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Although environmental rehabilitation projects that did not succeed are not uncommon, there are few research papers that deal with the subject. Works on the rehabilitation of borrow pits are even more rare. In an attempt to fulfill some gaps, the present study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a program for the restoration of a clay borrow pit used for the construction of a hydroelectric plant, twenty years after its execution. In order to assess the current degradation stage and to identify the possible errors of this intervention, the area was mapped using an unmanned aerial vehicle, which allowed the identification of the remaining physical structures, dimensioning of the actual degraded area and characterization of vegetation cover and types of exposed soil. Physical and chemical parameters of the degraded area soils were compared to those of a contiguous preserved area, which was used as a control. Soils of the degraded area are significantly more compacted (with significant reduction in macroporosity) and depleted in organic matter and nutrients. The results showed that the methodologies used in the rehabilitation project were not sufficient to recover the resilience of a deeply degraded ecosystem. The long-term success of a rehabilitation project is only possible with the guarantee of the ecological sustainability of the area, which is largely related to the restoration of soil ecological processes. Most of the time, this cannot be achieved with the simple use of classical erosion control and revegetation techniques and without the addition of sediment material to aid the process. • Unprecedented study on a borrow pit rehabilitation project in the Cerrado biome. • Traditional rehabilitation techniques do not work in areas with total soil removal. • Soil functions must be restored to ensure a long-term successful rehabilitation project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water security is an issue across the world as communities face ageing infrastructure, population increases and climate change. The application of digital water metering (DWM) to properties has had a demonstrable impact on water savings at the property and network levels, on efficiencies within water utilities, as well as on improvements to customer satisfaction scores. Gathering and processing near-real-time water usage data is very important for both end-users and utilities, as well as demand and supply management planning. The potential contribution of DWM to the three pillars of water sustainability (environmental, economic development and social equity) is often overlooked. In Australia and other jurisdictions water utilities are facing up to the challenge of climate change. However, business cases promoting DWM are often unsuccessful because the benefit side falls short of the cost side. This study sought to identify possible DWM benefits not previously considered through an extensive review of academic and industry literature, and then to view those benefits through the lens of sustainability. The 77 identified benefits of DWM were catalogued and a taxonomy was created. The study elicited the opinions of experts, before quantifying them, thus identifying two distinct contexts of benefit value; subsequently, it surveyed the views of customers and developed a stochastic model of benefit value. The model, named DWM360, was applied to the project data of a large metropolitan water utility in Australia to model their DWM proposal for cost savings, contribution to sustainability and uplift in customer satisfaction. This paper presents a novel focus on how the benefits of DWM assist water sustainability. It considers differing social norms that impact consumer acceptance of changes in metering and water charges. The study will be of interest to researchers as well as practitioners looking to identify sustainability aspects of DWM. [Display omitted] • Sustainability contribution of digital water metering (DWM) benefits identified. • Business cases for DWM strengthened by considering more benefits and sustainability. • Benefits of DWM arranged into a taxonomy based on of sustainability pillars. • Value contribution of DWM benefits modelled using Monte-Carlo simulation. • Social norms can impact successful community acceptance of DWM rollout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethanol distillation generates a huge volume of unwanted chemical liquid known as distillery wastewater. Distillery wastewater is acidic, dark brown having high biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, contains various salt contents, and heavy metals. Inadequate and indiscriminate disposal of distillery wastewater deteriorates the quality of the soil, water, and ultimately groundwater. Its direct exposure via food web shows toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic effects on aquatic-terrestrial organisms including humans. So, there is an urgent need for its proper management. For this purpose, a group of researchers applied distillery wastewater for fertigation while others focused on its physico-chemical, biological treatment approaches. But until now no cutting-edge technology has been proposed for its effective management. So, it becomes imperative to comprehend its toxicity, treatment methods, and implication for environmental sustainability. This paper reviews the last decade's research data on advanced physico-chemical, biological, and combined (physico-chemical and biological) methods to treat distillery wastewater