نشریه علوم و تکنولوژی محیط زیست
سال بیست و سوم شماره 10 (پیاپی 113، دی 1400)

Energy consumption in buildings accounts for one third of the country's annual energy consumption, so it is important to provide solutions that can reduce energy consumption in this sector.

Using questionnaires and experts’ opinions, effective parameters in energy optimization in Construction Engineering Organization of Bandar Abbas were identified. Variables such as wall and ceiling material, area and type of windows, wall and ceiling insulation thickness were selected. Different modes were investigated with Design Builder software. By training two separate neural networks, how the inputs are connected to two important outputs, which is the amount of energy and carbon dioxide, was obtained. And optimization was performed using the PSO algorithm.

In the obtained model, brick wall with insulation thickness of 5cm, beam roof with insulation thickness of 5cm, triple glazing, ratio of north and east windows to wall in the same direction 70%, ratio of south window to south wall between 41 to 43 percent and the ratio of the west window to the west wall is between 65 to 67 percent, in which the amount of energy and carbon dioxide is the minimum.

If the energy is selected as target function, the results obtained from the PSO are closely consistent with the optimization results for when the target function is the amount of carbon dioxide. These two functions are in line with each other, and optimizing one will lead to optimizing the other.

Developing of petrochemical industry has increased the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released to the environment and has caused to reduce air quality and to increase global warming and also serious problems for public health. The main objective of this research is to determine and reduce the amount of VOC compounds in oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

In this study, the LDAR program which its results are based on the use of two analyzers equipped with PID detector and infrared camera was used. The EPA-21 method was also used to determine the leakage of compounds.

The total amount of leakage potential was estimated to be 727.401 tons per year, considering all equipment, while the calculated emission components were precisely measured to be 320.16 tons; by doing the LDAR program these leakages were eliminated.

Based on the results of estimating the emission of pollutants from EPA in the selected petrochemical unit, it was found that the condition of the studied unit is much better than the global average, it should be noticed that valves and fittings have the highest contribution in VOCs emissions. Regarding the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that the proper implementation of the LDAR program will not only reduce VOC emissions and improve the economic situation but also reduce costs and produce a better and cleaner product.

With population growth and the pattern changes of the societies towards consuming more energy and resources, the reduction of fossil fuel reserves, lack of access to freshwater resources, and increasing environmental pollutants caused people to feel the need of using new and cleaner methods of energy production. Therefore, the use of renewable energy systems is one way to solve some of these problems.

The present research is descriptive-analytical with an applied approach that its purpose is to use renewable energy in two design scenarios including solar collector, biofuels, and incineration plant in order to meet the partial need for the power and freshwater of the island. The simulation of the two proposed scenarios was performed by MATLAB, TRNSYS, and AspenTech engineering software. Techno-economical evaluations of the power and freshwater produced along with environmental impacts were also analyzed and reported.

According to the results, it was found that the second scenario consisting of incineration plant - biofuel produced more power and freshwater than the first scenario and can also facilitate the management of waste in the region, while the first design including a solar collector - biofuel despite its lower power production, supplied cleaner energy with much better financial results.

To summarize, both proposed scenarios have high potential to meet a major portion of the region's needs, and, based on strategic policies and sustainable development, each design can be selected according to the current priorities of the region.

Decreasing the concentration of colloidal suspended particles, the turbidity factor of water, has always been one of the main goals in the design of water treatment plants. The aim of this study was to compare two types of biocompatible polymeric and inorganic organic coagulants in removing turbidity in water.

The experimental samples of Karaj River after the garbage collection stage were carried out in the same amount of water and were in the same condition to identify the best percentage of colloidal particle removal and turbidity. Also for experimental design, data and variance analysis were used Minitab software. 

Karaj River water with 85.86 NTU turbidity in different concentration contact with inorganic coagulants (Aluminum sulfate and chloric ferric) and the organic polymeric coagulants (Starch and chitosan medium). The best concentrations of inorganic coagulants as chloric ferric is 6.5 mg/lit and aluminum sulfate is 10mg/lit and for organic polymeric coagulant as: chitosan is 5.2 mg/lit and starch- chitosan medium is 40% of chitosan and 60% starch.

