A avaliação de impacto ambiental realizada no Brasil limitada aos projetos apresenta dificuldades para o incremento da qualidade ambiental em função das características da área. Alguns países aplicam a Avaliação Ambiental Estratégica - AAE para a avaliação de políticas, planos e programas, o que permite aos tomadores-de-decisão incluir a variável ambiental com maior antecedência, aumentando as possibilidades de adequação das propostas. O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar as possíveis contribuições da AAE para o planejamento de uso e ocupação do solo municipal, com aproximação da realidade brasileira pela experiência do município de São Carlos-SP com seu Plano Diretor Municipal - PDM, seguido da sistematização dos instrumentos ambientais aplicados para o planejamento de uso e ocupação do solo municipal. A metodologia foi pautada na seleção de 2 relatórios de AAE e 1 PDM, com a identificação de etapas e características AAE (regulamentada pela Diretiva Européia 2001/42) e do Plano Diretor Municipal (regulamentado pela Lei Federal 10.257/01 - Estatuto da Cidade), o cruzamento dos diferentes instrumentos com a proposição de aplicação da AAE segundo os procedimentos do Estatuto da Cidade, para enfim, chegar a uma proposta de modelo para o município de São Carlos. Experiências de aplicação mostram como a AAE contribui para o direcionamento sustentável do desenvolvimento municipal, integrando o gerenciamento dos conflitos locais, os interesses políticos e a participação da sociedade, fortalecendo a gestão democrática da tomada-de-decisão. A pesquisa indica que a AAE pode contribuir para atingir os objetivos de sustentabilidade pela avaliação e integração do PDM com outros instrumentos de planejamento, sendo que esta integração possibilita que procedimentos participativos auxiliem a romper as barreiras entre disciplinas e grupos de interesse, permitindo que somem força de trabalho para as autoridades responsáveis pela implementação das ações de planejamento. / The environmental impact assessment in Brazil is limited for projects have presented difficulties to improve the environmental quality in function of the local characteristics. Therefore some countries have applied the Strategic Environmental Assessment - SEA for management policy, plans and programs, which allows decision makers to input environmental issues earlier and create more opportunities to suit the actions. The main aim of this research is to identify the contributions of the SEA to land use municipal planning with an approach to Brazilian public management, through the Master Plan Development (MPD) of São Carlos - SP. As methodology were select 2 AAE´s report (regulated by European Directive 2001/42/EC) and 1 MPD (regulated by National Law 10.257/01 Citys Statute), crossing the different tools, following the AAE´s application with the City´s Statute procedures, at end, a proposal of a model to São Carlos. Applications´ experiences show how the SEA can drive the urban development toward sustainable cities, including the management of local conflicts, political interests and public participation, strengthening the democratic management. The research indicates the possible contributions of AAE to sustainable aims by the assessment and integration of PDM with others planning tools, which can help to win the sectors and interests groups barriers, allowing to group the work of different responsible for planning actions.

Diante do atual cenário de expansão dos plantios geneticamente modificados e da carência de metodologias no Brasil para prever os seus impactos foi desenvolvimento um método intitulado Impactos-PGM para Avaliação de Impactos Ambientais e Alimentares de Plantas Geneticamente Modificadas utilizando como ferramenta um Software de aplicação geral adequado e modificado com esta finalidade. Para tanto, foi inicialmente realizado o levantamento de indicadores de impactos a partir da literatura. Esta consulta foi realizada pela aplicação de questionário de acordo com a técnica delphi. Posteriormente, os especialistas foram entrevistados presencialmente: foram apresentados os indicadores mais representativos para a avaliação dos impactos das PGMs, possibilitando a elaboração do método Impactos-PGM por meio da adequação do Software Impactos. / In face of the current expansion scenario of genetically modified crops and the lack of methodologies in Brazil to predict its impacts, the present work has been proposed to develop a method entitled Impactos-GMP for \"Food and Environmental Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants (GMPs) Impacts using as tool a software of general application suitable and modified for this purpose. Thus, the survey was first conducted by identifying impact indicators from the literature. This survey was held through the application of a questionnaire according to the delphi technique. Subsequently, the researchers were interviewed in person to whom were presented the most representative indicators for GMPs assessing impacts, enabling the development of the method Impactos-GMP with the adequacy of the iImpacts software.

