of-the-art method to economically evaluate long-term projects over their life spans. However, uncertainty in long-range planning raises concerns about LCC results. In Part I of this series, we developed a holistic framework of the different types of uncertainty in infrastructure LCCs. We also collected methods to address these uncertainties. The aim of Part II is to evaluate the suitability of methods to cope with uncertainty in LCC. Part I addressed two research gaps. It presented a systematic collection of uncertainties and methods in LCC and, furthermore, provided a holistic categorization of both. However, Part I also raised new issues. First, a combined analysis of sources and methods is still outstanding. Such an investigation would reveal the suitability of different methods to address a certain type of uncertainty. Second, what has not been assessed so far is what types of uncertainty are insufficiently addressed in LCC. This would be a feature to improve accuracy of LCC results within LCC, by suggesting options to better cope with uncertainty. To address these research gaps, we conducted a systematic literature review. Part II analyzed the suitability of methods to address uncertainties. The suitability depends on data availability, type of data (tangible, intangible, random, non-random), screened hotspots, and tested modeling specifications. We identified types of uncertainties and methods that have been insufficiently addressed. The methods include probabilistic modeling such as design of experiment or subset simulation and evolutionary algorithm and Bayesian modeling such as the Bayesian latent Markov decision process. Subsequently, we evaluated learning potential from other life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This analysis revealed 28 possible applications that have not yet been used in LCC. Lastly, we developed best practices for LCC practitioners. This systematic review complements prior research on uncertainty in LCC for infrastructure, as laid out in Part I. Part II concludes that all relevant methods to address uncertainty are currently applied in LCC. Yet, the level of application is different. Moreover, not all methods are equally suited to address different categories of uncertainty. This review offers guidance on what to do for each source and type of uncertainty. It illustrates how methods can address both based on current practice in LCC, LCA, and LCSA. The findings of Part II encourage a dialog between practitioners of LCC, LCA, and LCSA to advance research and practice in uncertainty analysis.

Infrastructure projects are today major contributors to global warming. However, various strategies for reduction of greenhouse gas emission are available, as described in sustainability assessment schemes and performed in infrastructure projects. Beyond the choice of methodology, greenhouse gas reduction represents an important challenge, namely to engage involved actors. The establishment of a common sustainability policy, reflected in procurement requirements could be a solution. However, often in subject of complications such as misunderstandings or increased cost. Impres, a research project aiming to streamline the process of greenhouse gas reduction in the infrastructure sector, conducts case studies around the world in which useful methods and examples are assimilated. In cooperation with Impres, the present report includes the case study of California High-Speed Rail (CHSR). The aim of this report is to compare strategies for greenhouse gas reduction of sustainability assessment schemes for infrastructure projects, and evaluate the feasibility as procurement requirements. Furthermore, to identify corresponding processes of greenhouse gas reduction in the case study of CHSR, as well as revealing important factors towards realization. The course of work involves a study of the schemes Envision, BREEAM Infrastructure, CEEQUAL, IS Rating System as well as the standard PAS 2080. Regarding the case study, the sustainability policy, procurement requirements and project reports are the main used sources. Moreover, qualitative interviews with involved actors have been performed in California. Finally, to create a comparative matrix for greenhouse gas reduction processes, standards ISO and PAS 2080 have been reviewed. The results show that greenhouse gas criteria of the studied schemes not are mandatory to perform in anyone but PAS 2080. Which means that further requisites might be needed in order for the schemes to be useful as procurement requirements. Furthermore, the outlining of processes reveals a weakness in the setting of a greenhouse gas reference point, and while every scheme includes a greenhouse gas quantity assessment, there is a difference in the priority of reduction. Regarding CHSR, an exclaimed policy goal is to perform climate neutral construction. While procurement requirements are limited to quantification of emitted greenhouse gases and the use of effective construction machinery, which is insufficient to meet the goal. Nevertheless, the Authority in charge is performing CO2 compensating measures, such as planting trees. Finally, a variety of driving forces, success factors and challenges for realizing greenhouse gas reduction have been identified. For example, personal motivation and legislation as driving forces. Whereas, sustainability as a core mission, experience and communication are seen as success factors, and resistance to transfer sustainability goals to procurement is an exclaimed challenge. As a conclusion, sustainability assessment schemes do have certain processes for greenhouse gas reduction in common. However, they present criteria with different degrees of obligation, affecting feasibility as procurement requirements. In CHSR, similar processes are found, where further reduction of greenhouse gases can be achieved, especially by an optimized choice of construction materials. In the end, personal motivation seems to be an important factor for introducing and realizing greenhouse gas reduction goals in infrastructure projects. / Impres

