bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Digital Systems in Smart City and Infrastructure: Digital as a Service
Authors: Serrano Will
Published: November 2018

Digitalization has enabled infrastructure and cities to be “smarter”; the use of physical space and energy, the transmission of information, the management of users, assets and processes, the operation of businesses and companies have been progressively digitalized. The main challenges of a Smart City is its definition, scope and interconnections; there are different approaches to Smart City implementations that vary from collaborative multidisciplinary environments, the addition of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) within its physical fabric to the use of Big Data for higher abstraction decisions. This paper presents the concept of Digital as a Service (DaaS), where any complete digitalization can be implemented independently of its associated physical infrastructure in a Cloud environment; DasS would enable an interoperable Virtual Digital Infrastructure (VDI). In addition, this paper reviews the current Digital Systems, Transmission Networks, Servers and Management Systems. The next Industrial Revolution will be founded on Artificial Intelligence that will entirely replace humans by taking production and management decisions based on the Internet of Things (IoT), the Cloud, BlockChain, Big Data, Virtual Reality and the combination of digital and real infrastructure or city. Digital as a Service would be its enabler by providing the entire interconnection, integration and virtualization of its Space, Services and Structure (3S).
Risk Society and Anti-Politics in the Fracking Debate
Authors: Drake Frances
Published: November 2018

Fracking in the United Kingdom has yet to reach full industrial development, but it is still subject to significant opposition. This study uses Beck’s risk society theory and anti-politics to examine the views voiced by opponents to fracking in Yorkshire, England. A qualitative approach was used. Semi-structured interviews with protesters and local newspaper reports were evaluated to provide a thematic analysis. The study drew upon discourse analysis and framing literature to reveal discourses within the interviews. Although there are signs of post-materialist concerns with the environment, these issues did not dominate the discussion. Scientists were not held responsible for the risks involved in fracking. Instead, the economic greediness of politicians and austerity measures were perceived as putting the environment and human health at risk. Interviewees thought fossil fuel energy production was economically advantaged over more sustainable energy and jobs in the low carbon economy. Protesters’ trust in politicians had been eroded, but faith in democracy remained. It is argued that the consensual post-politics of risk society have not led to a reinvigoration of democratic debate. Instead anti-politics have taken place, due to the frustration of citizens. Protesters wanted a citizen-led deliberative approach to the concerns raised. Such a process would have to go beyond the consensual, and recognise the inherently agonistic process of democracy if it is to succeed.
Augmented Reality Marketing in Malaysia—Future Scenarios
Authors: Ng Choon Ching , Ramasamy Chandrashekar
Published: November 2018

Augmented Reality (AR) marketing is a novel and creative way to market products and services. However, there are concerns about its marketing effectiveness as it is still immature to take over the place of traditional marketing method. Hence, this study was aimed to identify the issues and drivers of employing AR, in marketing, and to study the future trend of AR marketing in Malaysia. Foresight methodology tool, the Social, Technological, Environmental, Economic, Political, and Values (STEEPV) method was used in identifying the issues and drivers of employing AR in marketing. Furthermore, an impact–uncertainty analysis was used to identify the top two drivers of the subject. The top two drivers identified were the “need for interrelation between the virtual and the real word” and “technological knowledge generation” with the highest statistical mean vote for impact and uncertainty, respectively. The development of scenario analysis was constructed in correspondence with the top two drivers which gave insights into the four alternative possibilities in the time horizon of 5 to 10 years. The drivers must coexist in order to generate potential scenarios for the development and sustainability of AR marketing in Malaysia.
Market Cultivation of Electric Vehicles in China: A Survey Based on Consumer Behavior
Authors: Yang Shuxia , Zhang Di , Fu Jing , Fan Shujing , Ji Yu
Published: November 2018

Faced with increasingly serious environmental problems, promoting EVs (electric vehicles) has become an important means of sustainable development. In 2017, EV sales accounted for more than half of the world’s total. Although the speed of development is fast, the ownership remains low. In 2017, the market share of EVs in China was only 2.7%. At present, there are few studies on the promotion of EVs. This study seeks to contribute to the organic combination of consumer behavioral characteristics and EV market cultivation. Based on the analysis of relevant research at home and abroad, the consumer behavior of EVs is investigated and the factor analysis is used to simplify the feature categories, in order to obtain consumers’ behavior characteristics of EVs. According to the characteristics of consumer behavior of EVs, suggestions are put forward to cultivate EV market from the aspects of existent technology and potential future technology of EVs.
Scaling-Up Sustainable Development Initiatives: A Comparative Case Study of Agri-Food System Innovations in Brazil, New York, and Senegal
Authors: Ilieva Rositsa T. , Hernandez Andreas
Published: November 2018