The results of experimental data are shown that the combination of chitosan-starch has the best performance in removing turbidity from water. So that finally 60%-40% of chitosan and starch had the best percentage of turbidity removal and up to 99% were able to remove the remaining turbidity.

Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the revised Gash model in estimating interception by a Robinia pseudoacacia (L.) stand during the leafed and leafless periods in Chitgar Forest Park.

A circular plot with an area of 0.5 ha in Chitgar Forest Park was selected and rainfall, throughfall, and stemflow were measured for two years (from 22 December 2013 to 21 December 2015). Then, the amounts of canopy and trunks ecohydrological parameters were calculated, and finally, the efficiency of the revised Gash model for estimating interception was evaluated.

In this study, the mean amount of rainfall interception in the leafed period (12.7%) was significantly higher than the leafless period (9.7%). The determination coefficient (R2) value between the estimated interception values and the measured in the leafless period was higher than in the leafed period. Based on all model evaluation metrics, the performance of the revised Gash model in estimating interception in the leafless period was better than in the leafed period.

Based on the findings of this study, the Revised Gash model showed good ability in estimating interception during the leafless period, and a probable reason for the high estimation error of the model in the leafed period is the lack of direct measurement of the canopy percentage parameter. Accurately determining the amount of interception, as a canopy water loss, contributes significantly to the planning and decision-making process of forest managers and water resources managers for selecting the appropriate species for plantations.

Many communities, mainly in the developed world, use neighborhood sustainability assessment programs and systems to measure their success near proximity to sustainable development goals. The characteristics and success of these systems in covering the various dimensions of sustainability is an issue that should be considered by urban planners and designers. In this research, to recognize and identify the limitations and capabilities of the neighborhood sustainability assessment systems; four known systems in this field, namely LEED-ND, BREEAM-Communities, CASBEE-UD, and DGNB-NSQ, have been critically reviewed.

In this research, with a broad review of texts and a comparative study of four neighborhood sustainability assessment systems, using content analysis method to issues such as comparing structure and classification, the weight of topics and criteria, the amount of sustainability coverage and so on have been addressed. After comparing the general comparison of neighborhood sustainability assessment systems, a comparative framework based on four dimensions of urban sustainable development has been created in the form of 8 issues.

Despite observing the treelike structure in the systems, differences in the importance of the subjects and the degree of sustainability coverage are noticeable. Studies have shown that more than 68% of the evaluation criteria emphasize the environmental dimension and the two issues of land use-urban context-building layout with more than 20% and resources (energy, water, materials) with more than 13%, were recognized as important and influential subjects in the process of evaluating neighborhoods. However, the approach of systems has been different on other issues.

The results showed that the systems under study, despite providing useful operational methods to assess sustainability due to excessive focus on the environmental dimension and the same neglect of other dimensions of sustainability, have not been effective in assessing the sustainability of neighborhoods as a whole And they need more maturity.

Production, including industrial and agricultural production, is not possible without the existence of economic infrastructure. Electricity plays an important role in the industrial development of countries due to changes in the industries and the conversion of mechanical to electrical power, the emergence of electric motors and the development of machine tools. Purpose of this article, comparative comparison of the effects of electricity consumption shocks on Environmental pollution and economic growth in IRAN and selected MENA countries.

The article is descriptive, analytical and inferential, to achieve this goal, the method has been used the PVAR approach during the period 2016-1992 as well as the country of Iran during the period 2016-1985 using the VAR method has been studied.

Electricity consumption, direct foreign investment, labor force and capital inventory have a direct and significant relationship with economic growth, but environmental pollution has a negative and significant relationship with Iran's economic growth.

the results indicate that the shock of increasing electricity consumption in selected MENA countries after an insignificant decrease in GDP per capita will increase proportionally in subsequent periods but in Iran, it grows very smoothly. The effect of this shock on carbon dioxide emissions in the countries concerned has been relatively mildly reduced, but in Iran, carbon dioxide emissions have been at a higher level than before.

