Toxicity of building materials: a key issue in sustainable construction

To avoid the use of toxic building materials is one of the principles of sustainable construction. However and contrary to general beliefs, current residential buildings frequently contain many toxic building materials, some of which even comply with legal regulations. Part of the problem is because architects and civil engineers have no form of knowing the toxicity of building materials. The other part is economically related. Some regulations about toxicity limits are influenced by economic reasons. For instance, although scientific evidence about the toxicity of lead plumbing has existed for quite some time, legal regulations avoid imposing very tight thresholds because of the cost of lead pipe substitution (in Europe that could cost almost 200,000 million euros). It is then no surprise to see that the related Directive (98/83/CE) established a 15-year delay period before the 10 μg/l lead content threshold is enforced. This paper discusses some cases of toxic building materials by reviewing previously published work, it also covers the emission of volatile organic compounds from paints and varnishes, the toxicity of impregnating agents, materials that release toxic fumes during a fire, asbestos-based materials, radioactive materials and lead plumbing.     

A hybrid approach using AHP–TOPSIS–entropy methods for sustainable ranking of structural materials

Nowadays, many countries are looking towards sustainability as a goal because our world has limited resources and serious environmental impacts. In the construction industry, the process of sustainable selection of structural material is considered one of the keys to achieve more sustainable construction. In this paper, the theories of decision making are utilised to develop an approach for evaluation and ranking the structural materials over their total life based on sustainability criteria using multi-attribute decision-making methods. One of them is Analytical Hierarchy Process which is utilised to build the problem hierarchical structure and assign weights of the predetermined sustainable factors. The other is Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution which is utilised to rank the structural materials within both each material life cycle phase and the complete material life cycle phases. The third is the concept of entropy by Shannon to evaluate the weight factor for each phase of material life cycle. The proposed approach presents an objective, systematic and comprehensive method for the sustainable ranking of materials that links between the structural element design and the sustainable selection of materials.     

水电建设区的生态环境监测与评价——以向家坝水电站为例

水电工程的建设对区域环境会产生不可逆转的重大扰动,生态环境监测与预警作为大型水电工程建设的重要环节,为工程区域环境问题分析与研究提供详实的数据支撑,对区域生态环境的修复至关重要。以向家坝水电站为例,分析水电工程建设对区域环境产生扰动的特点,结合产生扰动的各环境要素,构建工程施工区环境监测体系。收集、整理相关监测数据,采用环境因子综合评价法对监测的相关数据进行分析和评价,结合各种环境因子的现状以及变化过程、总结区域环境总体状况的变化规律及空间分布。结果表明：自2007年工程大规模动工以来,区域的生态脆弱度大幅度升高,2008年达到顶峰,自2009年起环境开始改善,保持优于2007、2008年的状况;最脆弱区域为主体工程和云天化生产区交接地区,低度脆弱区域为河流及工程量少的加工工程区域;工程扰动最大的区域、当地工业区及交通枢纽集中地带是建设区环境最脆弱的区域,工程建设、工业及交通是建设区的主要扰动因素     

基于生态理论的旅游产业集群发展特征研究

旅游产业集群的生态属性研究已经成为当前的热点。当前利用生态理论研究旅游产业集群的发展规律．对我国旅游产业集群的健康发展具有非常重要的意义。本文基于生态理论。从旅游产业集群的发展特征出发，认为旅游生态资源潜力、集群生态成长机制、集群生态外部环境等是影响其发展的主要因素．据此选择集群生态资源潜力、集群生态结构、集群外部环境等指标。将旅游产业集群生命周期分为旅游产业集群形成、发展、成熟、衰退——转型等四个阶段，并分析了各个发展阶段的特点。最后提出开拓旅游产业集群生态营养源泉、构建旅游产业集群与其生态环境的和谐互动机制、维护旅游产业集群内部生态平衡等相关的建议。     