To effectively address the sustainability crises our planet faces, decision-makers at different levels of government worldwide will have to get a handle on three key challenges: learning from Global North and South initiatives in tandem, taking stock of social innovations alongside technological fixes, and nurturing grassroots sustainable development initiatives next to, or in place of, top-down corporate and government interventions. Current scientific literature and grant-making institutions have often reinforced the compartmentalized fashion in which we learn and draw policy lessons from North/South, social/technical, and bottom-up/top-down sustainability initiatives, including local food system innovations. The strategic levers for global sustainable development lying in-between are thus left out. This paper uses exploratory, multiple case study analysis to address this omission. By concurrently drawing lessons from grassroots innovations in Brazil, New York, and Senegal—three profoundly different socioeconomic and geographic contexts—we identify common pressure points that have enabled local communities to drive system-wide transformations toward climate adaptation, resilience, and sustainability in the agri-food system. The findings of this paper would be of value to scholars, government officials, and community groups engaged in agri-food systems sustainability and interested in the processes of change that have allowed budding innovations to stabilize and scale up.
Does PPP Matter to Sustainable Tourism Development? An Analysis of the Spatial Effect of the Tourism PPP Policy in China
Authors: Cheng Zhe , Yang Zhenshan , Gao Huina , Tao Hui , Xu Ming
Published: November 2018

Funding and efficiency have always been important factors that restrict the sustainable development of tourism in developing countries. The PPP (Public Private Partnership) is an innovative model for addressing the above problems and is popular in the sustainable development of tourism around the world. The performance evaluation of tourism PPP is a key step towards promoting the PPP policy and sustainable development. In particular, the analysis of spatial effects that are easily overlooked will help to improve the measure of PPP performance. Based on tourism PPP projects in the PPP database of the Ministry of Finance in China, this paper analyses the spatial patterns and development characteristics of tourism PPP, identifies and measures the impact factors of tourism PPP by virtue of the GeoDetector method, and analyzes the function of PPP in tourism development and governance. The research shows that there are significant spatial disparities in the tourism PPP projects. Although tourism PPP is the result of interactions between multiple factors, what plays a critical role is the financial factor. PPP acts as a policy driver in tourism development in China. It corrects spatial mismatch between tourism resources and factors, eliminates space barriers and promotes the realization of spatial justice of tourism development. This study not only contributes to the improvement of China’s PPP policy, but also has implications for PPP policies in other developing countries.
Multi-Criteria Evaluation Framework in Selection of Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) Method
Authors: Jia Jianmin , Ibrahim Mohamed , Hadi Mohammed , Orabi Wallied , Xiao Yan
Published: November 2018

Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) is bridge construction that uses innovative planning, design and construction methods in a safe and cost-effective manner, which reduces construction mobility and environmental impacts, and contributes to city sustainable planning and development. To deal with the pressing need to support the decisions associated with the selection between the ABC and conventional bridge construction, this paper presents the development of a multi-criteria evaluation framework. Methods are developed and identified to estimate the construction, agency, and user costs associated with the construction methods. A novel model was developed to allow the estimation of the construction and agency costs of ABC relative to conventional construction. This paper also demonstrates the estimation of user costs, including those associated with mobility, reliability, safety, and emissions, utilizing combinations of the proposed prediction method. The paper then compares the use of the return-on-investment and Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) evaluation approaches in the decision to select between ABC and conventional bridge construction. The results from the employment of the two approaches to a case study demonstrate the advantage of using the TOPSIS approach, which is also applicable in the urban planning process.
OFDI Agglomeration and Chinese Firm Location Decisions under the “Belt and Road” Initiative
Authors: Liu Haiyue , Jiang Jie , Zhang Lei , Chen Xiaolan
Published: November 2018

This paper established a combined dataset from 2004 to 2015 for 129 host countries and matched them with 1193 Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) events by Chinese listed firms. Four variables were designed to proxy the agglomeration effects of Chinese OFDI at both an industry and country level. Probit and FGLS estimation methods were used to analyze whether the Chinese listed firm location choices were affected by the agglomeration level. It was found that the agglomeration effect of Chinese OFDI on host country selection was obvious, as Chinese firms were often found to follow other Chinese firms and invest in host countries where Chinese investment was concentrated; however, it was also found that Chinese firms did not choose countries where there was a high concentration of non-Chinese FDI. The agglomeration effect on Chinese OFDI industry selection was also significant. Firms were found to invest in industries that already had large Chines OFDI agglomeration or high host-country industrial agglomeration. Further investigations found that the “Belt and Road” Initiative (BRI) was effective in guiding location decisions. Firms were found to invest more along the “Belt and Road” route after the BRI was launched; however, large State-owned listed firms with higher leverage but lower productivity and profitability were found to more often invest along the BRI routes.
Sustainable Resource Acquisition Path: A Dynamic Model of Embedded Entrepreneurial Network Governance under Uncertainty
Authors: Chen Feng-Wen , Lin Meng-Xian , Wang Ting
Published: November 2018

