Various green rating systems are established globally to evaluate the sustainability of construction projects. Their categories and criteria have been under constant updates to follow the sustainable ...trend of building development. This paper aims to develop a systematic review of the development of green rating systems. The specific objectives are: 1) discover how interest and research in green rating systems have developed; 2) identify the similarity, difference, strength and weakness of green rating systems; 3) examine whether they fully assess the projects in all aspects of sustainability. Specifically, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Assessment Method), CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency) and Green Star NZ were analysed in this paper. The results indicate that BREEAM, LEED, and CASBEE have been utilized since late the 2000s while Green Star NZ is still in its earlier stages. 70% of the research papers focusing on BREEAM, LEED, CASBEE are developed geographically in the USA, Canada, the UK, China, and Australia. Although these four rating systems were initiated in different contexts with different standards, Indoor Environment Quality, Energy, and Material are core common categories for all. Environmental concerns are the main focus in New Construction manuals while Society is emphasized in Neighbourhood Development manuals. Currently, BREEAM has been the only tool which could assess all four sustainable factors. Further in-depth research is anticipated to focus more on economic and institutional factors to improve the capability of green rating systems for sustainability assessment purposes.
•Indoor Environment Quality, Energy, and Material are the main focus in green rating systems.•The total categories, points, and mandatory credits of analysed rating schemes tend to increase and more comprehensive.•BREEAM is considered as the strongest rating system at present.•Currently, no rating scheme could assess a project in all aspects of sustainability.
These days, climate change issues and their impacts on the economy, social and natural system of countries have become the main concern of worldwide, even for those countries that are facing major ...economic problems. These issues arise from the combustion of fossil fuels. One of the major contributors to global CO2 emission is the transport sector. Therefore, in order to identify the trends and characteristics of transport carbon emissions this study reviews the relevant literature significantly; and decomposes carbon emission in this sector in 7 top transport CO2 emitter countries by applying the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI). The results indicated that, during 2000–15, transport carbon emissions increased in the United States, China, India, Canada, Russia, and Brazil whereas decreased in Japan. Hence, in the majority of these countries, energy conservation strategies were not successfully implemented during the study period. In the majority of countries, the main contributor to CO2 emission reductions was carbon intensity, whereas the main drivers of CO2 emission increases were electricity structure and economic output effects. Reductions in carbon emissions could be achieved by further optimizing energy structures, limiting the private vehicle population. A set of policies and regulations, from demand-side and supply-side, must be implemented to be effective in reducing GHGs emissions.
•The study analyzes the patterns of CO2 emissions in 7 top transport carbon emitters.•It uses two methodologies, a review of literature and carbon emission decomposition.•Implementing a set of climate change policies can reduce carbon emission.•The United States and China were the main contributors of transport CO2 emissions.•The main contributor to CO2 emission reductions was carbon intensity.
We investigated how professional role identity change can be accomplished in highly institutionalized contexts characterized by resiliency. We show that the collective professional role identity of ...family physicians was changed through a process of reinterpreting multiple logics and their relationships. Through our inductive analyses, we identified four mechanisms that occurred through social interactions and collectively served to rearrange the constellation of logics guiding physician role identity: (1) revealing the influence of a hidden logic; (2) reinforcing the conflict between logics; (3) reframing the meaning of a dominant logic; and (4) re-embedding the new arrangement of logics. We found that the change in physician professional role identity required significant identity work by a group of actors, but particularly by the managers who had been charged with leading the reform initiative. We contribute to the professional role identity and institutional literatures by showing how others can engage in social interactions with professionals to facilitate the reinterpretation and rearranging of institutional logics that guide collective professional role identity.