and its reuse aspects. Finally, it revealed that the combined methods along with the production of value-added products are one of the best options for distillery wastewater management. • Distillery wastewater and its ecotoxicity on flora and fauna reviewed in details. • Current trends in physico-chemical and biological treatment have been reviewed. • Combined treatment proved to be more beneficial and sustainabledum • Lab and field scale use of distillery waste as a substrate has been highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 of the Agenda 2030 is addressed to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all. Further, one of the major principles underlying the Lisbon Charter is that sustainable and safe management of wastewaters are fundamental to the health of communities and their sustainable socio-economic development. Within this framework, the management of sewage sludge in a sustainable manner is one of the critical issues facing modern society, due to the growing rise of its production, increasing difficulties in properly locating treatment and disposal works, and complying with more stringent environmental quality requirements, thus requiring a re-thinking of its management. This paper discusses major concepts and principles for re-thinking the sludge management in order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives. • Sludge management should be the starting-point when planning wastewater systems. • Institutional and Governance aspects must be evaluated for effective re-thinking. • A holistic view point shall be integrated while re-thinking sludge management. • Need of procedures to reduce sludge amount, improve quality and maximize recoveries. • Addressing wider challenges from technical viewpoints to the socio-economic reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the problem of septage mining on islands in accordance with the circular economy (CE) concept. Islands are natural and socioeconomic systems wherein seasonal tourism and agriculture are the major economic activities, while environmental and health security are the top priorities. The majority of the individual housing facilities on islands are not connected to a public sewage system, thereby rendering the treatment and disposal of septage difficult. A significant degree of seasonal variability is observed in the quantities and characteristics of the septage produced, which hinders the sustainability of potential solutions. Consequently, there is a need to elucidate the benchmarks of a sustainable solution and quantify the CE implementation. This problem was solved using a simple two-step process. First, a concept for septage management was selected based on a waste hierarchy approach. Second, a sustainability policy was quantified by evaluating a composite indicator that accounts for economic, environmental, and social issues. The application of the sustainability index enables the assessment of the cumulative impact of the proposed solution on the environment of the island. The applied methodology has proven to be useful in the creation of a sustainable management concept that minimises negative impacts and protects resources. The proposed septate mining concept can strengthen the self-sustainability of islands and alleviate the threat to their business and environment. • Conventional septage management cannot solve the environmental problems of islands. • Septic tanks are a reliable for achieving a circular economy on the islands. • Septage hierarchy is a tool for evaluating the processes that protect the environment. • Indicators are useful tools to support the progress of the circular economy. • Composite indicators provide a cumulative assessment of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade the multifunctional agriculture (MFA) concept has emerged as a key notion in scientific and policy debates on the future of agriculture and rural development. Broadly speaking, MFA refers to the fact that agricultural activity beyond its role of producing food and fibre may also have several other functions such as renewable natural resources management, landscape and biodiversity conservation and contribution to the socio-economic viability of rural areas. The use of the concept can be traced to a number of wider societal and political transformation processes, which have influenced scientific and policy approaches in different ways amongst countries and disciplines. This paper critically discusses various existing research approaches to MFA, both from natural and social sciences. To this aim different strands of literature are classified according to their focus on specific governance mechanisms and levels of analysis into four main categories of research approaches (market regulation, land-use approaches, actor-oriented and public regulation approaches). For each category an overview of the state-of-the-art of research is given and an assessment is made of its strengths and weaknesses. The review demonstrates that the multifunctionality concept has attracted a wealth of scientific contributions, which have considerably improved our understanding of key aspects of MFA. At the same time approaches in the four categories have remained fragmented and each has limitations to understand MFA in all its complexity due to inherent constraints of applied conceptualizations and associated disciplinary backgrounds. To go beyond these limitations, we contend, new meta-level frameworks of analysis are to be developed that enable a more integrated approach. The paper concludes by presenting the main lines of an integrative, transitional framework for the study of MFA, which analyses multifunctional agriculture against the background of wider societal change processes towards sustainability and identifies a number of key elements and research challenges for this. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Environmental empowering to control resource consumption and environmental impacts is critical to engage citizens to adopt more sustainable habits. This study demonstrates the potential benefits of innovative approaches based on sustainability indicators towards a low-carbon economy. A methodology to measure and promote sustainability in schools has been proposed and evaluated, aiming at showing the environmental performance and informing of potential environmental savings. The methodology, titled ClimACT, has two main purposes: measuring the environmental performance of schools through a school sustainability index based on measurable indicators in the areas of transport, procurement, green spaces, indoor air quality, energy, water and waste; and encouraging students, teachers and families towards an energy-efficient and low-carbon pathway through a structural procedure based on roles, activities and progress evaluation. The approach, applied to 39 pilot schools from Portugal, Spain, France and Gibraltar, achieved promising and encouraging results. All schools deployed the methodology successfully, achieving measurable environmental benefits in 95% of cases, with an average improvement of 10% in the global performance of schools after one year. Moreover, the 5112 surveys applied to school communities, before and after the methodology implementation, highlighted how the sustainable indicators had a significant influence on the daily lives of families, leading to improvements of their behaviour, with an average increase of 20% in indicators regarding good practices in transport, energy, water, waste and citizenship. The environmental empowering through measurable indicators is a step forward a low-carbon economy. This methodology is open and adaptable to all sectors and requirements. Image 1 • Empowering school communities towards a low-carbon economy. • The paper proposes a methodology to measure and promote sustainability. • The methodology was evaluated in 39 pilot schools from 4 European countries. • After one year, 95% of schools achieve measurable environmental benefits. • Sustainability indicators are proposed as key elements towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular economy principles were adopted by European Commission, to support a sustainable growth. They contain general rules that should be considered in all situations. At present, during pandemic, some waste disposal practices are under evaluation to guarantee safety conditions. For example, in view of the recent results reporting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in sewage sludge, the possibility that it diffuses in the environment is alarming. The situation may result critical in densely populated cities, which are the largest sources of sewage sludge. In this frame the diffused practice of reuse of this waste in agriculture is under revision. In this context, incineration may represent a valuable alternative strategy to manage sewage sludge during pandemic. Indeed, due to thermal treatment, the destruction of organic micropollutants and pathogens, eventually present in the waste, is guarantee. Moreover, it is fundamental to highlight that also if the management of sewage sludge changes, the ash resulting from its combustion may have suitable reuse opportunities, and their landfilling should be avoided. This work presents the available possibilities of sewage sludge ash recovery in building applications and shows the results obtained by the analysis of their sustainability. The approach is based on the use of embodied energy and carbon footprint values, to make a simple and fast new method able to be a suitable tool to support and promote sustainability also in critical situations (such as pandemic) and when all the information about a technology are not available, making not possible to perform a full-LCA approach. This work aims to be not only a reference paper for promotion of strategies able to increase waste management safety, but also an example showing that circular economy principles should be pursued also if boundary conditions can change. • Sewage sludge incineration is the safest choice for sewage sludge disposal during Covid-19 pandemic. • Sewage sludge ash (SSA) can be reused as adsorbent material and in the manufacture of building materials. • ESCAPE methods can be useful to evaluate the sustainability of SSA. • ESCAPE methods provide a fast analysis during the design phase of the product (preliminary to LCA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is one of the world's largest emerging economies and, therefore, has a critical role to play in ensuring global sustainability, while the Indian economy is also prioritizing energy security. The paper explores the dynamic linkages between energy security captured through national-level energy use, foreign direct investment (FDI), economic output, carbon emissions, and trade openness in India spanning the period from 1978 to 2016 in a multivariate framework based on the theoretical premise of an Environmental Kuznets Curve. Time series econometric modelling based on the ARDL model and VECM Granger causality tests are employed for this purpose. The results confirm the presence of a co-integrating