Search Results (11)

Institutions are increasingly being challenged to reduce the environmental impacts of daily commuting, while balancing complex and often conflicting sustainability goals. This study addressed the limitations of carbon-centric assessments by proposing a framework that integrated life cycle assessment (LCA) with multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to evaluate seven prospective commuting alternatives for 2030, using a Portuguese university as a case study. Utilizing the PROMETHEE method across 16 environmental criteria, the analysis revealed that active mobility offered the most balanced and sustainable outcomes, consistently performing the best across all impact categories. In contrast, the electrification of private vehicles, although it reduced greenhouse gas emissions, was identified as the least favorable option, due to significant trade-offs in areas such as resource depletion and water use, as well as other environmental burdens. Public transport scenarios, particularly those involving electric bus systems, showed intermediate performance. In this context, the proposed LCA–MCDA framework provides policymakers and institutions with a comprehensive decision-support tool to navigate environmental trade-offs, promote low-impact mobility strategies, and meet evolving sustainability reporting requirements. Full article

Since the significance of viral infections in children and adolescents with nephrotic syndrome (NS) is yet to be defined, this study intended to estimate the occurrence, pattern, and outcomes of some DNA viral infections in children with NS. Methods: A prospective study was conducted to determine the genome identification of the viruses Epstein-Barr (EBV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6 type A and type B) and 7 (HHV-7), polyomavirus (BKV), and human adenovirus (HAdV) in plasma and urine samples of pediatric patients with NS. Results: A total of 35 patients aged 1 to 18 years with NS and under immunosuppressant drugs participated in the study. Plasma and urine samples were collected at regular intervals during a median follow-up of 266 days (range 133–595), and DNA was analyzed to detect the selected DNA viruses. Eleven patients (31.4%) had active virus infections, and patterns were classified as coinfection, recurrent, and consecutive. Of these, six patients (54.5%) presented viral coinfection, six (54.5%) viral recurrence, and seven patients (63.3%) had viral consecutive infection. Ten of the eleven patients with active infection had a proteinuria relapse (91%) and eight (72.7%) were hospitalized (p = 0.0022). Active HCMV infection was the most frequent infection and was observed in six patients (54.5%), three of the eleven patients (27.2%) had suspected HCMV disease in the gastrointestinal tract, and one had HHV-7 coinfection. The frequency of other infections was: 9% for HHV-6, 45.5% for BKV, 27.3% for HHV-7, 18.2% for EBV, and 18.2% for HAdV. Conclusion: viral infections, especially HCMV, can be an important cause of morbidity and nephrotic syndrome relapse in children. Full article

Over the past decades, the debate on how to encourage energy efficiency in existing homes has been guided by a technic-economic model that has a strong focus on technologies and cost savings, in which human behavior has been devalued to a narrow behavioral economics overview. While this specific area of behavioral science enabled to capture of the dimension of energy renovations as a problem of homeowners’ individual choice, the collective and social aspects of energy efficiency are still largely overlooked on the energy policy agenda. With its emphasis on how social structures interpenetrate individual actions, social sciences offer additional insights that go beyond the identification of barrier-drivers underlying investment choices and also help to identify positive opportunities for renovation within the conditions of domestic and social life. Until recently, comprehensive behavioral aspects and the social dimension of home energy renovation have been ignored in policy initiatives, and the integration of complementary disciplines is only in its early stages. Based on a broad literature review, this paper aims to provide an up-to-date interdisciplinary perspective of the theoretical evolutionary background, which has been the support to gradually redefine and address the problems associated with energy improvements in homes. Full article

Higher Education Institutions (HEI), such as Universities and Institutes worldwide, are making efforts and setting goals to assess and minimise their environmental impacts, and to become more sustainable. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been considered a powerful approach to deal with environmental impacts of products and services. Thus, in this paper, a bibliometric analysis was carried out to benchmark the sustainability of HEI in terms of key areas, impacts, and barriers. Results indicate that, although some HEI are concerned with sustainability, LCA has not been systematically adopted in their assessments, and the main focus is on the calculation of carbon emissions. The lack of available internal information and managing commitment are the main barriers to adopting LCA in HEI. In the few cases where LCA was considered, it was observed that differences in scopes, functional units, intensities, and data reliability hamper comparisons, and lead to biased conclusions. In the end of the paper, the results of some Portuguese HEI are provided and discussed, showing the need for a better understanding of environmental assessment results. Full article

