Sustainability

Objective : The construction industry has been increasingly criticized for its poor sustainability performance in recent decades, creating a chance for the sector to play a key role in global sustainability efforts. Rapid technological advancements and increasing construction project complexities have driven the need for flexible, sustainability-focused project management frameworks. This study introduces a fuzzy inference system designed to evaluate construction project sustainability, built on insights from extensive literature and expert input. Methods : To design the proposed model, the system inputs—criteria for evaluating the sustainability level of construction projects at various layers—were first identified. Next, the necessary if-then rules were developed based on expert opinions. The system output was determined in alignment with the research’s final objective. By offering a comprehensive assessment of construction project sustainability, the model enables organizations to identify their strengths and weaknesses, assess their current position, and make informed decisions to enhance their sustainable performance.  Results : The output of the research includes a detailed analysis of the sustainability performance of construction projects. The designed model, along with its measurement tools, provides an opportunity for leaders and managers in the construction industry who are concerned about sustainability to gradually enhance their sustainability status and advance the sustainability level of projects. This model consists of three subsystems named the Direction, Execution, and Results subsystems. The aforementioned subsystems are the result of a literature review and are considered inputs to the final level of the model. Conclusion : The designed model serves as a tool to identify and implement improvement methods and potential areas for project advancement from a sustainability perspective. By utilizing this model, the quality of project execution in line with sustainability indicators, while addressing all three dimensions—economic, social, and environmental—improves continuously and proportionately.

Background: Telecommunication system plays a crucial role in fast development of energy demand growth and carbon dioxide emissions. As sustainability becomes part of corporate goals green telecommunications strive to bring innovation in energy efficiency. Objective: As part of examining the state of art developments in energy-efficient networking technologies and approaches to minimize power consumption in telecommunication facilities, the important global task of using green telecommunication for sustainable development goals is highlighted. Methods: A literature review and analysis were successfully performed to examine the use of advanced hardware technologies, SDN technology, NFV, and intelligent renewable energy integration. Some of the green telecommunication’s solutions that were implemented are explained with case studies in this article. Results: The studies reveal that new practices including energy-sensitive algorithms, state-of-art cooling solutions and integration of renewable power into Telecommunications networks have improved the energy efficiency standards. In addition, SDN and NFV also improve resource allocation of data centers, which also boosts energy efficiency. Conclusion: Green telecoms offer available strategies for cutting back energy use in telecoms sector. Mitigation of the environmental impacts can therefore be achieved through incorporation of Energy Efficiency measures and Renewable Energy Source technology to utility services without necessarily compromising quality of service delivery hence catalyzing the Advancement of the progress of sustainability.

Background: Digital twin (DT) technologies have become significant enablers of urban management, utilising real-time information, data analytics, and IoT connectivity to manage challenging urban issues. Nonetheless, existing studies reveal the capacity of the DTs, while their generalization, flexibility, and cross-disciplinary application for various urban environments are not thoroughly studied yet. Objective: This article aims to evaluate the effectiveness of DT technologies in improving traffic management, energy efficiency, infrastructure maintenance, and public safety across six case study cities: There are Singapore, Helsinki, Barcelona, Dubai, New York, and Tokyo. The study examines how DTs can be extended and implemented to target urban issues and how their use operational performance might be optimized. Methods: The study used quantitative data processing, on-line data analysis with factorization and machine learning, and assessment of the case studies. Quantitative measures which included traffic flow, energy loss, down time, and response to emergency situations were investigated pre and post DT application. The improvements mentioned were statistically confirmed, and the metrics of scalability and adaptability were evaluated in the course of the cities. Results: DT technologies increased traffic flow by up to 42.9%, reduced energy losses by 35%, minimum down time was 42%, emergency response was 44.9%. This was the case because the network had high IoT coverage and because DTs were applied to the context when it specifically needed them. Conclusion: The study proves that DTs can be implemented in different environments due to their flexibility to accommodate different urban conditions. AI and cross domain integration can add to the effectiveness of DT in general and both are inarguably now crucial for the management of contemporary urban environment.