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The aim of this paper is to investigate agricultural sustainability as a collective issue involving multiple rather than individual farms. Through the utilization of energy consumption as a proxy, we propose a novel methodology that evaluates the impact of farm consolidations on agricultural sustainability while accounting for resource preferences. Our approach incorporates the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator within an inverse data envelopment analysis (IDEA) model to identify post-merger farms that meet preset efficiency targets. We employ a DEA cross-efficiency (DEA-CE) procedure to select merger plans that maximize agricultural sustainability for each preference scenario. By analysing a case study of 43 tomato greenhouse farms in Biskra, northern Algeria, our findings demonstrate that mergers can significantly enhance agricultural sustainability, surpassing the potential of individual farms by a factor of over 15. Additionally, the adoption of the most sustainable merger plan can lead to energy savings of more than 69%. Irrespective of the preference scenario, substantial energy savings in machinery, fertilizers, diesel, and electricity ranging from 22.92% to 73.73% were observed. These results emphasize the strategic role of merger processes in promoting agricultural sustainability and optimizing resource utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent literature, energy efficiency got the attention of scholars due to its discouraging impact on CO2 emissions, which is considered the most prevalent greenhouse gas that human activities produce. Data reports that China is the leading CO2 emitting country across the globe, and still the environmental degradation is in progress. Thus, the current paper empirically investigates the impact of energy efficiency (ENEF), financial inclusion (FD), GDP, export diversification (EXD), and human capital index (HCI) on the environmental degradation of China over the period from 1988 to 2018. This study uses various time-series tests to empirically investigate the determinant of CO2 emissions, including normality tests, unit root tests, and combined cointegration tests. Besides, the long-run coefficients are analyzed via the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), dynamic OLS (DOLS), and the Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR) estimators. The empirical findings reveal that all the variables are cointegrated in the long run. However, the coefficient estimate shows that ENEF and HCI significantly promote environmental sustainability. While GDP, FD, and EXD significantly promote environmental degradation by enhancing the CO2 level in the atmosphere. This study recommends practical policy implications based on the empirical findings: energy-efficient products and energy sources could be promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The approach proposed in this paper emphasizes the methodology of examining the possibility of increasing energy efficiency in the case of industry, such as a petrochemical complex, which is at the same time marked as the major pollutant of the environment. The improved cleaner production methodology was used based on the conditions and needs of the major Serbian petrochemical company. This paper presents results obtained by steam system optimization and modifications. The implemented measures lead to a decrease in total energy consumption by 6% and a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 9 t CO2e. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the concept of sustainable development brings together concepts of economic, environmental and social sustainability, much has been said regarding inherent tensions between them. Conflicts between economic and environmental objectives, in particular, have been noted as restraining efforts to instigate transitions to environmental sustainability, with growth ambitions limiting environmental policy to “win–win” cases. This paper argues that they can also play complementary roles in managing transitions by creating inclusive visions for rallying actors and resources. This is explored by looking at a case of sustainable regeneration in Wales, UK. Using as a case study the Arbed scheme, an area-based project established in 2009 to retrofit housing stock for energy efficiency, this paper shows how the scheme explicitly addresses economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability; and, in particular, how sustainable development aims constituted a guiding vision that supported the formation of actor and resource networks necessary for large-scale retrofitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emissions reductions targets for the UK set out in the Climate Change Act for the period to 2050 will only be achieved with significant changes to the built environment, which is currently estimated to account for 50% of the UK's carbon emissions. The socio-technological nature of Civil Engineering means that this field is uniquely placed to lead the UK through such adaptations. This paper discusses the importance of interdisciplinary teaching to produce multi-faceted team approaches to sustainable design solutions. Methods for measuring success in education are often not fit for purpose, producing good students but poor engineers. Real-world failures to apply sustainable design present a serious, difficult to detect, and ultimately economically negative situation. Techniques to replace summative