environmental management tools and methods

7/25/2019 Environmental Management Tools and Methods

1/14

14010331

Executive Summary

Decision-making in the field of environmental management is facilitated by use of a diverse

set of environmental management tools (EMT available to the decision-maker! Three of

these tools are a""lied to the construction of stadium ne#t to the $niversity of the %est of

England to assess their suitability to the "ro&ect and a""reciate their advantages ordisadvantages in each a""lication! The three tools are environmental im"act assessment

(E') strategic environmental assessment (*E and life cycle assessment (+,! E'

"rovides good coverage of environmental effects and is a ell-acce"ted tool across the globe

in terms of environmental management! .oever) E' lacks the ability to be a""lied on

higher level decisions necessary to ensure that sustainable goals are met ith such a large)

high im"act "ro&ect! *E covers a ide sco"e of environmental issues and certainly

"ossesses the ability to "romote sustainable develo"ment for the "ro&ect hile o"erating at a

higher decision-making level com"ared to E'! *till) the a""lication of *E ould re/uire a

large amount of time and resources if /uality information is to be "rovided to the decision-

maker! +, allos the decision maker to scrutinise the emissions to the environment of eachstage of the stadiums life) but at the cost of losing /ualitative value of the data as it is

transformed into /uantitative data! 'deally) all these EMTs and more ould be a""lied to all

"ro&ects) but time) resource and financial restraints "revent this from ha""ening! .oever) it

may still be "ossible to combine EMTs such as +, and E' to "rovide com"rehensive

information to the decision-maker! bligatory EMTs must be su""lemented by voluntary

EMTs to ensure the decision-maker can make the best decision available!

1


2/14

14010331

1.0 Introduction

2roing "ublic concern about the environment has been one of the main catalysts in the

incor"oration of environmental as"ects into all levels of decision-making! 'n order to

facilitate this "rocess of decision making) a variety of tools have been develo"ed to "rovide

im"ortant information for the decision-maker each ith their on advantages anddisadvantages (Moberg) 005! The selection of a "articular ty"e of tool in any situation

de"ends on the conte#t hich the decision is based u"on! 6noing hich tool to select for a

s"ecific "ro&ect is critical to ensure that the correct decisions are made based u"on the

collected information!

1.1 Project Background

The "ro&ect consists of the "ro"osed $niversity of %est England *tadium) also called the

7$%E *tadium) set to be constructed on a 8!3 hectare site located ne#t to $%Es 9renchay

cam"us in *outh 2loucestershire! The ne "ro&ect also includes retail outlets) conference

facilities) recreational s"aces) gyms and a car "ark for 1)000 vehicles! The ne stadium ill

create and estimated :0 &obs as ell as offer "art time ork for students of $%E! The

a""ro#imate location of the construction site in relation to $%E is shon in 9igure 1!1! The

"ro&ect site is located a""ro#imately 1 km northest of the M34 motoray) : km north of

;ristol city and 10 km east of the coast of the ;ristol ,hannel!

Figure 1.1.Ma" shoing $niversity of %est England ith the construction area shon inred (2oogle Ma"s) 01


3/14

14010331

Figure 1.2.Ma" shoing $niversity of %est England in relation to ;ristol ,ity and the

;ristol ,hannel (2oogle Ma"s) 01


4/14

14010331

2.0 Environmental Management Tool

There are a multitude of environmental management tools in use around the orld! Table !1

lists these tools and describes the ty"e of decision su""ort that the tools uses! lthough Table

!1 is not an e#haustive list) it is interesting to note that only to out of the tools listed utilise

a "rocedural decision su""ort ty"e as o""osed to an analytical one! The three environmentalmanagement tools investigated in this re"ort are Environmental 'm"act ssessment (E')

*trategic Environmental ssessment (*E and +ife ,ycle ssessment (+,! This section

ill "rovide an introduction to these tools) highlight the factors influencing their selection as

ell as "oint out any advantages and disadvantages they might have!