Le concept de bioraffinerie, développé afin de se substituer aux ressources fossiles, vise à concevoir une grande variété de produits (carburants, matériaux, molécules plateformes pour la chimie fine…) en se basant sur la valorisation de ressources renouvelables telles que la biomasse végétale. La mise en place de bioraffineries doit se baser sur de nouveaux procédés, éco-conçus, afin d'optimiser la performance environnementale de la chaine de transformation de la biomasse. Néanmoins, l'écoconception de procédés émergents peut être complexe en raison des multiples configurations possibles et du manque important de données précises et spécifiques sur ces technologies. L’objectif de ces travaux vise donc à développer une méthode d’évaluation multiindicateurs pour l’éco-conception des procédés agro-industriels et de bioraffineries. La démarche générale consiste à coupler les domaines du Génie des Procédés et de l’Analyse du Cycle de Vie. En effet, la modélisation, à partir de modèles physiques ou semi-empiriques (notamment issus de plans d’expériences) puis la simulation de procédés sont utilisées afin de faciliter la phase de réalisation de l’inventaire du cycle de vie en obtenant des bilans matière et énergie détaillés. Ces bilans peuvent ensuite être utilisés pour effectuer une Analyse du Cycle de Vie prospective du procédé. Par itération, il est ainsi possible de réaliser de la prévision de données et de tester de nombreux jeux de conditions opératoires pour le procédé afin d’optimiser sa performance environnementale, en déterminant les conditions opératoires optimales et les opérations unitaires les plus respectueuses de l’environnement. Cette méthodologie et son outil associé ont été testés sur différents procédés de bioraffinerie,impliquant diverses biomasses : micro-algues, coproduits de culture de blé, bois / The biorefinery concept, developed to face fossil resources dependence, aims to design a wide variety of products (biofuels, materials, chemicals ...) based on the development of renewable resources such as plant biomass. The establishment of biorefineries must be based on ecodesigned processes to optimize the environmental performance of the biomass processing chain. Nevertheless, eco-designing innovative processes can be complex due to multiple configurations and the lack of related specific and reliable data. Thereby, the aim of this research work is to develop a multi-indicator evaluation method for the eco-design of agro-industrial and biorefinery processes. The general approach is based on coupling Process Engineering and Life Cycle Assessment fields. Indeed, process modeling, based on mathematical or semi-empirical models (notably resulting from designs of experiments) and process simulation are applied to facilitate the life cycle inventory step by predicting detailed mass and energy balances. Then these data can be used to perform a prospective Life Cycle Assessment of the process. By iteration, it is possible perform data prediction and to test several operating conditions sets for the process, to enhance its environmental performance, by determining optimal operating conditions and by identifying the most environmentally friendly unit operations. The methodology and its associated tool have been tested on different biorefinery processes, involving various biomasses: micro-algae, wheat coproducts and wood

Buildings account for about thirty percent of the total emissions of greenhouse gases annually in the world. Forty percent of the world´s energy is consumed by buildings. Buildings are a large part of the world´s environmental problems and it´s hard to ignore this fact. The last decade, awareness of the negative environmental impact we humans have on our planet has increased, and many different environmental commitments flourish in the world today. One way for the construction and real estate sector to reduce its environmental footprint is through green buildings. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the economic and legal possibilities and limitations in order to increase the stock of green buildings. The thesis will be based on four questions: What are the incentives for green buildings, Does the law differ for green buildings compared to conventional buildings? Are other markets using green incentives?, What does property management companies think of green buildings? The study is based on literature studies and interviews with industry professionals. The results of the study show that green buildings mean many economic opportunities, such as lower operating and maintenance costs, higher property value, better indoor environment a stronger brand. One economic limitation is that many people mistakenly believe that green buildings means a higher investment cost, but it doesn’t have to be. The lack of knowledge regarding green buildings could mean that some choose not to build them, which is an indirect economic limitation. The Swedish car market and the real estate market in the US use tax reliefs and various forms of green bonuses to push environmental commitments, which is proved to work as environmental cars and green buildings increased in use and in stock. In Sweden there is no specific legislation for green buildings. Swedish buildings comply under the same laws, whether they are green or not. The laws to apply are the planning and building