长江流域资源环境研究信息系统的研制和应用

介绍了长江流域资源与环境研究信息系统的建立与应用。长江流域资源与环境研究信息系统包括4个数据库：（1）长江流域资源与环境信息库,包括长江流域的自然，自然保护区，行政区，社会，经济等方面的信息；（2）长江流域资源生态环境科学文献数据库，收录了有关研究长江流域水，土地，能源，破产，人力等各类资源的保护与开发，生态保护与建设，环境保护与重要，大型工程建设中的移民问题，城市与城市化，农业与农村发展，区域经济发展，环境变化与生物多样性等的文献；（3）长江流域自然灾害数据库，收录了长江流域发生物气象灾害，地质灾害，生物灾害等各类自然灾害；（4）长江流域网站导航，收集了有关长江流域的信息网站，配合用户友好的检索系统，用户可以快捷地找到所需信息。     

Environmental characteristics and land-use pattern changes of the Old Huanghe River delta,eastern China,in the sixteenth to twentieth centuries

The interaction between human and land in estuarine–coastal areas has become a focus of the global change research. Since the sixteenth century, the Old Huanghe River delta has experienced rapid accretion, the formation of rich ecological resources and diverse land use pattern changes; such information, in combination with a large number of historical documents, provides a unique research area for revealing the processes for ecosystem–human changes. We use historical documents and adopt multidisciplinary methods, to identify the relationship between ecosystem changes and human activities, on the basis of spatial and temporal analysis, for in the Old Huanghe River delta region. The results indicate that, in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, the long-term monopolistic development pattern under the government leadership, which occupied large quantities of ecological resources, controlled the coastal salt industry and marsh land exploitation. However, along with the delta ecosystem change and population growth, the development pattern became gradually unsustainable, i.e., the salt industry migrated toward the north, while the farming activities migrated toward the south with enhanced intensity of marsh reclamation. The government monopoly collapsed in the late nineteenth century, which enlarged the independent development space for the local residents, which, to a large extent, improved the land-use efficiency and reduced the population pressure.     

The significance of various factors for GHG emissions of buildings

The objective of the research was to create improved understanding of the significance of diverse factors for the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of buildings. The specific focus of the study was on the assessment of the significance of building materials and embodied carbon. The scope of the study covers multi-storey residential buildings in Finland. This research was based on a literature survey and supported by a parametric case study. The parametric study assessed the building-material-related GHG emissions relative to total GHG emissions and the possible range of variation. The research assesses the minimum and maximum GHG emissions for production of buildings with similar spaces, to reveal the likely range of variation for the emissions. The calculations for the ‘minimum’ and ‘maximum’ scenarios assume a similar purpose of use, occupancy and spaces in the building, while the production methods, materials, site conditions and location are varied. The research also assesses the relative importance of various building components and other calculation parameters in terms of GHGs. Total material-related GHG emissions were compared with the GHG emissions caused by the operation of the building, at three distinct levels of energy performance. In addition, the material- and operation-related GHG emissions were compared with the location-related GHG emissions arising from people's mobility.     

雅康高速公路对四川大熊猫栖息地世界自然遗产的影响

雅康高速公路的建设对于构建川藏“经济走廊”,促进甘孜及西藏地区的发展,具有十分重要的意义。雅康高速公路将穿越四川大熊猫栖息地世界自然遗产的外围保护区,建设过程中将可能对大熊猫栖息地的保护产生负面的影响,明确高速公路建设对四川大熊猫栖息地世界自然遗产的潜在影响,对于正确处理高速公路建设与世界遗产保护的关系具有重要的意义。通过实地调查和访问,根据拟建公路与遗产地关系剖面图,初步分析了拟建雅康高速公路所推荐的K方案对四川大熊猫栖息地的潜在影响。研究结果表明：雅康高速公路对四川大熊猫栖息地的真实性与完整性不会产生直接影响,但二郎山特长隧道的工程地质勘探以及通风井群的施工与维护对自然景观会形成明显干扰。为更好地保护四川大熊猫栖息地世界自然遗产,就拟建的雅康高速公路提出了相应的管理措施     

