<p>The interest in Church Planting Movements (CPM) as described by David Garrison in his two books entitled the same, has generated a lot of interest and discussion, especially in the mission world. Garrison presented anecdotal case studies describing unprecedented numbers of church plants within a very short period of time. He also summarizes universal and common factors inherent within CPM&rsquo;s he has analyzed. </p><p> As time went on, criticisms began to emerge regarding some reported movements raising questions as to the accuracy of the reports. These reports began to generate questions as to the sustainability of movements. This research looks specifically at the question of sustainability within CPMs. Until now, no research has been conducted in order to understand how experienced CPM practitioners define sustainability within a CPM and what practices were engaged in for the purpose of sustaining a CPM. </p><p> Twenty-three experienced CPM practitioners were interviewed for this qualitative research project. A few of the participants have seen movements of over a million. What fruitful practices did these participants engage in so that a sustained movement emerged? </p><p> Through the use of data analysis tools, eleven themes emerged. These eleven themes were grouped into three categories (a) Core (Holy Spirit and Vision); (b) Fruitful Practices (Mission, Reproduction, Worldview Transformation, Church Ecclesiology and Leadership); and (c) Universals (Training, Role of Missionary, Indigenous and Prayer). These themes were integrated into a visual model, The Wheel. </p><p> The grounded theory generated as a result of this research states that if CPM practitioners are able to successfully integrate the five fruitful practices simultaneously, then a sustained movement will occur, because it incorporates the best of what has been learned from both the Church Growth Movement and CPM. </p><p> The author suggests that the Wheel Model presented in this research could be an appropriate model as modern missions moves into the fourth era. </p>

<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.

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