Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment - Carnegie Mellon University: "EIO-LCA: Free, Fast, Easy Life Cycle Assessment
The Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) method estimates the materials and energy resources required for, and the environmental emissions resulting from, activities in our economy. The EIO-LCA method was theorized and developed by economist Wassily Leontief in the 1970s based on his earlier input-output work from the 1930s for which he received the Nobel Prize in Economics. Researchers at the Green Design Institute of Carnegie Mellon University operationalized Leontief's method in the mid-1990s, once sufficient computing power was widely available to perform the large-scale matrix manipulations required in real-time. This website takes the EIO-LCA method and transforms it into a user-friendly on-line tool to quickly and easily evaluate a commodity or service, as well as its supply chain. The results from the EIO-LCA model and this website are free for non-commercial use and may not be used in other derivative works or websites without permission.
Results from using the EIO-LCA on-line tool provide guidance on the relative impacts of different types of products, materials, services, or industries with respect to resource use and emissions throughout the supply chain. Thus, the effect of producing an automobile would include not only the impacts at the final assembly facility, but also the impact from mining metal ores, making electronic parts, forming windows, etc. that are needed for parts to build the car.
The EIO-LCA models available on the site apply the EIO-LCA method to various national and state economies. Each model is comprised of national economic input-output models and publicly available resource use and emissions data. Since its inception in 1995, the method has been applied to economic models of the United States for several different years, as well as Canada, Germany, Spain, and select US states. The on-line tool has been accessed over 1 million times by researchers, LCA practitioners, business users, students, and others.
Life cycle assessment, using the EIO-LCA method and on-line tool, as well as other LCA methods, is a major research focus for the Green Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Over the past 15 years, our group has investigated numerous products, services, and infrastructure systems using LCA as a fundamental component of analysis, becoming a leading research group in the field. GDI researchers and students have produced numerous LCA studies using a wide range of LCA techniques resulting in over 100 publications on the topic.
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Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability : SMI resources
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability : SMI resources:
The Sustainability Management Program supports local governments by organizing annual workshops and conferences to help create networking opportunities and exchanges.
Through our +30 Network, we provide opportunities for cities to undertake longterm planning for urban sustainability by sharing their experiences, expertise, and tools.
The Sustainability Management Program also provides numerous case studies, toolkits and other resources available in hardcopy and online. The following are a list of existing ICLEI resources for local governments. For more information, please contact publications@iclei.org.
The Sustainability Management Program supports local governments by organizing annual workshops and conferences to help create networking opportunities and exchanges.
Through our +30 Network, we provide opportunities for cities to undertake longterm planning for urban sustainability by sharing their experiences, expertise, and tools.
The Sustainability Management Program also provides numerous case studies, toolkits and other resources available in hardcopy and online. The following are a list of existing ICLEI resources for local governments. For more information, please contact publications@iclei.org.
tampa site:http://www.citymayors.com/ - Google Search
tampa site:http://www.citymayors.com/ - Google Search:
Friday, January 14, 2011
The Green Changemakers: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil
The Green Changemakers: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil: "Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil
10:53 AM Posted by Daisy
* http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=2236
Residents of Curitiba, Brazil, think they live in the best city in the world, and a lot of outsiders agree. Curibita has 17 new parks, 90 miles of bike paths, trees everywhere, and traffic and garbage systems that officials from other cities come to study. Curibita's mayor for twelve years, Jaime Lerner, has a 92 per cent approval rating.
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10:53 AM Posted by Daisy
* http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=2236
Residents of Curitiba, Brazil, think they live in the best city in the world, and a lot of outsiders agree. Curibita has 17 new parks, 90 miles of bike paths, trees everywhere, and traffic and garbage systems that officials from other cities come to study. Curibita's mayor for twelve years, Jaime Lerner, has a 92 per cent approval rating.
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Thursday, January 13, 2011
Ten Trends from 2010 – Blog | SustainAbility
Ten Trends from 2010 – Blog | SustainAbility: "5. Energy Center Stage…
6. …And So Is Water
Water was the world’s most urgent sustainability challenge in 2010, according to a recent SustainAbility and GlobeScan survey (87% of experts rated it urgent, compared with 82% for climate change). Supporting that call for urgency are a host of new initiatives, tools and reports – CDP’s Water Disclosure Project, a water risk index from WRI, GE and Goldman Sachs, an update to the CEO Water Mandate’s Guide to Responsible Business Engagement with Water Policy, Ceres and Water Asset Management’s report on risks in the Municipal Bond Market, and Nature’s study showing 80% of the world’s population living with insecure fresh water supply, to name a few. IN short, we are set for inevitable collision between water scarcity and access to energy (more to come on that in 2011) – see SustainAbility’s Jeff Erikson’s recent blog,
Detroit looks at downsizing to save city - Washington Times
Detroit looks at downsizing to save city - Washington Times: "Detroit looks at downsizing to save city
"Things that were unthinkable are now becoming thinkable," said James W. Hughes, dean of the School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, who is among the urban experts watching the experiment with interest. "There is now a realization that past glories are never going to be recaptured. Some people probably don't accept that, but that is the reality."
DETROIT | Detroit, the very symbol of American industrial might for most of the 20th century, is drawing up a radical renewal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blighted, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed before the automobile.
Operating on a scale never before attempted in this country, the city would demolish houses in some of the most desolate sections of Detroit and move residents into stronger neighborhoods. Roughly a quarter of the 139-square-mile city could go from urban to semi-rural.
Near downtown, fruit trees and vegetable farms would replace neighborhoods that are an eerie landscape of empty buildings and vacant lots. Suburban commuters heading into the city center might pass through what looks like the countryside to get there."Things that were unthinkable are now becoming thinkable," said James W. Hughes, dean of the School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, who is among the urban experts watching the experiment with interest. "There is now a realization that past glories are never going to be recaptured. Some people probably don't accept that, but that is the reality."
Vision: How We Can Turn Foreclosed Strip Malls and Parking Lots into Parks | | AlterNet
Vision: How We Can Turn Foreclosed Strip Malls and Parking Lots into Parks | | AlterNet: "Now comes “Redfields to Greenfields,” a promising initiative aimed at reducing the huge supply of stricken commercial properties while simultaneously revitalizing the areas around them. (It’s a catchy title, if imprecise because it’s about re-establishing greenfields within developed areas, not about doing anything to natural or agricultural acreage at the urban margins.) The plan, in essence, is this: Determine where defunct properties might fit a metropolitan green-space strategy; acquire and clear them; then make them into parks and conservation areas, some permanent and some only land-banked until the market wants them again.
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