中国液态生物质燃料产业发展的间接社会收益分析

液态生物质燃料在发展过程中具有外部性,体现出的间接社会收益应得到中国政府的重视,也是该产业扩大发展的重要依据。提出液态生物质燃料产业发展的间接社会收益概念,分析该产业在原料搜集和种植、产品消费等过程中产生的额外经济价值,以度量对改善生态环境的直接作用。在分析生物质燃料原料分布和理清原料搜集的细节后,利用直接市场法测算了未来20年中国发展液态生物质燃料的间接社会收益,发现：到2015年,来自该产业的间接社会收益将达1 000亿元以上,到2030年将突破1万亿元。巨大的社会经济价值从另一个侧面折射出液态生物质燃料产业发展的必要性     

A review of research on the environmental impact of e-business and ICT

This paper attempts to provide a review of the current state of the art of how e-business/ICT affects the environment. The work reviewed is in various forms including journal papers and thesis which have been peer-reviewed, as well as other resources such as projects and project reports, conference and symposia, and websites. It is claimed that the research examined has captured the most important work to date, either for a general knowledge of this new area or for background study by experts carrying out future research. The review has found that the currently dominant approach is either a micro-level case study approach or a macro-level statistical approach. It is concluded that a more predictive and empirical model, which can be applied within a sector of society, should be more beneficial in the long term. This approach should help simulate potential impacts resulting from changes of indicators, so that positive effects can be promoted and negative ones alleviated proactively, rather than knowing and accepting outcomes passively.     

低碳经济形势下江西省发展核产业链的潜力和对策

围绕民用核电的发展,核能利用的产业链存在着很大的发展空间。江西省是全国最大的铀矿资源基地,有较齐备的核技术产业体系、国内核学科门类最全的高校、丰富的核电厂址资源等优势,其应加深认识,充分发挥该省铀矿基地优势,通过积极与国家有关涉核单位协作、完善促进核产业链形成的政策措施、加大核领域人才培养力度、加强核技术在农业及农产品加工中的运用、适当发展核供热产业等具体措施培育和发展核产业链,为该省经济增长提供能源支持,实现江西经济的跨越式发展,并能改变该省目前以煤炭为主的能源消费结构,降低碳排放,保护其清洁环境,实现低碳目标     

低碳压力下中国核电产业发展及铀资源保障分析

发展核电是减轻我国当前碳排放压力的现实选择。通过分析世界和中国核电发展的历程、技术水平和规模，结果显示：尽管我国在20世纪70年代就开始发展核电，但是我国核电装机容量和发电总量仅占我国电力总装机容量和发电量的1.1%和1.9%，与发达国家仍有很大差距；在技术水平上，发达国家已经开始研发第三、第四代核反应堆，而我国正在运行和多数拟建核电站都是压水堆技术为主的二代核电技术；在空间分布上，尽管我国很多省份都有需求，但我国核电站主要集中于沿海经济发达、能源短缺地区；从铀资源基础来看，我国仍属于贫铀国。鉴于世界铀资源分布和供给十分不均衡的状况，要保障我国核电产业持续发展不仅要加大国内资源的勘探开发，同时还需加紧拓展海外市场、建立资源储备和发展快堆技术等     

论水稻土肥力进化与土壤质量——以太湖地区为例

太湖地区是我国古老农业区之一。在六七千年之前先民已开始种植水稻 ,随着耕作培肥措施不断加强 ,与土壤肥力进化同步伴随着耕作轮作制的不断演进 ,由轮荒———沤田———水旱轮作———三熟制的变化 ,土壤基础肥力稳步提高 ,稻麦单位面积产量逐年上升。该区水稻土历经数千年的耕肥与平田整地等人为活动 ,在起源土壤背景上发育成五类水稻土 ,这五类水稻土经过培肥改良均达到水旱轮作高产稳产阶段 ,尽管地力上还存在不同程度的差异 ,这不能不说是人为定向培育的成果。在一般情况下 ,土壤质量是由土壤肥力决定的 ,基础肥力高低是农业生产优质高产低耗的关键 ,在评价土壤质量时必需首先予以关注。当然 ,随着工业的发展 ,土壤污染所波及的农产品超标问题 ,也应在评价土壤质量时予以关注 ,并作为评价因素在综合评价体系中占有应有的份量     

