Municipal water distribution system (WDS) expansion is often focused on increasing system capacity with designs that best meet hydraulic requirements at the least cost. Increasing public awareness regarding global warming and environmental degradation is making environmental impact an important factor in decision-making for municipalities. There is thus a growing need to consider environmental impacts alongside cost and hydraulic requirements in the expansion and design of WDSs. As a result, the multiplicity of environmental impacts to consider in WDS expansion can complicate the decisions faced by water utilities. For example, a water utility may wish to consider environmental policy issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, non-renewable resource use, and releases to land, water, and air in WDS expansion planning. This thesis outlines a multi-objective optimization approach for WDS design and expansion that balances the objectives of capital cost, annual pumping energy use, and environmental impact minimization, while meeting hydraulic constraints. An environmental impact index that aggregates multiple environmental measures was incorporated as an environmental impact objective function in the multi-objective non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) optimization algorithm. The environmental impact index was developed to reflect stakeholder prioritization of specific environmental policy issues. The evaluation of the environmental impact index and its application to the WDS expansion problem was demonstrated with a water transmission system example. The environmental impact index and multi-objective non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) optimization algorithm were applied to the “Anytown” network expansion problem. Preliminary results suggest that solutions obtained with the triple-objective capital cost/energy/EI index optimization minimize a number of environmental impact measures while producing results that are comparable in pumping energy use and, in some instances, slightly higher in capital cost when compared to solutions obtained with a double cost/energy optimization in which environmental impact was not considered. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2009-08-25 16:08:33.636

In response to growing environmental concerns, policy makers in Canada have been developing climate change mitigation strategies that will enable Canada to meet medium and long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets. The water industry is energy- and carbon-intensive, thus the magnitude and long-term uncertainty of proposed carbon mitigation policies could have implications for water distribution system capital planning decisions that are made today. The intent of this thesis was to examine the implications of discount rate and carbon price uncertainty on cost, energy use and GHG emissions in the design/optimization of the Amherstview water distribution system in Loyalist Township, Ontario, Canada. A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm is coupled with the hydraulic solver EPANET2 in a single-objective optimization approach to identify network expansion designs that minimize total cost as the sum of: i) capital cost of installing new and parallel pipes and of cleaning and lining existing pipes; ii) operation cost of electricity for pumping water; and iii) carbon cost levied on electricity used for pumping water. The Amherstview system was optimized for a range of discount rates and carbon prices reflective of possible climate change mitigation strategies in Canada over the next 50 years. The problem formulation framework was developed according to a “real-world” municipal approach to water distribution system design and expansion. Decision variables such as pipe sizes are restricted to “real-world” commercially-available pipe diameters and parameter values are chosen according to engineering judgment and best-estimates. Parameter uncertainty is characterized by sensitivity analysis rather than the more computationally-demanding and data-intensive Monte Carlo simulation method. The impact of pipe material selection on energy use and GHG emissions was investigated for polyvinyl chloride and cement-mortar lined ductile iron pipes. Results from this first-ever study indicate that the discount rate and carbon prices investigated had no significant influence on energy use and GHG emissions in the Amherstview system. Pipe material selection was also found to minimally affect the amount of GHG emitted in the Amherstview system. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-08-26 15:01:27.174

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Diesel engines are commonly used in construction machines, for example excavators. In a diesel engine, the combustion of diesel is a process with a considerable environmental impact, with high amounts of emitted greenhouse gases. The bachelor thesis creates a model that investigates the potential of decreasing the environmental impact when replacing diesel engines with electric motors in the construction phase of the construction process of buildings. The model was made in three steps. In the first step the electric motors’ energy consumption were compared with the diesel engines’ energy consumption. Secondly, the results of the comparison were contrasted against the results of an implemented example as to determine the relevancy of the model. Finally, the carbon dioxide equivalent values of the diesel engines and the electric motors were calculated and compared. The result shows that there is a big potential of decreasing the environmental impact. The reduction is in the order of 63%-99% and it is shown that the share of renewable energy sources in the electricity mix is vital as to make the potential as large as possible.