Soils constitute the largest terrestrial carbon (C) pool, representing more than the sum of carbon contained in the atmosphere and vegetation. In this context, organic soils stand out, storing 21% of the global soil organic C stock in only 3% of the Earth’s land surface. Moreover, these soils are a key component in our climate system, biodiversity, water cycle and records of environmental changes. Organic soils require specific attention as they provide a large variety of ecosystem services, but also because of their vulnerability to climate change. In this paper, we present a review of terms and concepts related to organic soils, their formation, pedoenvironments, and taxonomic classification. We also present a synthesis of studies in the highlands of southeastern Brazil using these soils as records of environmental change. Full article

A growing interest has been expressed in the issue of building adaptability over the past decade, perceiving it as an intrinsic criterion for sustainability. In light of the circular economy (CE) and its application in the construction sector, more attention has been paid to buildings’ design for adaptability (DfA) towards the realization of circular buildings. DfA is considered a key enabler for other circular design strategies such as design for disassembly (DfD), multi-functionality, spatial transformability, and design reversibility. However, implementation and assessment frameworks, and design-support tools for the circular building, are still in development as the characterization of circular buildings continues with endeavors to draw a defined shape by identifying the prerequisites for circularity where the design takes an important place. For the sake of objectifying the role of DfA in circularity frameworks in buildings, this paper carries out an analytical review and discussion on two types of assessment and design-support frameworks; the first addresses adaptability criteria and considerations in assessment frameworks that handle the concept individually while the second classifies existing circularity assessment endeavors into four main categories under which multiple tools are reviewed. A reflection on the scope and objectives for both types is later performed, illustrating the state of adaptability evaluation and criteria as well as its role in circularity frameworks. Results show that the concept of building adaptability lacks quantitative methods that quantify a building’s capacity to adapt as well as empirical data that prioritize the most valuable criteria facilitating adaptations. Moreover, many circularity assessment frameworks fail to consider adaptability criteria at all hierarchal levels of a building composition. To address this shortcoming, a series of conceptual considerations and requirements is proposed towards a potential establishment of an inclusive framework of a circularity design-support tool in buildings. The study is concluded by identifying gaps and recommendations for further developments in the field. Full article

Our ever-evolving built environment is continuously facing emerging needs for housing, work, health, and mobility, among others. Yet, buildings are usually designed and set up as finished permanent objects, reflecting the one constant scenario in mind of defined form, function, and performance. Since change is increasingly inevitable in our life, enlarging buildings’ adaptive capacities in response to arising variables and changing conditions over their lifecycle becomes a necessity in seeking global sustainability demands. The concept of building adaptability has been a notable subject in this respect, increasingly stimulating and proposing regenerative alternatives to today’s often obsolete buildings. This paper critically reviews the existing body of knowledge on the concept of adaptability in building research. The main focus is made on the evolution of the concept interpretations and related paradigms, and on the development of its applications and strategies in the light of promoting models and trends. Drawing on the literature as a source of evidence, the paper analyzes and classifies the content of existing studies published in scientific journals and gray literature, focusing on a timeframe from 2015 up-to-date. Moreover, the paper aims to build a constructive discussion to identify potential gaps between the actual state of the art and emerging needs, which should be addressed by further research. Full article

