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- Mangold, Mikael, 1982
(författare)
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The effect of resource sustainability interventions on social sustainable development in the built environment
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There are several sustainable development targets for the Swedish housing market. The sector as a whole is expected to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Housing prices should increase and not inflate. Meanwhile, the development of the built environment should contribute to well being and decrease segregation. Prioritization amongst these targets is often done through policy and by actors in the housing market. This thesis focuses on the trade-offs between environmental and social sustainable development targets. The thesis builds on two studies of development in the built environment. The main study describes an environmental upgrade of housing in a disadvantaged area of Gothenburg, and the second investigates a redevelopment area with high environmental ambitions. Environmental targets, such as CO2 reduction, have in some cases been profitably achieved in housing projects in Sweden. The principal study of this thesis describes the implementation of volumetric billing of water at Bredfjällsgatan which successfully reduced water usage and was profitable for the implementing real estate company. However, the system’s change also increased the average monthly costs for the households, and the average monthly costs increased even more in households where the inhabitants were unemployed. The lock-in effect of welfare dependency is increased by rising monthly expenses. This group lacks economic incentive to save water since welfare pays for water usage. The analyses of water consumption data show that while economic incentives account for some reduction of water consumption, other parameters such as household size, crowdedness of apartments, and household level of education are also important factors. Households receiving welfare are not economically affected by the implementation of volumetric billing of water but are further socially excluded from society when trapped in welfare dependence. The real estate owner states economic and environmental aspects as motivators for the system’s change. Social sustainable development targets on a societal level are not an outspoken priority to the same extent. The real estate owners in disadvantaged housing areas should be recognized as important actors in the development to tackle segregation of the housing market.The second study presents empirical insights from a housing area that is being built with high environmental ambitions. Perspectives of sustainable development amongst developers in the area differ, but it is apparent that social dimensions of sustainable development receive less attention. The complexity of social dimensions is not fully addressed. Social sustainable development is for example thought of as comfortable outdoor environments in the area, while the larger societal impacts of the housing project were not considered to the same extent. Integration, affordability, and equity were given direct focus; instead these targets are often assumed to be reached by varying apartment sizes and mixing tenure in the area.
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| 2. |
- Pettersson, Kaj, 1990
(författare)
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Modeling stormwater transport through unsaturated green roof substrates
- 2018
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In recent decades there has been an increase in research regarding green roofs and similar technologies. This increased interest is driven by the requirements of urban development and its effects both on humans and the environment. Additionally, the predicted increase in weather severity in the future is raising concerns on the capabilities of urban environments and their stormwater management systems to cope with the increase. Green roofs can be used as a space-conscious solution for improving stormwater management in urban areas as well as contributing to, for example, building protection and pollution and noise reduction. In order to fully utilize them effectively for stormwater runoff reduction it is necessary to quantify their effect and optimize their performance in a given climate. This optimization can take the form of placement on structures or by design within the green roof construction itself. This work focuses on optimization of design by applying computational fluid dynamics and lattice Boltzmann theory to the soil growth substrate. Computational fluid dynamics is used for modeling the flow through the green roof growth substrate (soil layer) at the macrososcopic scale while a lattice Boltzmann model is applied to the mesoscopic (soil particle) scale. Using these methods, the efficacy at water retention and drainage of given soil particles and full-sized green roofs can be determined. This work covers the framework covering both scales however the methodology is applied only to the mesoscopic scale. The focus within the mesoscopic scale is primarily on the hydrophilicity of the particles in the soil and its impact on liquid imbibition. Also included is an exploration on the liquid-air interfacial area and liquid penetration depth to aid in the analysis of the results. The findings of the study suggest particle hydrophilicity plays an important role in the imbibition process, particularly under light to medium rainfall conditions. In addition a pore blocking phenomenon is identified which requires further analysis. Finally, plans for future work and the closure of the two-framework methodology proposed in this work is discussed.
