The residential sector is recognized as a major energy consumer and thus a significant contributor to climate change. Rather than focus only on current energy consumption and the associated emissions, there is a need to broaden sustainability research to include full life cycle contributions and impacts. This thesis looks at houses from the perspective of the Ecological Footprint (EF), a well-known sustainability indicator. The research objective is to integrate EF and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) measures to provide an enhanced tool to measure the sustainability implications of residential energy retrofit decisions. Exemplifying single-detached houses of the early 20th century, the century-old REEP House (downtown Kitchener, Canada), together with its high performance energy retrofits, is examined in detail. This research combines material, energy and carbon emission studies. Its scope covers the life cycle of the house, including the direct and indirect consumption of material and energy, and concomitant carbon emissions during its stages of material extraction, transportation, construction, operation, and demolition. The results show that the REEP House had a significant embodied impact on the environment when it was built and high operating energy and EF requirements because of the low levels of insulation. Even though the renovations to improve energy efficiency by 80% introduce additional embodied environmental impacts, they are environmentally sound activities because the environmental payback period is less than two years.

In a globalizing world, trade has become essential to supporting the needs and wants of billions of people. Virtually everyone now consumes resource commodities and manufactured products traded all over the world; the ecological footprints of nations are now scattered across the globe. The spatial separation of material production (resource exploitation) from consumption eliminates negative feedbacks from supporting eco-systems. Most consumers remain unaware of the impacts that their trade dependence imposes on distant ecosystems (out of sight out of mind). I take the first steps in developing a conceptual and practical framework for an ‘interregional ecology’ approach to exploring and analyzing sustainability in an increasingly interconnected world. Such an approach accounts for some of the ‘externalities’ of globalization and international trade. It underscores the increasing dependence and impact of almost any country on resources originating from others and recognizes that the sustainability of any specified region may be increasingly linked to the ecological sustainability of distant supporting regions. I empirically describe and quantify some of the interregional material linkages between selected countries. I document the flows of renewable resources into the U.S. and quantify the U.S. external material footprint (EF) on specific countries. I then document the physical inputs involved in production of most agricultural export products from Costa Rica and Canada. Finally, I focus on major export products such as bananas, coffee and beef in Costa Rica and agricultural activities in the Canadian Prairies and document some of the ecological consequences (loss of habitat, soil degradation, water contamination and biodiversity loss) of that production. My research findings show increasing U.S. imports, increasing reliance on external sources and growing external ecological footprints. They also show how production activities mostly for overseas consumption led to changes in ecological structure and function in the studied export countries. This dissertation adds a missing trans-national dimension to the sustainability debate effectively integrating the policy and planning domain for sustainability in one region with that in others. While my research focuses mainly on documenting the nature and magnitude of interregional connections I also consider some of the implications of the interregional approach for sustainability planning.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:28:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-11Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:58:09Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 azevedo_lap_dr_guara.pdf: 1262469 bytes, checksum: 16f7a071d0d4fefa5c5933ea7ec4d6df (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente estudo teve por objetivo realizar um levantamento do padrão do pé em crianças no início da segunda infância. A metodologia utilizou duas plataformas de força para detecção da distribuição das pressões plantares e da impressão plantar para mensurar o arco longitudinal medial, por conseguinte, classificar os tipos de pés. Foram comparadas as forças plantares da porção medial, lateral e as forças plantares da região anterior e posterior dos pés. Os pés, após serem classificados, foram comparados com as médias das forças plantares de cada sensor. Estes valores médios, foram comparados através do teste t de Student, teste de ANOVA e estimadas as correlações através do