The main objective of this research is to investigate the importance and impact of the presence of healing gardens in the campus on the spatial desirability and the mental health of its users. This research focuses on the campus of University of Sistan and Baluchestan.

In this research, a descriptive- analytical method is used. The necessary Data needed for research were collected using library sources, field survey and a questionnaire. Then, out of 24 gardens in the campus, six were selected as the study cases. The statistical sample was calculated by Cochran’s formula to be 376 individuals in order to prepare a questionnaire and data analysis. In the next phase, the data derived from questionnaires were analyzed and the results were organized in separate tables and charts.

According to the findings, Kuhestan Garden is the most effective and Western Qaem Garden is the least effective healing garden in order to improve the spatial desirability of the University of Sistan and Baluchestan campus. Among the five studied criteria, the participants selected ‘diverse and rich vegetation as the most important criterion effective for the use of a garden by its users and also for the improvement of spatial desirability of the campus. The results show that most of users believe that the presence of healing gardens and natural landscapes on the campus have a positive impact on their mental and psychological health. They also believe that these gardens are a source of motivation for better learning of the educational materials and a mean for improving their grades.

The findings lead us to the conclusion that the designing and construction of healing gardens on the campus can have positive impacts on the mental health of the users via enhancing the visual quality and the desirability of the campus. Therefore, the design and construction of healing gardens and natural landscapes in Universities campus are highly recommended.

lack of enough attention to the public participation is the most reason for the deficiency of wetland ecosystem management. Managing wetlands based on ecological approach defined as  “taking all the key elements and indicators in long-term management of an ecosystem and also as an integrated management strategy, promotes the conservation and sustainable use of resources with the participation of all stakeholders and the active participation of people, local communities in particular”. The purpose of this study is to present a management framework in the Anzali International Wetland with an ecological approach, applied for the first time.

This study is a descriptive-analytical study based on available data. The World Conservation Union has incorporated 12 principles into five categories in this study developed for Anzali Wetland as the study area. Gephi software was used for stakeholders’ network analysis too.

The results showed the developed framework in this study is comprised of seven main sections: Pre-planning, Scoping, Analysis, Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation. Each of thes mentioned sections has related elements. In stakeholders’network analysis individuals are represented as nodes and connections as edges of the graph that shows the linkage between stakeholders.

The main stakeholders should have participated in the ecological management of the wetland including: Governmental Organizations, Non-governmental Organizations, Local Communities, Judiciary, and Legislature. In this study, the initial stages of the developed framework were implemented including pre-planning, scoping, and some parts of the analysis. Afterwards, the identified stakeholders, at consideration of verified and modified information obtained from the previous three steps, formulate a joint implementation, monitoring and evaluation plan in the participatory workshops. It is also recommended to apply the developed framework in other wetlands and common natural resources, especially protected areas, in accordance with the legal duties of the Department of Environment (DoE).

 One of the most important active remotely sensed data for quantification of different attributes of forest stands is LiDAR data. A research hotspot in this subject is to estimate forest biomass using different LiDAR derived metrics.

Forest biomass was measured in 127 systematically designed 900-meter square rectangular plots in two different sites (dense and sparse sites). LiDAR data was inspected for any possible error. DTM, DSM, and CHM were extracted from LiDAR data and different metrics at plot level were calculated. For modeling, stepwise regression was applied. 

 Result showed a moderate precision for biomass estimation using LiDAR data in a way that the coefficient of determination and root mean square error (Ton/ha) for biomass estimation of leaves, twigs, branches, bole, and whole tree were 0.58-28, 0.54-23, 0.68-1.35, 0.68-1.53, .65-3.69, respectively. 

 Due to high error of determination of tree tips in broadleaves forests especially in coppice stands which have low tree height with irregular shapes; the error of the estimation of tree height using LiDar data is high. Better results demand further researches.