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| 4. |
- Annaduzzaman, Md, 1986-
(författare)
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Chitosan biopolymer as an adsorbent for drinking water treatment : Investigation on Arsenic and Uranium
- 2015
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In many countries over the world (including Sweden), metal toxicity in freshwater resources causes a severe drinking water quality problem and poses a threat to the environment and human health. Among the different toxic metals in the water resources of Sweden, arsenic and uranium are the biggest threats to health. These elements, over long time consumption, may even lead to cancer and/or neurological disorder. Most of the wells are installed in crystalline and sedimentary bedrock and the received water comes from water bearing fractures in the bedrock. The handling of such water is an issue and there is a need to reduce the arsenic and uranium exposure by improving processes and technologies. It is a very serious problem demanding a safe, sustainable and eco-friendly arsenic and uranium removal technology prior to drinking water supply. Different treatment systems are available, but many of them are not suitable due to their high cost, operation complexity and waste management issues. Through this study, chitosan biopolymer the second largest abundant polysaccharide on earth after cellulose, was verified as a potential adsorbent for arsenic(V) and uranium(VI) removal from water solution. Adsorbent characterizations were also conducted by XRD, FTIR, SEM, UV-visible spectrum and TGA/DTA investigations. Bench-scale batch experiments were conducted using chitosan biopolymer (DDA-85%) as an adsorbent to determine the arsenic(V) and uranium(VI) removal efficiency, by allowing four important effective parameters e.g. chitosan dosages, pH, contact time and contaminant concentration. The adsorption data at optimum conditions were fitted with Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkhevic (D-R) isotherm and Lagergren pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic model to investigate the adsorption process. The characterization of materials assured the presence of effective amino, hydroxyl, and carboxyl groups of chitosan. Another advanntage is that the materials are bio-degradable. The results show that the arsenic(V) and uranium(VI) removal efficiency was 100% and 97.45% after 300 minutes with optimum pH of 6.0 and 7.0 respectively. The optimum adsorbent dosages and initial concentration were 60 and 80g/L and 100 and 250 µg/L respectively. The adsorption process was suitably described by Freundlich isotherm (R2 = 0.9933) and Langmuir isotherm (R2 = 0.9858) correspondingly for arsenic(V) uranium(VI) compared to other isotherms. This is an important indicator of homogeneous monolayer adsorption of metals. For both of arsenic(V) and uranium(VI), pseudo-second-order explained the adsorption kinetics better than pseudo-first-order and the second-order kinetic regression coefficient (R2) were 0.9959 and 0.9672 correspondingly. Connecting to the above mentioned results, it can be summed up that the chitosan biopolymer (DDA 85%) can be used as an inexpensive, sustainable and environment-friendly treatment option for arsenic(V) and uranium(VI) contaminated drinking water.
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| 5. |
- Bergion, Viktor, 1986
(författare)
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Development of a Risk-Based Decision Model for Prioritizing Microbial Risk Mitigation Measures in Drinking Water Systems
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Risk management of drinking water systems is crucial since our society relies on these systems to be robust and sustainable to supply safe drinking water now and to future generations. Pathogens may spread in drinking water systems and cause waterborne outbreaks resulting in human suffering and large costs to the society. Thus, mitigating microbial risks is of great importance for provision of safe drinking water in a changing world. Since risk mitigation measures can be costly, there is a need for a transparent and holistic decision support to enable a sound and efficient use of available resources. In this thesis, a risk-based decision model that facilitates evaluation and comparison of microbial risk mitigation measures is presented. The model was developed by combining source characterisation, water quality modelling, quantitative microbial risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. Uncertainties associated with input variables and output results were analysed by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The decision model puts emphasis on health benefits obtained from reduced microbial risks in drinking water systems and the monetisation of these effects. In addition, the approach also accounts for non-health benefits that occur because of implemented mitigation measures. Such benefits, also if they cannot be monetised, are important to include and carefully consider in the cost-benefit analysis. The probabilistic approach provides an analysis of uncertainties that need to be considered by decision makers. To conclude, this thesis underlines and illustrates the strength of combining methods from several disciplines to create a robust decision support in order to optimise societal benefits.
