Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Lease Structures & Occupancy Costs In Eco-Labeled Buildings, Jeremy Gabe, Spenser Robinson, Andrew Sanderford, Robert A. Simons

School of Business: Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: This research investigates whether energy-efficient green buildings tend to provide net lease structures over gross lease ones. It then considers whether owners benefit by trading away operational savings in a net lease structure.

Design: Empirical models of office leasing transactions in Sydney, Australia, with wider transferability supported by analysis of office rent data in the United States.

Findings: Labelled green buildings are approximately four to five times more likely than non-labelled buildings to use a net lease structure. However, despite receiving operational savings, tenants in net leases pay higher total occupancy costs, benefiting owners. On average, …

Ua66/8/2 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Centers & Institutes, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Centers and Institutes administered by the Geography & Geology Department. Including:

• Center for Cave & Karst Studies
• Center for Local Government Services
• Hoffman Environmental Research Institute
• Kentucky Climate Center
• Resources Management Institute
• Small Public Water System Technology Center

Water For A Hungry World: Innovation In Water And Food Security: Proceedings Of The 2019 Water For Food Global Conference. Lincoln., Daugherty Water For Food Global Institute

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Literature

Welcome and Opening Remarks : Mike Boehm, Vice President and Vice Chancellor of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska ; Peter G. McCornick, Executive Director, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska

How the Irrigation Industry is Driving the Future through Efficient Technologies. Speaker: Deborah Hamlin, CEO, Irrigation Association

Sustainable Solutions for Water and Food Security — Business Perspectives. Speaker: Mark Edge, Director of Collaborations for Developing Countries, Bayer

Value of Water. Speakers: Dustin Garrick, Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford ; …

Growing A Water And Food Secure Future: Annual Report Fy2019 (July 1, 2018 To June 30, 2019), Robert B. Daugherty Water For Food Global Institute

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Literature

Ensuring water and food security for our growing world is an audacious goal – exactly what Bob Daugherty sought to achieve by creating the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the University of Nebraska nearly 10 years ago. He, along with leaders and supporters within the University of Nebraska, the state and well beyond, understood that a collective and committed effort on wise water management was essential to producing enough food to feed the world while sustaining our valuable and limited water resources. For decades, many dedicated people around the world have striven to overcome the challenges of …

Risk Attitudes Affect Livestock Biosecurity Decisions With Ramifications For Disease Control In A Simulated Production System, Gabriela Bucini, Scott C. Merrill, Eric Clark, Susan M. Moegenburg, Asim Zia, Christopher J. Koliba, Serge Wiltshire, Luke Trinity, Julia M. Smith

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

HOG producers' operational decisions can be informed by an awareness of risks associated with emergent and endemic diseases. Outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) have been re-occurring every year since the first onset in 2013 with substantial losses across the hog production supply chain. Interestingly, a decreasing trend in PEDv incidence is visible. We assert that changes in human behaviors may underlie this trend. Disease prevention using biosecurity practices is used to minimize risk of infection but its efficacy is conditional on human behavior and risk attitude. Standard epidemiological models bring important insights into disease dynamics but have limited …

Willingness To Comply With Biosecurity In Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental Simulations, Scott C. Merrill, Susan Moegenburg, Christopher J. Koliba, Asim Zia, Luke Trinity, Eric Clark, Gabriela Bucini, Serge Wiltshire, Timothy Sellnow, Deanna Sellnow, Julia M. Smith

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Disease in U.S. animal livestock industries annually costs over a billion dollars. Adoption and compliance with biosecurity practices is necessary to successfully reduce the risk of disease introduction or spread. Yet, a variety …

From The Anthropocene To Mutual Thriving: An Agenda For Higher Education In The Ecozoic, Ivan Vargas Roncancio, Leah Temper, Joshua Sterlin, Nina L. Smolyar, Shaun Sellers, Maya Moore, Rigo Melgar-Melgar

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

Higher education in the global North, and exported elsewhere, is complicit in driving the planet's socio-ecological crises by teaching how to most effectively marginalize and plunder Earth and human communities. As students and activists within the academic system, we take a firm stand to arrest this cycle, and to redirect education toward teaching how to create conditions for all life to thrive. In this paper, we articulate a research and education agenda for co-constructing knowledge and wisdom, and propose shifts in the 'ologies from the current, destructive modes to intended regenerative counterparts. We offer to shift from an ontology of …

Development Of Poly-Vinyl Alcohol Stabilized Silver Nanofluids For Solar Thermal Applications, James Walshe, George Amarandei, Hind Ahmed, Sarah Mccormack, John Doran