Bakgrund: Miljöredovisningen är ett sätt för företagen att beskriva sitt miljöarbete. Den har fått allt större betydelse för företagen i takt med att miljöfrågorna blivit allt viktigare hos intressenter och allmänheten. Det gäller för företagen att visa att man tar ett miljö- och samhällsansvar för att skapa trovärdighet och förtroende i samhället.   Syfte:                                  Att ge läsaren en bild över hur och varför miljöredovisningen ser ut som den gör och vad företagen, som associeras med betydande miljöpåverkan, väljer att fokusera på i sina miljöredovisningar.  Metod:                               En kvalitativ studie som grundar sig i legitimitetsteorin och institutionell teori har utförts. Vi har undersökt litteratur, vetenskapliga artiklar, miljöredovisningar samt fört intervjuer med personer som har behörig kompetens.  Slutsats:                             Studien visar på hur viktig miljöredovisningen är för företagen som associeras med betydande miljöpåverkan. Företagen belyser det viktiga i att kunna vara transparent och visa intressenter och allmänheten att man tar miljöfrågor på största allvar. Studien visar även på hur yttre faktorer påverkar utformningen av miljöredovisningen så som förväntningar och institutionella tryck. Studien visar även på vad företagen fokuserar på i sina miljöredovisningar så som; energieffektivisering, minskning av utsläpp, miljökostnader, miljöinvesteringar, upprättandet av miljömål, miljöstrategier och miljöaktiviteter. / Background:                    The environmental reports are a way for companies to describe their environmental efforts. The environmental reports have become increasingly important for the companies, as the environmental issues have become a priority issue to the general population. Companies now have to show that they can take an environmental and social responsibility in order to build credibility and trust of the society.  Purpose:                            In order to give the reader a picture of how and why environmental reports looks like they do and what companies associated with a negative impact on the environment, chooses to focus on in their environmental reports.  Method:                             A qualitative study based on the legitimacy theory and the institutional theory is conducted in this thesis. A review and examination of literature, scientific articles, environmental reports and engaging interviews with people who have qualified skills in the subject was made.  Conclusion:                       This study demonstrates the importance of the environmental reports for the companies associated with significant environmental impacts. It highlights the importance of being transparent and demonstrates to stakeholders and the public the importance of taking environmental issues seriously. The study also shows how external factors like expectations and institutional pressures affects the general design of the environmental reports. The study also shows what companies are focusing on in their environmental reports such as; energy efficiency, emission reduction, environmental costs and the establishment of environmental goals and strategies.

The extraction of raw materials has environmental impacts. Forestry and the extraction of coal, oil, natural gas, gold and other minerals can have serious impacts on the environment. Exploration and evaluation, development activities, production and mine closure result in high costs. The years of waiting between the start of exploration, commencement of production and mine closure create specific challenges in accounting for mining organisations. Most of the damages caused by mining activities cannot be hidden because of the processes involved, it is best to prevent it rather than avoidance. It is important to implement Environmental Management Accounting (EMA), which will assist in presenting a decision-making system for corporations. The system measures and promotes environmental performance by identifying effective cost assessment structures. This study assessed the awareness of environmental management accounting in the mining industry. An analytical methodology was used. A questionnaire was administered to a selected group of participants. It was based on the employee’s understanding of their organisation’s practices or point of view on environmental issues to build a case about the awareness of environmental management accounting. Selected participants were mine management or mine production personnel, financial practitioners and environmental practitioners from different mining organisations in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North-West provinces of the Republic of South Africa. All participants in the study are employees in the mining industry. Mine management is less aware of environmental management accounting compared to environmental and financial practitioners. Mine production personnel only perceive environmental issues as costs to the operations. This group rated compliance with regulation as the main driver for their organisation’s environmental management system. Gauteng province is more aware of environmental management accounting compared to Mpumalanga and North West provinces. Organisations with high annual turnover tend to disclose more financial environmental information than those with low annual turnover. Organisations explain and classify environment-related costs differently according to the intended use of the cost information. There are standards and measures to collect and record environmental and accounting information stipulated in ISO14001 