Projects

Environmental footprinting of foods is at a critical and exciting stage of development: public and corporate interest in the information is at an all-time high, and the quantity and quality of comp...

This project will develop an integrated systems modeling framework for examining food-energy-water (FEW) nexus for urban areas to improve urban sustainability.  

3-D printing technology has made great strides in recent years. Building construction, however, has remained complex, time consuming, and generates significant construction waste. A challenge of 3-...

Building HVAC systems can be used to provide ancillary services to the electric power grid. A recent experimental study found that buildings consume more energy when providing ancillary services th...

Project Objectives & Activities:   This project seeks to understand how individual dietary choices contribute to health and environmental outcomes, and how such choices can be modified b...

This doctoral dissertation research project will focus on the factors that shape how stormwater managers have redefined the uses and value of stormwater. In both arid and humid regions, the treatme...

The objective of this project is to investigate the environmental impacts of using distributed energy storage (DES) for power system reserves and to develop operational strategies to mitigate the e...

Several hundred cities in the US and abroad, including 40 of the world's most populous cities (the C40 cities) have announced goals that include environmental sustainability, health, climate-resili...

With dramatic growth of urban areas and the majority of the world’s population now living in urban settings, cities have become dominant demand drivers in global food-energy-water (FEW) cycles. Glo...

Made possible by The Dow Chemical Company, the University of Michigan’s Dow Sustainability Fellows Program supports full-time graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who are committed to findin...

Goals & Objectives: The purpose of this project is to develop the environmental sustainability plan for Meijer, Inc., a growing multi-billion dollar retailer with over 200 stores, five distributi...

With the fastest-growing herd of any country, Brazil’s cattle industry is frequently cited as the country’s single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. In the last 50 years, over 17% of...

Goals & Objectives: The overall objective of this effort is to define the opportunity that exists on the U of M Ann Arbor campus to take a leading position in the change towards a more energy...

We developed this project in response to a growing local-level demand for information and guidance on accessing local, state, and federal energy financing programs. Knowledge regarding these progra...

Project Location:  Technology for Tomorrow, Kampala, Uganda Summary of Project Idea: Technology for Tomorrow is a registered company in Uganda working to apply appropriate technologies f...

Global Forest Partners LP (GFP) is a sustainable timber investment management organization. As the global community increases its focus on the impact that carbon emissions are having on climate cha...

Goals & Objectives: The goal of the Southeast Michigan Municipal Street Lighting Consortium (hereinafter, Consortium) is to convert streetlights throughout the metropolitan Detroit region to high...

Project Location: Tainan, Taiwan. Goals & Objectives: To compare the LCA, by ISO standards, of our Stone Paper material to that of paper and plastics. Justification, Benefit, or Sign...

Goals & Objectives: To develop a new urban and landscape design strategy to incorporate with water sensitivity (scarcity and pollution) and low impact development (LID) in China. Justific...

This project aims at evaluating risks for the global trade network posed by water scarcity. This objective will be achieved by developing and applying a probabilistic network analysis framework. Ba...

Recent emphasis on packaging light weighting and recyclability may be overshadowing a far greater influence of packaging on sustainability: product waste reduction through product protection and sa...

Partnerships for Innovation in Sustainable Energy Technologies (PISET) This program seeds new interdisciplinary research programs in sustainable energy science, technology, and policy with fund...