Research Publications

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and other natural disasters, an environmental community organization, Casa Pueblo, in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico decided to increase their social and economic resilie...

This project focused on identifying carbon emission abatement strategies for Meijer, specifically addressing lighting, space cooling and heating, and refrigeration, which constitute Meijer’s largest d...

As water scarcity becomes more and more severe, to recover and reuse water in the industrial systems attracts much attention all over the world. Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD), an ambitious industrial wa...

Reducing the weight of the M1A2 tank by lightweighting hull, suspension, and track results in 5.1%, 1.3%, and 0.6% tank mass reductions, respectively. The impact of retrofitting with lightweight co...

Sustainable development is increasingly necessary for businesses and institutions across the globe. University of Michigan Sustainability Without Borders students and Capuchins de Taboga researcher...

The relationship between battery operation and their degradation and service life is complex and not well synthesized or communicated. There is a resulting lack of awareness about best practices th...

The rapid pace of growth in additive manufacturing has left significant knowledge gaps in life cycle assessment (LCA) literature, limiting inclusion of sustainability considerations in manufacturin...

Using seven established course design principles for effective service-learning, this chapter discusses the lessons learned in teaching the three E's of sustainability: environmental; economic; and...

A household is energy poor when they cannot meet energy needs. Despite its prevalence, the US has not formally recognized energy poverty as a problem distinct from general poverty at the federal le...

Globalization processes lead to supply chains that sprawl across space and time. Where and how products are produced and consumed shape the environmental and social conditions of regions, far and w...

Background The role of diet in health is well established and, in the past decade, more attention has been given to the role of food choices in the environment. The agricultural sector produce...

Access to upfront capital remains a primary barrier in residential energy efficiency adoption. Government-sponsored programs exist for low-income households while traditional financing serves credi...

A major barrier to achieving sustainable diets is the lack of clearly defined and agreed upon intervention points that will positively influence multiple sectors of the food system. There is an urg...

This study evaluates and provides guidance on improving the life cycle environmental performance of dishwashing in the typical U.S. household. Typical user behaviors and recommended best practices ...

Refers to Gregory D. Miller, Kevin B. Comerford, Katie Brown, Frank M. Mitloehner The Importance of a Holistic Approach to Sustainability in Dietary Guidance Journal of Nutrition Education an...

Power system planning aims at ensuring that sufficient supply- and demand-side assets exist to meet electricity demand at all times. For a Texas electric power system with high wind and solar penet...

Linkages between diet and environmental impact have been repeatedly emphasized at the global and national level, with an indication that shifts in diet, typically toward more plant-based foods, can...

This article explores five commonly held perceptions that do not correspond with current scientific knowledge surrounding the environmental impacts of single-use plastic. These misperceptions inclu...

Greenhouse gas (GHG) burdens of steel and aluminum production and life cycle benefits of vehicle lightweighting in China were evaluated. Production of advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) and wrough...

In this age of global warming, the automotive industry is seeking to minimize the energy required to manufacture and operate its products without sacrificing performance and safety or increasing co...

Although fields such as industrial ecology have advanced our understanding of how cleaner technologies, recycling, and lifestyle changes can reduce the impacts of production and consumption on peop...

This study details the development of a method and framework for regionally linked, sector-specific material flow analysis (MFA) models and presents the results of such models for aluminum and stee...

This study examines the trade-offs between energy consumption and food loss during the expansion of the cold chain from the perspective of carbon emissions. A nonlinear optimization framework is co...

The U.S. household consumption, a key engine for the global economy, has significant carbon footprints across the world. Understanding how the U.S. household consumption on specific goods or servic...