including environmental management systems (EMS) in different organisations. Systems and measures put in place ensure good environmental performance in the mining operations. The tracking and reduction in the amount of energy, water and materials used by organisations may result in environmental benefits. Employees should have environmental cost information associated with their operations in order to minimise environmental impacts of an organisation. The findings of the study indicated low levels of awareness of environmental management accounting in the mining industry; however, there is a higher level of awareness of environmental impacts and costs, environmental management system and financial environmental information. The level of rating at which organisations generate and record physical and monetary information of environmental management accounting is higher. / MBAm, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process that seeks to reduce the negative environmental consequences of listed development activities, which could have a detrimental effect on the environment, in the advance of their implementation, and a requirement of legislation in South Africa. An important element of the systematic EIA process is the submission of an environmental impact or scoping report or an environmental impact report (EIR) to the relevant governmental department, interested and affected parties and/or specialist for review to determine the report's adequacy before a project can be authorised or if further information is required. The information made available in reports to decision-makers with regard to developments with the potential of affecting explosive projects, plays a significant role in the authorisation of the project after the authority review process, which is dependent on the quality of the report. In order to contribute more effectively to sustainable development, more attention must be placed on assessing the quality of ElA's as part of determining how effectively EIA has been functioning in South Africa; hence this study is aimed at assessing the quality of EIA assessment reports of four projects with the potential of impacting on explosive industry projects. The objectives of the study included the review by independent reviewers of the quality of four-selected impact reports using a checklist, analysis of the review process results and provision of recommendations to improve the quality of environmental impact reports for-explosive projects. Based on the review results it is concluded that the quality of the four reports for-explosive projects. Based on the review results it is concluded that the quality of the four reports were of an acceptable standard, although certain areas were found poorly performed i.e. improvement with regard to identification of key impacts and considerations of alternatives and mitigation as well as the control and treatment of waste. Otherwise the review method is fairly robust and consistent and therefore can be seen as a reliable indication of EIR quality. The following was recommended to improve the quality of the reports for explosive projects: The use of a quality review checklist for explosive projects by EIA practitioners and authorities to be used as an additional tool to the EIA regulations (DEAT 2002) and the Integrated Environmental Management series (DEAT 2002) can further improve the quality of the El reports for explosive projects. • The use by EIA practitioners of an explosive review checklist will assist in ensuring that all key aspects are addressed before submission to relevant authorities, i.e. the report contains all pertinent information and is technically sound, the report is set-up clearly and coherently organized and presented so that it can be understood and that it has addressed all the key issues to make a decision about the proposed development. This will further assist in fast-tracking the approval process often delayed by the request of additional information from the applicant as a result of inadequate reports. • Regular use of the review checklist by EIA practitioners and authorities for ascertaining the quality of the environmental impact reports will contribute to a baseline of EIR quality for evaluating EIA practice for explosive projects under the new regulations promulgated in June 2006. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process that seeks to reduce the negative environmental consequences of listed development activities, which could have a detrimental effect on the environment, in the advance of their implementation, and a requirement of legislation in South Africa. An important element of the systematic EIA process is the submission of an environmental impact or scoping report or an environmental impact report (EIR) to the relevant governmental department, interested and affected parties and/or specialist for review to determine the report's adequacy before a project can be authorised or if further information is required. The information made available in reports to decision-makers with regard to developments with the potential of affecting explosive projects, plays a significant role in the authorisation of the project after the authority review process, which is dependent on the quality of the report. In order to contribute more effectively to sustainable development, more attention must be placed on assessing the quality of ElA's as part of determining how effectively EIA has been functioning in South Africa; hence this study is aimed at assessing the quality of EIA assessment reports of four projects with the potential