Research Publications

Preparation for global movement to urban regions requires a holistic study of infrastructure interactions. The impact of water and energy on one another has been studied to show how they are depend...

This paper presents a proof of concept model for the electrification process of developing countries. Considering the general needs and characteristics in those countries is important as they share...

The high theoretical productivity of microalgae makes it a promising energy crop, but economically viable large-scale production facilities have yet to emerge. Furthermore, life-cycle studies indic...

A life cycle optimization of the replacement of residential central air conditioners (CACs) was conducted in order to identify replacement schedules that minimized three separate objectives: life c...

Use of a simulation model to predict long-term yield, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and water quality impacts can be valuable for assessing land use conversion to bioenergy crops. The objective o...

Through the $3 billion US Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act of 2009, or “Cash for Clunkers” program, nearly 700,000 consumers scrapped fuel-inefficient vehicles in exchange for rebate...

A.    Introduction As energy prices rise and more attention is focused on human environmental impacts, organizations of all types are interested in reducing their energy consumption ...

This paper represents the work of the third and final phase of a three-stage sustainability collaboration regarding organic milk production and business practices by Aurora Organic Dairy (AOD). AOD is...

Water is an essential life‐sustaining resource whose existence and availability for human use are often taken for granted. It is often utilized by people who are unaware of where the water originated ...

Thermal insulation is a strategic product for reducing energy consumption and related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector. This study examines from a life cycle perspective the cha...

Currently, the leading method of green building certification is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The LEED system was developed by the U.S. Green Building Counci...

The disposal of scrap tires is one of the biggest solid waste issues facing some small island developing states (SIDS) in the Caribbean. Dominica is a small Caribbean island nation that seeks to ma...

This paper introduces consequential life cycle assesment with market driven demand (LCA-MDD) to permit endogenous estimation of economic effects that are important in evaluating the environmental c...

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol represents an opportunity to involve all developing countries in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also promoting susta...

Inconsistent results in prior work that link environmental strategy to competitive advantage may be due to the empirical difficulties of marrying the theoretical connection between a firm’s resourc...

This paper presents a framework for guiding the design of new materials to enhance the sustainability of systems that utilize these materials throughout their production, use and retirement. Tradition...

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol offers developing countries the opportunity to participate in the effort to reduce global greenhouse gas levels while also benefitting from ...

Although dynamic, time-dependent aspects mark its life cycle, aluminum has largely been treated as a static system in industrial ecology. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and material flows analysis (MFA...

The life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction benefits of vehicle lightweighting (LW) were evaluated in a companion article. This article provides an economic assessment of vehicle LW with aluminum...

The environmental and electric utility system impacts from plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) infiltration in Michigan were examined from years 2010 to 2030 as part of the Michigan Public Service ...

In order to manage strategies to curb climate change, systemic benchmarking at a variety of production scales and methods is needed. This study is the first life cycle assessment (LCA) of a large-scal...

Life cycle assessment of TiO2 coatingson facade systems: The use of Titanium dioxide TiO2 nano-particles as coating for concrete facades has received considerable attention in recent years as these...

Infrastructure systems (e.g., water, sewage, power, gas, transportation, etc) are critical for the built environment to function properly to fulfill the societal needs. These infrastructure systems ar...

Cities are an ever evolving complex mix of people, nature, and built structures which all have to synergize to fulfill changing societal needs. In the past, we designed, built, and operated infrastruc...