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

合作研究：缪斯：城市地区可持续工业系统的材料流建模该奖项是06财年材料使用：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大量且不断增长的人口、物质和能源流动。重新设计材料的流动，特别是它们的处置模式，对于在国家边界内、跨越国际边界和跨代实现可持续的系统至关重要。然而，在可持续工业系统增长的模型中，城市景观和人口及其相关的物质流动的代表性不足。在开发模型和工具来塑造从城市中心开采的材料的下一代工业系统时，这些材料资源的空间分布必须综合起来，因为可持续系统的成功设计不可能在地理真空中发生。认识到制造公司和城市地区之间的共生物质流动关系，这项多学科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动的影响，以促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，并对这些地区不同物质流动情景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应用于评估亚特兰大和西雅图市在地毯和电子产品回收方面感兴趣的具体技术经济政策方案，包括材料流动、运输、经济发展和环境影响。认识到全球需要这样的模型和分析系统，我们的工作包括一个以问题为基础的国际教育部分，重点是在非洲倾倒电子废物。我们希望这个项目产生的研究见解将有助于缩小由于将工业系统与城市系统分开对待而导致的可持续性思维的重大差距。缩小这一差距是充分减轻工业对环境影响的必要条件。结果将包括改进城市规模的物质流动模型，这将有助于发展基于市场的收集和回收系统，该系统将考虑到消耗绿地、城市内部经济振兴和减少垃圾填埋场的影响。因此，本研究旨在通过贫困地区的废物转移来鼓励新的制造业活动，这是一种促进城市可持续发展的有前途的经济发展战略。该合同由工程局土木与机械系统部和生物工程与环境系统部共同管理。

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MUSES:MODELING 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.