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| 6. |
- McConville, Jennifer R., 1978-
(författare)
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Assessing sustainable approaches to sanitation planning and implementation in West Africa
- 2008
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The challenge of achieving global sanitation targets is that it requires application of both technology that is appropriate and a supporting organizational structure. The interactions between the two begin during the planning/decision-making process and continue throughout the system lifetime. During the last decade, strategic planning frameworks have emerged in the water and sanitation sector that reflect a shift from traditional, top-down planning to a more participatory, bottom-up approach. Despite this shift and in light of the continuing challenge of achieving widespread sanitation in the world, it is necessary to question if a knowledge gap exists between the global sanitation frameworks and local stakeholder priorities. This licentiate thesis presents the first phase of a research project whose objective is to study the global models and compare them with existing local planning and decision-making conditions. It focuses on establishing the global context with regard to strategic planning tools and perspectives on sustainable sanitation. In general, there is close agreement on methodology and processes recommended by international planning frameworks; however the use of the term “sustainable sanitation” is highly variable. In general, the findings of this thesis show that improving sanitation conditions requires tools based on participation, social marketing, and process approaches for planning, capacity development, and feedback. Continuation of this research will investigate the local context regarding current planning practices and perspectives on sustainable sanitation in order to assess potential differences between the global and local context and make recommendations for improving adaptation of planning strategies for bringing sanitation to scale.
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| 8. |
- Sundell, Jonas, 1984
(författare)
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Risk Estimation of Groundwater Drawdown in Subsidence Sensitive Areas
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Groundwater drawdown induced ground subsidence is a severe problem in many regions around the world. Leakage of groundwater into a sub-surface construction, resulting in drawdown and subsequent subsidence, can lead to immense damage costs on buildings and installations in urban areas. To reduce the risk for damages safety measures can be implemented. Safety measures include design change of the construction, sealing of fractures in bedrock and permeable formations in soil, and infiltration of water to maintain stable groundwater heads. However, such measures can be very expensive and extensive investigation programs are therefore commonly realized as a basis for decision support on the need for safety measures. Since the sub-surface consists of heterogeneous and anisotropic materials which cannot be investigated in its entirety, decisions on safety measures have to be taken under uncertainty. In this thesis, a generic framework is presented on how to assess the risk for groundwater drawdown induced subsidence (Paper I). As specific tools for modelling uncertainties in the groundwater drawdown – subsidence – damage chain, a method for probabilistic modelling of bedrock levels and soil stratification (Paper II) and a method for probabilistic modelling of ground subsidence at the city scale (Paper III) are presented.
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| 9. |
- Sun, Zhenhua, 1986
(författare)
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Contribution of stormwater ponds for road runoff to aquatic biodiversity
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The increased recognition that roads may impair the aquatic environment and ecosystems has led to a shift from conventional drainage systems toward blue-green solutions such as stormwater ponds. Research on blue-green stormwater solutions has until now mainly focused on water quantity and quality. The goals of this study are to evaluate the influence of environmental factors on the biological community composition in stormwater ponds receiving road runoff and to determine to which extent these green infrastructures can promote and maintain pond dwelling organisms.Biological community composition was investigated in 16 stormwater ponds along the highways E6 and E18 in the counties of Oslo, Akershus and Østfold of Norway. Multivariate statistical methods were used to explore the relationship between the biological community composition and the pollutants in water and sediments, as well as physical factors. Redundancy analysis combined with forward selection showed that the most important water quality and physical variables determining the variation in the biological community composition were pond size, distance to the closest pond from study pond, annual average daily traffic, concentrations of metals, chloride, dissolved oxygen, hydrocarbons and phosphorus. Most taxa were negatively correlated with metals. The results indicate that, compared with smaller ponds, larger ponds are better for supporting aquatic biodiversity due to a more heterogeneous environment and ability to dilute pollutants. Also, the presence of other ponds in the vicinity of the stormwater ponds would facilitate the movement of invertebrates between ponds through increased connectivity. The redundancy analysis showed that different taxa exhibited different responses to pollutants in the sediments, indicating potential differences in pollution tolerance among organisms. Therefore, the factors that may affect pollutant bioavailability in the sediments should be analysed. In addition, since different species, even within one family, responded differently to the same pollutant, it is important to identify organisms to the species level.
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