Sustainability means providing for the necessities of today without endangering the necessities of tomorrow within the technical, environmental, economic, social/cultural, and individual contexts. The assessment tools available to study the sustainability of the built environment are limited in their approach and lacking in their content due to several reasons: (1) differences amongst the actors within the industry; (2) fragmentation as represented by lack of communication and understanding between the industry and those whom it serves; and (3) regionalism as represented by the disconnection between the construction projects and their host community systems. The narrow focus of the currently available assessment methods does not collectively address the technical, environmental, economic, social/cultural, and individual sustainability indicators as well various aspects of sustainability. To this end, this research develops three innovative system-based concepts to assess sustainability of civil infrastructure projects: (1) work, (2) nature, and (3) flow. The “work benchmark” defines the socio-behavioral relationships amongst the products and the actors of the built environment. It also attempts to delineate how the end-product is affected by how well the producers are connected to the product. The “nature benchmark” focuses on the effects of the built process on the environment through studying the interaction between the construction actors, their associated processes, and the end-products within their host systems. The “flow benchmark” identifies the overall system changes within the host systems and the effects of these changes on the natural environment and the socio-economic setting. For testing and evaluation of “nature” and “work” on five different types of civil infrastructure projects, the author utilized a three-step methodology comprising: (1) structured survey; (2) data collection; and (3) analysis. In order to avoid being unrepresentative of the industry, the author chose projects with different scopes representing a wide spectrum of construction projects. This process provided an improved understanding of the environmental, social, and economic effects of these projects from a systems perspective. For future work, the concept of “flow” will be further explored using macro-level system dynamics modeling, micro-level agent-based simulation, and multi-objective optimization to measure the overall system change.

Published Article / The vision of CUT is to transform itself into a sustainable university, by incorporating sustainable development in its teaching, research and learning environment, and by maximizing and mainstreaming environmental, economic and social sustainability in all its operations and educational activities. For this reason it launched a sustainable development (SD) project in February 2011. This process is being managed by the Office of Technology and Innovation and executed according to a project plan, which is continually rolled-out as progress is being made with the project. This article is a brief summary of progress that has been made during the first year of implementation of the plan.

O maior desafio desse século tem como tema central a sustentabilidade, devido ao crescimento da população mundial e consequentemente ao aumento da demanda por recursos, como água, alimento e energia. A principal dificuldade quando se debate a questão do Desenvolvimento Sustentável está na metodologia de avaliação. Daí a necessidade de criar um instrumento de mensuração que aborde estes recursos de uma maneira holística e que seja capaz de traduzir dados em um resultado passível de interpretação. Existem ferramentas validadas para esse objetivo como DashBoard of Sustainability e outras em desenvolvimento como a Metodologia CLEW pela Agência Internacional de Energia Atômica IAEA. Este estudo tem como objetivo desenvolver um novo modelo de análise de correlação entre as variáveis, energia, água, uso do solo e clima, utilizando Inteligência Artificial, através da Lógica Fuzzy, tendo como base de dados, indicadores que representem um ou mais recursos, considerando uma distribuição temporal relativa e necessária para a investigação de resultados e comportamentos. O resultado será um índice final gerado através do mapeamento destes dados de entrada. Os resultados apresentados utilizando essa metodologia são de indicadores do Brasil, porém pode ser aplicada a qualquer outro país, permitindo uma análise de comparação do comportamento dos índices entre regiões. A contribuição desse projeto será a disponibilidade de uma ferramenta, com recurso computacional poderoso, destinada aos tomadores de decisão para auxiliar no desenvolvimento de estratégias e políticas de desenvolvimento. / The greatest challenge of this century is focused on sustainability, due to world population growth and consequently to the increased demand for resources such as water, food and energy. The main difficulty when discussing the issue of sustainable development is the evaluation methodology. Because of this, there is a need for a measurement tool that addresses these resources in a holistic manner and be able to translate data into results that can be interpreted. There are tools validated for this purpose like, \"Dashboard of Sustainability\" and other developing like the CLEW Nexus by the International Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA. This study aims to develop a new model to analyze the correlation between variables, energy, water, land use and climate, using Artificial Intelligence through Fuzzy Logic, having as a data source, indicators that represent one or more resource, considering the relative and temporal distribution required to research results and behaviors. The result is a final index generated by mapping these input data. The results presented using this methodology are indicators of Brazil, but can be applied to any other country, allowing a comparison analysis of the behavior of indices between regions. The contribution of this project will be the availability of a tool with powerful computational resource, aimed at decision makers to assist in developing strategies and development policies.

