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Auflistung nach Autor:in "Zah, Rainer"

1 - 6 von 6
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Applying Life Cycle Assessment within Discrete Event Simulation: Practical Application of the Milan/EcoFactory Material Flow Simulator
    (Proceedings of the 27th Conference on Environmental Informatics - Informatics for Environmental Protection, Sustainable Development and Risk Management, 2013) Reinhard, Jürgen; Wohlgemuth, Volker; Zah, Rainer; Jahr, Paul
    This paper reveals the experiences of the application of a software tool that combines discrete event simulation (DES), material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) in a single simulation model. This view focuses not only on economic optimization but also on material flow analysis opening the door to sustainable production in the future. Thus, the software unifies the economic and environmental perspective on a manufacturing system and therefore can be used for sustainable decision making. The paper will highlight important development phases, basic concept and important implementation issues as well as its practical application in the manufacturing industry.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Automatic Land Use Classification and SEA-compliant Indicator Sssessment in Urban Areas
    (Informatics for Environmental Protection - Networking Environmental Information, 2005) Wäger, Patrix; Zah, Rainer; Sohlbach, Malte; Böhme, Anina; Bangert, Dietrich
    The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) directive 2001/42/EC of the European Commission prescribes inter alia that significant effects of the implementation of certain plans and programs on the environment will be monitored. To support SEA in urban areas, a (semi-)automatic method based on the object oriented classification software eCognition was developed and applied to extract land use categories and selected ecological indicators from remote sensing data of an allotment area in the city of Berlin. The hitherto available results show that compared to a fully manual classification, the object oriented classification with eCognition provides promising results for sealed areas, but a less accurate classification of trees and low vegetation.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Estimating Environmental Pollution in Latin American Cities Using Emission Factors Data and GIS
    (Informatics for Environmental Protection - Networking Environmental Information, 2005) Ossés, Margarita; Zah, Rainer; M. Hilty, Lorenz
    Many Latin American cities have difficulties in solving their environmental problems. A major reason is a lack of information for one thing. In response to this situation we propose a method to gain knowledge about the pollution in a city by estimating the emissions generated by the main activities of its inhabitants. The method is based on Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and emission factors for the most relevant human activities. The latter include industrial production, human settlements of different socio-economic levels and traffic associated with diverse vehicle types. Factors for the emissions to air and water are applied as are factors for the generation of solid wastes and wastewater. The method is used in a given city by combining the activity-specific emission factors with local data on the spatial distribution of the local activities. In this way, the contributions of the different activities to the overall pollution in the city can be estimated. Furthermore, a spatial assessment of the activities and their emissions is possible. The method will first be applied to Lima (Peru). Nevertheless, the database developed for the method contains emission factors from various Latin American countries. Thus, the method can be applied to diverse cities. This paper describes the main components of the GIS application and the environmental database containing the emission factors. Limitations and difficulties of the proposed method, as well as its potential applications for environmental assessment and urban planning are discussed.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Optimization Strategies for Transportation Systems Using Mobile Telecommunications
    (Sustainability in the Information Society, 2001) Rogger, André J.; Hartmann, Frank A.; Zah, Rainer; Ruddy, Thomas F.; Hilty, Lorenz M.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Regionalized LCI Modeling: A Framework for the Integration of Spatial Data in Life Cycle Assessment
    (Advances and New Trends in Environmental Informatics - Stability, Continuity, Innovation, 2016) Reinhard, Juergen; Zah, Rainer; Hilty, Lorenz M.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Sustainability Quick Check for Biofuels (SQCB): A Web-based tool for streamlined biofuels' LCA
    (Environmental Informatics and Industrial Environmental Protection: Concepts, Methods and Tools, 2009) Faist, Mireille; Zah, Rainer; Reinhard, Jürgen
    Upcoming regulations like the Swiss ordinance on mineral oil tax and development of standards for sustainably produced biofuels like those of the Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels usually require calculations of the greenhouse gas emissions or even of the environmental impacts on a LCA basis. For small producers in developing countries, such an evaluation is too costly and would prevent them to enter the market for biofuels. This project developed a web-based tool, the so-called Sustainability Quick Check for Biofuels (SQCB), which allows a “quick check” of common agro-biofuel on a LCA basis. The major goal of the SQCB is (i) to facilitate the market entrance of sustainable biofuels for local producers from developing countries and (ii) to increase for the know-how on the environmental performance of specific agro-biofuel production chains. The SQCB uses a simplified approach. The life cycle inventory is modelled based on a questionnaire including the decisions and factors having the highest influence on the environmental performance of an agro-biofuel value chain. Based on that data, an inventory is modelled and linked with background data from the ecoinvent database for a full Life Cycle Impact Assessment. Results show the greenhouse gas potential (GWP100) as well as overall environmental impacts (UBP06) of the biofuels’ life cycle in relation to a biogenic and a fossil fuel reference both tabular and graphical. On this basis, the user can (i) assess if the biofuels produced comply with the Swiss sustain-ability standards and (ii) determine the hot spots in his biofuel value chain. In addition, the SQCB enables the user interactively to understand the influence and interaction of different decisions and factors on the environmental performance of his biofuel value chain.