• Title/Summary/Keyword: environmental impact potential

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Cradle to Gate Emissions Modeling for Scheduling of Construction Projects

  • Sharma, Achintyamugdha;Deka, Priyanka;Jois, Goutam;Jois, Umesh;Tang, Pei
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2022.06a
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    • pp.975-983
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    • 2022
  • This paper presents an innovative way of integrating scheduling and project controls with the environmental impact of a construction project to track, monitor, and manage environmental emissions at the activity level. As a starting point, scheduling and project controls help monitor the status of a project to provide an assessment of the duration and sequence of activities. Additionally, project schedules can also reflect resource allocation and costs associated with various phases of a construction project. Owners, contractors and construction managers closely monitor tasks or activities on the critical path(s) and/or longest path(s) calculated through network based scheduling techniques. However, existing industry practices do not take into account environmental impact associated with each activity during the life cycle of a project. Although the environmental impact of a project may be tracked in various ways, that tracking is not tied to the project schedule and, as such, generally is not updated when schedules are revised. In this research, a Cradle to Gate approach is used to estimate environmental emissions associated with each activity of a sample project schedule. The research group has also investigated the potential determination of scenarios of lowest environmental emissions, just as project managers currently determine scenarios with lowest cost or time. This methodology can be scaled up for future work to develop a library of unit emissions associated with commonly used construction materials and equipment. This will be helpful for project owners, contractors, and construction managers to monitor, manage, and reduce the carbon footprint associated with various projects.

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Life Cycle Assessment of Mobile Phone Charger Containing Recycled Plastics (재생 플라스틱을 적용한 휴대폰 충전기 전과정평가)

  • Heo, Young-chai;Bae, Dae-sik;Oh, Chi-young;Suh, Young-jin;Lee, Kun-mo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.39 no.12
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    • pp.698-705
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    • 2017
  • Environmental impact of a mobile phone charger containing recycled plastic was quantified using LCA and the environmental benefits from the use of recycled and virgin plastic were compared. The assessment considers potential environmental impacts across the whole life cycle of the charger including; pre-manufacturing; manufacturing; distribution; product use; and end-of-life stages and quantified six environmental impact categories; Abiotic depletion; Acidification; Eutrophication; Global warming; Ozone layer depletion; and Photochemical oxidants creation. The study showed that the environmental impacts of the use stage accounted for 94.4% and 70% in the resource depletion and global warming impact categories, respectively, and the environmental impacts of the pre - manufacturing stage accounted for more than 98% in the other impact categories. The main cause of the environmental impacts in the use stage was electricity consumed by the charger. The main cause in the pre-manufacturing stage was PBA (Printed Board Assembly) and external case manufacturing. In order to quantify the environmental benefits of recycled PC (Polycarbonate) in the exterior case, the environmental impacts of 1 kg production of recycled PC and virgin PC were evaluated. The environmental impact on the abiotic depletion of the recycled PC is estimated to be 30% compared to the virgin PC, and the impacts on the other impact categories of the recycled PC were less than 5% of the virgin plastic. Sensitivity analysis was performed for 12 items including site data and assumptions made. The sensitivity of each item was less than 10%. The results of this study confirm that designing compact and light PBA, improving charging efficiency, and use of recycled plastic are important design factors to reduce the environmental impact of a charger.

Analysis and Management of Potential Development Area Using Factor of Change from Forest to Build-up (산림의 시가지 변화요인을 통한 잠재개발지 분석 및 관리방안)

  • LEE, Ji-Yeon;LIM, No-Ol;LEE, Sung-Joo;CHO, Hyo-Jin;SUNG, Hyun-Chan;JEON, Seong-Woo
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.25 no.2
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    • pp.72-87
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    • 2022
  • For the sustainable development and conservation of the national land, planned development and efficient environmental conservation must be accompanied. To this end, it is possible to induce development and conservation to harmonize by deriving factors affecting development through analysis of previously developed areas and applying appropriate management measures to areas with high development pressure. In this study, the relationship between the area where the land cover changed from forest to urbanization and various social, geographical, and restrictive factors was implemented in a regression formula through logistic regression analysis, and potential development sites were analyzed for Yongin City. The factor that has the greatest impact on the analysis of potential development area is the restrict factors such as Green Belt and protected areas, and the factor with the least impact is the population density. About 148km2(52%) of Yongin-si's forests were analyzed as potential development area. Among the potential development sites, the area with excellent environmental value as a protected area and 1st grade on the Environment Conservation Value Assessment Map was derived as about 13km2. Protected areas with high development potential were riparian buffer zone and special measurement area, and areas with excellent natural scenery and river were preferred as development areas. Protected areas allow certain actions to protect individual property rights. However, there is no clear permit criteria, and the environmental impact of permits is not understood. This is identified as a factor that prevents protected areas from functioning properly. Therefore, it needs to be managed through clear exception permit criteria and environmental impact monitoring.