Coeficiente de Pearson com significância de alfa 5%. Participaram do estudo 57 escolares da primeira série do ensino fundamental com idade média de 7 anos e 6 meses, sem qualquer queixa ou indício de patologia ortopédica e/ou neurológica. A aquisição da atividade baropodométrica, foi coletada três vezes seguidas para cada sensor, e realizada na posição ortostática como a impressão plantar. As pressões plantares foram significativamente maiores da região medial do pé esquerdo e em ambos os retropés. A amostra apresentou prevalência de pés planos. Foi possível identificar uma boa correlação entre as forças plantares e o peso das crianças e uma boa correlação entre o total das áreas da impressão plantar com o peso da criança. / The aim of this study was to obtain a survey on foot pattern of children up to 10 years old of. The method utilized two pressure platform to detect the distribution of plantar pressures and of plantar prints to measure the medial and longitudinal foot arch and to classify the foot types. The plantar pressures were compared according to medial and lateral side of foot the anterior and posterior regions of the foot were also studied. The feet were classified and were compared the mean pressure plantar of each platform sensor. These mean values were analysed by Student t test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test and the correlations were performed by the Pearson coeficient. The significance level adopted was alpha = 5%. This study was developed with students of Alcina Soares Fundamental Level School, located in Guaratinguetá, São Paulo State. Fitfy seven students were enrolled in this study. The average age of the participants age was 7,5 years old, they did not present any orthopedical or neurological symptom. The baropodometric activity records were collected with three times repetition to each sensor and the prodecure was performed in orthostatic position. The same procedure was adopted to obtain the plantar print. The plantar pressures were higher in the posterior region of the foot and in the medial region of the feet left. The plantar pressures were higher in the flat foot in comparison to the normal foot. It was possible to identify a good correlation between total foot surface and child weight; also, the plantar footprint had a good correlation with the child weight. So, the procedure performed with mechanical sensor was capable to define the pattern of pressure plantar in students.

abstract: The construction industry is becoming more aware of its impact on the environment. It has become more sensitive to how it operates and how it can reduce the carbon footprint of the construction process. This research identifies the source of and quantities of the carbon emissions created by an operating modular home fabrication plant in producing, transporting and installing modular structures. This study demonstrates how to measure the carbon footprint created in the production of a modular home. It quantifies and reports the results on a home, on a single module and on a per square foot basis. The primary conclusions of this study are: a) electricity was found to be the largest energy source used in this fabrication process; b) the modular fabrication process consumes a significant amount of electrical energy per month; c) production volume has a bearing on the carbon footprint of each home since the carbon footprint for each period is allocated to every home produced in that period; and d) transportation of fabricated modules and set-up add to the carbon footprint. Further, a carbon calculator was produced and is included with the study. The tool calculates the impact of energy consumption on the carbon footprint of a modular factory or a modular home. It may be expanded to other process driven fabrication entities. This research is valuable to developers and builders who wish to measure the carbon impact of a modular new home delivery system. The study also provides a methodology for modular home fabricators to measure the carbon footprint of their factories and factory production. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Construction 2010

abstract: Consumer goods supply chains have gradually incorporated lean manufacturing principles to identify and reduce non-value-added activities. Companies implementing lean practices have experienced improvements in cost, quality, and demand responsiveness. However certain elements of these practices, especially those related to transportation and distribution may have detrimental impact on the environment. This study asks: What impact do current best practices in lean logistics and retailing have on environmental performance? The research hypothesis of this dissertation establishes that lean distribution of durable and consumable goods can result in an increased amount of carbon dioxide emissions, leading to climate change and natural resource depletion impacts, while lean retailing operations can reduce carbon emissions. Distribution and retailing phases of the life cycle are characterized in a two-echelon supply chain