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As cities confront multiple challenges such as climate change, urbanization, and food security, growing attention has been given to sustainable vertical farming and renewable energy solutions. Building facades, typically underutilized in high-density urban environments, present an opportunity for multifunctional buildings composed of both photovoltaic (PV) systems and vertical farming modules. However, on vertical surfaces, these two systems often compete for space. This research focuses on the development of a multifunctional agrivoltaics building envelope (ABE) system, combining building-integrated PV (BIPV) technology with hydroponic vertical farming. This ABE system adopts a modular design approach, where each unit can be prefabricated independently and assembled through an interlocking connection design and bolted fastening to ensure ease of construction and scalability. The design process includes the development of 2D cross-sectional technical design, assembly sequences, and an analysis of key design parameters through 3D modeling. The research adopts a combined Research through Design (RtD) and Research for Design (RfD) approach to bridge prototyping, testing, and performance optimization. This research highlights the potential of integrating renewable energy with agricultural production in building envelope systems. By addressing space optimization and multifunctionality, the research provides a practical framework for future applications in urban sustainability.

In this paper we suggest considering sustainability as a moral framework based on social justice, which can be used to evaluate technological choices. In order to make sustainability applicable to discussions of nuclear energy production and waste management, we focus on three key ethical questions, namely: (i) what should be sustained; (ii) why should we sustain it; and (iii) for whom should we sustain it. This leads us to conceptualize the notion of sustainability as a set of values, including safety, security, environmental benevolence, resource durability, and economic viability of the technology. The practical usefulness of sustainability as a moral framework is highlighted by demonstrating how it is applicable for understanding intergenerational dilemmas—between present and future generations, but also among different future generations—related to nuclear fuel cycles and radioactive waste management.

Energy transition has a prominent role in 21st-century urban agendas. Worldwide, cities pursue the local implementation of international, national and regional agendas aiming at a sustainable energy transition. Landscape integration, multifunctionality and community participation are three of the key concepts here. These concepts are interpreted differently across the different spatial levels. The object of this paper is to analyse the application of the three sustainability concepts at the regional, local and site levels for the city of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The results show that the degree of implementation of the concepts depends on what factors are considered important at each spatial level. At the regional and local levels, landscape integration with regards to social factors such as finances and co-ownership drive successful implementation, thanks to the organisation of effective participatory processes. At the site level, landscape integration and multifunctionality with regards to spatial factors such as the ecological, recreational and historical landscape factors drive successful implementation through effective landscape design activities. However, the sustainability of the energy transition implementation process is affected by a lack of social-ecological systems thinking. Participation processes—if present—focus either on social or spatial factors but fail to interconnect them. The regional and local levels that currently demonstrate major abstraction and separation of social and spatial factors would benefit from effective exchange with the site level. At that scale, design activities are the arena to combine and reconcile social and spatial factors.

About half of the discarded mattresses in the Netherlands are recycled, and the other half are incinerated. Based on a recently implemented sustainability measure of extended producer responsibility, the recycling rate should increase to 75% in 2028. Thereby, a recycling fee of EUR 12.5 per mattress should be introduced to finance the infrastructure to increase recycling. This study investigates the potential cost-effectiveness of mattress recycling through the reuse of materials, compared to the incineration of mattresses in Dutch energy-to-waste plants. The benefits of recycling include the avoidance of CO2 that would otherwise be released by incineration and the displacement of virgin material that would otherwise be used by producers as raw material. However, there are also significant costs associated with the collection and recycling process of complex products such as mattresses. Taking all factors into account, the cost of saving one ton of CO2 through mattress recycling is EUR 138. This is higher than alternatives such as wind energy, ETS prices, or carbon capture and storage. If the replacement energy is fully CO2-neutral or the recycling fee is lower, the costs of one ton of CO2 decrease but are still higher than most alternatives.

Many scientists have expressed concern that declining agricultural diversity threatens agricultural sustainability. We draw on the available literature to outline and examine mechanisms that reduce agricultural diversity and identify the at-risk attributes of agricultural sustainability. Using a three-pillar concept embodying ecological, social and economic dimensions, this article provides a comprehensive general assessment of the sustainability of agricultural systems. It pays particular attention to consequences for agricultural diversity and sustainability of the increasing dependence of agriculture on the market system and new agricultural technologies. As an illustrative example, it examines changes in the diversity and sustainability of Bangladeshi agriculture by applying a novel index of the diversity of cropping land use, an output decomposition method, and statistical techniques. Crop diversity in Bangladesh is very low and dominated by the cultivation of rice, which now depends very heavily on a limited number of high yielding varieties (HYVs). Higher rice yields in Bangladesh and seasonal changes in rice cultivation have resulted in land sparing, which make room for greater crop diversity. Nevertheless, Bangladesh’s food dependence on its rice output is very high and is critically dependent on groundwater irrigation. We recommend that Bangladesh consider increasing the diversity of its crops as a food security measure and as a hedge against a decline in its agricultural sustainability.

Given the global challenges arising from climate change, relevant, promising methods to expedite the energy transition are essential. The integration of solar cooling technologies into façades represents an important option. Potential benefits of applying solar cooling technologies include conserving primary and conventional electricity sources, lowering peak energy demand to achieve cost savings, and offering environmental benefits. This study aimed to support the design team and stakeholders involved at the design and development stages with a framework that supports developing solar cooling integrated façades. This study adopted a participatory research methodology to identify, outline, and validate key decisions, information, and stakeholders supporting product design and development. The key study findings revealed that the integration of solar cooling technologies into façades should be considered at the conception stage, where the client, climate designer, building physicists, building service consultants, and architects were identified as key participants who should be involved in the decision-making process. The most critical information identified for supporting design decisions includes technology costs, performance and efficiency, cooling demand, and construction characteristics of the thermal envelope.

Sustainability is a global issue and its enhancement through modern forms of procurements, such as public-private partnership (PPP), has become topical considering the huge impact of PPP activities on society, the economy, and the environment. However, one way of promoting sustainability thorough PPPs is the adoption of social responsibility (SR) initiatives/factors. This paper aims to empirically investigate the SR factors in PPPs through a comparative study between China and Ghana. An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted in both China and Ghana. Further, the mean score ranking, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, and Mann-Whitney U test were used for data analysis. Results show that SR factors related to the economic efficiency of PPP projects and climate change adaptation are critical in China, whereas in Ghana, SR factors directly related to job creation and environmental protection are critical. The outputs of this study inform investors of the critical SR initiatives to consider when engaging in PPPs in Asia and Africa. In addition, they provide a solid knowledge base for the continuous international debate on how sustainability could be enhanced through PPP policy.

The acceleration of environmental problems has put firms under high pressure to assume their social and environmental responsibility. This study aims to investigate the links between proactive environmental strategy, competitive advantages and firm performance. It also explores the control effects of firm size and industry type on the adoption of such a strategy. Data were obtained from 232 firms that participated in the program on benchmarking and announcing sustainable companies in Vietnam. Findings from structural equation modelling reveal that the adoption of a proactive environmental strategy generates both differentiation and cost leadership competitive advantages. Furthermore, differentiation competitive advantages enhance firm performance in both the short term (i.e., product, financial and production performance) and long term (i.e., strategic performance). Interestingly, a proactive environmental strategy is more prevalent among larger firms and those in service industries. This study’s findings provide support for firms to pursue a proactive environmental strategy and have several implications for policymakers in developing policies that aim at promoting environmental practices in firms.