Assessment of groundwater potential in Tirukalukundram block of southern Chennai Metropolitan Area

Groundwater is an important resource in all major urban centres. Continuous extraction leads to degradation and depletion in the water quality which can be protected by selecting proper groundwater recharging techniques. The present study aims to determine the groundwater potential by integrating the remote sensing and geographic information system which helps to identify the locations which are in critical stage and immediate steps can be taken to recharge the groundwater. Thirukalukundram block of Kanchipuram district in Tami Nadu, India, has been chosen as study area. To demarcate the groundwater potential zone, surface attributes such as geomorphology, land use/land cover, contour map, drainage density and sub-surface attributes such as lineaments and soil maps are created using satellite imageries, toposheet, soil and geomorphology data of the study area. The thematic maps prepared using geographic information system and weights have been assigned to the attributes by considering the influence on the storage capacity of groundwater. Four categories of groundwater potential zones such as below low, low, moderate and high have been classified. From the analysis, 5% along the coastal plain area covers high groundwater potential zone, 20% of the area towards north-west and south-west hold moderate groundwater potential. 60% of the total area hold low groundwater potential zone which are located towards south-west direction. 15% of the study area contains below low groundwater potential zone in parts of south-west direction. This study helps to identify the suitable locations for extraction and recharge of groundwater.     

城市化水平、工业化水平对空气质量的影响分析——基于湖北省16城市2005～2017年数据的时空模型

基于湖北省16城市2005~2017年数据,应用空间计量模型研究城市化水平、工业化水平对空气SO2、NO2、PM10含量的影响。结果显示,在城市化水平中,人均GDP对空气中SO2含量有显著负向影响,对NO2有显著正向影响,民用汽车的数量、公路里程对城市空气中SO2、NO2、PM10含量有显著正向影响,工业化水平对空气中SO2、NO2显著负向影响,对PM10含量有显著正向影响,人均绿地面积对空气中SO2的含量有显著负向影响,对NO2、PM10的影响不显著。为此,必须加快产业转型升级,做好产业发展规划;必须强化城市民用汽车尾气排放检测,加强城市配套园林建设;必须建立城市绿色发展联动机制,做好区域巡查监管。     

三峡库区区域经济发展状况的实证研究

以三峡工程重庆库区为例．依据比较详实的资料．从投资增长与基础设施建设、经济增长与发展水平、产业结构变动等几个方面，研究了1997—2003年三峡库区区域经济发展的状况、特征和问题。研究表明．三峡库区进入二期移民阶段后，投资增长迅还．基础设施有明显改善，经济增长率略高于西部和重庆．但投资结构不合理．经济增长对投资的依赖程度较高。近几年三峡库区人均GDP与重庆市的相对差异有所缩小，但绝对差异在扩大．库区仍然是一个落后的欠发达地区。库区产业结构变动迅速，结构变动主要表现为第一产业比重下降很快，建筑业、第三产业上升很快，而工业发展缓慢．在国民经济中的地位下降。研究还揭示出三峡库区区县发展水平差异很大。并且呈继续扩大之势．真正发展困难的是库区的腹心地带。最后。针对三峡库区经济持续增长和发展中存在的问题．提出了国家应加强对库区产业的扶持、重点支持库区腹心地带的经济发展、重视培育库区腹心地带的增长极以及积极改善投资环境等几点对策建议。     