of impacting on explosive industry projects. The objectives of the study included the review by independent reviewers of the quality of four-selected impact reports using a checklist, analysis of the review process results and provision of recommendations to improve the quality of environmental impact reports for-explosive projects. Based on the review results it is concluded that the quality of the four reports for-explosive projects. Based on the review results it is concluded that the quality of the four reports were of an acceptable standard, although certain areas were found poorly performed i.e. improvement with regard to identification of key impacts and considerations of alternatives and mitigation as well as the control and treatment of waste. Otherwise the review method is fairly robust and consistent and therefore can be seen as a reliable indication of EIR quality. The following was recommended to improve the quality of the reports for explosive projects: The use of a quality review checklist for explosive projects by EIA practitioners and authorities to be used as an additional tool to the EIA regulations (DEAT 2002) and the Integrated Environmental Management series (DEAT 2002) can further improve the quality of the El reports for explosive projects. • The use by EIA practitioners of an explosive review checklist will assist in ensuring that all key aspects are addressed before submission to relevant authorities, i.e. the report contains all pertinent information and is technically sound, the report is set-up clearly and coherently organized and presented so that it can be understood and that it has addressed all the key issues to make a decision about the proposed development. This will further assist in fast-tracking the approval process often delayed by the request of additional information from the applicant as a result of inadequate reports. • Regular use of the review checklist by EIA practitioners and authorities for ascertaining the quality of the environmental impact reports will contribute to a baseline of EIR quality for evaluating EIA practice for explosive projects under the new regulations promulgated in June 2006. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Transportation by trucks plays a major role in North America’s economy. The growth of this industry will increase the loads on existing roads and highways and raises the possibility of overloaded vehicles, which causes significant damage to the pavement and consequently will reduce the lifespan of the roads. Weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems technology helps to address the challenge of overloaded vehicles. This technology provides traffic monitoring, collects data for pavement research and design, and improves the capacity of static weigh station operations. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the behaviour of WIM sensors installed in different environments, which affects reliable and precise data gathering. More knowledge is required on proper installation procedures, pavement design for WIM systems, choice of sensor type for location, and calibration processes. This research is intended to explore the behaviour of WIM piezoelectric sensors under different loads and environmental conditions. Specifically, the effects of air and pavement temperature, and weight and speed of trucks are examined with respect to the estimation accuracy of WIM sensors. To accomplish this, three WIM systems composed of different piezoelectric transducers were installed at the CPATT test site at the Waste Management facility of the Region of Waterloo in 2007, and two WIM systems were installed between exits 238 and 250 on Highway 401 eastbound near Woodstock, Ontario. It was concluded that the output of the polymer piezoelectric sensor is influenced by temperature and weight factors but not by normally observed vehicle speed differences. While temperature can be compensated for, not enough information has been gathered yet does the same for weight factor. It should be noted that very low speeds (e.g. < 50 km/hr) result in significant errors for all the sensors, so that in congested sections WIM results should be interpreted accordingly. These results will be useful for investigating the effects of environmental conditions on other WIM systems and for predicting the responses of sensors in actual installation environments. This will assist in the recommendation of: (1) alternative and transparent calibration procedures for the WIM sensor systems, (2) and improved benefits of least expensive technology.

Research on green roofs has focused on grasses, sedums, and forbs. The aims of this thesis were to determine the potential of rooftop gardens (RTGs) in an urban setting to reduce local levels of CO2, remediate storm water runoff, and provide boutique vegetables for a restaurant. The garden roof footprint was 238 ft2, with 14% covered by vegetated boxes. The soil mixture used had 96% absorbency with 54.12 gallons of the 55 gallons of precipitation that fell within the rain catcher boxes absorbed. Total biomass production was 37.98 Kg of wet biomass and 5.04 Kg of dry biomass. The amount of CO2 removed equals 0.22 Kg ft-2. RTGs have a limited capacity to help sequester CO2, but retain precipitation in amounts similar to green roofs. The restaurant was provided with 4.7 Kg (wet weight) of produce (several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant). These results support the utility of RTGs. / Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences / Environmental Science and Management (ESM) / MS / Thesis