Although green building technologies (GBTs) have been advocated in the construction industry to address sustainability issues, their adoption is still plagued with barriers. The barriers that hinder ...GBTs adoption need detailed investigation. However, few studies have been conducted on the barriers to GBTs adoption in developing countries such as Ghana. This study aims to investigate the critical barriers to GBTs adoption with reference to the Ghanaian construction market. To achieve the objective, 26 barriers were identified from a comprehensive literature review, and a questionnaire survey was performed with 43 professionals with green building experience. The ranking analysis results indicated that 20 barriers were critical. The top three most critical barriers were higher costs of GBTs, lack of government incentives, and lack of financing schemes (e.g., bank loans). A comparative analysis showed that while the most critical barriers to GBTs adoption in the developing country of Ghana mostly vary from those in the developed countries of the US, Canada, and Australia, higher costs of GBTs remains a top barrier in all the countries. Furthermore, factor analysis revealed that the underlying grouped barriers for the 20 critical barriers were government-related, human-related, knowledge and information-related, market-related, and cost and risk-related barriers. This study also showed that the most dominant of the five underlying groups was government-related barriers, which highlights the government's role in promoting GBTs adoption in Ghana. This study adds to the green building literature by analyzing GBTs adoption barriers within the context of a developing country, which could help policy makers and practitioners take suitable measures to mitigate the barriers and thereby promote the GBTs adoption. Future research will investigate the interrelationships between the critical barriers and their impacts on the GBTs adoption activity.
•The most critical GBTs adoption barrier in Ghana is higher costs of GBTs.•Higher costs of GBTs is a top barrier not only in Ghana, but also in the US, Canada, and Australia.•The underlying grouped barriers are government-related, human-related, knowledge and information-related, market-related, and cost and risk-related barriers.
Ocean tidal currents, water waves and thermal gradients are a great source of renewable energy. Ocean tidal, osmotic, wave and thermal sources have annual potentials of 800, 2,000, 8000–80,000 and ...10,000–87,600TWh, which are more than global 16,000TWh/y electricity demand. Ocean wave generators produce relatively lower output, however, four to eleven meters tidal range stations have large power generation capacities. Abundant ocean heat energy potentially harvested using ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) devices and ocean thermo-electric generators (OTEG). Tidal stations may be tidal range or current types, but a wave energy converter (WEC) may be an oscillating water column (OWC), overtopping, heaving, pitching and surging devices. Ocean thermal energy can be harnessed by open, close Rankine cycles, thermo-electric generators and osmotic power plants. Large bays like Turnagain (USA), Annapolis/Minas Passage (Canada), Seven Barrages/Pentland Firth (UK), La Rance (France), Garorim (South Korea) and Mezen/Penzhin (Russia) have huge tidal current power generation capacities. Power Potential from tidal current stations is more than WEC devices which in turn is more than osmotic, OTEC and OTEG technologies. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art of tidal, wave, OTEC and OTEG ocean energy technologies.
Listening to the Fur Trade uses the written record, oral history, and material culture to reveal histories of sound and music in an era before sound recording. Daniel Laxer uncovers songs and ...ceremonies of First Nations people, the paddling songs of the voyageurs, and the fiddle music and step-dancing at the trading posts that provided its pulse.
Since the 2010s, all levels of governments in Canada have gradually initiated social procurement as a policy tool to further their social values and political agendas. Social enterprises of various ...shapes and sizes across the country have served as partners in the execution of those agendas. Selling Social examines the experiences of these enterprises in social procurement and social purchasing. Selling Social presents the findings of a three-year Canadian research project detailing experiences of work integration social enterprises (WISEs) selling their goods and services to organizational purchasers, including governments, businesses, and non-profit organizations. Drawing on survey findings and interviews, the book explores a diverse group of social enterprises from across Canada, showcasing their successes and their challenges based on real-life examples to aid social enterprises that are considering this path. The book emphasizes the importance of including social and environmental considerations in procurement and purchasing decisions, particularly at larger scales and through public policy. In doing so, Selling Social extends the understanding of social enterprises beyond their social and economic outcomes and into the broader movement towards responsible procurement and purchasing.
Conservatism in Canada Rayside, David; Farney, James
Conservatism in Canada,
2013, 20131211, 2013, 2014, 2013-12-11
eBook
Conservatism in Canadaexplores the ideological character of contemporary Canadian conservatism, its support in the electorate, its impact on public policies such as immigration and foreign policy, ...and its articulation at both federal and provincial levels.
At Risk Callahan, Marilyn; Swift, Karen
10/2009
eBook
InAt Risk, Karen J. Swift and Marilyn Callahan examine risk and risk assessment in the context of professional practice in child protection, social work, and other human services.
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