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Sustainability assessment and rating systems are intended to foster more sustainable design, construction, operation, maintenance and disassembly/deconstruction promoting and making possible a better integration of environment, societal, and cost concerns with other traditional decision criteria. The use of improved and building technologies can contribute considerably to better environmental cycle and then to the sustainability of the constructions. It is widely recognised in the of Building Sustainability Assessment that Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a much preferable method for evaluating the environmental pressure caused by materials, Building assemblies and the whole life-cycle of a building. Nevertheless, LCA tools are not extensively used in building design and most of building sustainability assessment and systems are not comprehensive or consistently LCA-based. Reasons for this failure above all related to the huge variety and amount of material flows and processes of building’s Lifecycle and to the complexity of the stages of a LCA. This paper will present the difficulties and possible solutions to integrate more accurate environmental methods in rating systems. In this context, the paper will also present the work that is being carried out in the development of the Portuguese Building Sustainability Assessment system (SBTool PT)

Emergency building, devoted to give rapid and effective housing solutions to catastrophic and unexpected events, relies on the basic principles of construction rapidity and reversibility as well as the use of alternative energy sources. The growing need for environmental impact reduction in the building sector represents for temporary housing - especially under emergency conditions - a priority requisite, since, after given time lapses, areas occupied with emergency settlements will have to be recovered to their original use. In this case, the buildings' service life does not correspond to the life cycle of their materials and components; as a consequence, design activities will have to assure the dismantability and reusability of structures for further service cycles, making the whole process reversible: from construction to 'zero waste' de-construction. This paper aims at defining design criteria for low-impact emergency dwellings, assessing at the same time their applicability to corrugated steel pipes, obtained by assembling galvanized curved sheets - commonly used for underpasses and conduits - for which different use possibilities have been investigated. In this view, the research program has led to the definition of modular dwelling solutions. Then, technical feasibility studies have been carried out in collaboration with the industrial sector, taking advantage of consolidated production lines for innovative use purposes. Along the different research stages, a methodology has been defined for the assessment of the fundamental sustainability criteria through different simulation procedures; among these, the evaluation of the life-cycle environmental impacts with SimaPRO software and the 3D modelling for the maximization of the construction/environment integration - also in relation to the use of PV modules - have produced interesting results.

The aim of this report is to demonstrate and evaluate the potential of tall wheatgrass (Elytrigia elongata) to avoid GHG emissions and obtain lower economic costs in marginal areas of Spain. Our research built scenarios based on experimental plots (2 and 3 years growth) in 3 locations of Spain with completely different climate conditions (provinces of Girona, Soria and Palencia). In our experiences, we achieved an adequate establishment and biomass production, and assumed a rank of biomass yields until the end of the life cycle that is usually accepted to be about 15 years in many other studies in United States, Argentina and Eastern Europe where tall wheatgrass is extensively cultivated in marginal areas for sheep livestock production. Using our experimental plots and statistical information for economic inputs costs, we built 5 different scenarios per region considering a large range of biomass yields of tall wheatgrass. The analysis included a comparison with annual grasses economic costs calculated for a wide range of biomass yields of a previous study. We estimated GHG emissions savings for tall wheatgrasses and used our previous study (which had GHG emissions savings as well). Savings were calculated replacing natural gas electricity with electricity from biomass combustion in real power plants in Spain. In a wide range of yields, the results suggest that marginal areas might present a better performance with tall wheatgrass compared to annual winter grasses (cereals whole plant cuttings), thus producing biomass yields with higher GHG savings and lower economic costs at the farm level. Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 217-229

