A modified eco-efficiency framework and methodology for advancing the state of practice of sustainability analysis as applied to green infrastructure

What is it about?

Researchers Ghimire and Johnston propose a modified eco-efficiency framework and novel sustainability analysis methodology for green infrastructure (GI) practices used in water resource management. GI practices such as rainwater harvesting (RWH), rain gardens, porous pavements, and green roofs are emerging as viable strategies for climate change adaptation. The modified framework includes 4 economic, 11 environmental, and 3 social indicators. Using 6 indicators from the framework, at least 1 from each dimension of sustainability, they demonstrate the methodology to analyze RWH designs. They used life cycle assessment and life cycle cost assessment to calculate the sustainability indicators of 20 design configurations as Decision Management Objectives. Their methodology provides a more comprehensive view of water resource management and is generally applicable to GI and industrial, environmental, and engineered systems to explore the sustainability space of alternative design configurations.

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Why is it important?

Five Decision Management Objectives (DMOs) emerged as relatively more sustainable along the eco-efficiency (EE) analysis Tradeoff Line, and they used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a widely applied statistical approach, to quantify the modified EE measures as DMO sustainability scores. They also addressed the subjectivity and sensitivity analysis requirements of sustainability analysis and evaluated the performance of 10 weighting schemes that included classical DEA, equal weights, National Institute of Standards and Technology’s stakeholder panel, Eco-Indicator 99, Sustainable Society Foundation’s Sustainable Society Index, and 5 derived schemes. They improved upon classical DEA by applying the weighting schemes to identify sustainability scores that ranged from 0.18 to 1.0, avoiding the non-uniqueness problem and revealing the least to most sustainable RWH design configurations.