Environmental Performance Index

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is a method of quantifying and numerically marking the environmental performance of a state's policies. This index was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, first published in 2002, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The EPI was preceded by the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), published between 1999 and 2005. Both indices were developed by Yale University (Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy) and Columbia University (Center for International Earth Science Information Network) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The ESI was developed to evaluate environmental sustainability relative to the paths of other countries. Due to a shift in focus by the teams developing the ESI, the EPI uses outcome-oriented indicators, then working as a benchmark index that can be m

Waste management policies for industrial symbiosis development: case studies in European countries

Abhishek Agarwal, Guillaume Bastien Massard

Industrial symbiosis (IS) emerged as a self-organizing business strategy among firms that are willing to cooperate to improve their economic and environmental performance. The adoption of such cooperative strategies relates to increasing costs of waste management, most of which are driven by policy and legislative requirements. Development of IS depends on an enabling context of social, informational, technological, economical and political factors. The power to influence this context varies among the agents involved such as the government, businesses or coordinating entities. Governmental intervention, as manifested through policies, could influence a wider range of factors; and we believe this is an area which is under-researched. This paper aims to critically appraise the waste policy interventions from supra-national to sub-national levels of government. A case study methodology has been applied to four European countries i.e. Denmark, the UK, Portugal and Switzerland, in which IS emerged or is being fostered. The findings suggest that there are commonalities in policy instruments that may have led to an IS enabling context. The paper concludes with lessons learnt and recommendations on shaping the policy context for IS development.

Elsevier2010

Geotechnical and environmental performance of retaining structures in unsaturated soils

Gianluca Speranza

Presently, environmental issues are considered as critical aspects concerning the market competitiveness in the building and construction sector. However, the construction sector is regarded as one of the main areas contributing to CO2 emissions and resource consumption worldwide. In recent years, industry and academia have been investing significantly in order to produce innovative low-carbon technologies. Other than the significant effort that has been invested in the energy and environmental efficiency of buildings, few research studies concerning geotechnical structure and infrastructure are available in the literature. These previously lacking research activities have been conducted in the framework of the European project TERRE (Training Engineers and Researchers to Rethink geotechnical Engineering for a low carbon future), which was devoted to expanding this innovation to the geo-infrastructure industry. Specifically, the performance of retaining structures in unsaturated soils is investigated in the attempt to optimize their design procedures. Moreover, the thesis deals with the quantification of the environmental impacts of geostructures by comparing conventional and low-carbon geotechnical design solutions. Geotechnical analyses and design procedures for retaining structures mainly consider the retained soils as dry or saturated. The partially saturated condition implies the presence of negative pore-water pressures (suction) that contribute to increasing both the strength and the stiffness of the retained geomaterial. Suction can be considered as a natural âlow-carbonâ soil reinforcement that can be deployed to reduce the overdesign of both temporary and permanent retaining structures. However, the advantages provided by the condition of partial saturation can evolve with time due to the influence of environmental actions. In this regard, analytical and experimental analyses have been performed to investigate the interaction between unsaturated soils and retaining structures. Simplified geomechanical analytical solutions are implemented in geotechnical design procedures and compared with experimental results. The latter have been conducted by adopting a 1g-physical model designed and built for this purpose. The apparatus is found to be capable of investigating several soil conditions. In particular, the horizontal component of the lateral earth thrust has been experimentally measured in both the at-rest and active states. The effects of the partial saturation have been observed by considering suction profile evolution. The analytical models have been found to be in generally good agreement with the performed tests. However, the water retention curve of the involved soils is found to play a key role in the computation of the lateral earth thrust. Moreover, in collaboration with the industrial partner Nobatek/Inef4, the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology has been employed to demonstrate the potential benefits provided by the considered eco-friendly geotechnical solutions. Two types of geostructures are considered: a retaining wall designed according to the mechanics of unsaturated soils and a thermo-activated group of piles to satisfy the heating and cooling demand of an office building. By highlighting their potentials and critical issues, the performed analyses have shown a possible significant reduction of the environmental impacts associated with the adoption of these low-carbon solutions.

EPFL2020

Geotechnical and environmental performance of retaining structures in unsaturated soils

Gianluca Speranza

EPFL2020