/pdf/economics-of-natural-resources-and-the-environment-43k62iyyte.pdf

Economics of natural resources and the environment

Historically, management theory has ignored the constraints imposed by the biophysical (natural) environment. Building upon resource-based theory, this article attempts to fill this void by proposing a natural-resource-based view of the firm—a theory of competitive advantage based upon the firm's relationship to the natural environment. It is composed of three interconnected strategies: pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development. Propositions are advanced for each of these strategies regarding key resource requirements and their contributions to sustained competitive advantage.

A natural resource-based view of the firm

Green building is one of measures been put forward to mitigate significant impacts of the building stock on the environment, society and economy. However, there is lack of a systematic review of this large number of studies that is critical for the future endeavor. The last decades have witnessed rapid growing number of studies on green building. This paper reports a critical review of the existing body of knowledge of researches related to green building. The common research themes and methodology were identified. These common themes are the definition and scope of green building; quantification of benefits of green buildings compared to conventional buildings; and various approaches to achieve green buildings. It is found that the existing studies played predominately focus on the environmental aspect of green building. Other dimensions of sustainability of green building, especially the social sustainability is largely overlooked. Future research opportunities were identified such as effects of climatic conditions on the effectiveness of green building assessment tools, validation of real performance of green buildings, unique demands of specific population, and future proofing.

Green building research–current status and future agenda: A review

Strong spatial variation of rupture characteristics in the moment magnitude (Mw) 9.0 Tohoku-Oki megathrust earthquake controlled both the strength of shaking and the size of the tsunami that followed. Finite-source imaging reveals that the rupture consisted of a small initial phase, deep rupture for up to 40 seconds, extensive shallow rupture at 60 to 70 seconds, and continuing deep rupture lasting more than 100 seconds. A combination of a shallow dipping fault and a compliant hanging wall may have enabled large shallow slip near the trench. Normal faulting aftershocks in the area of high slip suggest dynamic overshoot on the fault. Despite prodigious total slip, shallower parts of the rupture weakly radiated at high frequencies, whereas deeper parts of the rupture radiated strongly at high frequencies.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/332/6036/1426.full.pdf

Shallow Dynamic Overshoot and Energetic Deep Rupture in the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake

１ Ｂａｓｉｃ ｎｅｐｈｒｏｌｏｇｙ（生理；免疫・病理；分子生物学；検査・診断） ２ Ｃｌｉｎｉｃａｌ ｎｅｐｈｒｏｌｏｇｙ（糸球体障害；尿細管・間質障害；全身性疾患と腎障害；水電解質異常；腎不全）

Annual review 腎臓

Adaptive facade systems - review of performance requirements, design approaches, use cases and market needs

The priorities in the design of more sustainable buildings are quite dependent on the specific social context. In developing countries, the sustainability concept and priorities in the residential buildings sector are quite different from the ones of the developed countries, since there are still basic needs to answer. Therefore, this research is aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the concept of social sustainability in the residential building sector of the developing countries. A methodology to define and prioritise the social sustainability indicators is proposed and applied in the context of Palestine. The presented methodology is based on the sustainability indicators of international standards, on the most well know building sustainability assessment methods and in the analysis of their application to a specific context. It includes a methodology to prioritise the list of social indicators, by considering the expectations of two groups of building stakeholders: designers and building users. At the end, this research proposes a framework of social aspects to consider in the design of more sustainable residential buildings in West Bank, Palestine that is composed of twenty-one indicators, distributed among six sustainability categories and ranked according to their weight in the overall of sustainability level.

https://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/56070/1/2863-ArddaN_MateusR_BragancaL_Buildings2018.pdf

Methodology to Identify and Prioritise the Social Aspects to Be Considered in the Design of More Sustainable Residential Buildings—Application to a Developing Country

The increase in global environmental problems requires more environmentally efficient construction. Vernacular passive strategies can play an important role in helping reducing energy use and CO2 emissions related to buildings. This paper studies the use of glazed balconies in the North of Portugal as a strategy to capture solar gains and reduce heat losses. The purpose is understanding thermal performance and comfort conditions provided by this passive heating strategy. The methodology includes objective (short and long-term monitoring), to evaluate the different parameters affecting thermal comfort and air quality, and subjective assessments to assess occupants’ perception regarding thermal sensation. The results show that the use of glazed balconies as a passive heating strategy in a climate with cold winters is viable. During the mid-seasons, the rooms with balcony have adequate comfort conditions. In the heating season, it is possible to achieve comfort conditions in sunny days while in the cooling season there is a risk of overheating. Regarding indoor air quality, carbon dioxide concentrations were low, but the average radon concentration measured was high when the building was unoccupied, rapidly decreasing to acceptable values, during occupation periods when a minimum ventilation rate was promoted. Occupants’ actions were essential to improving building behavior.

Thermal Performance and Comfort Condition Analysis in a Vernacular Building with a Glazed Balcony

Obstacles and barriers for measuring building’s circularity

This research addresses the performance gap between intentions towards a sustainable conservation of built heritage and its actual implementation. Socio-psychological models of human behaviour, such as the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), have been studying this dissonance between intention and behaviour, and allow to recognise latent critical factors. This paper provides a systematic literature review of research publications on the intersection of the topics of human behaviour, heritage, and sustainability. It aims to analyse how the TPB has been used in the field of sustainable conservation of built heritage. The studies are categorised according to the type of heritage, main actors targeted, aims, and methodology. A total of 140 publications were analysed. The results show a recent field of research. In the domain of built heritage conservation, behaviour is commonly addressed as a synonym of performance, targeting the building itself. Most publications relating socio-psychological constructs of behaviour and heritage sustainability can be found in the tourism and hospitality field, focusing on tourists’ and residents’ behaviours. The review shows that practitioners are still absent from the literature. However, research addressing other stakeholders shows that the theoretical framework can play an important role in the implementation of sustainable conservation practices in the built heritage.

/pdf/going-beyond-good-intentions-for-the-sustainable-3deqhaqntw.pdf

Ricardo Mateus

Papers

Adaptive facade systems - review of performance requirements, design approaches, use cases and market needs

Methodology to Identify and Prioritise the Social Aspects to Be Considered in the Design of More Sustainable Residential Buildings—Application to a Developing Country

Thermal Performance and Comfort Condition Analysis in a Vernacular Building with a Glazed Balcony

Obstacles and barriers for measuring building’s circularity

Going beyond Good Intentions for the Sustainable Conservation of Built Heritage: A Systematic Literature Review