examinations are presented and discussed, with the aim of enhancing core technical skills alongside those required for sustainable design. Finally, the role of our future engineers in policy-making is discussed. In addition to carbon, the provision of water and food will heavily influence the work of civil engineers in the coming decades. Leadership from civil engineers with the technical knowledge and social awareness to tackle these issues will be required. This provides both opportunities and challenges for engineering education in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Typically, a historic building consists of what today would be considered traditional features, such as fireplaces and chimney stacks, as well as cellular room plans with high ceilings and draught lobbies which reduce air infiltration and heat loss and increase its thermal mass. Such inherent properties should not be overlooked when considering a historic building's future thermal performance, as they may be able to make a valid contribution to improving its energy efficiency. This paper aims to research the link between conservation principles and sustainable refurbishment schemes, appraising the impact of sustainable technologies on historic dwellings. A key theme of the study is the fine balance to be achieved when managing change in refurbishment projects of heritage value. In addition, recent additions or alterations of less heritage value may still form part of the fabric of historic dwellings and must be managed or rectified so as not to detract from the overall character or functionality of the building. This brings to the forefront the role of conservation principles and guidelines as well as energy-efficiency standards and building regulations, and the effect of governmental policy on piecemeal change, in light of the high level of importance given to the sustainability agenda. Home-owners are given incentives and permitted alteration rights that do not always respect the sensitive character of historic dwellings. Currently, if a building is not listed, then its intrinsic features are not protected. Local planning authorities require clearer guidance on how to reach sustainability targets without compromising the heritage value that makes historic dwellings so unique and distinct to the era to which they belong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions without hampering economic growth is a significant issue for China. Taking into account environmental sustainability principles, this study analysed the energy efficiency of 30 regions of China for the period 2002-2007. By employing a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, this study included undesirable CO2 and SO2 outputs and the desirable GDP output in the model. Empirical outcomes demonstrated that the overall average technical efficiency (TE) of China is 0.843, indicating a 15.70% input inefficiency. Among three geographic areas, the east has the highest technical efficiency, with the highest ability to set up clean-burning power plants based on best technology available. Performance in the west is less good because of much inefficient technology. Finally, the study demonstrates detailed management implications of the BCG matrix. The most important contribution of this paper is a detailed demonstration of an energy performance evaluation mechanism for China. The valuable results and insights gained can be equally effectively applied to studies in other developing countries facing the same gaseous emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An optimisation model for the sustainable design of refrigerated automated storage and retrieval systems is proposed, which takes into account specific features of the food supply chain, such as temperature control. Rack configuration as well as surfaces and volumes of the cold cell are conjointly optimised in order to minimise the total yearly cost of the automated storage facility, introducing energy requirements both for refrigeration and picking operations explicitly, other than investment costs. Crane plus satellite systems are modelled in order to enable deep lane solutions and space savings, as suitable for cold storage. The model allows a deep analysis of the impact of supply chain decision variables, such as the facility location, the storage temperature and the incoming product temperature on costs, energy use and carbon dioxide emissions, so that storage facilities attributes for supply chain design models can be properly assessed to re-optimise the whole cold chain. The design problem is modelled and solved by Constraint Programming in order to easily manage non-linear functions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We investigate the factors ("drivers") that motivated investment in energy efficiency in commercial real estate office buildings over the 2006-2011 and 2012-2017 period, and looking forward from 2018 in the context of growing concern over carbon emissions around the world. These insights were collected from large Canadian asset managers through interviews conducted in 2017 and 2018. Key findings were that (1) organizations noted an increasing number of factors driving investment decisions over the three periods; (2) cost drivers (payback period and anticipated financial returns) were the top two drivers in 2006-2017; (3) public relations factors became significantly more important looking forward, with brand (reputational impact) as the top- ranked driver and tenant attraction tied for third place; and (4) mitigation