relationship and finds a strong energy-output–CO 2 –FDI long-run nexus. A 1% increase in FDI results in a 0.013% reduction in energy use. Energy use is found to be Granger caused by output, carbon emissions, FDI and trade openness in the long-run. The adoption of energy-efficient techniques through FDI is essential for reducing carbon emissions in India based on our findings. The Indian government should also galvanize FDI inflow in the renewable energy sectors by assuring incentives to investors to concurrently achieve favorable macroeconomic outcomes and ensure sustainable economic development. These are globally important policy lessons for other developing and emerging economies. • India is one of the world's largest emerging economy. • Dynamic linkages between energy, economy and the environment is studied for India. • Multivariate modelling framework is based on Environmental Kuznets Curve. • A 1% increase in FDI results in 0.013% reduction in energy use. • A long-run nexus relationships exists between the energy, economy and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinity is one of the major and widespread challenges in the recent era that hinders global food security and environmental sustainability. Worsening the situation, the harmful impacts of climate change accelerate the development of soil salinity, potentially spreading the problem in the near future to currently unaffected regions. This paper aims to synthesise information from published literature about the extent, development mechanisms, and current mitigation strategies for tackling soil salinity, highlighting the opportunities and challenges under climate change situations. Mitigation approaches such as application of amendments, cultivation of tolerant genotypes, suitable irrigation, drainage and land use strategies, conservation agriculture, phytoremediation, and bioremediation techniques have successfully tackled the soil salinity issue, and offered associated benefits of soil carbon sequestration, and conservation and recycling of natural resources. These management practices further improve the socio-economic conditions of the rural farming community in salt-affected areas. We also discuss emerging reclamation strategies such as saline aquaculture integrated with sub surface drainage, tolerant microorganisms integrated with tolerant plant genotypes, integrated agro-farming systems that warrant future research attention to restore the agricultural sustainability and global food security under climate change scenarios. Image 1 • Distribution, causes and climate change vulnerability of salt-affected soil highlighted. • Management strategies of salt-affected soil under climate change discussed. • Socioeconomic and environmental impacts of management strategies reviewed. • Different innovative reclamation strategies warrant future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a unique review of hydrogen production methods with wastewater treatment to depict a clean and sustainable approach. Various methods for hydrogen production from wastewaters are identified and discussed with recent details by discussing the critical challenges, opportunities, and future directions. Five main performance sectors are considered in detail for each hydrogen production method of the recent case studies, including economic, environmental, social, technical, and reliability. Eight hydrogen production methods are reviewed, including anaerobic method, photo fermentation, dark fermentation, electrolysis, electrodialysis, photocatalysis, photoelectrochemical methods, and super water gasification. A comparative assessment of six reviewed methods for hydrogen production, including environmental, economic, energetic, and exergetic impacts, is evaluated. The comparative assessment results indicate that dark fermentation technology is the most economical method, and it is followed by microbial electrolysis and photofermentation. The most environmentally friendly method for the lowest global warming potential (GWP) is the microbial electrolysis method, and it is followed by photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical methods. Furthermore, the highest energy and exergy efficiencies have been recorded for the microbial electrolysis to be 68% and 64.7%, respectively. • Hydrogen production methods, along with wastewater treatment, are reviewed. • A comparative study of the nine hydrogen production methods is performed. • The results indicate the dark fermentation method is the most economical method. • The microbial electrolysis method is listed as the lowest environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the existing world population, set of environmental impacts, and predicted changes in dietary trends, one can expect that, in the coming decades, food security will remain high on the list of sustainability concerns. In relation to this challenge, Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must address a diverse set of goals: (i) guarantee a stable and affordable food supply; (ii) preserve the socioeconomic stability of farmers by guaranteeing their economic viability; (iii) protect the environment by reducing pressures on agroecosystems; and (iv) improve food security by reducing import dependence. Policies related to these diverse goals are likely to generate adverse side-effects. A particularly uncomfortable concern is Europe's massive reliance on imported feed commodities. The European Union (EU) is unlikely to be capable of domestically producing currently imported agricultural commodities and a significant