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- Genre: Academic theses
- Creators: Buch, Rajesh
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
Description
Economic development over the last century has driven a tripling of the world's population, a twenty-fold increase in fossil fuel consumption, and a tripling of traditional biomass consumption. The associated broad income and wealth inequities are retaining over 2 billion people in poverty. Adding to this, fossil fuel combustion is impacting the environment across spatial and temporal scales and the cost of energy is outpacing all other variable costs for most industries. With 60% of world energy delivered in 2008 consumed by the commercial and industrial sector, the fragmented and disparate energy-related decision making within organizations are largely responsible for the inefficient and impacting use of energy resources. The global transition towards sustainable development will require the collective efforts of national, regional, and local governments, institutions, the private sector, and a well-informed public. The leadership role in this transition could be provided by private and public sector organizations, by way of sustainability-oriented organizations, cultures, and infrastructure. The diversity in literature exemplifies the developing nature of sustainability science, with most sustainability assessment approaches and frameworks lacking transformational characteristics, tending to focus on analytical methods. In general, some shortfalls in sustainability assessment processes include lack of: * thorough stakeholder participation in systems and stakeholder mapping, * participatory envisioning of future sustainable states, * normative aggregation of results to provide an overall measure of sustainability, and * influence within strategic decision-making processes. Specific to energy sustainability assessments, while some authors aggregate results to provide overall sustainability scores, assessments have focused solely on energy supply scenarios, while including the deficits discussed above. This paper presents a framework for supporting organizational transition processes towards sustainable energy systems, using systems and stakeholder mapping, participatory envisioning, and sustainability assessment to prepare the development of transition strategies towards realizing long-term energy sustainability. The energy system at Arizona State University's Tempe campus (ASU) in 2008 was used as a baseline to evaluate the sustainability of the current system. From interviews and participatory workshops, energy system stakeholders provided information to map the current system and measure its performance. Utilizing operationalized principles of energy sustainability, stakeholders envisioned a future sustainable state of the energy system, and then developed strategies to begin transition of the current system to its potential future sustainable state. Key findings include stakeholders recognizing that the current energy system is unsustainable as measured against principles of energy sustainability and an envisioned future sustainable state of the energy system. Also, insufficient governmental stakeholder engagement upstream within the current system could lead to added risk as regulations affect energy supply. Energy demand behavior and consumption patterns are insufficiently understood by current stakeholders, limiting participation and accountability from consumers. In conclusion, although this research study focused on the Tempe campus, ASU could apply this process to other campuses thereby improving overall ASU energy system sustainability. Expanding stakeholder engagement upstream within the energy system and better understanding energy consumption behavior can also improve long-term energy sustainability. Finally, benchmarking ASU's performance against its peer universities could expand the current climate commitment of participants to broader sustainability goals.
ContributorsBuch, Rajesh (Author) / Wiek, Arnim (Thesis advisor) / Basile, George (Thesis advisor) / Williams, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Innovative project delivery methods and project management systems have advanced the world of construction engineering and management, yet the benefits of their applications remain not wholly accomplished without accompanying them with the suitable methods of implementation. As integrated delivery methods have arisen from the need for faster project delivery with early teams’ involvement, their benefits are not attained unless they are executed by the most qualified contracting firms for the job and administered following collaborative approaches. More holistically, integrated project management systems support meeting project guidelines while enforcing the social role played by individuals and teams in addressing challenges that influence their technical performance. Thus, the author was one of the 41 team members that developed an innovative IPM framework which is the Integrated Project/Program Management Maturity and Environment Total risk Rating known as IP2M METRR that helps them review their project team environment and levels of system maturity. Like the integrated delivery methods, an IPM framework is not expected to solve challenges on its own unless supported with guidance for practitioners to efficiently implement the framework. Thus, in this dissertation the author aims to address the challenges by studying the implementation of innovative methods for integrated delivery and integrated management in large government-owned engineering construction projects. The objective is to guide the implementation of (1) design-build (D-B) and construction manager-general contractor (CM-GC) methods in the contractor procurement phase and post-award contract administration phase; and (2) earned value management system (integrated project management application) through a paradigm shift in its assessment, using the IP2M METRR, and focusing on the novel sociotechnical aspect. The author studied data from 128 government-owned projects with total worth of about $46.7 U.S. billion, 11 experts, and 215 practitioners; and used mixed-methods research and industry engaging research techniques, including remote research charrettes which the author supported its development and testing and reported on in this dissertation.The contributions of this dissertation include: (1) identifying best practices for D-B and CM-GC contractor procurement, (2) developing D-B and CM-GC contract administration tool selection framework, (3) gauging lessons learned on IP2M METRR application, (4) identifying issues and recommendations in IPM application implementation, (5) validating IP2M METRR framework, and (6) developing and testing industry-engaging research approach.
ContributorsSanboskani, Hala (Author) / El Asmar, Mounir (Thesis advisor) / Grau, David (Thesis advisor) / Gibson, Jr., George E. (Committee member) / Bearup, Wylie (Committee member) / Kaloush, Kamil (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
The built environment is responsible for a significant portion of global waste generation.
Construction and demolition (C&D) waste requires significant landfill areas and costs
billions of dollars. New business models that reduce this waste may prove to be financially
beneficial and generally more sustainable. One such model is referred to as the “Circular
Economy” (CE), which promotes the efficient use of materials to minimize waste
generation and raw material consumption. CE is achieved by maximizing the life of
materials and components and by reclaiming the typically wasted value at the end of their
life. This thesis identifies the potential opportunities for using CE in the built environment.
It first calculates the magnitude of C&D waste and its main streams, highlights the top
C&D materials based on weight and value using data from various regions, identifies the
top C&D materials’ current recycling and reuse rates, and finally estimates a potential
financial benefit of $3.7 billion from redirecting C&D waste using the CE concept in the
United States.
ContributorsAldaaja, Mohammad (Author) / El Asmar, Mounir (Thesis advisor) / Buch, Rajesh (Committee member) / Kaloush, Kamil (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The circular economy is viewed as a solution to many of the environmental and social ills that the linear economy has exacerbated. Whether it is through refill solutions or redesigning a cardboard shipping container, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands are rethinking the way their products are delivered to consumers through business model innovations that promote circularity. The consumer plays the important, often overlooked, role of enabler within circular business models. This study aims to increase broader understanding of what motivates circular consumption of fast-moving consumer goods while analyzing the relationship between motivators and the behaviors required to participate. Semi-structured interviews provide insights from consumers who are currently purchasing household cleansers from brands that operate with a circular business model. Results from this study highlight a group of consumers that are distinguished by their common desire to reduce their personal consumption of plastics. There is clear indication that these consumers are in fact seeking out ways to consume more sustainably. A significant subset of this group expresses concern regarding ingredients used in the products. Health concerns for themselves, their family, or a pet are driving a desire to understand product ingredients. There is evidence to indicate that the concern for personal consumption of plastics is being driven by information distributed via social media and supported by targeted advertisements for brands that address this concern.
ContributorsBrown, Jennifer B (Author) / Dooley, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Fischer, Daniel (Committee member) / Buch, Rajesh (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020