act, the environmental code and the law of energy declaration. In addition to these laws, there are also government regulations from Boverket in boverkets building regulations that has to be followed. These laws, rules and regulations demands certain building performances and are relatively tough. A green building has tougher demand on a building’s technical features than a conventional building has. In 2015 a new legislation was formed that prohibited municipalities to set higher demands on a buildings technical features, than what is in the law. The law is to be followed by the municipality when they operate as an administrative authority and when they enter into land allocation agreements. This means that municipalities themselves in these two cases can’t require a building with higher demands. But in those cases when the developer requires stricter requirements in partnership with municipalities, there is still a possibility to get a green building, as the law doesn’t mention this exception. By offering economic incentives, such as the US housing market and the Swedish car market does to push environmental commitments, it can be used on the Swedish housing market to increase the want to build green buildings. To increase the opportunities for municipalities to build green the law needs to change. Both these methods are expensive and time consuming. Since it within a few years probably will be a requirement for building companies and other companies to build, manage and offer green buildings in order to be able to compete on the market, the conclusion of the thesis is that it is more efficient to let the development of society take its time. The development will mean that the demand for green buildings will increase and in the future will make green building market position even stronger. / Byggnader står för ungefär trettio procent av de totala utsläppen av växthusgaser årligen i världen. Fyrtio procent av all världens energi förbrukas av byggnader. Det senaste decenniet har medvetenheten kring den negativa miljöpåverkan vi människor har på vår jord ökat och många olika miljöengagemang florerar i världen. Ett sätt för bygg- och fastighetssektorn att minska dess miljöavtryck är genom gröna byggnader. Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka vilka ekonomiska och juridiska möjligheter och begränsningar som finns för att öka beståndet av gröna byggnader. Arbetet kommer utgå från fyra frågeställningar: Vilka är incitamenten för gröna byggnader?, Skiljer sig lagen åt för gröna byggnader jämfört med konventionella byggnader?, Använder andra marknader sig utav gröna incitament?, Hur ställer sig fastighetsförvaltningsbolag sig till gröna byggnader? Undersökningen baseras på litteraturstudier och intervjuer med branschfolk. Resultatet av undersökningen visar på att gröna byggnader innebär många ekonomiska möjligheter, som lägre drift- och underhållskostnader, högre fastighetsvärde, bättre inomhusmiljö och ett starkare varumärke. En ekonomisk begränsning som finns är att många felaktigt tror att gröna byggnader innebär högre investeringskostnader, vilket det inte behöver göra. Okunskapen kring gröna byggnader kan göra att många väljer att inte bygga dessa vilket innebär en indirekt ekonomisk begränsning. Bilmarknaden i Sverige och fastighetsmarknaden i USA använder sig utav skattelättnader och olika former av gröna bonusar för att driva på miljöengagemang, vilket visat sig fungera då miljöbilar och gröna byggnader ökat i användning respektive bestånd. I svensk lag finns det ingen särlagstiftning för gröna byggnader. Svenska byggnader lyder alla under samma lag, oavsett grön eller inte. De lagar som gäller är plan- och bygglagstiftningen, miljöbalken och lagen om energideklaration. Utöver dessa lagar finns det även myndighetsföreskrifter från Boverket i boverkets byggregler som ska följas. Dessa lagar, regler och föreskrifter ställer alla krav på byggnaders prestanda och är relativt hårda. För att få till en grön byggnad kräver det att kraven på byggnadens tekniska egenskaper skärps, men inget i lagen begränsar en byggherre att sätta högre krav. 2015 blev det dock förbjudet för kommuner att ställa högre krav på en byggnads tekniska egenskaper än vad som står i lag. Lagen ska tillämpas då kommuner agerar myndighet och vid markanvisningar. Detta medför att kommuner i dessa fall inte själva kan kräva en byggnad som möter hårdare krav. Men i de fall byggherren själv kräver hårdare krav vid samarbeten med kommuner finns fortfarande en möjlighet att få till en grön byggnad, eftersom att lagen inte nämner detta undantag. Genom att erbjuda ekonomiska incitament så som fastighetsmarknaden i USA och bilmarknaden i Sverige gör för att driva på miljöengagemang kan man få fler att vilja bygga grönt även på fastighetsmarknaden i Sverige. För att öka möjligheterna för kommuner att bygga grönt måste man ändra lagen. Båda dessa metoder är kostsamma och tar lång tid. Eftersom det inom några få år förmodligen kommer vara ett måste för byggaktörer och andra företag att bygga, förvalta eller erbjuda gröna byggnader för att kunna konkurrera på marknaden är slutsatsen med arbetet att det är effektivare att följa med i den samhällsutveckling som idag sker. Utvecklingen kommer innebära att efterfrågan på gröna byggnader ökar och i framtiden kommer göra gröna byggnaders position på marknaden vara ännu starkare.