This dissertation aims to investigate the sustainability impacts of alternative vehicle technologies and develop comprehensive sustainability assessment frameworks to analyze potential impacts of these vehicles in the U.S. In order to assess sustainability impact of vehicle alternatives, life-cycle based models has been extensively used in the literature. Although life cycle-based models are often used for environmental impacts of alternative vehicles, analysis of social and economic impacts of these vehicles has gained a tremendous interest. In this regard, there is a growing interest among the international platform and academia to use the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment framework to have more informed sustainable products, material and technology choices by considering the environmental, as well as social and economic impacts. The Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment framework is still under development and there is an ongoing research to advance it for future applications. In this dissertation, current and future needs of sustainability assessment frameworks and the U.S. transportation are identified and addressed. The major research gaps are identified as follows: (1) there has been small emphasis on effects of spatial and temporal variations on the sustainability impacts of alternative vehicle technologies, (2) no national research efforts as of now have been directed specifically toward understanding the fundamental relationship between the adoption of electric vehicles and water demand, (3) there has been a lack of understanding the dynamic complexity of transportation sustainability, encompassing feedback mechanisms, and interdependencies, for the environmental, social, and economic impacts of alternative vehicles, and (4) there is no emphasis on addressing uncertainties inherent to the U.S. transportation and its complex relationships with the environment, society, and economy. The environmental, economic, and social impacts of alternative vehicles are highly critical for truly assessing and understanding the long-term sustainability of vehicles and propose economically viable, socially acceptable, and environmentally-friendly transportation solutions for U.S. passenger transportation. This dissertation provides a more comprehensive sustainability assessment framework by realizing following objectives: (1) inclusion of spatial and temporal variations when quantifying carbon, energy, and water footprints of alternative vehicle technologies, (2) quantifying environmental, social, and economic impacts of alternative vehicle technologies, (3) capturing the dynamic relations among the parameters of U.S. transportation system, environment, society, and the economy, (4) dealing with uncertainties inherent to the U.S. transportation sector considering the complexity of the system and dynamic relationships. The results of this dissertation reveal that the results with consideration of uncertainties, temporal and spatial variations, and dynamic complex relationships among the system variables can be significantly different than those of without consideration of those. Therefore, when developing policies the robustness of proposed scenarios should be valuated with consideration of uncertainties, temporal and spatial variations as well as the dynamic feedback mechanisms. The outcomes of this study can pave the way for advancement in the state-of-the-art and state-of-the-practice in the sustainability research by presenting novel approaches to deal with uncertainties and complex systems.

Construction of municipal utility complexes has to support continuing population growth, economic development, and a widespread of social interest in environmental preservation. Municipalities face challenges in designing, constructing, and operating environmentally sustainable utility complexes, and their primary goal in developing such a complex is to minimize the environmental impact resulting from energy production and waste treatment (both liquid and solid), management, and disposal. However, decision and policy makers lack a system of systems approach that takes into account multiple interdependent systems comprised of the functional system (infrastructure, facilities, operations within the complex…), the economic system, the social/cultural system, and the environmental system (environmental impact on air, water, soil…). This research proposes a decision support system (DSS) with a new methodology using Vensim software and system dynamics methodology to assess the sustainability of a municipal utility complex system. This DSS incorporates 1) multiple interdependent systems, 2) multiple sustainability/performance indices, and 3) composite sustainability index. Engineers, managers, and researchers should benefit from a system of systems perspective, and from the application of a sustainability assessment method that is developed to provide an environmentally-conscious design, construction and management. Although a municipal utility complex is built with synergistic opportunities for integration of processes of a wastewater treatment plant, a resource recovery facility (aka waste-to-energy (WTE) or incineration facility), a material recycling facility (MRF), and a landfill; engineers tend to use the traditional sustainability assessment methods only to assess the life cycle (LCA) of each system's process over time. They might not necessarily incorporate an assessment based on system dynamics of the functional, economic, environmental, and social/cultural systems. Data from a case study is utilized in this dissertation based on the municipal utility complex in Pasco County in the western region of the State of Florida, USA.

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