| 1. |
- Isaksson, Raine, et al.
(författare)
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Supplementary Cementitious Materials in Building Blocks—Diagnosing Opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa
- 2023
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 15:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable building should at least be affordable and carbon neutral. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a region struggling with housing affordability. Residential buildings are often constructed using block-based materials. These are increasingly produced using ordinary Portland cement (PC), which has a high carbon footprint. Using alternative Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs) for block production might reduce the footprint and price. The purpose is to assess the level of information for SCM use in blocks in SSA and to use this information for Diagnosing the improvement potential as part of an Opportunity Study. Results from the scoping review show that aggregated information on SCMs and the quantities available is limited. Diagnosing the theoretical improvement potential in using cassava peel ash, rice husk ash, corn cob ash, volcanic ash and calcined clays, indicates that SCMs could represent a yearly value of approximately USD 400 million, which could be transferred from buying cement to local production. The use of SCMs could save 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 per year and create some 50,000 jobs. About 5% of the PC used for block production could be substituted, indicating that, in addition to using SCMs, other solutions are needed to secure production of sustainable blocks.
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| 2. |
- Cöster, Mathias, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Are They Reporting the Right Thing and Are They Doing It Right? : A Measurement Maturity Grid for Evaluation of Sustainability Reports
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 12:24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An accessible way to monitor company sustainability, is to study sustainability reports. In spite of wide adherence to the extensive Global Reporting Initiative standards, sustainability reports still vary considerably regarding how well these are integrated and used. The purpose of this paper is to present and test a maturity grid for sustainability reports assessment that enables critical stakeholder needs analysis of sustainability reports. Based on a stakeholder needs perspective we argue that the right thing in a sustainability report means reporting in the entire value chain for main sustainability impacts. Doing this right means having externally set targets for main sustainability impacts, using relevant absolute and relative indicators, and having an easy to read report presenting main performance compared to targets for a period of at least seven years. Some 50 sustainability reports from Swedish companies in various industries were collected and assessed using the maturity grid. Results indicate that the maturity grid is usable, but that the sustainability report assessment still is difficult, and that variability of the assessments are high. Furthermore, the observed indicative levels of measurement maturity in organizations are low suggesting that most companies still are struggling with understanding what sustainability means to them.
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| 3. |
- Isaksson, Raine Birger, et al.
(författare)
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The crippled bottom line : measuring and managing sustainability
- 2015
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Ingår i: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1741-0401 .- 1758-6658. ; 64:3, s. 334-355
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeSustainability can be assessed in the dimensions Profit, Planet and People. A problem with the approach is that these dimensions cannot be added. Another problem is that performance seldom is related to global system boundaries. The purpose of this paper is to study the “what” of sustainability by linking this to global boundaries and proposing “how” the authors could manage change toward sustainability.Design/methodology/approachSustainability definitions are reviewed to identify main stakeholders. People value defined as utility is compared to Planet harm as carbon emissions and People harm as prices of products. This approach is examined in business studying the global processes of housing, transporting, providing food and cement manufacturing.FindingsThe relative indicators with focus on People utility compare to Planet and People harm seem to be relevant for measuring the level of sustainability. The Crippled Bottom Line of People value/Planet harm and People value/Planet harm is proposed as the “what” to measure and the change process of “understanding-defining-measuring-communicating-leading change” is proposed as the “how” to change.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is based on identifying the main stakeholders based on sustainability definitions and from that point mostly on deductive reasoning.Practical implicationsThe practical implications are that organizations could define sustainability indicators with objectives that are linked to global limits.Social implicationsAdvocating the use of price as a social indicator could have social implications.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the discussion of how to link global limits to organizational measurements and targets.
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| 4. |
- Isaksson, Raine
(författare)
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Creating a sense of urgency for sustainable development : Testing two system models
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 227, s. 1173-1184
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In spite of good coverage of sustainability and sustainable development both in scientific journals and other publications, humanity is on a steady unsustainable track consuming more than is produced. Understanding of change needs, does not seem to convert into sufficient change action. Sustainability issues are often complex, interdependent and hard to comprehend, indicating that sustainable development, in addition to change willingness, requires a holistic perspective. Seeing and understanding systems - systems thinking - is important. This implies that sense-making of systems and of sustainable development is important as a prerequisite for change. Possibilities of realising synergies between quality management and sustainable development are often discussed but do often not seem to be fully realised. This paper tests two system models from Quality Management in the context of sustainability in cement manufacturing and building material production. The indicative results suggest that the proposed system models are able to describe and identify improvement opportunities that could be used to create interest for change.
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| 5. |
- Isaksson, Raine, et al.
(författare)
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Opportunities for improved sustainability in house building : The case of Dar es Salaam
- 2019
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Ingår i: African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID). - : Informa UK Limited. - 2042-1338 .- 2042-1346. ; 11:4, s. 457-463
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The combination of a growing population and economic development in Africa will form strong drivers for building growth. Buildings drive energy consumption and carbon emissions. On the material side, cement is the driver for cost and carbon emissions. A cement productivity index is proposed. Results from a case study in Dar es Salaam show that cement is poorly used in the main application of sandcrete blocks. The relative cement productivity is < 30% compared to ordinary concrete. The main problem is the design of the blocks. Mostly, only some 5% of cement by weight is used. However, the sand matrix often needs up to 10% of water for good compaction. This means that the w/c ratio is always high in the mixes, which leads to low cement productivity. One first step could be going from solid to hollow blocks, which would enable increasing the cement content and improving cement productivity up to 50% of the defined benchmark. However, there is resistance to hollow blocks in the market. Alternative solutions, such as soil-stabilized earth, should also be looked into. For realizing the full cement strength potential, other affordable concrete solutions need to be developed for the market.
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| 6. |
- Isaksson, Raine, et al.
(författare)
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Testing a Maturity Grid for Assessing Sustainability Reports
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainability reporting could be seen as output of sustainability performance management. This paper tests a maturity grid assessing the reporting structure quality of 39 sustainability reports - Are the right sustainability impacts reported and is the performance reported in the right way for easy interpretation? Students and one of the authors carry out the assessment. Results indicate a low level of maturity and that it is difficult to make sense of sustainability reports. Results from carbon emission reporting indicate that only some 10% of the reports provide usable results. A new version of the maturity grid has been proposed.
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| 7. |
- Siva, Vanajah, et al.
(författare)
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The support of Quality Management to sustainable development : a literature review
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 138, s. 148-157
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Quality Management is considered to be suitable as support for the integration of sustainability considerations in areas such as product development. The purpose of this paper is to review research in which Quality Management methods, tools or practices have been used in conjunction with sustainable development initiatives. We have identified four themes that synthesize the research on Quality Management and its support to approaches for sustainable development: (I) supporting sustainability through integration of management systems, (II) Quality Management as support to the implementation of Environmental Management Systems and to the management of sustainability, (III) supporting integration of sustainability considerations in daily work, and (IV) supporting stakeholder management and customer focus. By far the most research has been conducted within the first two themes. This paper also contributes with proposals for future research, such as the need to move beyond existing standards and management systems to enable more radical improvements, and the need for empirical evidence of the effect of integrated management systems on environmental performance. We also highlight the point that Quality Management practices and tools must be developed and adapted in order to support sustainability considerations.
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