Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone / Climate change is gaining speed and affecting the life on earth in increasingly drastic ways. Humans are the main cause for climate change with the primary driver being amplified greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Burning of fossil fuels and deforestation are the largest contributors of greenhouse gases, and both are done for human needs and comfort. A major source of greenhouse gases is the energy used to run buildings. Specifically, heating, cooling, and lighting are the largest users of electric; therefore, the largest contributors to climate change. This report takes an in depth look at building energy uses, how the energy used for these systems can be reduced, and how much carbon emissions can be cut by implementing appropriate design strategies and using proper materials for the climate. Computer programs COMcheck and eQUEST were used to analyze building energy performance and analyze the effect of alternate energy strategies. The results show that minimal modifications at the design stage of planning a building can decrease energy needs by up to 45% by passively using the environment as a power source. The results also display that using sensible materials can have a big impact on the long-term carbon emissions of a building. The analysis for this report was designed specifically for commercial buildings; therefore, future research would include the carbon emission analysis for residential buildings.

The U.S. electric power sector is in the early stages of transitioning from a reliance on carbon intensive generation sources to a system based on low-carbon sources. In this thesis, I present analyses of four different aspects of this transition, with an emphasis on the PJM Interconnection. The effects of bulk electricity storage on the PJM market I analyze the value of three storage technologies in the PJM day-ahead energy market, using a reduced-form unit commitment model with 2010 data. I find that large-scale storage would increase overall social welfare in PJM. However, the annualized capital costs of storage would exceed social welfare gains. Consumers would save up to $4 billion annually, largely at the expense of generator surplus. Storage modestly increases emissions of CO2 and other pollutants. The external costs and benefits of wind energy in PJM Large deployments of wind create external costs and benefits that are not fully captured in power purchase agreements. I find that wind’s external costs in the PJM market are uncertain but significant when compared to levelized PPA prices. Pollution reduction benefits are very uncertain but exceed external costs with high probability. The climate and health effects of a USA switch from coal to gas electricity generation I analyze the emission benefits created by a hypothetical scenario in which all U.S. coal plants are switched to natural gas plants in 2016. The net effect on warming is unclear; results are highly sensitive to the rate of fugitive methane emissions and the efficiency of replacement gas plants. However, the human health benefits of such a switch are substantial. The costs of building and operating new gas plants likely exceed the health benefits. Robust resource adequacy planning in the face of coal retirements Over the next decade, many U.S. coal-fired power plants are expected to retire, posing a challenge to system planners. I investigate the resource adequacy requirements of the PJM Interconnection, and how procuring less capacity may affect reliability. I find that PJM’s 2010 reserve margin of 20.5% was sufficient to achieve the stated reliability standard with 90% confidence. PJM could reduce reserve margins to 13% and still achieve levels of reliability accepted by other power systems.

The structure of a company's distribution network is of vital importance for competitiveness but also involves considerable costs. In recent years, competitive pressure as well as regulatory measures, especially in the European Union, have also raised awareness towards the environmental impact of supply chain activities. However, activities associated with the distribution of products are not yet subject to environmental regulations but this might change in the near future. Therefore, companies will have to consider not only economic but also environmental aspects in the design of their supply chains. Based on a case study from the petrochemical industry we present a way to evaluate (strategic) distribution network design decisions, taking into account economic as well as environmental criteria. The results of the analysis show a clear trade-off between (distribution) costs and transport carbon emissions. (author's abstract)

Les entreprises sont, de plus en plus, poussées à analyser leurs émissions de carbone. Notre recherche s’intéresse donc à celles-ci quand elles sont dues au transport et au stockage le long de la chaîne logistique. Pour ce faire, nous avons développé un modèle utilisant la simulation à événements discrets. L’outil proposé modélise une stratégie de réponse à la demande et coordonne les flux en Make To Stock. Trois paramètres variables sont pris en compte : la performance industrielle avec l’utilisation d’un taux de rendement synthétique, la localisation des entreprises et le type de produits fabriqués. Différents scénarii, à politique industrielle et localisation soit homogène soit dégradée soit quelconque et à type de produits différents sont simulés. L’objectif est de comparer les critères environnementaux (émissions de carbone) mais aussi financiers (niveau de stock, kilométrage) de ces configurations. Cette méthode est appliquée aux secteurs mécanique et plasturgique. Les principaux objectifs de l’étude sont les suivants : développer des références pour la simulation de chaîne logistique et conduire des expériences pertinentes afin d’optimiser les chaînes logistiques vertes. / Rendering the supply chain more eco-friendly is an innovative idea progressively adopted by industry. Our research focuses on the CO2 emissions along the supply chain due to freight energy use and storage. A supply chain approach by using a discrete event model was developed. Our proposed tool is able to model Re Order Point production management policy (ROP). Moreover, it can consider the main demand response strategy Make To Stock (MTS). Manufacturing capability is also taken into account using an Overall Equipment Effectiveness indicator (OEE). In addition, the location of the firms and their type of products are modeled. Simulations were conducted by varying the manufacturing capacity, the type of product and the firm location in MTS environment and a ROP planning policy. The purpose is to compare supply chain CO2 emissions and financial elements of different configurations. This method is applied to mechanical and plastic industries. The principle objectives of the study are twofold: develop a supply chain simulation benchmark and conduct pertinent experiments to improve green supply chains.