This thesis presents a case study of an open pit mine proposal in Kamloops, BC. During an integrated Environmental (Impact) Assessment (EA) process mandated by the Provincial and Federal governments, stakeholders addressed the mine’s environmental, social, heritage, economic, and health-related impacts. At the end of a 7-year process, the application was denied. My research sought to examine how health was conceptualized in the EA, and, specifically, had the mine been approved, how would the permit conditions have protected the public from adverse health effects. To that end, I conducted a review of health-related documents incorporated in the EA and studied the results through a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) lens based on guidance from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). As well as reviewing and analyzing the EA documents, I conducted interviews with participants in and outside the formal stakeholder group, as prescribed by the IFC HIA Guidance. Specifically, my analysis was based on the scoping phase of the assessment, and the baseline health profile that was included, using this internationally recognized HIA framework. My results show that the social determinants of health were not factored into the EA as per HIA best practice. Many in the formal stakeholder group, and outside of it, felt that institutional barriers prevented inclusion of the social determinants of health in the assessment. That finding raises questions about the reality of EA processes to protect public health. / Graduate

Vid en rent praktisk tillämpning av cirkulär ekonomi krävs det att man har kunskaper kring hur man får ett uttjänt material att bli till en ny produkt. Detta kan innefatta lagstiftning, men det finns även ett behov att se till att det inte kan orsaka negativa konsekvenser för hälsa eller miljö. Swerock önskar kunna producera ett cirkulärt ballastmaterial av överskottsmaterial från olika projekt vilket leder till frågan hur man kan miljöbedöma detta. Genom en litteraturstudie har en kunskapssammanställning genomförts för att besvara frågeställningen om vilken eller vilka testmetoder Swerock kan använda sig av för att testa material med syfte att kunna användas i vägbyggen så att materialet inte kommer att utgöra en fara för människa och miljö. Litteraturstudien i detta examensarbete behandlar bland annat lagstiftning, rapporter, studier och myndighetsdokument för att bygga en grund till förslag på miljöbedömningsförfarande som slutligen sammanställts. En jämförelse har även gjorts mellan tillhandahållna testresultat av laktestade prover från Swerock mot sammanställda haltgränser från litteraturen. Detta för att illustrera dagsläget och få en uppfattning om halter och ämnen som olika aktörer gränssatt och på vilka vis. Studien har visat att laktester är vanligt förekommande som ett sätt att bedöma miljöpåverkan hos olika typer av material och också ett tillvägagångssätt bland End of Waste-kriterier. Ekotoxikologiska test har inte befunnits vara så vanligt tillämpade men har framhållits av studier som ett lämpligt komplement till laktester. Ur litteraturstudien framkom det svenska systemet BASTA som ett sätt att farobedöma byggmaterial, där det är grundat på CLP:s faroangivelser för hälso- och miljöfarlighet. Dessa tre delar har sammanställts i det förslag på miljöbedömning som presenteras i resultatdelen. En slutsats som kan göras är att arbetet med frågeställningen om produktifiering av cirkulära material är i sin linda och att det finns möjligheter till fortsatta studier på ämnet. / In a purely practical application of circular economics it is necessary to have knowledge of how to convert a used material into a new product. This may include legislation, but there is also a need to ensure that it cannot cause negative health or environmental consequences. Swerock strives to be able to produce circular aggregate material of surplus material from various projects, which leads to the question of how this can be environmentally assessed. Through a literature study, a compilation of knowledge was made to answer the question about which test methods Swerock can use to test materials for use in road constructions to ensure that danger to humans and the environment is avoided. The literature study in this thesis covers, inter alia, legislation, reports, studies and government documents to build a basis for a proposal for an environmental assessment procedure. A comparison was also made between the provided test results of leaching test samples from Swerock and compiled content limits from the literature. This was to illustrate the current situation and get an idea of the levels and substances that different actors have set limits for and in what ways. The study has shown that leaching tests are common for assessing the environmental impact of different types of materials and also as an approach among the End of Waste criteria. Ecotoxicological tests have not been found to be as commonly applied but have been highlighted by studies as a suitable complement to leaching tests. From the literature study, the Swedish system BASTA emerged as a way of assessing hazard in building materials, where it is based on CLP's hazard statements for health and environmental hazards. These three parts have been compiled in the environmental assessment proposal presented in the results section. One conclusion that can be made is that the work on the question of the production of circular aggregate materials is in its infancy and that there are opportunities for further studies on the subject.

