BE/MUSES Collaborative Research: Materials Flow Modeling For Sustainable Industrial Systems In Urban Regions

城市地区可持续工业系统的材料流该奖项是2006财年材料用途：科学、工程和社会竞赛的一部分。 城市中心包含了与产品的使用和处置相关的人口和材料和能源流的重要和不断增长的部分。 重新设计材料的流动，特别是其处置模式，对于在国家边界内、跨越国际边界和跨代实现可持续系统至关重要。 然而，城市景观和人口及其相关的物质流在可持续工业系统增长模型中的代表性不足。 在开发模型和工具，以塑造下一代工业系统的材料从城市中心开采，这些材料资源的空间分布必须整合，因为成功的可持续系统的设计不能发生在地理真空。 认识到制造企业和城市地区之间的共生物质流关系，这种多学科的合作研究工作将开发一个框架，用于建模和评估重新设计城市物质流的影响，以推进可持续工业和城市系统的共同目标。 我们的共同重点是通过亚特兰大和西雅图大都市地区的新回收网络和设施，从城市中心开采特定产品和相关材料，并对这些地区不同材料流方案的经济发展和环境影响进行建模。 在我们的工作中，我们将把地理信息系统数据与人口统计数据、消费者行为模型、具有材料信息的产品模型、工业回收过程模型、投入产出和社会核算矩阵模型以及运输和环境影响评估模型联系起来。 由此产生的框架和模型将被应用于评估亚特兰大和西雅图城市在地毯和电子产品回收方面的材料流，运输，经济发展和环境影响的具体技术经济政策方案。认识到全球对此类模型和分析系统的需求，我们的工作包括一个基于问题的国际教育部分，重点关注非洲电子废物的倾倒。我们预计该项目产生的研究见解将有助于缩小可持续发展思维中的巨大差距，这是由于将工业系统与城市系统分开处理而导致的。 弥合这一差距是充分减轻工业对环境影响的必要条件。 成果将包括改进城市规模的物质流建模，这将有助于开发基于市场的收集和回收系统，其中考虑到消费绿地，内城经济振兴和减少垃圾填埋场的影响。 因此，这项研究旨在通过在贫困地区转移废物来鼓励新的制造业活动-这是一项促进城市可持续性的有前途的经济发展战略。该奖项由工程局的土木机械系统和生物工程环境系统部门共同管理。

MATERIAL FLOWS FOR SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS FOR URBAN REGIONSThis award is part of the FY06 Materials Use: Science, Engineering and Society competition. Urban centers contain a significant and growing fraction of population and material and energy flows associated with the use and disposal of products. Re-engineering the flows of materials particularly the patterns of their disposal is critical to achieving sustainable systems within national boundaries, across international boundaries, and across generations. Yet, the urban landscape and population, and their associated material flows, have been underrepresented in models of sustainable industrial system growth. In developing models and tools to shape the next generation of industrial systems for materials mined from urban centers, the spatial distribution of these material resources must be integrated because successful design of sustainable systems cannot occur in a geographical vacuum. In recognition of the symbiotic material flow relationship between manufacturing companies and urban regions, this multi-disciplinary collaborative research effort will develop a framework for modeling and assessing the impact of redesigning urban materials flows to advance the mutual goals of sustainable industrial and urban systems. Our common focus is on mining specific products and associated materials from urban centers through new recycling networks and facilities for the Atlanta and Seattle metropolitan regions, and on modeling the economic development and environmental effects of different material flow scenarios on these regions. In our work, we will connect Geographic Information Systems data to demographic data, to consumer behavior models, to product models with material information, to industrial recycling process models, to Input-Output and Social Accounting Matrix models, and to transportation and environmental impact assessment models. The resulting framework and models will be applied to evaluate specific techno-economic- policy scenarios of interest to the Cities of Atlanta and Seattle in carpet and electronics recycling in terms of material flows, transportation, economic development, and environmental impact. Recognizing the global need for such models and analysis systems, our work includes a problem-based international educational component focused on the dumping of electronic waste in Africa.We expect the research insights generated by this project will help in closing the significant gap in thinking on sustainability that has resulted from treating industrial systems separately from urban systems. Closing this gap is a necessary condition for fully mitigating the environmental impacts of industry. Outcomes will include improved modeling of material flows for the urban scale that will help in developing market-based collection and recycling systems which take into account the impacts of consuming greenfields, inner city economic revitalization, and landfill reduction. Thus, this research is intended to encourage new manufacturing activity via waste diversion in distressed areas -- a promising economic development strategy that promotes urban sustainability. This award is co-managed by the Divisions of Civil & Mechanical Systems and Bioengineering & Environmental Systems in the Engineering Directorate.