move to internalize imports would dramatically increase pressures on local ecosystems. Faced with that potential predicament, it is essential to have a robust information system capable of simultaneously addressing a variety of policy concerns. In response, this paper presents a novel accounting framework—Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM)—capable of generating an integrated set of indicators entangled across different scales and dimensions of analysis. Our versatile approach establishes a set of quantitative relations between: (i) the dietary intake of the society (desirability of the food supply); (ii) processes under human control (viability of the food system); (iii) processes outside of human control and associated with external biophysical limits determined by embedding ecosystems (feasibility of the food system); and (iv) the dependence on imported products (food security). The analysis of such relations can be tailored to the legitimate perceptions of different social actors affected by policies, anticipating potential conflicts and providing useful information for deliberation and negotiation. Our approach is illustrated with an analysis of the European agricultural system, covering the EU-27 plus the UK and Norway. Image 1 • EU food security both affects and is affected by global food security. • The EU cannot re-internalize the production of its massive feed imports. • EU environmental protection depends on the externalization of agricultural activities. • Global megatrends suggest to rethink current EU food security policies. • An informed deliberation relies on multi-level and multi-dimension indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the biggest sector of the global economy, an understanding of environmental management in small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is necessary for improved sustainability. This paper explores the role of contextual factors for ISO 14001 adoption and improved environmental performance in SMEs. It finds that socio-political factors (e.g. legislation, regulation and legitimation) guide the initial adoption decision. Nevertheless, beyond this, substantive performance improvements (i.e. improved internal processes and procedures) are received, based on symbolic (i.e. legitimacy-based) reasoning. Particularly, operational improvements subsequently lead to improved financial and environmental outcomes, as well as external social performance evaluations. This not only suggests that environmental performance is a multidimensional concept that extends beyond the firm, but also that ISO 14001 adoption in SMEs is based on the interrelation of symbolic and substantive performance effects over time and space that cannot be separated analytically in research practice. The findings are presented as particularly useful for SMEs in terms of highlighting the performance benefits of ISO 14001 adoption. • The socio-political context guides ISO adoption in SMEs, rather than owner-manager values. • Environmental performance is a multidimensional concept. • Symbolic and substantive performance benefits interplay through ISO 14001 adoption in SMEs. • ISO 14001 is often misinterpreted by SMEs, thus hindering substantive performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of the building sector represents the progress of civilizations. There are environmental, social and economic implications, impeding the sustainability performance of buildings. A holistic life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework is inevitable to address the integrated sustainability performance of residential buildings. This paper aims to develop triple bottom line indicators to assess the sustainability performance of buildings, including sustainability objectives, impact categories and key performance indicators (KPIs) to implement in the life cycle sustainability assessment framework. The indicators have been developed through the consensus survey involving area experts from four key stakeholders' categories including, government and Engineers Australia, academia, practitioners, and structural engineers. A list of KPIs was compiled through a literature review, followed by an online census survey to collect feedback from the participants in terms of relevance and importance of initally selected KPIs. Secondly, a modified list of triple bottom line (TBL) KPIs and their weights was developed based on respondents' feedback. Finally, the threshold values were assigned to the selected KPIs and the LCSA framework was tested using a hypothetical case study. The LCSA framework using these scientifically valid KPIs would assist stakeholders to assess the sustainability performance of residential buildings and to identify the hotspots for proposing well-informed industry strategies in Western Australia. • KPIs for sustainability assessment vary with products and services and also they are region specific. • Relevant KPIs for discerning sustainability performance of Australian buildings were ascertained involving local experts. • Threshold values of selected KPIs were determined to find out the deficiency of building sustainability performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In regions experiencing aquifer depletion, planning for groundwater sustainability requires both accurate accounting of current groundwater budgets and an assessment of future conditions, with changes in recharge and pumping. Hydrologic variability, climate change effects on water flows, changing water infrastructure operations, and inherent