discrete-event simulation modeled after current operations from leading organizations based in the U.S. Southwest. By conducting an overview of critical sustainability issues and their relationship with consumer products, it is possible to address the environmental implications of lean logistics and retailing operations. Provided the waste reduction nature from lean manufacturing, four lean best practices are examined in detail in order to formulate specific research propositions. These propositions are integrated into an experimental design linking annual carbon dioxide equivalent emissions to: (1) shipment frequency between supply chain partners, (2) proximity between decoupling point of products and final customers, (3) inventory turns at the warehousing level, and (4) degree of supplier integration. All propositions are tested through the use of the simulation model. Results confirmed the four research propositions. Furthermore, they suggest synergy between product shipment frequency among supply chain partners and product management due to lean retailing practices. In addition, the study confirms prior research speculations about the potential carbon intensity from transportation operations subject to lean principles. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Sustainability 2011

Understanding the environmental implications of consumption and production depends on appropriate monitoring tools. Material flow accounting (MFA) is a method to monitor natural resource use by countries and has been widely used in research and policy. However, the increasing globalization requires the consideration of "embodied" material use of traded products. The indicator raw material consumption (RMC) represents the material use - no matter where in the world it occurs - associated with domestic final demand. It provides a consumption-based perspective complementary to the MFA indicators that have a territorial focus. Several studies on RMC have been presented recently but with diverging results; hence, a better understanding of the underlying differences is needed. This article presents a comparison of Austrian RMC for the year 2007 calculated by six different approaches (3 multi-regional input-output (MRIO) and 3 hybrid life-cycle analysis-IO approaches). Five approaches result in an RMC higher than the domestic material consumption (DMC). One hybrid LCA-IO approach calculates RMC to be lower than DMC. For specific material categories, results diverge by 50% or more. Due to the policy relevance of the RMC and DMC indicators it is paramount that their robustness is enhanced, which needs both data and method harmonization.

The United States is the world's top virtual water exporting nation, but not much is known about the country's internal virtual water flow patterns and the volumes involved. Previous studies have suggested that the import of virtual water, defined as the volume of water required to produce a commodity or service, can relieve pressure on a region's water resources. This study seeks to quantify virtual water flows among U.S. states using the water footprint and input-output analytical methods, and to compare the quantitative results to actual water use volumes in agriculture. The results showed an overall pattern where virtual water is transferred from sparsely populated states mostly in the Midwest, where the country's most fertile agricultural land is located, to the relatively dry Western states, and to the densely populated, but relatively wet coastal regions in the East of the country. For the year 2008, states used 196 Gm3 of water to produce agricultural commodities (crops and livestock) that were exported for consumption in other states. This total virtual water export volume is equivalent to 35 percent of total water withdrawals for all sectors in the U.S., or 41 percent of total rainfall evapotranspiration volume. Gross annual virtual water import volumes were 191 Gm3, giving a net interstate virtual water flow volume of 5 Gm3 for all states. The total virtual water import volume represent 34 percent of total water withdrawals in the U.S., or 40 percent of total rainfall evapotranspiration volume. The estimates in this study cover virtual water flows as a result of trade in 9 primary crops which represent 95 percent of the cultivated area harvested, and trade in nine primary animals that represent nearly 90 percent of animal establishments, and 97 percent of the total national sales in the U.S. for the year 2008. The estimates do not include virtual water flows as a result of trade in processed crop and livestock products and industrial products, which would have resulted in even higher virtual water flow volumes. Commodities making the greatest call on the nation's water resources were corn for grain, with 20 percent of total water use, and milk cows with 17 percent. The total evapotranspiration volume for the nine primary crops analyzed was 332 Gm3/yr. This consists of 93 Gm3 irrigation water (excluding 25 percent irrigation losses), and 239 Gm3 from rainfall, showing that rainfall