The constituent countries of the MENA region---defined in this thesis in conformity with the regional definition of the International Energy Agency and encompassing 17 Muslim countries in North Africa, in the Levant, on the Arabian Peninsula, and Iran---have developed very rapidly over the past decade. Two figures best exemplify the region's tremendous transformation: Total population has expanded by more than 20% and its aggregate economic output has more than doubled. As much as this development is desirable, said development trends have also dramatically reshaped the energy policy environment in the MENA region and began causing problems of their own---affecting the region's large oil exporters and its energy importers alike. Having traditionally enjoyed high energy security and handsome resource rents by virtue of their abundant and cheap fossil fuels, new realities in the domestic energy systems demand a new policy focus on domestic energy issues. Energy challenges have emerged which threaten security of supply, fiscal stability, and environmental integrity. The challenges differ in magnitude from country-to-country and reflect the specific national conditions and circumstances. However, given the similarity in the underlying drivers and the governing energy policies, the energy challenges resemble each other across borders. More specifically, ballooning domestic energy demand consumes a rising share of national energy production and thus increasingly imperils the constant flow of the much needed proceeds from oil and gas exports. In the MENA countries with less abundant hydrocarbon resources, domestic demand growth has heightened energy dependence and, to make matters worse, the tighter supply situation in the energy exporting neighbors may eventually also lead to a discontinuation of the preferential supply agreements which they have benefitted from in the past. As a further corollary of demand growth, massive capital-intensive infrastructure investments are necessary to keep pace with the growth on the demand side. The regional tradition to sell energy commodities domestically at prices non-competitive prices or even below cost, however, limits the national energy sectors' own capability of mustering the required capital. Finally, the universally observable heavily fossil fuel-dominated national energy mixes in the region render the study countries vulnerable to supply shocks. The virtually complete reliance on the regionally available hydrocarbons for meeting energy demand is also a principal contributor to environmental degradation and at the core of the large carbon footprint of energy consumption in MENA countries. Given current policies in combination with the emerging demographic and economic trends, these challenges must be expected to become more severe in the years to come. Rising living standards, especially in the region's expanding urban population, are likely to boost per capita energy consumption. The projected, continued demographic and economic growth will further drive commodity demand. And the supply side cannot be counted on to mitigate the challenges under given policies. On the contrary. Although no reliable production projections are available, it stands to reason that production from the region's most prolific oil and gas fields---some of which have been producing for several decades now---will increasingly require the use of costly secondary and tertiary recovery methods and that some will eventually [...]

Treball Final de Màster Universitari en Estudis Internacionals de Pau, Conflictes i Desenvolupament (Pla de 2013). Codi: SBG120. Curs acadèmic: 2016/2017 The Earth’s resources are limited and it is important that we conserve as much as possible. One way to do this is to recycle waste products. The main objective of this project is to decrease the amount of recyclable garbage that is not being recycled in the city of Castellón de la Plana. With the high number of plastic and glass bottles that are being used in restaurants, pubs, and family homes, a vast majority of these will likely be thrown in the garbage instead of recycling. Although there are a number of areas that allow easy access for recycling, the convenience of tossing something into the garbage is considered more convenient. This project will attempt to look at various options to not only provide enticement for businesses to recycle, but also potentially allow a form of income as an incentive.

It is recognised that several constraints such as the lack of knowledge and expertise of farmers, land users and policy makers concerning agroforestry systems establishment and management hamper the adoption of agroforestry systems (Camilli et al. 2017). AFINET project acts at EU level in order to direct research results into practice and promote innovative ideas to face challenges and solve practitioners' problems. AFINET proposes an innovative methodology based on the creation of a European Interregional Network, linking different Regional Agroforestry Innovation Networks (RAINs). RAINs represent different climatic, geographical, social and cultural conditions and enclose a balanced representation of the key actors with complementary types of expertise (farmers, policy makers, advisory services, extension services, etc.). The Italian RAIN is focused on the Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) value chain, with the main aim to promote agroforestry management of local olive orchards. Olive trees are still managed traditionally, often in marginal sites, with minimal mechanization and relatively low external inputs such as chemical treatments in comparison to other crops. The presence of permanent crops (olive trees) guarantees a partially tree cover reducing hydrogeological risk. Soil management usually keeps natural grassing reducing soil carbon emission and increasing soil fertility (Bateni et al. 2017). Intercropping with cereals and/or fodder legumes and livestock can also be practiced in olive orchards, increasing the complexity of the olive tree multifunctional system. Moreover, olive orchards can be managed as agroforestry systems since they can be intercropped with arable crops (cereals, legumes) and/or combined with livestock (sheep, poultry). The RAIN process, involving local stakeholders, highlighted the main bottlenecks of the EVOO value chain related to communication and dissemination of knowledge, technical and management aspects, market and policy. In order to contrast bottlenecks and exploit opportunities of the olive oil supply chain, the identified innovations are: i) adoption of best practices: testing and experimenting innovative agroforestry systems introducing different crop/animals species and varieties; ii) improve the management of the olive orchards: encouraging and increasing the organic production; iii) valorisation of olive processing residues: identifying and testing innovative products (bio-materials, olive paste as example); iv) arise the awareness among consumers: educating people about the benefits of olive oil consumption, creating networks among stakeholders, improving marketing and commercialization. Creating a Bio-district, defined as a geographical area where farmers, citizens, tourist operators, associations and public authorities enter into an agreement for the sustainable management of local resources, emerged a powerful tool to implement the innovation in the local EVOO value chain.