When dealing with complex entrepreneurial network problems, such as sustainable resource flows, the highly uncertainty in environment that brings cognitive bias in entrepreneurs’ decision-making means which entrepreneurs who are expert in using the entrepreneurial network can acquire sustainable resources by reducing external interference. To answer a link decision problem of the role played by network features in the entrepreneurial process of resource acquisition, we introduce an exploratory model design by the Naïve Bayesian classification with EM (Expectation Maximization) algorithm based on SNA (Social Network Analysis) theory that is focused on filling the missing data of uncertainty, in order to describe the path of entrepreneurial network resources acquisition. An inter-dynamic model has established between network structure and the value of resources to predict linking probabilities. By expectation-maximization method for Naïve Bayesian, the paper concludes with an empirical evaluation to verify the accuracy of resource acquisition prediction, in 201 entrepreneurial companies, and application in uncertain environmental network governance decision-making problem regarding the selection of optimal resource paths for creating a new company. We hope which this work can stimulate a broader research agenda focused on the impact of network structure on entrepreneurs’ decision-making under uncertainty, especially for developing countries where has a new round of entrepreneurial enthusiasm with high uncertainty.
Leaf Temperature and Vapour Pressure Deficit (VPD) Driving Stomatal Conductance and Biochemical Processes of Leaf Photosynthetic Rate in a Subtropical Evergreen Coniferous Plantation
Authors: Li Yue , Zhou Lei , Wang Shaoqiang , Chi Yonggang , Chen Jinghua
Published: November 2018

Photosynthesis is arguably the most important biochemical process on Earth, which is dramatically influenced by environmental conditions. How environmental factors drive stomatal conductance and biochemical processes of leaf photosynthetic rate has not been sufficiently investigated in subtropical China. In this study, we analysed the effects of stomatal and biochemical parameters on the photosynthetic rate of native Masson’s pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) and exotic slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) in response to leaf temperature and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) in subtropical China, based on leaf gas exchange measurements in 2016. Our results showed that there was no significant difference in the light-saturated photosynthetic rate (Asat) between native Masson’s pine and exotic slash pine. The seasonal patterns of maximum rate of the carboxylation (Vcmax25) were basically consistent with seasonal patterns of Asat for both species. The positive effect of leaf temperature on Asat was mainly produced through its positive effect on Vcmax25. Leaf temperature had no significant effect on stomatal conductance. Vcmax25 and gs simultaneously affected Asat in response to VPD. Our results highlighted the importance of biochemical processes in limiting leaf photosynthetic rate in response to environmental conditions in subtropical evergreen coniferous plantations.
Multi-Spectral Ship Detection Using Optical, Hyperspectral, and Microwave SAR Remote Sensing Data in Coastal Regions
Authors: Park Kyung-Ae , Park Jae-Jin , Jang Jae-Cheol , Lee Ji-Hyun , Oh Sangwoo , Lee Moonjin
Published: November 2018

The necessity of efficient monitoring of ships in coastal regions has been increasing over time. Multi-satellite observations make it possible to effectively monitor vessels. This study presents the results of ship detection methodology, applied to optical, hyperspectral, and microwave satellite images in the seas around the Korean Peninsula. Spectral matching algorithms are used to detect ships using hyperspectral images with hundreds of spectral channels and investigate the similarity between the spectra and in-situ measurements. In the case of SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) images, the Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) algorithm is used to discriminate the vessels from the backscattering coefficients of Sentinel-1B SAR and ALOS-2 PALSAR2 images. Validation results exhibited that the locations of the satellite-detected vessels showed good agreement with real-time location data within the Sentinel-1B coverage in the Korean coastal region. This study presented the probability of detection values of optical and SAR-based ship detection and discussed potential causes of the errors. This study also suggested a possibility for real-time operational use of vessel detection from multi-satellite images based on optical, hyperspectral, and SAR remote sensing, particularly in the inaccessible coastal regions off North Korea, for comprehensive coastal management and sustainability.
Evaluation of All-for-One Tourism in Mountain Areas Using Multi-Source Data
Authors: Jiang Hou , Yang Yaping , Bai Yongqing
Published: November 2018