contributed 72 percent of the total water volumes required to produce primary crops. If irrigation return flows are considered, the proportion contributed by rainfall becomes 65 percent, compared to 35 percent (128 Gm3) for irrigation water. The nine live animals for all states used 636 Gm3 in 2008, with beef cattle taking up 340 Gm3, or 53 percent of the total volumes used for animal production. Net virtual water exports in absolute terms ranged from 91 Mm3/yr in the state of Washington, to 15 Gm3/yr in Iowa, while the minimum net virtual water import value was 47 Mm3/yr in Vermont, to 11 Gm3/yr in Florida. On a per capita basis, the people of North Dakota were responsible for the largest agricultural net virtual export volume (16,011 m3/yr/ca), although the state has only 0.2 percent of the national population. Washington was responsible for the lowest per capita net virtual water export (375 m3/yr/ca). The people of Delaware (0.3 percent the total population) were responsible for the largest net virtual water imports related to agricultural commodities on a per capita basis (1511 m3/yr/ca), with Nevada ranking lowest. In absolute terms, water footprint values in relation to the 18 primary crops and livestock groups ranged from 1157 Mm3/yr in Rhode Island, to 61,471 Mm3/yr in California. Water footprint per capita values ranged from 1,083 m3/yr/capita in New York, to 4,872 m3/yr/capita in Nebraska. Both water footprint and input-output methodologies showed that virtual water transfer constitutes a substantial portion of the water balance in water scarce states such as California, where imports and exports were found to be 13 and 15 percent of total actual water use. The ratios of net virtual water import to agricultural water use volumes were very high for relatively humid states such as Rhode Island (nearly 5,000 percent) and Connecticut (more than 3,500 percent), partly showing that factors related to economic structure dominate climatic factors (water endowments) in shaping virtual water flow patterns in most U.S. states. These results suggest that rather than being the main reason behind observed virtual water flow patterns, water availability is complimentary to other factors of production, mainly the availability of suitable agricultural land. Similar to Japan or some European countries, most highly states in the eastern part of the country rely heavily on virtual water imports to meet their local agricultural consumption requirements, while their economies focus on sectors that are less land and water intensive, such as the services industry. The study also revealed that the volumes of international virtual water imports and exports are dwarfed by internal (interstate) virtual water volumes in the U.S., showing an overall preference for home consumption to international trade. The productive value of water ($/m3 used) was found to be much higher for industry and domestic sectors, in comparison to more water intensive agricultural use. While input-output analysis appears less prone to estimation errors and is less laborious to implement, it is limited in assessing the virtual water content of individual commodities when compared to water footprint analysis. However, the two alternative methodologies both produced results that are to a large extent consistent with production and consumption patterns in the U.S. The study adds new insights and information to earlier global studies that did not elaborate much on the internal virtual water flow dynamics of the world's largest virtual water exporter. The knowledge is relevant for this large country, where there are wide variations in water and other natural resource endowments between regions.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agronomy / Eduardo Alvarez Santos / Measurements of methane (CH₄) emissions from livestock production could provide invaluable data to reduce uncertainties in the global CH₄ budget and to evaluate mitigation strategies to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The eddy covariance (EC) technique has recently been applied as an alternative to measure CH₄ emissions from livestock systems, but heterogeneities in the source area and fetch limitations impose challenges to EC measurements. The main objectives of this study were to: 1) assess the performance of a closed-path EC system for measuring CH₄, CO₂, and H₂0 fluxes; 2) investigate the spatial variability of the EC fluxes in a cattle feedlot using flux footprint analysis; 3) estimate CH₄ emission rates per animal (Fanimal) from a beef cattle feedlot using the EC technique combined with two footprint models: an analytical footprint model (KM01) and a parametrization of a Lagrangian dispersion model (FFP); and 4) compare CH₄ emissions obtained using the EC technique and a footprint analysis with CH₄ emission estimates provided by a well-stablished backward-Lagrangian stochastic (bLS) model. A closed-path EC system was used to measure CH₄, CO₂, and H₂0 fluxes. To evaluate the performance of this closed-path system, a well-stablished open-path EC