Ta!le 2.1.+ist of most environmental management tools arranged in descending al"habetical

order along ith the res"ective abbreviation and decision su""ort ty"e! da"ted from Moberg

(005

Tool "!!reviation #eciion Su$$ort

,ost ;enefit nalysis ,;

nalyticalDirect Material ,onsum"tion DM,

Direct Material 'n"ut DM'

Ecological 9oot"rint E9

Environmental 'm"act ssessment E' =rocedural

Environmental Management *ystem EM*

nalytical

Energy nalysis En

'n"ut-ut"ut nalysis '

'm"act =athay ""roach '=

+ife ,ycle ssessment +,+ife ,ycle ,osting +,,

Multi"le ttribute nalysis M

Material 'ntensity =er $nit *ervice M'=*

Material 9lo nalysis M9

>isk ssessment >

*trategic Environmental ssessment *E =rocedural

*ystem of Economic and Environmental ccounts *EE

nalytical*ubstance 9lo nalysis *9

Total Material >e/uirement TM>

2.1 Environmental Im$act "ement

The conce"t of the E' first emerged from the $nited *tates ($* ?ational Environmental

=olicy ct (?E= in 18:0 hich integrated the im"act assessment "rocess into legislation

for the first time (>iordan @ *eell) 18A1! $nder ?E=) any develo"ments hich may

affect the "ublic) community and natural environment must be su""lemented ith a "ublicly

available statement of environmental im"acts and the considerations taken to address these

concerns (Morgan) 01! 9olloing recent environmental events in the "ast fe decades

such as fre/uent natural disasters and rising oil "rices) rising "ublic demand for attention to

the environment drove the ado"tion of E' in many countries across the globe (%ood) 003!

'n the $nited 6ingdom ($6) the frameork for domestic regulations ere based on a 18A! D! (Eds!!+roect appraisal and policy revie*! (""! 1-A! ,hichesterI %iley!

ens) *!) >ayner) T! @ ;ina) ! (004! ?e agendas for a""raisalI >eflections on theory)

"ractice and research!Environment and +lanning A, -/) 1843-18! (000! Elements of an *E frameorkI im"roving the added-value of *E!

Environmental "mpact Assessment Revie*, 0.(5) 54:-553!

*adler) ;! @ erheem) >! (1885! Strategic environmental assessment: Status, c!allenges and

future directions! The .agueI The ?etherlands Ministry of .ousing) *"atial =lanning

and the Environment!

12
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4990454,-2.5559835,1661m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4990454,-2.5559835,1661m/data=!3m1!1e3


13/14

14010331

Tetlo) M! 9! @ .anusch) M! (01! *trategic environmental assessmentI The state of the

art!"mpact Assessment and +roect Appraisal, -.(1) 1! (010! Strategic environmental assessment in action! (nd ed!! +ondonI

Earthscan!

Tukker) ! (000! +ife cycle assessment as a tool in environmental im"act assessment!

Environmental "mpact Assessment Revie*, 0.(4) 43


14/14

14010331

"$$endix

Ta!le ".1.>esults of a""lication of E' on the "ro&ect! =ositive im"acts denoted ith 7

sign and negative im"acts denoted ith 7- sign!

(ategory Predicted im$act Mitigation meaure

.uman

beings

-*lee" or "eace disturbance from

noise

-Dust from construction may cause

lungBbreathing "roblems

coustic design needed to minimise

e#cessive sound im"act

=lant trees to serve as barrier beteen

sound and residential areas

>educe esca"e of dust from

construction site (e!g! ater s"raying

9lora and

fauna

-Destruction of grass (hich leads

to

-+oss of habitat for animals

Transfer fauna to ne habitat

'ncor"orate grass areas in ne

stadium

,limate

change

-2reenhouse gas emissions fromclimate control systems of the

stadium and facilities

Ensure efficient o"eration of climate

control systems

Ensure "ro"er insulation of indoor

areas

%ater

-+oss of land area for ater

infiltration during rain (hich leads

to

-'ncreased ater runoff (hich leads

to

-'ncreased likelihood of flood

-=olluted runoff may reach nearby

coastline

=ro"er drainage design


stadium

=orous "avements suggested

'ncor"orate flood mitigation features

into stadium design (e!g! grass

sales

*oil

-9ertiliNerBinsecticide used for

football "itch may infiltrate into soil

$se environmentally friendly

fertiliNer

=revent dee" infiltration by an

artificial barrier (e!g! subterranean

"lasticBdrainage

ir

-ehicle "arking may attract large

numbers of vehicles (hich leads

to

-'ncreased vehicle emissions in the

area

=romote use of electric cars ith

rechargeable "arking bays

*ituate "ublic trans"ort facilities

nearby (e!g! bus sto"s

,ultural

heritage

?o historical buildings re/uired to

be demolished

Ensure construction site has no

historical significance

+andsca"e

-*tadium architecture may conflict

ith local building architecture

-+arge grass fields removed for

construction of stadium

Ensure stadium architecture blends

into surrounding area and buildings


stadium

14

environmental management tools and methods

Documents