Urbanisation and infrastructure developments impact on the surrounding natural environment and threaten biodiversity. The fragmentation of natural habitats in particular is a major obstacle for the preservation of biodiversity in a long-term perspective. In the planning process, both the environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment processes play a central role in the identification and prediction of impacts on biodiversity. At the same time, the devel-opment of GIS technologies and GIS-based ecological models offer new perspectives in the elaboration of predictions. In order to analyse current practices and identify the need for im-provements in the environmental impact process, a review of environmental impact assessment reports was carried out. Further, a review of existing GIS methods and GIS-based ecological models is presented. The results of the review of environmental impact assessment reports show a lack of predictions in current biodiversity assessments. These asssessments often concentrate on impacts at the local scale, failing to consider large-scale and widespread impacts at the ecosys-tem and landscape levels. The review of GIS methods and GIS-based ecological models demon-strate the possibility to generate quantitative predictions for a specific area as well as for it’s sur-rounding environment. At the same time, the flexibility and reproducibility of such methods would allow predictions to be made for different alternatives or scenarios, therefore providing decision makers with relevant information of potential impacts on biodiversity. This would, in turn, result in an improved integration of biodiversity issues in physical planning and contribute to a sustainable development. / QC 20101129

<p>Sensor technology is evolving rapidly, offering new opportunities for environmental data collection. Yet, despite the large number of sensors now available, there is a lack of logging platforms that can be used to operate these sensors in situ. To address this shortfall, River Restoration Intelligence and Verification (RRIV) has developed an environmental data logger that meets the needs of the environmental sensing community. This platform has several advantages that reduce the time, effort, and technical know-how required to deploy environmental sensors. An extensive low-power mode is available, and hardware such as a real-time clock with an independent power source is incorporated. A driver system has been developed that allows users to incorporate sensors into the platform with minimal effort. RRIV loggers also include a command line interface that allows user to add or remove sensors, calibrate sensors, or configure deployments without the need for C/C++ programming, something that is not possible with out-of-the-box microcontrollers such as Arduino and ST Nucleo products. The technology incorporated into RRIV and how it is applied and deployed in the field is described. This includes a description of power consumption. Protocols and descriptions of case construction are also included. RRIV loggers configured to monitor carbon dioxide and methane are used to demonstrate how this platform is used in the field.</p>

Recycled material has attracted extensive interest due to its positive impact on decarbonization in the building sector. At the same time, utilizing these materials is limited. The main objective of this degree project is to provide a better understanding of recycled materials and their role in environmental and economic aspects. This work investigates three cases regarding the use of recycled materials as external wall insulation in ETC buildings: Case 1 (biochar), Case 2 (plastic waste materials), and Case 3 (straw bales), and the cases will be compared with Case 0 (wood) materials that are used in the building. Thermal insulation properties such as thermal conductivity and density are the most important factors influencing this material's ability to insulate. These properties are used as variables in simulation; each variable is linked to the type of material used. Models were created for each material in the building performance simulation tool IDA ICE. In each model, the insulation of the external walls will be changed, but the rest of the construction specifications will stay unchanged. The results showed that all the materials selected in the evaluation have a low environmental impact (thermo-environmental assessment), low energy demand, and low carbon emissions. In the case of comparing the three cases 1, 2, and 3 of recycled materials, the results indicated that Case 1 (biochar) has the same environmental impact as Case 0 (wood), but the