system was also deployed on the flux tower to measure CO₂ and H₂0 exchange. Methane concentration measurements and wind data provided by that system were used to estimate CH₄ emissions using the bLS model. The performance assessment that included comparison of gas cospectra and measured fluxes from the two EC systems showed that the closed-path system was suitable for the EC measurements. Flux values were quite variable during the field experiment. A one-dimensional flux footprint model was useful to interpret some of the flux temporal and spatial dynamics. Then, a more comprehensive data analysis was carried out using two-dimensional footprint models (FFP and KM01) to interpret fluxes and scale fluxes measured at landscape to animal level. The monthly average Fanimal, calculated using the footprint weighed stocking density ranged from 83 to 125 g animal⁻¹ d⁻¹ (KM01) and 75–114 g animal⁻¹ d⁻¹ (FFP). These emission values are consistent with the results from previous studies in feedlots however our results also suggested that in some occasions the movement of animals on the pens could have affected CH₄ emission estimates. The results from the comparisons between EC and bLS CH₄ emission estimates show good agreement (0.84; concordance coefficient) between the two methods. In addition, the precision of the EC as compared to the bLS estimates was improved by using a more rigorous fetch screening criterion. Overall, these results indicate that the eddy covariance technique can be successfully used to accurately measure CH₄ emissions from feedlot cattle. However, further work is still needed to quantify the uncertainties in Fanimal caused by errors in flux footprint model estimates and animal movement.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering / Zifei Liu / The Unmix and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) models for source apportionment were applied to evaluate prescribed burning impacts on air quality, identify model advantages, and establish a relationship between visibility and PM₂.₅ sources. Speciated PM₂.₅ data were from the Flint Hills (FH) rural and the Kansas City (KC) urban sites. At the FH site, the Unmix model identified five sources: nitrate/agricultural, sulfate/industrial, crustal/soil, smoke, and secondary organic aerosol (SOA); while the PMF model identified the copper source in addition. The smoke source from PMF result includes both primary and secondary aerosols from prescribed burning when the smoke source in Unmix result only includes primary burning aerosols. The secondary smoke aerosols at the FH site were combined with secondary aerosols from other origins and formed the SOA source in Unmix result. Comparative analysis of the modeling results estimated the SOA to be 2.3 to 2.7 times of the primary aerosols in burning season. At the KC site, both receptor models derived seven-source solutions: nitrate/agricultural, sulfate/industrial, crustal/soil, smoke, traffic/SOA, heavy-duty diesel vehicle (HDDV), and calcium. The smoke source at the KC site carries an exceedingly organic carbon to elemental carbon (OC/EC) ratio, which is more than five times higher than in FH smoke source. The PMF results at KC site tend to classify more SOA from nitrate/agricultural and sulfate/industrial sources into traffic/SOA source. In the burning season, the smoke source from both sites showed a relatively high correlation when KC is under west and southwest wind, suggesting that part of the smoke originated PM₂.₅ at the urban site could be from the upwind burning activities. The Tobit modeling recognized the nitrate/agricultural as the leading visibility degradation impact factor at both sites. The latter chapter conducted a review of life cycle assessment (LCA) on carbon footprint (CF) of beef production. The objectives were to evaluate CF range in raising systems from different countries, identify the leading CF contributor and dominant source of uncertainty, and summarize LCA inventory defined in cattle production systems. Most existing beef LCA studies followed a “cradle to farm gate” approach. The CF in 3-phase systems ranged from 16 to 29.5 kg CO2e kg⁻¹ carcass weight. The 2-phase raising system reported a slightly lower CF than the 3-phase system (18.9 to 26.9 kg CO2e kg⁻¹ carcass weight), but no significant differences were observed. The grass-fed system in the US has the highest CF, but the CF of grass-fed systems in the European Union (EU) is 40% less than them in the US. This is because more than half of cattle farms in EU produce both beef and milk, and the CF burden was partaken by the dairy production. Cow-calf phase contributed the most CF in 3-phase raising system, while enteric fermentation was the major contributor. Feed production contributed the most in the feedlot phase if forages were applied rather than concentrates. The leading uncertainty sources reported was land use change and disparate dressing percentage. To improve the LCA accuracy, more research is needed in collecting reliable LCA inventory data such as raising period and feed intake efficiency.