Habitat prediction and impact assessment of Neolitsea sericea (Blume) Koidz. under Climate Change in Korea (기후변화에 따른 한반도 참식나무 생육지 예측과 영향 평가)

  • Yun, Jong-Hak;Nakao, Katsuhiro;Kim, Jung-Hyun;Kim, Sun-Yu;Park, Chan-Ho;Lee, Byoung-Yoon
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.101-111
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    • 2014
  • The research was carried out in order to find climate factors which determine the distribution of Neolitsea sericea, and the potential habitats (PHs) under the current climate and three climate change scenario by using species distribution models (SDMs). Four climate factors; the minimum temperature of the coldest month (TMC), the warmth index (WI), summer precipitation (PRS), and winter precipition (PRW) : were used as independent variables for the model. Three general circulation models under A1B emission scenarios were used as future climate scenarios for the 2050s (2040~2069) and 2080s (2070~2099). Highly accurate SDMs were obtained for N. sericea. The model of distribution for N. sericea constructed by SDMs showed that minimum temperature of the coldest month (TMC) is a major climate factor in determining the distribution of N. sericea. The area above the $-4.4^{\circ}C$ of TMC revealed high occurrence probability of the N. sericea. Future PHs for N. sericea were projected to increase respectively by 4 times, 6.4 times of current PHs under 2050s and 2080s. It is expected that the potential of N. sericea habitats is expanded gradually. N. sericea is applicable as indicator species for monitoring in the Korean Peninsula. N. sericea is necessary to be monitored of potential habitats.

Analysis of the potential landslide hazard after wildfire considering compound disaster effect (복합재해 영향을 고려한 산불 후 산사태 잠재적 피해 위험도 분석)

  • Lee, Jong-Ook;Lee, Dong-Kun;Song, Young-Il
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.33-45
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    • 2019
  • Compound disaster is the type that increases the impact affected by two or more hazard events, and attention to compound disaster and multi-hazards risk is growing due to potential damages which are difficult to predict. The objective of this study is to analyze the possible impacts of post-fire landslide scenario quantitatively by using TRIGRS (Transient Rainfall Infiltration and Grid-Based Regional Slope-Stability Analysis), a physics-based landslide model. In the case of wildfire, soil organic material and density are altered, and saturated hydraulic conductivity decrease because of soil exposed to high temperature. We have included the change of soil saturated hydraulic conductivity into the TRIGRS model through literature review. For a case study, we selected the area of $8km^2$ in Pyeongchang County. The landslide modeling process was calibrated before simulate the post-wildfire impact based on landslide inventory data to reduce uncertainty. As a result, the mean of the total factor of safety values in the case of landslide was 2.641 when rainfall duration is 1 hour with rainfall intensity of 100mm per day, while the mean value for the case of post-wildfire landslide was lower to 2.579, showing potential landslide occurrence areas appear more quickly in the compound disaster scenario. This study can be used to prevent potential losses caused by the compound disaster such as post-wildfire debris flow or landslides.

Impact of Urbanization on Hydrology of Geumho River Watershed: A Model Study (금호강 유역의 수문환경에 대한 도시화의 영향: 모형 연구)

  • Kim, Jae-Chul;Lee, Jiho;Yoo, Chulsang;Kim, Sangdan
    • Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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    • v.23 no.4
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    • pp.535-542
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    • 2007
  • The Geumho river watershed located in the middle of the Nakdong river has been threatened by high population growth and urbanization. Of concern specifically is the potential impact of future developments in the watershed on the reduction of base flow and the consequent risk of degradation of ecological habitats in Geumho river. Anticipated increase in imperviousness, on the other hand, is expected to elevate flood risk and the associated environmental damage. A watershed hydrology based modeling study is initiated in this study to assist in planning for sustainable future development in the Geumho river watershed. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is selected to model the impact of urbanization in the Geumho river watershed on the hydrologic response thereof. The modeling results show that in general the likelihood that the watershed will experience high and low stream flows will increase in view of the urbanization so far achieved.

A Preliminary PAM Measurement of Ambient Air at Gosan, Jeju to Study the Secondary Aerosol Forming Potential (이차 에어러솔 생성 잠재력 평가를 위한 Potential Aerosol Mass (PAM) 챔버의 제주도 고산 대기분석 적용)