All-for-one tourism is a new viewpoint of tourism development involving overall planning and cooperative mechanisms. Over the past few years, the researchers have put forward many conceptual models to guide the top-level design and specific practice of all-for-one tourism. However, these studies mainly focus on social, economic and cultural effect in mature tourism areas, lacking comprehensive analysis from geographical perspective and neglecting the underdeveloped regions. In this paper, we attempt to apply geographic information system technology to tourism evaluation, exploring the approach of all-for-one tourism development in mountain regions. Zunyi city is selected as the research region and evaluated on the abundance, quality and spatial pattern of tourism resources, climate comfort, natural disaster possibility, and convenience of infrastructure or social service. Multi-source datasets collected from websites, reanalysis data, remote sensing products and observation stations are used. Based on data analysis, some recommendations including enriching cultural tourism products through cultural creativity, ensuring regional coordinated development through spatial optimization, respecting the spatiotemporal characteristics of climate and the laws of nature, and strengthening construction of infrastructure, are discussed to promote the healthy development of all-for-one tourism.
Land-Use Spatio-Temporal Change and Its Driving Factors in an Artificial Forest Area in Southwest China
Authors: Zhao Xiaoqing , Pu Junwei , Wang Xingyou , Chen Junxu , Yang Liang Emlyn , Gu Zexian
Published: November 2018

Understanding the driving factors of land-use spatio-temporal change is important for the guidance of rational land-use management. Based on land-use data, household surveys and social economic data in 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015, this study adopted the Binary Logistic Regression Model (BLRM) to analyze the driving factors of land-use spatio-temporal change in a large artificial forest area in the Ximeng County, Yunnan province, in Southwest China. Seventeen factors were used to reflect the socio-economic and natural environment conditions in the study area. The results show a land use pattern composed of forestland, dry cropland, and rubber plantation in Ximeng County. Over the past fifteen years, the area of artificial forests increased rapidly due to the “Grain for Green” policy, which has led to increases in rubber plantations, tea gardens, eucalyptus forests, etc. In contrast, the area of natural forest and dry cropland decreased due to reclamations for farming and constructions. The BLRM approach helped to identify the main driving factors of land-use spatio-temporal change, which includes land-use policies (protection of basic farmlands and natural reserves), topography (elevation and slope), accessibility (distance to the human settlements), and potential productivity (fertility and irrigation). The study revealed the relationship between land-use spatio-temporal change and its driving factors in mountainous Southwest China, providing a decision-making basis for rational land-use management and optimal allocation of land resources.
The Impacts of Non-Fossil Energy, Economic Growth, Energy Consumption, and Oil Price on Carbon Intensity: Evidence from a Panel Quantile Regression Analysis of EU 28
Authors: Cheng Cheng , Ren Xiaohang , Wang Zhen , Shi Yukun
Published: November 2018

This study investigates some determinants of carbon intensity in 28 countries in the European Union (EU), including non-fossil energy, economic growth, energy consumption, and oil price. A panel quantile regression method, which considers both individual heterogeneity and distributional heterogeneity, is applied in this paper. The empirical results imply that the influences of these determinants on carbon intensity are heterogeneous and asymmetric across different quantiles. Specifically, non-fossil energy can significantly decrease carbon intensity, but shows a U-shaped relationship. Economic growth has a negative impact on carbon intensity, especially for medium-emission and high-emission countries. The effects of heating degree days on carbon intensity are positive, although the coefficients are not significant at low quantiles, they become significant from medium quantiles. Besides, we find an inverse U-shaped relationship between crude oil price and carbon intensity. Finally, several relevant policy recommendations are proposed based on the empirical results.
Energy and Environmental Aspects of Using Eucalyptus from Brazil for Energy and Transportation Services in Europe
Authors: Cavalett Otavio , Norem Slettmo Sigurd , Cherubini Francesco
Published: November 2018

The international market of woody biomass for bioenergy is expected to have a major role in future global scenarios aligning with a 2 or 1.5 °C target. However, the quantification of the environmental impacts of energy and transportation services from novel technologies and biomass production systems are yet to be extensively studied on a case-specific basis. We use a life cycle assessment approach to quantify environmental impacts of four bioenergy systems based on eucalyptus plantations established in abandoned pastureland in Brazil. The alternative bioenergy systems deliver energy and transportation services in Europe (cradle-to-gate analysis), including modern technologies for production of heat, electricity (with and without carbon capture and storage), and advanced liquid biofuels. We find that all bioenergy systems can achieve sizeable climate benefits, but in some cases at increased pressure in other impact categories. The most impacting activities are biomass transport stages, followed by eucalyptus stand establishment, and pellet production. An estimate of the potential large-scale bioenergy deployment of eucalyptus established in marginal areas in Brazil shows that up to 7 EJ of heat, 2.5 EJ of electricity, or 5 EJ of transportation biofuels per year can be delivered. This corresponds to a climate mitigation potential between 0.9% and 2.4% (0.29 and 0.83 GtCO2 per year) of the global anthropogenic emissions in 2015, and between 5.7% and 16% of European emissions, depending on the specific bioenergy system considered. A sensitivity analysis indicated that the best environmental performance is achieved with on-site biomass storage, transportation of wood chips with trucks, pellets as energy carrier, and larger ship sizes. Our quantitative environmental analysis contributes to increased understanding of the potential benefits and tradeoffs of large-scale supply of biomass resources, and additional research can further improve resolution and integrate environmental impact indicators within a broader sustainability perspective, as indicated by the recently established sustainable development goals.
Experimental Study on Mitigations of Seismic Settlement and Tilting of Structures by Adopting Improved Soil Slab and Soil Mixing Walls
Authors: Zhang Jianwei , Chen Yulong
Published: November 2018