against risks such as resilience and anticipated compliance consistently increased in importance. This study contributes to a comprehensive understanding of past, present, and near-future sustainable real estate investment priorities, changing owner behaviors, and the perceived business case for building energy efficiency investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying stakeholders’ influence on project outcomes, prioritizing their importance and managing their interests accordingly is an effective strategy for maximizing benefits for organizations. Quantifying the influence of stakeholders on energy efficiency of housing allows for the development of an engagement plan that takes into consideration stakeholders’ diverse goals, needs, levels of expertise, knowledge, authority, connectivity and closeness to decision-making processes throughout the different stages of the housing procurement. We present a theoretical approach for quantifying the influence of stakeholders on the thermal performance of housing. The quantification methodology builds on a number of stakeholder management approaches and is applied to Australian case studies for reflection and sense making. The quantification of the degree of influence is calculated by combining the rankings of stakeholders in six attributes that affect their influence on a building’s energy efficiency outcomes. Quantifying human influence on buildings’ energy efficiency can help future researchers and housing industry stakeholders in integrating the human aspect with technological, technical, economic and regulatory aspects to optimize the performance outcomes of energy efficient housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, I examine the market potential for various sustainable features by residents in Lagos prime residential submarket in the context of their willingness to pay (stated and revealed preferences) for green features. The study is of great significance as Nigeria is likely to produce a green building policy and certification standard in the near future through the Green Buildings Council of Nigeria. Data were obtained through the distribution of 150 questionnaires to households and evidence of lettings in Ikoyi and Victoria Island, the two prime residential neighborhoods in Lagos. The findings show that occupiers are willing to pay for sustainable features. The findings also indicate that poor electricity provision, dark staircases, and poor indoor air quality have a negative effect on rental price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing largely upon the stakeholder theory and the resource dependence literature, this article examines the relationship between corporate governance structure and sustainability measured by energy efficiency. The model uses data from South Korean (Korean hereafter) firms that have relied heavily on energy-intensive industry for economic growth and have experienced major changes in their corporate governance structure since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Estimation results show that a corporate governance structure that includes the appointment of heterogeneous outside directors, given other conditions, leads to an increase in energy efficiency and thus sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

High oil dependence and energy inefficiency are structural characteristics of industrialized agricultural systems. In a context of climate change and growing energy shortage as the present one, energy indicators should be increasingly taken into account as measures of environmental sustainability, efficiency, and technical-productive viability in analyses and decision-making processes in the field of agriculture. One of the most relevant characteristics of agriculture is its capacity to transform energy and to generate an energy "surplus" that has very diverse uses (human feeding, animal feeding, fertilization, etc.). This energy surplus is potentially greater in organic farming. However, empirical studies analyzing the aggregate energy performance of organic farming and allowing an assessment of the scope and energy limitations of this type of production are few. This work analyses the energy performance of organic farming in Andalusia, the southern region of Spain, both in an aggregate form and by large groups of crops, through the energy assessment of its output, inputs and energy efficiency (ER). The energy ratio of Andalusian organic farming in 2005 was estimated by 1.40, the extensive crops (2.86), horticultural crops (0.18), citrus fruits (0.39), subtropical fruits (0.85), other fruits (1.64), nuts (0.54), olive (2.08), and vine (0.76). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal dehydration is the most common and cost-effective technique for preservation of foods and for the production of traditional as well as innovative processed products such as snacks with desired functionalities. The basic intent of this article is to provide a global overview of emerging and innovative thermal drying technologies that are already commercialized or show potential of industrial exploitation upon successful R&D to sort out some limitations. New drying technologies are needed to enhance quality, reduce energy consumption, improve safety, and reduce environmental impact. Mathematical modeling can be used for cost-effective development of untested novel designs to reduce the cost and time required for innovation. As examples of emerging drying technologies we consider selected dehydration techniques with