  • Kang, Eun-Ha;Brune, William H.;Kim, Sang-Woo;Yoon, Soon-Chang;Jung, Mu-Hyun;Lee, Mee-Hye
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.534-544
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    • 2011
  • The secondary aerosol forming potential of ambient air was first measured with the Potential Aerosol Mass(PAM) chamber at Gosan supersite on Jeju island from October 22 to November 5, 2010. PAM chamber is a small flowthrough photo-oxidation chamber with extremely high OH and $O_3$ levels. The OH exposure in the PAM chamber was $(2{\pm}0.4){\times}10^{11}{\sim}(6{\pm}1.2){\times}10^{11}$ molecules $cm^{-3}$ s and was similar to 2 to 5 days of aging in the atmosphere. By periodically turning on and off UV lamps in the PAM chamber, ambient aerosol and newly formed aerosol (e.g. called as PAM aerosol) was alternately measured. Aerosol number and mass concentration in the range of 10~487 nm in diameter was measured by SMPS 3034. With UV lamps on, the nucleation mode particles smaller than 50 nm in diameters were formed. Their number concentration was greater than 105 $cm^{-3}$, leading to increase in aerosol mass by 0~8 ${\mu}gm^{-3}$. The variations of PAM and ambient aerosols were greatly dependent on characteristics of air masses such as precursor concentrations and degree of aging. This preliminary results suggests that PAM chamber is useful to assess the aerosol formation potential of air mass and its impact on the air quality. The further analysis of data with gaseous and particulate measurements will be done.

Immobilization Characteristics of Hexavalent Chromium Contaminated Soils Treated with Phosphate and Chromium Reducing Agent (크롬환원제와 인산염으로 처리된 6가 크롬 오염토양의 고정화)

  • Lee, Eui-Sang
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.27-33
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    • 2007
  • Hexavalent chromium-contaminated soils are encounted at many unregulated discharge and improper handling of wastes from electroplating, leather tanning, steelmaking, corrosion control, and wood preservation industries. Contamination of hexavalent chromium in the soil is a major concern because of its toxicity and threat to human life and environment. Current technologies for hexavalent chromium-contaminated soil remediation are usually costly and/or cannot permanently prohibit the toxic element from entering into the biosphere. Thus, as an alternative technique, immobilization is seen as a cost-effective and promising remediation technology that may reduce the leachable potential of hexavalent chromium. The purpose of this paper is to develope an immobilization technique for the formation of the geochemically stabilized hexavalent chromium-contaminated soil from the reactions of labile soil hexavalent chromium forms with the added soluble phosphate and chromium reducing agent. From the liquid phase experiment, reaction order of chromium reducing agent, soluble phosphate, alkali solution shows the best removal efficiency of 95%. In addition, actual soil phase experiment demonstrates up to 97.9% removal efficiency with 1:1 molar ratio of chromium reducing agent and soluble phosphate. These results provide evidence for the potential use of soluble phosphate and chromium reducing agent for the hexavalent chromium-contaminated soil remediation.

A Preliminary Study on the Status and Improvement of the Environmental Assessment of Coastal Erosion in Korea (해안침식 환경평가 현황 및 개선방안 연구)

  • Cho, Kwang-Woo;Maeng, Jun-Ho;Shin, Hyun-Hwa;Joo, Yong-Jun
    • Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.174-181
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    • 2009
  • The present study is a preliminary attempt to effectively incorporate the environmental issue of coastal erosion into the environmental assessment process of Korea. We assess the status of the environmental assessment on coastal erosion for the previous development plans and provide potential directions for the improvement. The considerable project plans should be screened for the impact of coastal erosion, which occupies about 20% of the total project plans reviewed, and the ratio increased with project scale. In addition to screening process, most process including scoping, baseline study, impact assessment, and follow-up need to be improved. The potential directions of improvement are provided in terms of appropriate guideline development, employment of cumulative impact assessment, follow-up improvement and rearrangement of the preparation regulation of environmental assessment. Emphasis is given for follow-up process to review post-monitoring period, to employ science compensation, and to consider the establishment of relevant institution. Final suggestion is made for the establishments of comprehensive national plan to manage coastal erosion and streamlined environmental process from strategic to project levels based on the national plan.

Factors that Impact Construction Workers' Hazard Recognition Ability and their Technological Solutions

  • Shrestha, Bandana;Park, JeeWoong;Shrestha, Pramen
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2022.06a
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    • pp.458-464
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    • 2022
  • Hazard recognition is considered as one of the pre-requisites for effective hazard management and injury prevention. However, in complex and changing environments, construction workers are often unable to identify all possible hazards that can occur in the jobsite. Therefore, identification of factors that impact hazard recognition in the work environment is necessary to reduce safety incidents as well as to develop strategies that can improve worker's hazard recognition performance. This study identified factors/problems that impact worker's hazard recognition abilities and suggested some potential technologies that can mitigate such problems. Literature reviews of journal articles and published reports related to hazard recognition studies were conducted to identify the factors. The study found out that the major factor responsible for affecting worker's hazard recognition abilities were human-related. Industry factors, Organizational factors and Physical factors of the site were the other factors identified from the study that impact worker's hazard recognition performances. The findings from the study can help site personnel recognize areas where effective measures can be directed towards worksite safety of workers while working in complex construction environments.

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