uncertainties in modeling, challenge the plans to achieve groundwater sustainability. This paper examines the importance, magnitude, and policy implications of uncertainties in groundwater overdraft estimation for water management in California. We review water balance estimates from two regional-scale groundwater models—C2VSim and CVHM—for sub-regions within California's Central Valley, and examine the variability and uncertainty in historical and future estimates of groundwater overdraft. Assuming reductions in agricultural water use for sub-regions with overdraft, we estimate the probabilities of ending groundwater overdraft for different periods. We also obtain the economic costs associated with these reductions in agricultural production. Results from both groundwater models show significant inter-annual variability in flows affecting groundwater storage, and our model comparison highlights the uncertainty in water budget estimates for Central Valley sub-regions given the differences between models. The analysis of the probabilities of achieving sustainability at the sub-regional scale show that the average overdraft rate is important and that greater variance in annual groundwater storage increases uncertainties in ending overdraft, especially for shorter periods. Greater reductions in annual net water increases the reliability of achieving groundwater sustainability, but rising rapidly agricultural economic losses. Setting management thresholds below groundwater levels can ease meeting sustainability criteria, but also can introduce a false pathway to sustainability. Finally, we discuss policy implications for the design of local groundwater sustainability plans and state assessment and regulation of local plans. • Many regions in California's Central Valley use groundwater unsustainably. • Uncertainty in models and future hydrology challenge groundwater sustainability. • Comparison of models shows significant uncertainty in estimates for water budgets. • Less water use increases sustainable paths but also agricultural economic losses. • Consideration of uncertainty and costs is essential for planning for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability of products and services has become a compulsory requirement and an essential requirement for organizations, governments, markets and society in general. Among the various ways of measuring sustainability that have been developed, those based on life cycle thinking provide one of the frameworks for assessing the potential impacts of products and services. However, despite sustainability of triple bottom line parameters (ecological, financial and social), the life cycle assessment is the most mature and prominent available tool. In addition, integration methodologies have come up, like life cycle sustainability assessment (integrating the three sustainability dimensions) and life cycle engineering (including the technical or functional aspect). The application of these methodologies to emergent materials and technologies represents a huge challenge, because there is lack of proper indicators, lack of information and contradictory information is common. This is the case of biocomposites, built with nature-based materials harvested in a myriad of ways in several regions of the globe. So, this paper presents a systematic literature review about the research done on the realm of sustainability assessment methods application to biocomposites. It reveals knowledge and information gaps to apply these methodologies. The integration of the existing methodologies is proposed as a way to allow a holistic sustainability assessment of biocomposite materials. • Adequate and accurate local/global indicators to life cycle inventory are scarce. • Integration of LCSA and LCE provide a better holistic sustainable perspective. • Selection of suitable stakeholders are strategic for defining the indicators. • Life cycle thinking is key in the material decision-making route for biocomposites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biosphere faces an uncertain future! Embracing change, uncertainty and complexity calls for creative transformative pathways. Biosphere stewardship provides a novel multi actor approach towards sustainability. Despite the critical role of individual environmental stewards, biosphere stewardship emphasizes the importance of collective action, and therefore governance. Biosphere stewardship denotes novel governance configurations with the capacity to effectively approach to sustainability transformation. In this paper we seek to advance understanding of how biosphere stewardship actively shapes trajectories of change to foster social-ecological resilience and human wellbeing. Considering the crucial role of governance and more specifically its two pillars of collaboration and learning, we conduct our study of biosphere stewardship through the lens of adaptive co-management. We first set out a framework for diagnosing and analyzing the process of biosphere stewardship. Secondly, we provide evidenced-based insights from applying the framework in four UNESCO biosphere reserves situated in Canada and Sweden to shed light on how active collective shaping of biosphere stewardship occurs and what it produces. In view of the lack of framework for environmental stewardship, we suggest that the present study makes a considerable contribution by providing an appropriate holistic and systemic framework with operational measures. The study also highlights how the comprehensive and consensual understanding of stewardship is proving to