Articles

Nanofluids offer the potential to address the low thermal conductivities found in conventional heat transfer fluids, through their unique electrical, optical and thermal properties, but their implementation remains restricted due to absorption and stability limitations. Here, we characterize and exploit the distinctive plasmonic properties exhibited by polyvinyl-alcohol stabilized silver nanostructures by tuning their absorption and thermal properties through controlling the nanoparticle size, morphology and particle-size distribution configuration at the synthesis stage. The photo-thermal efficiency of different water-based silver nanofluids under a standard AM1.5G weighted solar spectrum were explored, the influence of each of these components on the resulting fluids performance …

Economic Sustainability Of Heritage Conservation In Hong Kong: The Impact Of Heritage Buildings On Adjacent Property Prices, Yee Chun,Tristance Kee, K.W. Chau

Support & Other Units (THEi)

Informed by the theoretical framework of sustainable development and economic theories including the cluster theory and the corollary of the Coase Theorem, this paper empirically investigates the economic impact of architectural heritage in Hong Kong. Using the hedonic price model, the research examines the economic impact of 50 publicly owned versus 50 privately owned heritage buildings on adjacent residential property prices with a sample size of over 43,240 property transaction records spanning a time period of 10 years. The research supports that heritage conservation can promote economic sustainability aside from cultural sustainability and social engagement. This research benefits government policymakers, …

Passive Cooling In Non-Residential Nearly Zero Energy Buildings: A Thermal Comfort Analysis Based On Measurement, Modelling And Simulation, Adam O'Donovan

Theses

Overheating in non-residential nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) presents a major risk to the well-being, productivity and thermal satisfaction of the people who occupy them. As global temperatures are expected to increase in the future, the overheating risk and cooling demand is also expected to increase. Therefore, low cost and low energy solutions that are able to maintain thermally comfortable conditions without the need for mechanical systems will be vital in decarbonising the building stock and ensuring that buildings are comfortable and remain low carbon now and in the future. Passive cooling has long been championed as a low cost …

Enabling Sustainable Built Heritage Revitalisation From A Socio-Technicalperspective: A Case Study, Daniel Chi Wing Ho, Huiying Hou

Faculty of Design & Environment (THEi)

This study aims to investigate built heritage revitalisation projects in Hong Kong through a case study.

Exploring Community Knowledge And Perceptions Of Flooding And Sea-Level Rise In King Salmon, California, Kristina Kunkel

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The coastal community of King Salmon, California could be at the highest risk of relative sea-level rise on the entire U.S. West Coast. In 2019, the community already experiences severe flooding at least annually and may be regularly inundated as early as 2050. Until this study, there had been no documented effort to reach out to the community to show them future sea-level rise projections, understand the context of life in King Salmon, and listen to their reactions and perceptions. This research utilized a mixed methods grounded theory approach integrating semi-structured interviews with King Salmon stakeholders, qualitative data analysis, public …

Assessing The Technical, Economic, And Environmental Feasibility Of Floating Solar Power Generation On Water Reservoirs In Vietnam, Phuong Anh Bui

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Vietnam has been developing an energy path involving increased renewable energy use. With over 7,000 existing water reservoirs, Vietnam has great potential to install floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) plants that will protect productive lands, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce water evaporation rates. This study investigates the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of installing FPV in three reservoirs in Vietnam: Hoa Binh, Tri An, and Dau Tieng.

The capacities of the FPV plants assessed for three reservoirs range from 96 MW to 4,300 MW. The yearly solar generation from the three reservoirs ranges from 900 GWh to 13,700 GWh, and …

Sustainable Production Through Balancing Trade-Offs Among Three Metrics In Flow Shop Scheduling, Amin Abedini, Wei Li, Fazleena Badurdeen, Ibrahim S. Jawahir

Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing Faculty Publications

In sustainable manufacturing, inconsistencies exist among objectives defined in triple-bottom-lines (TBL) of economy, society, and environment. Analogously, inconsistencies exist in flow shop scheduling among three objectives of minimizing total completion time (TCT), maximum completion time (MCT), and completion time variance (CTV), respectively. For continuous functions, the probability is zero to achieve the objectives at their optimal values, so is it at their worst values. Therefore, with inconsistencies among individual objectives of discrete functions, it is more meaningful and feasible to seek a solution with high probabilities that system performance varies within the …

Designing And Redesigning Products, Processes, And Systems For A Helical Economy, Ryan Bradley, Ibrahim S. Jawahir

Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing Faculty Publications

The Circular Economy (CE) concept has promised to unlock trillions of dollars in business value while driving a significant reduction in the world’s resource consumption and anthropogenic emissions. However, CE mainly lives in ambiguity in the manufacturing domain because CE does not address the changes needed across all of the fundamental elements of manufacturing: products, processes, and systems. Conceptually, CE is grounded in the concept of closed-loop material flows that fit within ecological limits. This grounding translates into a steady state economy, a result that is not an option for the significant portion of the world living in poverty. Therefore, …

Optimizing Green Supply Chain Management Strategies, Mark Derek De La Grandiere

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some business leaders in the manufacturing industry lack strategies to optimize green supply chain management strategies that increase profitability while reducing the carbon footprint. The lack of green supply chain strategies sub optimizes the use of resources business leaders use to meet their financial goals. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore successful green supply chain strategies leaders used to increase profitability while reducing the carbon footprint. The participants were 7 business leaders in one manufacturing organization headquartered in Massachusetts who have sophisticated green supply chain strategies in place. The natural resource-based view theory was the …

The Alchemy Of Sustaining New Business Ventures, Alicia R. Hooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The high failure rates of new business ventures (NBV) negatively affect employment and potential contributions to the economic health of communities. The high NBV failure rate is essential, as NBV sustainability influences job creation and increases employment rates in communities surrounding the NBV. The purpose of this qualitative single case study, using the effectuation conceptual framework, was to explore strategies organization leaders in the state of Missouri used for sustaining NBV operations beyond 5 years. The sample consisted of 6 NBV consultants from a single Missouri NBV consulting firm who have sustained NBVs beyond 5 years. The 6 NBV consultants …

The Cost Of Forest Preservation In The Brazilian Amazon: The “Arc Of Deforestation”, Felipe De Figueiredo Silva, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Richard Perrin

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

We estimate the trade-off between agricultural production and forest preservation for the municipalities in Brazil’s agricultural frontier, the so-called “arc of deforestation,” using census and deforestation data for 2006. We use a nonparametric directional output distance function that allows us to identify the gradients of the production possibility frontier, which are the trade-offs of interest. We found that, on average, $979 is forgone in annual livestock, timber, and grain revenues to conserve 1 hectare of forest. This translates, ceteris paribus, to an average present value of costs to permanently sequester CO2 of $16.36/t, higher than most previous estimates.

Through The Eyes Of Locals: A Changing Climate In Bolivia, Jacob D. Rex

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Deforestation and Agricultural Land-Use Change in Bolivia as a Function of Socio-Economic Realities.

This research combines semi-structured interviews of key informants and local participants, as well as field observations, which were conducted between January and April of 2019 in the Departments of Santa Cruz & Chuquisaca.

Sustainable Supply Chain Management In The Nigerian Consumer Goods Manufacturing Sector, Ekpen Theophilus Owie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Supply chain practitioners in developing economies, like Nigeria, experience challenges in implementing sustainable supply chain management practices. Poor sustainability implementation engenders the negative effects of supply chain operations on people, the environment, and business continuity. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore and describe the experiences of supply chain practitioners in the consumer goods manufacturing industry in Nigeria about sustainable supply chain management based on the theoretical foundations of stakeholder and general systems theories. The focus of the research question was to examine the experiences of supply chain practitioners to understand the challenges in implementing sustainable …

Spatial Differentiation Of Heritage Trees In The Rapidly-Urbanizing City Of Shenzhen, China, Po Ying Lai, Cy Jim, Guang Da Tang, Wen Jun Hong, Hao Zhang

Faculty of Design & Environment (THEi)

In China, heritage trees are actively surveyed and reported. Over 300 relevant published articles were reviewed to assess the contents, trends and geographical distributions of the investigations. The majority of the heritage trees studies in China were found in the eastern provinces and published within 2010–2014. Most studies reported surveys on all old trees. For studies focused on single species, Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) and Chinese Yew (Taxus chinensis) was most frequently reported. Unlike the champion tree registry in the US and other countries, the tree registry in China emphasized more on the tree age than the size. We then have …

Connecting Composting And Greenhouses: An Energy Capture And Usage Model, Dena M. Hoffman

Honors Theses and Capstones

At the Organic Dairy Research Farm in Lee, New Hampshire, the practice of aerated static composting is researched for potential heat capture. In early 2019, an Excel model was created to illustrate the ability of greenhouses to retain heat during a cold month of January and the total energy balance for each day. This model shows that an average greenhouse, based on the dimensions of the greenhouse at Kingman Farm, requires an additional, external heat source to supplement its heating needs. By adding the heat generated by the aerated static composting pile to the greenhouse in the Excel model, the …