The concept of sustainability has gained traction within Canadian planning efforts in recent years. As such, there is a need to measure progress toward sustainability goals; it was found that sustainability indicators are the recommended tool to perform such measurement. The literature also articulated the potential for core community sustainability indicators. The concept of transferability was produced to describe the ability of indicators, domains, and scoring processes to be relevant between communities (horizontal transferability) and various levels of governance (vertical transferability). Hence, the objectives of this research were to create a set of community sustainability indicators, domains, and a scoring methodology for use in a Canadian Community Sustainability Indicator Framework. In attempt to achieve these objectives, first a document review of four existing Canadian community sustainability indicator sets and their domains. This review produced a preliminary set of community sustainability indicators and domains, the latter of which were used in the interviews that followed. The document review also introduced a scoring methodology from MMM Group: The Complete Mobility (CM) scoring methodology. Interview communities were chosen from across Canada using criteria to include different geographical areas, community sizes, and economic/population conditions. Interviewees were from academic, government, or non-government organizations. Interviews followed a loose interview guide with the objectives of gaining insight into interviewee perceptions on sustainability indicators, domains, and scoring processes. Specifically they were asked to evaluate the preliminary set of community sustainability indicator domains and CM scoring methodology, both found in the document review. Synthesis of the results from the document review, the interviews, and the literature review found that there are benefits associated with, and a desire for a transferable community sustainability framework within Canada. The preliminary set of community sustainability indicator domains found complete acceptance in the interviews, and three newly proposed domains. The concept of scoring had varied opinions; however, in those interviewees who desired scoring, the CM methodology was well liked. A proposed framework for a CCSIF as well as other potentially emergent concepts and affirmed academic assertions were also presented in this thesis. Further research into many of these concepts, both emergent and not, was proposed.

Transformations of the various agricultural systems have been taking place in the coastal zone of Bangladesh. While some farmers continue to follow traditional practices, in recent years, others have become involved in massive shrimp cultivation, shrimp-rice cultivation, a rice-based improved agricultural system or a shrimp-rice-vegetable integrated system. All these types of agriculture are being practiced under highly vulnerable environmental conditions. The long-term livelihood, food security and adaptation of the coastal people largely depend on the sustainability of these agricultural practices. In this context, assessing the level of sustainability is extremely important and will be essential for developing future policy options in Bangladesh. This study attempts to examine the sustainability of agricultural practices in the coastal region of Bangladesh. A field study was carried out in 2011 in five villages of five upazilas in the mature and active delta areas of the country. The data were collected through in-depth questionnaire surveys, focus groups discussions, field observation, key informants and secondary materials. A comprehensive suite of indicators was developed considering productivity, efficiency, stability, durability, compatibility and equity of the coastal agriculture. The categories and the indicators were weighted using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to measure the sustainability level of five study sites. The integrated agricultural system (shrimp-rice-vegetable) of Dumuria appeared to be the most sustainable system among agricultural practices, and other integrated systems (rice-based improved agricultural system) of Kalaroa were also found to show a good level of sustainability. The massive shrimp cultivation system of Shyamnagar and Kaliganj appears to be least sustainable. A traditional agriculture system with some improved methods followed in Bhola Sadar also performed in a satisfactory manner, but there were limitations in terms of its location in the active delta. The level of the sustainability measured in this study allows for a comparison among agricultural practices of the five study sites. The information generated from the study may be used in formulating policies for this part of the country. Measuring agricultural sustainability in this way produces a useful summary of sustainability issues and also provides some vital learning experiences. A holistic and interdisciplinary approach is attempted in this study for assessing and comparing the sustainability level of coastal agricultural systems. It has the potential to become useful as one of the frameworks for sustainability assessment. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-28 15:08:18.847