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-08-15T14:25:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 SONALY DUARTE DE OLIVEIRA - TESE (PPGMet) 2015.pdf: 5983406 bytes, checksum: 3bc9290429f37c1574ee63d2c7ff3265 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T14:25:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SONALY DUARTE DE OLIVEIRA - TESE (PPGMet) 2015.pdf: 5983406 bytes, checksum: 3bc9290429f37c1574ee63d2c7ff3265 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-07 / Capes / A escassez da água para consumo humano tem aumentado em proporções alarmantes em todo o mundo. Com o aumento significativo da população, e de suas necessidades de água, iniciou à preocupação com uma possível falta do recurso, fomentando ações em face ao uso racional dos recursos hídricos. A melhoria da gestão da água desempenha um papel vital no aumento da produção de alimentos e redução da insegurança alimentar, é neste contexto que surgem os conceitos de água virtual e de pegada hídrica que pretendem, simultaneamente, dar conta de dimensões do uso da água habitualmente ignoradas e comunicar de forma eficaz e objetiva o consumo efetivo necessário para a obtenção de um produto. O objetivo deste trabalho é determinar a pegada hídrica total do consumo nacional, o fluxo de água virtual das principais commodities consumidas pelo brasileiro, bem como os índices de autossuficiência, dependência e escassez de água para as 27 commodities analisadas no estudo, de cada estado da federação e do país. O valor médio da pegada hídrica do brasileiro calculada neste estudo foi de 1619 m³/hab/ano, sendo a carne bovina a commodity com maior contribuição (21%) do total da pegada hídrica do consumo nacional. A região Nordeste é a que possui o maior volume de importação líquida de água virtual para o grupo de commodities agrícola com 2,38 Gm³/ano, apresentando uma importação líquida também para o grupo pecuário. Por outro lado, é a segunda região com maior volume de exportação líquida de água virtual para os produtos industriais com 2,24 Gm³/ano, atrás apenas da região Sudeste. Os índices utilizados na pesquisa indicam que o Brasil não é autossuficiente em todas as commodities analisadas neste estudo, entretanto para os setores agrícola, industrial e pecuário apresentou saldos positivos indicando independência dos recursos hídricos externos. Os resultados ainda indicam que o Brasil é um país exportador de água virtual com um saldo de 54,8 m³/ano, principalmente para o continente europeu que detém 41,28% de toda água virtual exportada do Brasil. / The scarcity of water for human consumption has increased at an alarming rate worldwide. With the significant increase in population, and their water needs, it began to concern about a possible shortage of the resource, promoting actions in the face of rational use of water resources. The improved water management plays a vital role in increasing food production and reducing food insecurity, it is in this context that come the concepts of virtual water and water footprint who want both to use the dimensions of the water bill usually ignored and communicate effectively and objectively the actual consumption required to obtain a product. The objective of this study is to determine the water footprint of national consumption, the virtual water flow of the main commodities consumed by the brazilian people and water scarcity, water self-sufficiency and water dependency indexes for the 27 commodities analyzed in this study, as well as for each state and country. The average brazilian water footprint is 1,619 m³/person/year. The beef cattle commodity had largest contribution (21%) of the total water footprint of national consumption. The Northeast region is the one with the largest volume of net import of virtual water for the group of agricultural commodities with Gm³ 2.38 / year, with a net import also for the livestock group. On the other hand, it is the second region with the highest volume of net export of virtual water for industrial goods with Gm³ 2.24 / year, second only to the Southeast. The indexes used in the survey indicate that Brazil is not self-sufficient in all commodities analyzed in this study, however for the agricultural, industrial and livestock sectors showed positive balances indicating independence of the external water resources. The results also indicate that Brazil is exporter of virtual water with a balance of 54.8 m³/year, mainly for the European continent which respond by 41.28% of the total virtual water exports from Brazil.