Research Publications

Informal footpaths known as desire lines crisscross the city of Detroit and are visible from space. Despite their prevalence, especially in postindustrial cities, no comprehensive study of desire line...

This research presents the barriers and incentives faced by small-scale farmers in engaging in aquaponics systems in the São Carlos, Brazil community. Aquaponics is an agricultural system that combine...

Express delivery plays a vital role in modern economy, but also brings great concern on post-consumer packaging waste. This study is therefore designed to characterize the material flows and enviro...

Although ride sharing as a way to improve transportation efficiency is not new, the scale of ride sharing has historically been limited due to safety concerns and logistics challenges. Recent devel...

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, destroying most of its energy infrastructure and triggering an 11-month blackout. This research looks to micro-grids and their potential for ...

Across the United States, 120 cities, 11 counties and 6 cities have made commitments to transition to 100 percent renewable energy. Leelanau County in Northwest Michigan has a small community comprisi...

Machine dishwashers are a unique consumer appliance since they are often substituted with manual dishwashing. Although some studies indicate machine dishwashers use less energy and water than manual d...

Over the past 50 years, plastic has emerged as one of the most ubiquitous materials in modern society. In the form of packaging, plastic has provided us with immense convenience and utility, particula...

Brazil’s growing middle class, electrification rates, and urbanization has led to a significant uptick in residential appliance adoption. Air conditioner usage, increasingly relevant to both average a...

Although recent studies of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) have begun to explore the potential energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impacts from an operational perspective, little is known...

Value chain (or Scope 3) emissions, stemming external to an organization’s direct operations, account for over 90% of the greenhouse gas inventory of an automotive manufacturer, and are dominated by U...

Interest and investment in electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOLs), commonly known as flying cars, have grown significantly. However, their sustainability implications are unclear. We r...

State Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS) have emerged across the United States, becoming prevalent in the early 2000’s. EERS policies are state laws that require utilities to pursue energy ef...

To support regional management planning decisions, and to protect human health and safety, we developed a new statistical model that simulates the onset of seasonal ice cover along the shoreline of a ...

Scrutiny of food packaging environmental impacts has led to a variety of sustainability directives, but has largely focused on the direct impacts of materials. A growing awareness of the impacts of fo...

Methods for simulating evaporative water loss from Earth's large lakes have lagged behind advances in hydrodynamic modeling. Here we explore use of oceanographic models to simulate lake evaporation fr...

In their recent article “Correction to: On the calculation of fuel savings through lightweight design in automotive life cycle assessments” ( https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-018-1474-4), Koffler and Ro...

Dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT), or dynamic wireless charging technology, enables charging-while-driving and offers opportunities for eliminating range anxiety, stimulating market penetratio...

A large portion of life cycle transportation impacts occur during vehicle operation, and key improvement strategies include increasing powertrain efficiency, vehicle electrification, and lightweigh...

Water levels on Lake Ontario, the most downstream of the Laurentian Great Lakes, reached a record high in the spring of 2017. This event was accompanied by widespread flooding and displaceme...

Liberia faces increasing challenges with solid waste management as more than 70% of households abandon their waste in unauthorized sites. Urbanization and population growth will increase Liberia's ...

The participation of local governments is one of the determining factors for achieving the objectives of sustainable development, whereby municipalities must have planning, assessment, control inst...

Landscape connectivity is critical for ecosystem health and biodiversity conservation, yet urbanization is increasing habitat fragmentation. Green corridors that connect isolated remnant habitat pa...

Background A substantial portion of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) has been attributed to the food sector, but little is known about the association between the carbon footprint of individual self-s...