The palafitic timber constructions of the central Portuguese coastline are an example of the adaptation to site-specific conditions (climate and sand landscape morphodynamics) using the available endogenous resources. Thus, in a context of environmental awareness and climate change, it is relevant to understand their features/strategies and how they perform. This work analyses the energy performance and thermal condition evaluation of a vernacular timber building–palheiro–from Praia de Mira, through in situ measurements, subjective analysis and energy simulation provided by DesignBuilder/EnergyPlus. The results show a good or satisfactory thermal performance during most of the seasons by passive means only. Despite, it was not possible to guarantee thermal comfort conditions for the occupants during winter. In the energy performance analysis, five scenarios, with different external walls, were compared. In the two scenarios that satisfy the maximum U-value for the climate zone, the current conventional building had a slightly better performance on heating and cooling (less 1.1 and 1.4 kWh/m², respectively) than the timber building. However, the difference between the two construction solutions is not substantial in the annual energy demand (2.5 kWh/m², 7.3%), indicating that timber structures are suitable in this mild climate area. Full article

The increase in global environmental problems requires more environmentally efficient construction. Vernacular passive strategies can play an important role in helping reducing energy use and CO₂ emissions related to buildings. This paper studies the use of glazed balconies in the North of Portugal as a strategy to capture solar gains and reduce heat losses. The purpose is understanding thermal performance and comfort conditions provided by this passive heating strategy. The methodology includes objective (short and long-term monitoring), to evaluate the different parameters affecting thermal comfort and air quality, and subjective assessments to assess occupants’ perception regarding thermal sensation. The results show that the use of glazed balconies as a passive heating strategy in a climate with cold winters is viable. During the mid-seasons, the rooms with balcony have adequate comfort conditions. In the heating season, it is possible to achieve comfort conditions in sunny days while in the cooling season there is a risk of overheating. Regarding indoor air quality, carbon dioxide concentrations were low, but the average radon concentration measured was high when the building was unoccupied, rapidly decreasing to acceptable values, during occupation periods when a minimum ventilation rate was promoted. Occupants’ actions were essential to improving building behavior. Full article

There is a relation of vegetation physiognomies with soil and geological conditions that can be represented spatially with the support of remote sensing data. The goal of this research was to map vegetation physiognomies in a mountainous area by using Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI) data and morphometrical covariates through data mining techniques. The research was based on red-edge (RE) bands, and indices, to classify phytophysiognomies at two taxonomic levels. The input data was pixel sampled based on field sample sites. Data mining procedures comprised covariate selection and supervised classification through the Random Forest model. Results showed the potential of bands 3, 5, and 6 to map phytophysiognomies for both seasons, as well as Green Chlorophyll (CLg) and SAVI indices. NDVI indices were important, particularly those calculated with bands 6, 7, 8, and 8A, which were placed at the RE position. The model performance showed reasonable success to Kappa index 0.72 and 0.56 for the first and fifth taxonomic level, respectively. The model presented confusion between Broadleaved dwarf-forest, Parkland Savanna, and Bushy grassland. Savanna formations occurred variably in the area while Bushy grasslands strictly occur in certain landscape positions. Broadleaved forests presented the best performance (first taxonomic level), and among its variation (fifth level) the model could precisely capture the pattern for those on deep soils from gneiss parent material. The approach was thus useful to capture intrinsic soil-plant relationships and its relation with remote sensing data, showing potential to map phytophysiognomies in two distinct taxonomic levels in poorly accessible areas. Full article

The work presented in this paper is part of a research project aiming for the development of a performance-based approach for sustainable design, focusing on the efficient use of natural resources over the lifetime of buildings. The proposed approach requires the set of benchmarks to provide a consistent and transparent yardstick for the environmental performance of buildings and to strive towards an effective reduction in the use of resources and relative environmental impacts in the building sector. This paper focuses on the development of the framework for the quantification of the benchmarks. Additionally, a review of available benchmarks is provided, showing a huge diversity of values. One of the main factors contributing to such diversity is the lack of a reliable model for the quantification of the benchmarks. To overcome this problem, a consistent model for life-cycle assessment (LCA) is adopted, which is based on a standardized framework and enables comparability of results. Based on the proposed approach, a preliminary set of benchmarks for residential buildings is defined, leading to values in the range of 5–12 kg CO₂/m².yr and 68–186 MJ/m².yr, for life-cycle global warming and total primary energy, respectively. Full article