Large amounts of dredged sediment are removed from ports and river channels annually to maintain necessary depths in the maritime industry. The most common management approach for dredged soils throughout the southeast US is disposal in confined facilities. This may be the most feasible approach for ports with modest amounts of dredged soil and ample capacity for disposal. However, there is likely a more feasible option for some ports desiring to increase dredged soil containment capacity. This thesis evaluates the beneficial reuse of dredged soils after lightly cementing with 5.0% or less cement by slurry mass. A previously conducted survey was interpreted prior to performing a literature review, testing, and performing sustainability calculations for reuse of dredged soil when lightly cemented. There were 239 experiments performed as part of this thesis to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing dredged soils after lightly cementing for beneficial reuse projects near ports.

Climate change is one of the highest priority problems which needs to be addressed. The Paris Agreement focuses on zero-carbon solutions and to stop global warming while the United Nations highlights 17 sustainability goals. Climate action is one of those goals aiming to increase resilience to climate hazards and implement national policies and strategies towards climate change. Economic growth is also one of the United Nation’s sustainability goals and should not be compromised. This thesis is investigating how economic growth can be maintained while reducing carbon emissions. To reach this objective carbon emissions need to be decoupled from economic growth and this study analyses the key factors that drive decoupling and how the objective can be achieved. The study was performed over 14 countries during 2000 to 2019 within the EU, using secondary data from open sources. Tapio’s decoupling elasticity model was considered for the observed countries, and a quantitative analysis over carbon emissions, economic growth and several other variables was performed over the panel data using regression models. The shape of the environmental curve was alsoinvestigated using a regression model. The results showed that carbon emissions can be decoupled from economic growth where renewable energy, environmental patents and investments in research and development are key factors. Renewable energy is considered as a proxy for new technologies while environmental patents and investments in research and development, as proxies for innovation. Energyconsumption played a vital role since it decreased less than carbon emissions during those years, but at the same time economic growth could be increased. The quantitative analysis showed that renewable energy, energy intensity, environmental patents, foreign direct investments, and population growth aresignificant factors that can reduce carbon emissions. It is also shown that increases in gross domestic product (GDP) drives carbon emissions increases. The analysis provided indications for an N-shaped environmental curve. Investments in renewable energy, environmental patents and energy efficiency are principal factors to reach the climate goals of reducing carbon emissions without sacrificing economic growth. For future research, it would be interesting to see how individual sectors or clusters of countriesare affecting the results. Another suggestion is to study the pandemic period (2020-2021) and the effect of the latest energy crisis linked with the war in Ukraine to understand the impacts on carbon emissions and economic growth.

Background. Using JavaScript frameworks has become a popular approach for developing web applications. However, the large bundle sizes associated with framework usage may not always be necessary from a sustainability standpoint. Utilizing a framework or not could potentially impact a web application’s performance and carbon emissions.  Objectives. This study aims to identify sustainable approaches to frontend web development and investigate whether a comparable difference in performance, energy consumption, and carbon emissions exists between applications built using a framework like React.js versus those developed using vanilla JavaScript.  Methods. A literature review was conducted to identify important factors for creating sustainable web applications from previously published materials. An empirical study was performed where two test applications were created; one developed in vanilla JavaScript and one using the React.js framework. Experiments on these prototypes compared performance and estimated carbon emissions on the applied technologies.  Results. When researching literature published on sustainability within web development, the factor most frequently mentioned was web performance optimization. The results of the empirical study found that the application written in vanilla JavaScript achieved higher performance metrics and lower estimated carbon emissions than the prototype developed with React.js.  Conclusions. This thesis has found that web performance optimization is an important, powerful, and easy-to-use approach for achieving more sustainable web applications. This study has found several important factors for creating sustainable web applications, which can significantly impact an application’s carbon emissions. The study found that the best-performing test application achieved the lowest estimated carbon footprint. This thesis recommends that developers make informed decisions and consider sustainability when choosing a development strategy, like using a framework or not for future projects.

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