be a means of catalyzing biosphere stewardship by enabling effective crafting of policy design and strategic interventions. Moreover, the application of the framework to four case studies reveals the importance of the governance process attributes (collaboration and learning) in mediating outcomes from biosphere stewardship. Finally, the framework provides the basis to address new stewardship enquiries, which require further research in this field. • We present a framework for diagnosing and analyzing biosphere stewardship process. • We provide insights from applying the framework in four UNESCO biosphere reserves. • The framework helps understand how biosphere stewardship shapes transformation. • Consensual understanding of stewardship can catalyze biosphere stewardship process. • Collaboration and learning mediate outcomes from biosphere stewardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a standard approach for evaluating the environmental impacts of products and processes. This paper presents the LCA of Living Wall Systems (LWS), a new technology for greening the building envelope and improve sustainability. Impacts of manufacture, operation, and use of the systems selected, were evaluated through an LCA. LWS are closely related to several environmental benefits, including improved air quality, increased biodiversity, mitigation of heat island effects, and reduced energy consumption due to savings in indoor cooling and heating. Two prototypes have been selected, taking into account the modularity and the use of organic substrate as selection criteria. The systems evaluated were a plastic-based modular system and a felt-based modular system. The inventory data was gathered through the manufacturers. The LCA approach has been used to assess the impact of these solutions by focusing on the construction phase and its contribution to both the energy balance and the entire life cycle of a building. This approach has never been done before for LWS. The study found that out of the two systems through the manufacturing, construction, and maintenance stage of the LCA, the felt-based LWS has an impact on almost 100% of the impact categories analyzed, while plastic-based LWS has the lowest influence on the total environmental impact. • Two prototypes of modular living wall systems analyzed through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. • Life cycle approach to evaluating environmental impact and energy savings on buildings of the living wall systems as a passive system. • The environmental performance of living wall systems can be improved by selecting materials according to LCA results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responsible sourcing refers to the compliance of suppliers with environmental and social standards. In today's supply chains, buyers and external stakeholders use auditing mechanisms to induce responsible sourcing. For the first time, this paper investigates the effect of a buyer's audits on the tactical decisions of supply chains. We address a repeated game with one buyer and one critical supplier. At the strategic stage, the buyer chooses the optimal auditing efforts to induce responsible sourcing. At the tactical stages, the buyer and supplier compete with each other for their profit margins, while the buyer also determines the quantity of production. Moreover, the supplier chooses between responsible and irresponsible production. Two auditing mechanisms are defined for the buyer: strong incentive compatibility (SIC) and weak incentive compatibility (WIC). The effectiveness and backfiring conditions for these auditing mechanisms are identified. The former denotes that the mechanism can induce responsible sourcing, while the latter denotes the conflict between supply chain transparency and responsible sourcing. The results show that the supplier requires an efficiency wage for compliance with responsible sourcing standards. We find that auditing mechanisms in supply chains face an unintended consequence. Higher auditing efforts by the buyer reduce the supplier's wholesale price. This reduction may offset the greater potential for discovery obtained by higher auditing efforts. We also show that the effect of consumer awareness on responsible sourcing is not straightforward and depends strongly on the buyer's auditing mechanism. If the buyer chooses the SIC (WIC) auditing mechanism, consumer awareness always favors (threatens) responsible sourcing. Finally, this research suggests that coordination between buyers and external stakeholders contributes greatly to responsible sourcing. • The effect of auditing on the tactical decisions of supply chains is studied. • Two auditing mechanisms are designed to induce responsible sourcing. • The buyer's auditing efforts reduce the supplier's wholesale price. • Supply chain transparency may be in conflict with responsible sourcing. • Consumer awareness may threaten responsible sourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and large-scale industrial growth has imposed tremendous challenges to the sustainable development of cities in China. The evaluation of the environmental sustainability of industrial planning has become a top priority for improving urban sustainability. In this regard, a goal-oriented framework, called three-line environmental governance, was proposed in the latest Chinese environmental management policy. Three lines, consisting of an ecological conservation red line, an environmental quality bottom line and a resource utilization upper limit line are to be taken into account when