The concept of sustainability has gained traction within Canadian planning efforts in recent years. As such, there is a need to measure progress toward sustainability goals; it was found that sustainability indicators are the recommended tool to perform such measurement. The literature also articulated the potential for core community sustainability indicators. The concept of transferability was produced to describe the ability of indicators, domains, and scoring processes to be relevant between communities (horizontal transferability) and various levels of governance (vertical transferability). Hence, the objectives of this research were to create a set of community sustainability indicators, domains, and a scoring methodology for use in a Canadian Community Sustainability Indicator Framework. In attempt to achieve these objectives, first a document review of four existing Canadian community sustainability indicator sets and their domains. This review produced a preliminary set of community sustainability indicators and domains, the latter of which were used in the interviews that followed. The document review also introduced a scoring methodology from MMM Group: The Complete Mobility (CM) scoring methodology. Interview communities were chosen from across Canada using criteria to include different geographical areas, community sizes, and economic/population conditions. Interviewees were from academic, government, or non-government organizations. Interviews followed a loose interview guide with the objectives of gaining insight into interviewee perceptions on sustainability indicators, domains, and scoring processes. Specifically they were asked to evaluate the preliminary set of community sustainability indicator domains and CM scoring methodology, both found in the document review. Synthesis of the results from the document review, the interviews, and the literature review found that there are benefits associated with, and a desire for a transferable community sustainability framework within Canada. The preliminary set of community sustainability indicator domains found complete acceptance in the interviews, and three newly proposed domains. The concept of scoring had varied opinions; however, in those interviewees who desired scoring, the CM methodology was well liked. A proposed framework for a CCSIF as well as other potentially emergent concepts and affirmed academic assertions were also presented in this thesis. Further research into many of these concepts, both emergent and not, was proposed.

This thesis explores the concept of sustainability in the context of the community expectation for sustainability in cities. Effective sustainability performance requires all three pillars of environmental sustainability (stewardship), social equity and economic efficiency to achieve complementary outcomes rather than simply individual outcomes. For cities, one challenge of sustainability is centred on urban form, transport characteristics and the interactions between these and the communities they support. Better understanding of these dynamics is an important step in a meaningful interpretation of sustainability performance of cities. Reviews of methodological gaps in sustainability performance of cities are framed into a statement of problem. Gaps include a holistic assessment framework, methodologies to better understand urban dynamics, the drivers that produce sustainability performance and to objectively measure the performance of all three pillars of sustainability. The common transport planning and land-use planning methods are identified as suitable building blocks for improvements in sustainability assessment, and accessibility is established as an important part of sustainability. In a new approach to sustainability analysis, a sustainability framework is formulated. A concept of "environmental sustainability - accessibility space" is introduced as a novel visualisation of sustainability performance. Propositions are formed that a city's sustainability performance can be analytically quantified and simply visualised in terms of the three pillars of sustainability. Sydney, a global city with a history of planning, is the case study to empirically test the propositions, with the sustainability framework providing the conceptual reference points. Having developed a picture of the urban dynamics in the Sydney case study, the proposed sustainability metrics are developed and the propositions tested. Sustainability metrics consisting of three typologies are shown to indicate the sustainability performance characteristics for the three pillars of sustainability in terms of data set shape, frequency and spread in the "environmental sustainability accessibility space". The visualisations although built from many thousands of pieces of data provided a simple representation giving a holistic view of the sustainability characteristics and trends. Collectively, the sustainability framework, sustainability metrics, companion urban dynamics metrics, and urban system measures are demonstrated as a meaningful methodology in assessing city sustainability performance.