Settlement of surface structures due to subsoil liquefaction is a big issue in geotechnical engineering. It has been happening during earthquakes in liquefaction-prone areas for many years. Mitigations have been proposed for this problem. The improved soil slabs and vertical mixing soil walls combined with lowering ground water levels (GWLs) were proposed in this study. Experiments were carried out by adopting a 1-g shaking table test. Two different soil densities with uniform and eccentric loads were included. Combined with lowering GWLs, three different soil slabs with a length of 40, 60 and 80 cm and two different mixing walls with soil and plastic were studied and compared. Results show that the horizontal soil slabs have good performance to reduce the settlement of structures. On the other hand, the vertical soil mixing walls did not reduce the settlement effectively, but its performance could be improved by lowering of GWLs.
Sustainability Assessment of Taiwan’s Semiconductor Industry: A New Hybrid Model Using Combined Analytic Hierarchy Process and Two-Stage Additive Network Data Envelopment Analysis
Authors: Lin Fengyi , Lin Sheng-Wei , Lu Wen-Min
Published: November 2018

Sustainable development has become the biggest concern of the semiconductor industry, which plays a vital role not only in technology breakthroughs, but also by serving as an enabler for sustainability. This study combines Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and additive network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure the sustainable performance which are derived from business growth stage and energy utilization stage through the parametric linear program. Meanwhile, this method makes up the disadvantage of the weighting technique used additive decomposition approach to the two-stage network and avoids biasing toward the second stage. The findings demonstrate that Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing sector has exhibited a steady increase in its overall trend of sustainability performance. According to the stage-level performance results, the performance of business growth is better than energy utilization. However, the changing trend of overall sustainability performance is through a steady increase from environmental efficiency and not from economic efficiency.
Sustainability Assessment of Household Waste Based Solar Control Devices for Workshops in Primary Schools
Authors: Pons Oriol , Habibi Saeid , Peña Diana
Published: November 2018

Part of the large amounts of waste generated by human activities could have a second use while solving social problems. In this sense, the authors are carrying out a research project involving the participative development of innovative solar control devices integrated into school architecture using household waste. In general, the objectives of this research project are to: (a) optimize pupils’ learning process by improving lighting and thermal comfort levels and (b) reduce the generation of Spanish household waste by reusing part of it and increase the teaching community’s awareness about this waste. This research article reports on the steps taken to achieve these objectives by characterizing the most sustainable types of the waste-based solar control device. In this sense, this research paper defines and applies a new methodology which combines General Morphology Analysis (GMA), a new tool based on The Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessment and Focus groups. First, up to 96 different types of solar control devices composed of household waste have been defined using GMA and, second, these 96 types and conventional roller shutters have been assessed using this new tool. Based on these article results, one of the best alternatives has been prototyped during an initial workshop.
Risk-Averse Facility Location for Green Closed-Loop Supply Chain Networks Design under Uncertainty
Authors: Zhao Xiao , Xia Xuhui , Wang Lei , Yu Guodong
Published: November 2018

With the increasing attention given to environmentalism, designing a green closed-loop supply chain network has been recognized as an important issue. In this paper, we consider the facility location problem, in order to reduce the total costs and CO2 emissions under an uncertain demand and emission rate. Particularly, we are more interested in the risk-averse method for providing more reliable solutions. To do this, we employ a coherent risk measure, conditional value-at-risk, to represent the underlying risk of uncertain demand and CO2 emission rate. The resulting optimization problem is a 0-1 mixed integer bi-objective programming, which is challenging to solve. We develop an improved reformulation-linearization technique, based on decomposed piecewise McCormick envelopes, to generate lower bounds efficiently. We show that the proposed risk-averse model can generate a more reliable solution than the risk-neutral model, both in reducing penalty costs and CO2 emissions. Moreover, the proposed algorithm outperforms and classic reformulation-linearization technique in convergence rate and gaps. Numerical experiments based on random data and a ‘real’ case are performed to demonstrate the performance of the proposed model and algorithm.
Indoor/Outdoor Relationships of Airborne Particles under Controlled Pressure Difference across the Building Envelope in Korean Multifamily Apartments
Authors: Choi Dong Hee , Kang Dong Hwa
Published: November 2018

