A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
An emergy analysis for urban environmental sustainability assessment, the Island of Montreal, Canada
Graphical abstract
Highlights The major emergy flows interacting in the Island of Montreal were identified and quantified. The most important emergy flows were the monetary ones and those corresponding to the building materials entering the island. When compared to other selected cities, available space per inhabitant was correlated to empower density. The findings may be used as a guide to propose a methodology for the determination of intensity of development from an environmental perspective.
Abstract Today, the sustainability of cities is a critical consideration in the development of modern societies. One important dimension of this concept is the influence of occupation intensity on resource consumption and its associated waste generation. Emergy analysis constitutes an appropriate methodology for evaluating the sustainability of cities, given that it integrates the different types of flows interacting in urban regions in a common basis of comparison, the solar emergy joule (seJ). In this study, emergy analysis was used to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the Island of Montreal, Canada, in 2005 and to compare its situation with that of other nine urban centers. Results indicate that the total emergy used in 2005 stood at 1.153×1023 seJ, with renewable resources representing 3.2%, and a waste-to-emergy ratio of 0.09. In comparing the cities, it was observed that the empower density, an emergy measure for the intensity of activities, fell markedly when each inhabitant had about 300m2 or more of available land. Results for the Island of Montreal point to the need to improve the city's environmental performance. Particularly, the high empower density indicates that projects involving the re-development of recovered areas provide a significant opportunity for attaining this objective.
An emergy analysis for urban environmental sustainability assessment, the Island of Montreal, Canada
Graphical abstract
Highlights The major emergy flows interacting in the Island of Montreal were identified and quantified. The most important emergy flows were the monetary ones and those corresponding to the building materials entering the island. When compared to other selected cities, available space per inhabitant was correlated to empower density. The findings may be used as a guide to propose a methodology for the determination of intensity of development from an environmental perspective.
Abstract Today, the sustainability of cities is a critical consideration in the development of modern societies. One important dimension of this concept is the influence of occupation intensity on resource consumption and its associated waste generation. Emergy analysis constitutes an appropriate methodology for evaluating the sustainability of cities, given that it integrates the different types of flows interacting in urban regions in a common basis of comparison, the solar emergy joule (seJ). In this study, emergy analysis was used to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the Island of Montreal, Canada, in 2005 and to compare its situation with that of other nine urban centers. Results indicate that the total emergy used in 2005 stood at 1.153×1023 seJ, with renewable resources representing 3.2%, and a waste-to-emergy ratio of 0.09. In comparing the cities, it was observed that the empower density, an emergy measure for the intensity of activities, fell markedly when each inhabitant had about 300m2 or more of available land. Results for the Island of Montreal point to the need to improve the city's environmental performance. Particularly, the high empower density indicates that projects involving the re-development of recovered areas provide a significant opportunity for attaining this objective.
An emergy analysis for urban environmental sustainability assessment, the Island of Montreal, Canada
Vega-Azamar, Ricardo Enrique (author) / Glaus, Mathias (author) / Hausler, Robert (author) / Oropeza-García, Norma Angélica (author) / Romero-López, Rabindranarth (author)
Landscape and Urban Planning ; 118 ; 18-28
2013-06-02
11 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
An emergy analysis for urban environmental sustainability assessment, the Island of Montreal, Canada
| Online Contents | 2013
Emergy Evaluation of Dwelling Operation in Five Housing Units of Montreal Island, Canada
| DOAJ | 2017
| British Library Conference Proceedings | 2006
Emergy-based sustainability rating system for buildings : case study of Canada
| BASE | 2012