evaluating the potential effects of an urban industrial development plan. In this paper, the fuzzy axiomatic design system was applied in the development of an evaluation process and an indicator system that can be used to evaluate industrial alternatives that are established based on the three lines requirement. In an application of this methodology, the Industrial Green Development Plan of the city of Ordos was taken as a case study to recommend an optimal alternative. The target accessibilities of five alternatives were evaluated by conducting a comprehensive comparison among the alternatives meeting the environmental sustainability objectives of all of the indicators. This research shows that the evaluation of environmental sustainability on the basis of the three-line environmental governance policy is an effective way of promoting industrial green development and integrating environmental management requirements into urban industrial planning. It proposes not only a universal process for evaluating the environmental sustainability of urban industrial alternatives, but also a feasible method of tracking and evaluating the performance of industrial green development. • Three-line environmental governance (TLEG) is a new goal-oriented policy in China. • TLEG provides a framework for decomposing environmental sustainability (ES) goals. • A holistic and unified evaluation indicator system is established under TLEG. • Fuzzy axiomatic design is used to evaluate the target accessibility of alternatives. • TLEG based ES evaluation serve as a potential way to promote green industrial growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuing increase in energy consumption and environmental pollution are some of the main challenges of the 21st century. One of the approaches to overcome these challenges is to increase the use of recycled materials and environmentally-friendly approaches to manufacturing. Thermal and acoustic insulation in buildings and transport vehicles from recycled textiles can play an important role in energy savings and reduction of environmental pollution. Textiles contribute a significant amount to the waste stream since most of these valuable fiber products are discarded after use. These discarded but valuable textiles can be recycled to produce several products including thermal and acoustic insulation materials. In this paper, a comprehensive review of the current state of textile waste generation and its environmental effects, and present progress of using industrial and post-consumer recycled textiles in insulation materials is provided. Mechanism of acoustic and thermal insulation materials of textile fibers are also reviewed. Existing research of some textile waste used as building insulation materials, method of conversion of textile waste into building insulation materials, comparative analysis of different insulation materials and life cycle assessment of textile fibers are assessed. • Comprehensive review of literature on textile waste and recycling. • In-depth review of effect of composition and structure on insulation properties. • Huge amount of textile waste is produced that adversely affects our environment. • Insulation materials from recycled textiles help reduce environmental pollution. • Acoustic insulation increases with the increase in thickness and density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many cities are making efforts to develop an urban transformation strategy in order to transition from traditional cities to sustainable ones. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings, especially existing ones, is key to combating climate change. This paper uses a business perspective to analyze and compare three major retrofitting interventions under implementation in three different European cities, Nantes, Hamburg and Helsinki, to capture the principal needs and challenges and to identify governance recommendations for local authorities on building retrofitting replication and scale-up strategies. The authors analyze the municipal business models of residential building retrofitting interventions, which are very different from those of private companies, through two innovative business tools: the Value Creation Ecosystem (VCE) and the City Model Canvas (CMC). Sustainable development in terms of social inclusion, environmental protection and financial viability is the principal axis of the study. The bottleneck for residential building retrofitting is owner engagement, due to the high up-front cost. The analysis of the three cities' business models has shown interesting ideas for promoting this type of interventions. The development of a costumer customer interface lead by the municipality; the offering of funding schemes, the promotion of risk-sharing schemes and guaranteed saving, through the implementation of EPC, and the owners' involvement in co-creation strategies using 4 P approaches could all help city governments to increase the ratio of owners willing to participate. These results and the discussion will help public managers to prepare their cities' strategies in terms of business models when they try to implement building retrofitting projects. • Municipalities need business models to transit from traditional cities to sustainable ones. • Business models address needs in economic, environmental and social dimensions. • The bottleneck for retrofitting projects is the owners' engagement. • The integration of customers interface, funding and 4 P approach is key to scale-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]