This study investigates indoor/outdoor relationships of airborne particles under controlled pressure difference across the building envelope in Korean multifamily apartments. On-site field experiments on 14 apartment housing units located in urban areas in Korea are conducted to measure the indoor/outdoor ratios of number concentrations of size-resolved particles (0.3–0.5, 0.5–1.0, 1.0–3.0, 3.0–5.0, 5.0–10.0, >10.0 μm). To set identical pressure difference conditions across the envelope of each housing unit for better comparison of I/O ratio results, and to examine the effect of pressure difference on the I/O relations, indoor–outdoor pressure difference was controlled at 10, 30, and 50 Pa using a blower door depressurization procedure. Simultaneously, the air leakage characteristics of housing units are measured using the typical blower door pressurization-depressurization test method to correlate air leakage data and I/O ratios. As expected, moderately airtight housing units (ACH50 ≤ 4.4) show lower I/O ratios than average leaky housing units (ACH50 > 4.4); still, the averaged I/O ratios of finer sized particles (0.3–0.5, 0.5–1.0, and 1.0–3.0 μm) in the moderately airtight housing units were 0.75, 0.59, and 0.61 at an I-O pressure difference of 50 Pa, and 0.62, 0.51, and 0.49 at 10 Pa. The study indicates that indoor residents in moderately airtight Korean multifamily housing units with relatively small envelope area can still be exposed to high concentrations of outdoor originated fine particles.
Influence of Reduced Ownership on the Environmental Benefits of the Circular Economy
Authors: Junnila Seppo , Ottelin Juudit , Leinikka Laura
Published: November 2018

The circular economy has become a popular concept, suggesting economic growth with fewer emissions and reduced ownership as one of its key parameters. Based on the literature, however, it appears that the concept has not been sufficiently contested empirically. This study evaluates the carbon and material footprint implications of reduced ownership in the context of household consumption. We found that the reduced ownership does not automatically reduce the environmental impact of the production–consumption system in the context of households. Reduced ownership in the study did not have any noticeable influence on material footprint, and in the case of carbon footprint, it only had a mild positive influence in low-income households. The result is surprising, since both intuitively as well as based on the literature, moving from ownership to services should increase resource efficiency and reduce environmental impact. In the context of households, actual consumption and investment behavior seem to override the theoretical benefits of reduced ownership. In our study, the circular economy rebound and the willingness to invest in green products seems to explain quite well why the environmental impact of consumption is not reduced when households move from ownership to services. Households appear to spend the money saved from reduced ownership on carbon-intensive services; when they own the products themselves, they invest a more-than-average amount in the life cycle performance of the products. The paper’s implications for the circular economy as a concept for decoupling economic growth from environmental pressure is that one of its primary qualities, sharing and renting services instead of owning things, seems to offer only a partial solution for the dilemma. In order to fully benefit from reduced ownership, the circular economy should emphasize simultaneous change in both the production and consumption of services, as it seems that simply offering products for rent does not automatically reduce the environmental impact of the final demand.
Determinants of Firm’s Export Performance in China’s Automobile Industry
Authors: Imran Muhammad , Jian Zhaoquan , Haque Adnan ul , Urbański Mariusz , Nair Sree Lekshmi Sreekumaran
Published: November 2018

The automobile industry has significantly contributed towards China’s economy. After producing approximately 24.5 million vehicles in 2015, China’s automobile industry has achieved its greatest height by emerging worldwide as the top automobile producer. However, China’s automobile industry could not sustain this achievement and it witnessed a sudden growth rate decrease in 2016–2017, reflecting their poor export performance. To address this problem, the prime objective of this research is to explore the roles of total quality management (TQM), entrepreneurial orientation (EO), export market orientation (EMO), brand orientation (BO) and cleaner production (CP) in firm export performance (FEP). For this reason, a quantitative research approach with cross-sectional research design was adopted by gathering the data from 347 respondents working as export managers at Chinese automobile companies via simple random technique. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) through software smartPLS-3.2.7 employed to analyze data. Results revealed that the TQM, EO, EMO, BO, and CP has a significant association with FEP. Additionally, findings confirmed CP as a moderating variable that contributes positively to FEP. The research has eminently contributed to the export performance of the automobile industry, specifically in China. It is very beneficial to practitioners in the Chinese automobile industry as it will assist them in regaining and exceeding their record export performance while also contributes to resource-based-view theory.
Biocement Fabrication and Design Application for a Sustainable Urban Area
Authors: Lee Chungmin , Lee Hyesun , Kim Ok Bin
Published: November 2018