Industrial ecology: engineered representation of sustainability

Industrial ecology is a relatively new field of research and academic study and is well established in North America and in several Asian countries. However, it has not yet received the attention it deserves in some other important parts of the industrialized world, including Germany. This paper may contribute to a better appreciation of industrial ecology as a tool in the process of sustainable development of economies, social systems, and of aquatic and terrestrial biotopes under the pressure of rapidly changing conditions triggered by global warming and urban growth. For this reason, methods are needed to quantify the successful application of industrial ecology measures. The “Integrated Sustainability Triangle” is introduced as a promising new possibility of quantification and monitoring. It enables justification of the contributions industrial ecology can make to sustainable development. The aggregation of individual economic contributions is assumed to create an overall impetus to the entire industrial sector including the sector of environmental engineering. Thus, the potential of industrial ecology is discussed from the macro-economic and the engineering perspective using the concept of sustainable development as a guiding principle. But the authors come to the conclusion that finding solutions to the pressing problems of our time requires more than collaboration of economy and engineering. It requires joint efforts of the whole spectrum of scientific disciplines in close collaboration with industrial and political stakeholders.     

内蒙古绿色产业体系构建的基本思路

绿色产业是21世纪国际经济的支柱产业，是民族地区的特色产业和优势产业，是实现民族地区经济可持续发展的重要途径，内蒙古地域辽阔，绿色资源丰富，有着巨大的绿色产业开发潜力。因此，必须把绿色产业作为优势产业优先发展，尽快构建绿色产业体系。本文通过对绿色产业概念的界定，首次提出了比较完整的绿色产业体系的概念、绿色经济链条的构成，分析了内蒙古绿色产业体系构建的思路、基本原则，内蒙古绿色产业体系的构成与建设，内蒙古绿色产业体系的支撑系统。     

Industry-sponsored research on the potential health and environmental effects of selected brominated flame retardants

Modern fire-fighting techniques, equipment and fire-resistant building design has lead to less destruction than in the previous centuries. However, a high fuel load in either a residence or a commercial building can overwhelm even the best firefighters or building construction, and factors affecting the fuel load have changed in recent decades. The fire load in a typical home has doubled over the last 50 years, furnishings typically include those made of petrochemicals that can behave as if containing built-in accelerant, and modern energy-efficient buildings are less able to disperse heat in the event of a fire. Flame retardant chemicals (FRs) are one means used to reduce the risk of fire. FRs are typically added or incorporated chemically into a polymer to slow or hinder the ignition or growth of a fire in low-to-moderate cost commodity polymers. One type of FR contains bromine atoms as the active moiety. The FR industry, either as individual companies or as consortia, has conducted a broad range of studies on the commercial deca-, octa- and pentabromodiphenyl oxide/ether, tetrabromobisphenol A and hexabromocyclododecane products. These five products have data in excess of the OECD Screening Informational Data Set (SIDS) and the U.S. High Production Volume (HPV) program, and sufficient data for the performance of formal EU risk assessments. The objective of this paper is to present the range of data developed by industry consortia and to provide sources for the information. We hope to facilitate further research by assembling references to industry consortia-sponsored research here.     

A study about remedial measures to reduce 222Rn concentration in an experimental building

Radon gas emanating from underground can spread to adjoining closed areas. It can concentrate and reach levels which represent a risk to people's health. It is well known that radon presence in most areas depends mainly on the area's geological features. Indoor radon concentrations further depend on the type of structure, construction materials and the technology used for the building. Therefore, indoor radon monitoring is of primary importance for deciding whether remedial measures are to be adopted for reducing harmful concentrations. This approach has been tried by measuring radon concentration in an experimental building situated in Milan (Italy). This building situated in a geological area that is considered at low radon risk. The results were obtained after analysing radon concentration in indoor rooms, crawl spaces, soil gas and in the atmosphere outside and by measuring before and after adoption of remedial measures. The study shows that improper building design can give rise to higher indoor radon accumulation even in an area of poor radon exhalation. Furthermore, the results enable quantification of the effectiveness of the remedial measures.