O maior desafio desse século tem como tema central a sustentabilidade, devido ao crescimento da população mundial e consequentemente ao aumento da demanda por recursos, como água, alimento e energia. A principal dificuldade quando se debate a questão do Desenvolvimento Sustentável está na metodologia de avaliação. Daí a necessidade de criar um instrumento de mensuração que aborde estes recursos de uma maneira holística e que seja capaz de traduzir dados em um resultado passível de interpretação. Existem ferramentas validadas para esse objetivo como DashBoard of Sustainability e outras em desenvolvimento como a Metodologia CLEW pela Agência Internacional de Energia Atômica IAEA. Este estudo tem como objetivo desenvolver um novo modelo de análise de correlação entre as variáveis, energia, água, uso do solo e clima, utilizando Inteligência Artificial, através da Lógica Fuzzy, tendo como base de dados, indicadores que representem um ou mais recursos, considerando uma distribuição temporal relativa e necessária para a investigação de resultados e comportamentos. O resultado será um índice final gerado através do mapeamento destes dados de entrada. Os resultados apresentados utilizando essa metodologia são de indicadores do Brasil, porém pode ser aplicada a qualquer outro país, permitindo uma análise de comparação do comportamento dos índices entre regiões. A contribuição desse projeto será a disponibilidade de uma ferramenta, com recurso computacional poderoso, destinada aos tomadores de decisão para auxiliar no desenvolvimento de estratégias e políticas de desenvolvimento. / The greatest challenge of this century is focused on sustainability, due to world population growth and consequently to the increased demand for resources such as water, food and energy. The main difficulty when discussing the issue of sustainable development is the evaluation methodology. Because of this, there is a need for a measurement tool that addresses these resources in a holistic manner and be able to translate data into results that can be interpreted. There are tools validated for this purpose like, \"Dashboard of Sustainability\" and other developing like the CLEW Nexus by the International Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA. This study aims to develop a new model to analyze the correlation between variables, energy, water, land use and climate, using Artificial Intelligence through Fuzzy Logic, having as a data source, indicators that represent one or more resource, considering the relative and temporal distribution required to research results and behaviors. The result is a final index generated by mapping these input data. The results presented using this methodology are indicators of Brazil, but can be applied to any other country, allowing a comparison analysis of the behavior of indices between regions. The contribution of this project will be the availability of a tool with powerful computational resource, aimed at decision makers to assist in developing strategies and development policies.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / O tema dos resÃduos sÃlidos recebeu uma maior atenÃÃo depois de promulgada a PolÃtica Nacional de ResÃduos SÃlidos, sob a Lei Federal 12.305 de 2010 e pelo Decreto 7404 /2010, a qual transitou no Congresso Nacional durante 19 anos, conseguindo mexer nas antigas estruturas e rever os antigos moldes com os quais o poder pÃblico tratava a questÃo. Antes, as polÃticas tinham carÃter remediativo, com baixa qualidade tÃcnica, altos gastos pÃblicos e de pouco alcance social, dando Ãs cidades brasileiras um modelo de gestÃo ineficiente, com repercussÃo negativa na saÃde pÃblica, no crescente nÃmero de pessoas que vivem informalmente e que tiram sua sobrevivÃncia dos lixos brasileiros como à o caso dos catadores de material reciclÃveis em um mercado informal e ainda pouco lucrativo de materiais reciclÃveis.O presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal avaliar a atual gestÃo, com base em um conjunto de indicadores de sustentabilidade e criar um modelo de aÃÃes voltadas para os gestores municipais, a fim de ser utilizada por estes como ferramenta para a elaboraÃÃo de um plano maior de gestÃo municipal dentro dos novos moldes da LegislaÃÃo brasileira. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o MunicÃpio de Caucaia possui um bom gerenciamento, tendo a coleta de cerca de 100% de seu territÃrio urbano. No entanto, à sendo tambÃm um grande gerador de resÃduos orgÃnicos, cerca de 57% das amostras extraÃdas na anÃlise gravimÃtrica pelo mÃtodo do quarteamento, nÃo recebem, portanto um tratamento final adequado para esse tipo de resÃduo e com uma anÃlise dos indicadores de sustentabilidade tendendo a ser desfavorÃvel pela ausÃncia de polÃticas sociais que englobam os atores sociais envolvidos na cadeia dos resÃduos, devendo o MunicÃpio refazer suas leis e adotar o uso de outras tecnologias a fim de se adequar Ãs novas exigÃncias da Lei. / The issue of solid waste received greater attention after the enactment of the National Solid Waste under Federal Law 12,305 of 2010 and Decree 7404/2010, which moved in Congress for 19 years, getting messing with old structures and review the old molds with which the government was the question. Earlier policies had remedial character, with low technical quality, high public spending and some social reach, giving Brazilian cities a model of inefficient management, with negative repercussions on public health, the growing number of people living informally and take survival of Brazilian waste such as waste pickers of recyclable materials in an informal market and little lucrative recyclables.The present study aims at evaluating the current management, based on a set of sustainability indicators and create a model of actions for municipal managers in order to be used by them as a tool for the development of a larger plan municipal management within the new mold of Brazilian law.The results showed that the City of Caucaia has good management, and the collection of about 100% of its urban territory. However, it is also a major generator of organic waste, about 57% of the samples in the gravimetric analysis by the method of quartering, not given, so a final treatment suitable for this type of waste and an analysis of sustainability indicators trending to be unfavorable for the absence of social policies that encompass the social actors involved in the chain of waste, the municipality must redo their laws and adopt the use of other technologies in order to adapt to the new demands of the Law.