Sustainable Adaptive Reuse – Economic Impact Of Cultural Heritage, Tris Kee

Faculty of Design & Environment (THEi)

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the positive externalities of adaptive reuse of heritage buildings and the economic impact on adjacent residential property prices as adaptive reuse is emerging as a significant heritage management and cultural heritage conservation practice recognized by the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

Design/methodology/approach

Through mixed methodologies of hedonic price model and case studies of three tenement houses in Hong Kong, this paper argues that the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings increases the values of residential properties within the district and revitalizes the area economically and culturally because of the positive externalities …

Software Defined Networks Based Smart Grid Communication: A Comprehensive Survey, Mubashir Husain Rehmani, Alan Davy, Brendan Jennings, Chadi Assi

Publications

The current power grid is no longer a feasible solution due to ever-increasing user demand of electricity, old infrastructure, and reliability issues and thus require transformation to a better grid a.k.a., smart grid (SG). The key features that distinguish SG from the conventional electrical power grid are its capability to perform two-way communication, demand side management, and real time pricing. Despite all these advantages that SG will bring, there are certain issues which are specific to SG communication system. For instance, network management of current SG systems is complex, time consuming, and done manually. Moreover, SG communication (SGC) system is …

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- January 2019, Natalie Umphlett, Rezaul Mamood, Warren Pettee, Gannon Rush, Crystal J. Stiles

Prairie Post: Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center

Inside this issue:

Message from the director........................................1

Staff spotlight...........................1

Year in review............................2

Drought THIRA toolkit...........3

Product highlight....................4

Update on regional climate conditions..................................4

Other HPRCC news.................5

Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................6

Island Invasion: The Silent Crisis In Hawaii, Sophia Janssen

Pomona Senior Theses

Keeping out invasive species may, upon first review, seem like a trivial environmental cry from ecologists and deep environmentalists; a belated wish to return to an undeveloped world where nature was pristine. However invasive species create problems that impact all of us and can have far more severe consequences than changing a stunning landscape. These problems are heightened in islands like Hawaii, where the fragile ecosystems have developed over centuries of evolution and adaptation. The introduction of a disease-carrying mosquito can put the people of Hawaii at risk to many vector-born illnesses and create an epidemic, taking human life. The …

Post-Glacial Fire History Of Horsetail Fen And Human-Environment Interactions In The Teanaway Area Of The Eastern Cascades, Washington, Serafina Ferri

All Master's Theses

Landscapes of the Pacific Northwest have been shaped by dramatic shifts in climate since the last glacial maximum and more recently, by human activity. However, it is unclear how past relationships between people, fire, and climate interacted on the landscape. The purpose of this research was to reconstruct the post-glacial fire history of a wetland known as Horsetail Fen, located in the Teanaway area of the eastern Cascades of Washington State. The goal was to evaluate how fire activity has varied under different climatic scenarios during the last ~16,000 years and in relation to human land-use actions. This lake was …

Seasonal Soil Carbon Fluxes In Transitioning Agricultural Soils In Central Washington State: Relations To Land-Use, Environmental Factors And Soil Carbon-Nitrogen Characteristics, Brandon Kautzman

All Master's Theses

Changing agricultural land-use practices to increase soil carbon sequestration contributes to climate change mitigation and improved food security by moving CO₂ from the atmosphere into soil as soil organic carbon (SOC). In 2016, a farm in Thorp, Washington, Spoon Full Farm, began converting land historically farmed using conventional methods of tillage and synthetic fertilizers to conservation farming methods with direct seeding and organic soil amendments with a goal of sequestering carbon in the soil. This project evaluates relationships of soil CO₂ respiration and net ecological exchange (NEE) with land-use types, seasonal environmental factors (air temperature, relative humidity, soil …

An Analysis Of Energy Transitions At Different Scales: Fossil Fuel Divestment In Higher Education And Individual Behavior, Elizabeth Palchak

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

A sociotechnical energy transition requires both a shift to new technologies and attention to social issues like political movements, policy and human behavior. This dissertation investigates social elements of the renewable energy transition occurring at different scales. The core research questions are: How are universities creating and responding to the shifting language of fossil fuel investments? How and for whom do behavioral interventions work? And finally, do in-home displays (IHDs) change behaviors and attitudes of millennial energy users?

The three studies covered here occurred within higher education and reflect the importance of colleges and universities as dynamic players in energy …

Ua12/2/19 Energy For Student Awareness, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Energy for Student Awareness Group.