energy used was more than Case 0 by 6%, and the economic impact (thermoeconomic assessment)regarding energy costs has the same value. There is no information regarding the material’s price. The results showed that Case 3 (straw bales) has a lower environmental and economic impact than wood. The results illustrated that adding Case2 (EPS) with a thickness of 200 to the wooden building reduced demand by 3% for heating and cooling, and the energy used was less than 2%. Therefore, Case0 (wood) support with this layer is considered an appropriate solution to reduce energy demand. On the other hand, recycled materials have challenges in terms of insufficient research on the extent of their use, as in the case of biochar in Sweden. As well as challenges related to the development of strawbales, which have many problems related to rotting and moisture absorption / <p></p><p></p>

Biodiversity loss is a pressing global problem and land use is known for being one of the most direct contributors. In European Union countries, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is required for land use plans that set a strategic framework for future development such as regional land use plans. Biodiversity would be very feasible to address in the SEA as it has the capacity to include the complexity biodiversity poses. Technology is increasingly being used for biodiversity conservation as it allows effective collection and processing of data. This research aimed to assess current SEA practices of addressing biodiversity and explore possibilities of how conservation technology could be used to assist SEA in addressing biodiversity loss more effectively in the field of land use planning. To fulfil the research aim, a document analysis of six regional land use plans and their SEA reports and four semi- structured interviews with an AI-company Spoor AI staff were conducted. The results of the document analysis showed that biodiversity is typically addressed in qualitative terms while an effective assessment would also require quantifying biodiversity variables. The results of the semi-structured interviews indicated that previous experience from the wind power sector has shown that conservation technology could be taken advantage of in collecting data about biodiversity cost-effectively and reliably, while AI can be used to analyse that data. Conservation technology could be taken advantage of in SEA by deepening the understanding of the development context, supporting the decision-making and monitoring. Implementing conservation technology in SEA could encourage the use of the strategic thinking SEA -model and contribute to several theoretical principles that guide the SEA practice. / Förlust av biologisk mångfald är ett pressande globalt problem och markanvändning är känd för att vara en av de mest direkta bidragsgivarna. I EU-länder krävs en strategisk miljöbedömning (SEA) för markanvändningsplaner som sätter en strategisk ram för framtida utveckling, såsom regionala markanvändningsplaner. Den biologiska mångfalden skulle vara mycket möjlig att ta itu med i SEA eftersom den har kapacitet att ta itu med den komplexitet som den biologiska mångfalden innebär. Teknologi används i allt större utsträckning för att bevara den biologiska mångfalden eftersom den möjliggör effektiv insamling och bearbetning av data. Denna forskning syftade till att undersöka hur nuvarande SEA-praxis hanterar biologisk mångfald och utforskar möjligheter för hur teknologi kan användas för att bidra till SEA arbetet genom att hantera förlusten av biologisk mångfald mer effektivt inom markanvändningsplanering. För att svara på forskningsmålet genomfördes en dokumentanalys av sex regionala markanvändningsplaners SEA-rapporter och fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med ett AI-företag Spoor AI-personal. Resultaten av dokumentanalysen visade att biologisk mångfald vanligtvis behandlas i kvalitativa termer medan en effektiv bedömning också kräver kvantifierade variabler. Resultaten av de semistrukturerade intervjuerna indikerade att tidigare erfarenheter från vindkraftssektorn har visat att teknik kan utnyttjas för att samla in data om biologisk mångfald på ett kostnadseffektivt och tillförlitligt sätt, samtidigt som AI kan användas för att analysera denna data. Naturvårdsinriktad teknologi skulle kunna utnyttjas i SEA genom att fördjupa förståelsen av utvecklingskontexten, stödja beslutsfattande och få en säkrare övervakning. Att implementera naturvårdsinriktad teknologi i SEA skulle kunna uppmuntra användningen av den strategiskt tänkande SEA-modellen och bidra till flera teoretiska principer som vägleder SEA-praktiken.