Recently, designers have begun to pursue sustainability through the fabrication of materials from living organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and algae in order to address environmental issues. Based on the potential of materials from living organisms, this study has explored a sustainable design application using biocement formed thorough microbially-induced calcite precipitation (MICP), which produces minerals by bacterial metabolic activity. Since most of the studies on MICP thus far have focused on limited fields such as engineering, biotechnology, and geo-technology, this study has focused more on improving the application of biocement in design. We optimized MICP conditions using two parameters (i.e., concentration of urea-CaCl2 and bacterial cell density) through water percolation testing, compressive strength testing, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Then, based on the optimized conditions, material compatibility testing and scalability testing were performed, and design application research was conducted as well. As a result, biocement has been identified as a potential sustainable design material, based on its 40% compressive strength compared to conventional concrete, improved material finish, aesthetic aspects, and environmental impact. This paper contributes to the development of biocement applications in the environmental design field through multidisciplinary research ranging from biological experiments to design applications.
Sustainability and Business Outcomes in the Context of SMEs: Comparing Family Firms vs. Non-Family Firms
Authors: López-Pérez María Eugenia , Melero-Polo Iguácel , Vázquez-Carrasco Rosario , Cambra-Fierro Jesús
Published: November 2018

Society is demanding more sustainable and socially responsible business models. Therefore, the concept of sustainability has become a cornerstone to help understand the success of many firms in the current competitive context. However, the context of SMEs has received little attention thus far. In order to solve this gap this article analyses the links between sustainability practices and business outcomes—both financial and non-financial (i.e., image and reputation)—for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). In addition, the study strives to analyze the potential differences between family firms and non-family firms. To this end, a quantitative study is carried out using PLS techniques to analyze a sample of SME owners and managers with a view to testing the proposed model based on the Stewardship Theory and Socioemotional Wealth Theory. In this sense, our study is pioneering in that it aims to assess—from a quantitative viewpoint—the moderator role of family firms on a series of relevant sustainability-driven outcomes. The data suggest that, in SME contexts, sustainability influences the corporate reputation, brand image, and financial value of the company. Importantly, we find that the profile (family vs. non-family) of the firm moderates the links between sustainability and business outcomes. Hence, our findings have important implications for sustainability implementation in SME contexts. Finally, we provide a series of guidelines aimed at maximizing the effectiveness of sustainability-based business practices.
Participatory Guarantee Systems in Spain: Motivations, Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities for Improvement Based on Three Case Studies
Authors: López Cifuentes Marta , Vogl Christian Reinhard , Cuéllar Padilla Mamen
Published: November 2018

The increasing number of producers and consumers of organic products means that there is an increasing need to guarantee the organic characteristics of organic products. Certification is a tool that bridges the information deficit between demand and supply, ensuring that a product complies with the specified standards. Third-party certification (TPC) is the main tool for assessing compliance today. However, there have been criticisms about the suitability of TPC for small-scale producers and alternative certification systems have been developed, such as Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS). PGS are quality assurance systems in which stakeholders are expected to be involved and assure the quality claims being made by producers. This paper presents three PGS initiatives in Spain. The research methods used in this study were semi-structured and structured interviews. Interviewees felt that their PGS initiatives fulfilled the important motivations of building a community and adding value to their products. The main challenges mentioned were the participation of stakeholders and the efficiency of internal organization. The absence of official recognition for PGS in Spain and insufficient dissemination were also perceived as challenges. Although PGS has the potential for further development in Spain, the interviewees believed that more support and official recognition were still required.
An Economic, Energy, and Environmental Analysis of PV/Micro-CHP Hybrid Systems: A Case Study of a Tertiary Building
Authors: Salmerón Lissén José Manuel , Romero Rodríguez Laura , Durán Parejo Francisco , Sánchez de la Flor Francisco José
Published: November 2018

Our present standard of living depends strongly on energy sources, with buildings being a primary focus when it comes to reducing energy consumption due to their large contribution, especially in tertiary buildings. The goal of the present study is to evaluate the performance of two different designs of hybrid systems, composed of natural gas engines and photovoltaic panels. This will be done through simulations in TRNSYS, considering a representative office building with various schedules of operation (8, 12, and 24 h), as well as different climates in Spain. The main contributions of this paper are the evaluations of primary energy-consumption, emissions, and economic analyses for each scenario. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to observe the influence of energy prices, as well as that of the costs of the micro-CHP engines and PV modules. The results show that the scenario with the conventional system and PV modules is the most profitable one currently. However, if electricity prices are increased in the future or natural gas prices are reduced, the scenario with micro-CHP engines and PV modules will become the most profitable option. Energy service engineers, regulators, and manufacturers are the most interested in these results.
Cross-Cultural Analysis of Young Drivers’ Preferences for In-Vehicle Systems and Behavioral Effects Caused by Secondary Tasks
Authors: Li Chenggang , Wang Wuhong , Guo Hongwei , Dietrich André
Published: November 2018