The energy efficiency of buildings is nowadays one of the main concerns of the construction market. But, Indoor Environmental Quality of Buildings (IEQ) should not be disregarded. To achieve an adequate quality of buildings it is necessary to consider a set of aspects that are interconnected and influence each other, not always in a favourable way. The selection of the most suitable construction solution and materials for the building elements must consider its contribution for the IEQ (thermal and acoustic comfort, daylight conditions and the indoor air quality) inside the buildings, its energy efficiency and its environmental impact (considering the embodied energy, for example), but also the weight of the solution and its effect on the structural project of the building. The solutions adopted in buildings, usually, only optimize no more than one of the necessary comfort requirements. In many cases, the best solutions to accomplish different comfort requirements are not compatible, especially in what concerns natural ventilation and lighting strategies and the acoustic and thermal performance. So, it is necessary to have an integrated approach to ensure the best overall behaviour taking into account all of the, sometimes incompatible, comfort and energy efficiency requirements. In this work the use of a multi-criteria analysis, to balance all these aspects on the design phase, in order to assist the designer in the selection of construction solutions and materials will be presented. The selection of the most adequate construction solutions will increase the buildings IEQ, energy performance and also its environmental impact.

In the recent years, some experimental forms of housing (cohousing and social housing) have developed in Italy, which also take on the features of real energy communities. These initiatives have been planned and implemented thanks to the active participation and investments of the people involved in the project. Their primary aim is to implement new form of shared housing, but by adopting renewable generation systems and sharing both energy production and consumption, they are contributing to foster the energy transition process. In this research, we studied the management of the energy resource and the social interactions among the cohousers. Moreover, we analysed the social impacts on the surrounding territory in order to know as they can widespread the clean energy technologies and social innovation processes. To do this, we compared two experiences of collaborative housing: the first one, active since some years in Northern Italy, is a bottom-up initiative set up by the voluntary action of some families and individuals. Its goal is to share common spaces and activities, but also to produce and use renewable energy with a view to economic and environmental sustainability. The second one is a social cohousing, established in Messina (Southern Italy) and implemented by the Fondazione di Comunità di Messina. The project involves people who live in socio-economic difficulties. Through the ESCO Solidarity & Energy, the Fondazione has designed and applied energy systems to allow the tenants to become prosumers and prosumagers.

Treball Final de Grau en Finances i Comptabilitat. Codi: FC1049. Curs acadèmic: 2019/2020 In recent years there has been a rise in businesses investing in social and ethical issues. The sustainable development goals published in 2015 by the UN provide a globally agreed framework to make the world more sustainable. Companies have been given the opportunity to help the environment and society through their actions whilst increasing their value and return and improving their reputation. A method for doing so is by following the principles of responsible investment and incorporating environmental, social and governance criteria into long-term businesses strategies. Spanish banks are actively working to achieve the sustainable development goals by investing in sustainable finance, social projects, housing programmes, etc. to meet societal needs whilst extending their market scope and achieving corporate growth and financial success. The main focus of their actions lays with two specific goals: ending poverty and providing decent work and economic growth for all.