Orientador: Evandro Ziggiatti Monteiro / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T02:45:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Panobianco_IsabelaEscaroupa_M.pdf: 19106491 bytes, checksum: 816cbe44775d463b5c07f32798dddb54 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: O trabalho parte de uma metodologia desenvolvida pelo projeto "Greenbuilding ¿ Tecnologias Verdes", uma parceria FEC/Unicamp ¿ CPFL, no qual o grupo da pesquisadora levantou e trabalhou com parâmetros exclusivos das temáticas de implantação, projeto arquitetônico e conforto ambiental - de diversas certificações ambientais destinados às novas construções e habitações. Entretanto, para o presente estudo os parâmetros levantados foram específicos da tipologia escolar e pertencentes aos seguintes sistemas: LEED, CHPS, AQUA e AIA, os quais restringiram-se às mesmas temáticas já mencionadas. A pesquisa utilizou ainda quatro projetos escolares de unidades da rede pública de ensino (material gráfico composto por plantas, cortes, elevações, etc - cedido pela FDE - Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Educação) que serviram como estudos de caso de caráter exploratório. O objetivo da dissertação é analisar os parâmetros de sustentabilidade que possam ser úteis para o retrofit escolar através de uma abordagem gráfica. Para isso, a metodologia baseou-se em utilizar cada parâmetro levantado e analisá-lo no material gráfico fornecido quanto aos seguintes critérios: (1) sua possível identificação gráfica - o parâmetro pode ser identificado através de um desenho? Por quê? (2) sua situação diagnosticada ¿ caso o parâmetro tenha sido constatado no material gráfico, de que maneira ele foi atendido: bem, mal ou parcialmente? (3) sua localização ¿ quais pranchas do material gráfico foram consultadas para responder a esse parâmetro? (4) seu grau de dificuldade de retrofitar ¿ é fácil, médio ou difícil de fazer um retrofit arquitetônico na escola visando atender esse parâmetro e deixá-la um pouco mais sustentável? O estudo conclui que os sistemas de certificação trabalham de forma desvinculada em relação ao desenho arquitetônico, tendo em vista que esse vínculo poderia facilitar a incorporação de princípios de sustentabilidade nos processos de projeto, tanto para o caso de edifícios novos como para retrofit de existentes. Outra constatação advinda do estudo foi que os parâmetros de sustentabilidade são úteis tanto para nortear projetos sustentáveis quanto para a avaliação de possibilidade de retrofit / Abstract: The work starts from a methodology developed by the project "Green building - Green Technologies", a partnership FEC / Unicamp - CPFL, in which the group of researcher stood and worked with exclusive parameters of thematic of implantation, architectural and environmental comfort - from several environmental certifications for the new buildings and homes. However, for this study were collected parameters specific to the school typology and belonging to the following systems: LEED, CHPS, AQUA and AIA, which were restricted to the same issues already mentioned. The research even used four school projects - units of public schools (graphic material consisting of plans, sections, elevations, etc. - donated by FDE - Foundation for the Development of Education) that served as case studies of exploratory character. The purpose of the dissertation is to analyze the sustainability parameters that may be useful to retrofit school through a graphical approach. For this, the methodology was based on using each parameter lifted and analyze it in graphical material supplied on the following criteria: (1) their possible graphical identification - the parameter can be identified through a drawing? Why? (2) their diagnosed situation - if the parameter has been found in the graphic material, how he was answered: good, bad or partially? (3) their location - which planks, from the graphic material, were consulted to answer this parameter? (4) their degree of difficulty to retrofit ¿ Is it easy, medium or hard to do a architectural retrofit in a school aiming to answer this parameter and leave this school a little more sustainable? The study concludes that certification systems work so unlinked in relation to architectural drawing, considering that this link could facilitate the incorporation of sustainability principles in the design process, both for the case of new buildings and for retrofit of existing. Another conclusion arising from the study was that the sustainability parameters are useful both to guide sustainable projects and the evaluation of possible retrofit / Mestrado / Arquitetura e Construção / Mestra em Engenharia Civil