Hundreds of new features and functionalities have been introduced as in-vehicle systems (IVS) mature. However, it remains unclear whether these novel designs have appropriately addressed driver preferences and requirements, especially when factors such as geographical or cultural differences are considered. An empirical study was conducted to determine cultural differences between young Chinese and German drivers with respect to (a) preferences for 18 selected IVS and (b) behavioral effects in six secondary driving tasks. Data from 232 Chinese and 94 German drivers were collected through an online questionnaire and the results indicate that young Chinese drivers value most of the selected IVS designs more significantly than the Germans do, except in categories such as radio, navigation and autonomous emergency braking. In addition, rotary with a display screen is the most preferred interaction modality for both groups. As for behavioral effects when performing secondary tasks, young Chinese drivers are more likely to engage in safety-related scenarios while the Germans in efficiency-related scenarios. An ordinal logistic regression analysis suggested a strong correlation between secondary tasks (looking up navigation, dialing the phone and connecting Bluetooth) and behavioral degradation for young Chinese drivers, whereas the six secondary tasks seem to affect German drivers minimally. Based on the preference analysis and attitudes to behavioral impacts, implications for the design of IVS are discussed to better satisfy needs from drivers of different cultural backgrounds.
Advanced Dimming Control Algorithm for Sustainable Buildings by Daylight Responsive Dimming System
Authors: Kim In-Tae , Kim Yu-Sin , Nam Hyeonggon , Hwang Taeyon
Published: November 2018

This study aims to evaluate the accuracy and energy savings of a daylight responsive dimming system (DRDS) when considering the influence of indirect illuminance. In the case of the existing DRDS, during the calibration process of each luminaire, the other luminaires were turned off to detect the illuminance of both the luminaire and the incoming daylight. However, the work plane illuminance under the luminaires was affected by the indirect illuminance from the other luminaires. The final work plane illuminance would thus be higher than the target illuminance during real system operation. To improve the accuracy and energy savings of the DRDS, an improved dimming control algorithm was applied to the DRDS when considering the influence of indirect illuminance. The real-time power consumption and accuracy of the target illuminance of the DRDS when considering the influence of indirect illuminance in a full-scale mock-up was measured and analyzed (for 23 days, from 22 June to 18 July 2018). As a result, the average accuracy of the target illuminance was 98.9% (SD 0.5%), and the average saving in lighting energy was 77%.
Evaluation of a New Machine for Flower and Fruit Thinning in Stone Fruits
Authors: Assirelli Alberto , Giovannini Daniela , Cacchi Mattia , Sirri Sandro , Baruzzi Gianluca , Caracciolo Giuseppina
Published: November 2018

Peach and apricot trees usually set more fruit than they can adequately support. Crop load adjustment through fruit thinning is a routine practice adopted by fruit growers to obtain a marketable product. However, hand thinning is an expensive, labor-intense operation. The interest in the mechanization of thinning has increased in the last decades. A new machine, consisting of a tractor-mounted rotor equipped with elastic rods radially inserted on a central axis, has been recently developed to thin both flowers and green fruits in stone fruit crops. In order to test its effectiveness and optimize the operative conditions, trials were carried out in 2016 in two apricot and two peach commercial orchards located in the northeast Italy. Tests were carried out on narrow-canopied orchards, during blooming time, and on green fruit, assessing the flower and fruit removal percentage and the labor saving as compared with the standard fruit hand-thinning practice. In apricot, the machine removed 20.8% of flowers and 43.6% of fruit, allowing 48% time saving in the follow-up fruit manual thinning as compared with the control (hand-thinning only). In peach, mechanical thinning at blooming time removed 63% of flowers, allowing 42.4% time saving in the follow-up fruit manual thinning as compared with the control, whereas mechanical thinning of fruit at the beginning of pit hardening stage removed less than 10%. The development of a mechanical thinning practice, complemented by a manual finishing, could represent a valuable near-term solution to reduce thinning labor time.
A Practical Comparison of Regionalized Land Use and Biodiversity Life Cycle Impact Assessment Models Using Livestock Production as a Case Study
Authors: Teixeira Ricardo F. M. , Morais Tiago G. , Domingos Tiago
Published: November 2018

Land use is increasingly important for impact assessment in life cycle assessment (LCA). Its impacts on biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services are crucial to depict the environmental performance of products. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) models are commonly selected by consensus through processes frequently misinformed by the absence of practical application studies. Here, we performed an assessment of all free and peer-reviewed LCIA models for land use. We started with spatial correlation analysis at the country scale. Models that use the same indicators are strongly correlated, suggesting that regionalization is no longer a decisive issue in model selection. We applied these models in a case study for cattle production where feeds are replaced by sown biodiverse pastures (SBP). We tested (1) a non-regionalized inventory from an LCA database and, (2) a regionalized inventory that explicit considered the locations of land occupation and transformation. We found the same qualitative result: the installation of SBP avoids impacts due to feed substitution. Each hectare of SBP installed avoids the occupation of 0.5 hectares per year for feed ingredient production. Adding inventory regionalization for 70% of land use flows leads to a change of 15% in results, suggesting limited spatial differentiation between country-level characterization factors.