imminent commercialization potential. These include heat pump-assisted drying, microwave-assisted drying, low-pressure superheated steam drying, pulse combustion spray drying, pulsed and ultrasound-assisted osmotic dehydration, as well as novel gas-particle contactors such as impinging streams and pulsed fluidized beds. Multistage drying, intermittent drying, and the use of hybrid drying technologies-which combine advantages of different dryers without some of their limitations-will be outlined. This article also discusses various methods of energy minimization, and the potential for use of renewable energy will also be discussed briefly. Although this overview emphasizes food dehydration, the themes covered are applicable to other materials as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of domestic energy audit practice draws on current literature and focuses on a program at Kildonan UnitingCare. It explores and highlights the relevance of natural environmental issues for social work practice and includes practical ideas for addressing financial, social, and environmental issues within case work practice and advocacy. The overlap between energy audit and social work practice is said to apply to both service user issues and the professional skill base of social workers. Finally, a transformation in social work thinking practice and education is suggested, within a vision that is community focused and holistically integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of emerging, novel processing techniques such as high hydrostatic pressure or pulsed electric fields can be utilized to replace, enhance or modify conventional techniques of food production. In addition to quality improvements and consumer benefits by gentle microbial inactivation and improvement of mass transfer processes, their potential to improve energy efficiency and sustainability of food production will be discussed within this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate of growth in UK commercial energy consumption since the early 1970s has been approximately three times greater than in the domestic sector. Consumption is projected to continue growing faster than in all other sectors except transport. Increasing floor space has been accompanied by rising energy intensity in many commercial buildings. In the office sector, demand for air conditioning has grown rapidly, and this is associated with a dramatic increase in CO[sub 2] emissions. Significant cost-effective CO[sub 2] savings have been identified in the sector, using readily available technologies. The Climate Change Levy, and questions of comfort, health and productivity among workers, are pushing energy issues up the agenda for many businesses. However positive action is impeded by barriers in the commercial property sector, such as conflicts of interest between landlords and tenants, poor information and professional conservatism. These barriers act to limit energy efficiency investment, to the detriment of building occupants and wider society for generations to come. These problems will limit the efficacy of existing initiatives that aim to curb commercial sector energy use. The Association for the Conservation of Energy considers that new legislation is needed. This would require freeholders to improve the energy efficiency of their new and existing buildings, in consultation with occupiers and/or unions. Further research is needed on options for sharing the costs and benefits with occupiers and/or energy service companies. Depuis le début des années 1970, le taux de croissance de la consommation énergétique commerciale au Royaume-Uni a étéprès de trois fois supérieure àcelui de la consommation du secteur domestique. Il devrait continuer à crôitre plus vite que dans tous les autres secteurs, à l'exception des transports. L'augmentation de la surface utile par personne s'est accompagnée d'un accroissement de l'intensité énergétique dans de nombreux bâtiments commerciaux. Dans le secteur des immeubles de bureaux, la demande en climatisation s'est accélérée et s'est donc traduite par une augmentation spectaculaire des émissions de CO[sub 2]. Les technologies existantes permettent de lutter avec efficacité et à moindre coût contre ces émissions. Le problème des changements climatiques, ainsi que les questions de confort, d'hygiène et de productivité chez les travailleurs, mettent en avant les questions d'énergie dans de nombreuses entreprises. Or, des actions positives sont confrontées à des obstacles dans le secteur de la propriété commerciale; c'est le cas des conflits d'intérêts entre propriétaires et locataires, de la médiocrité de l'information et du conservatisme professionnel. Ces obstacles gênent les investissements axés sur une amélioration du rendement énergétique, au détriment des occupants des bâtiments et d'une plus grande sociétépour les générations àvenir. Ils iront àl'encontre des initiatives existantes dont l'objectif est de freiner la consommation de l'énergie dans le secteur commercial. L'Association pour la Conservation de l'Énergie estime que cette nouvelle législation est nécessaire. Il faudrait pour cela que les propriétaires fonciers améliorent l'efficacité énergétique de leurs bâtiments, anciens et nouveaux, en concertation avec les occupants et/ou leurs syndicats. Il faut conduire d'autres recherches sur les options concernant le partage des coûts et des bénéfices avec les occupants et (ou) avec les entreprises de services énergétiques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]