Environment

The Spatio-Temporal Clustering of Green Buildings in the United States

Kaza, N
Lester, TW
Rodriguez, DA
2013

This paper explores the spatial and temporal patterns of green building in the commercial and institutional sectors in the US. While these buildings are becoming more commonplace, they have yet to reach a critical mass to affect the entire construction industry. Given the potential for green building practices to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, the paper seeks to understand the geography of green building. Using multiple metrics, it explains the patterning of geography of LEED and Energy Star certified buildings in the US. Strong evidence is found of clustering at the...

El Oso Andino (Tremarctos Ornatus) Fuera de las Areas Protegidas en Colombia

Rodriguez, D
2015

The Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus; 70-195 kg; VU) is the only actual South American bear and its habitat comprises Andean forests. The expansion of the agricultural frontier, the conflict retaliation hunting, the road infrastructure, and the lack of effective preservation practices are its threats. The mountain ranges cover 31.3% of the Colombian territory over 400 m.a.s.l., and constitute the backbone of its river structure. It has 326 Protected Areas (AP’s): 66 nationally, 170 regionally, and 90 locally, which take up 49,528.64 km2, 10.3 % of the Colombian Andean region. 166,779 km2...

The Effects of Urban Form on Ambient Air Pollution and Public Health Risk: A Case Study in Raleigh, North Carolina

Mansfield, TJ
Rodriguez, DA
Huegy, J
Gibson, JMD
2014

Since motor vehicles are a major air pollution source, urban designs that decrease private automobile use could improve air quality and decrease air pollution health risks. Yet, the relationships among urban form, air quality, and health are complex and not fully understood. To explore these relationships, we model the effects of three alternative development scenarios on annual average fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in ambient air and associated health risks from PM2.5 exposure in North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham-...

A42 Transportation, Air Pollution and Physical ActivitieS (TAPAS): A Comprehensive Research Programme on Active Travel

Nazelle, A De
Rojas-Rueda, D
Jerrett, M
Rodriguez, D
Cole-Hunter, T
Donaire, D
Andersen, Z
Nieuwenhuijsen, MJ
2015
Encouraging walking and cycling as means of transportation may have diverse benefits, such as reduced pollutant emissions and increased physical activity in the population. At the same time, individuals who shift to active travel modes may also experience increased risks of traffic...

University of California, Davis Long-Range Development Plan: A Davis Smart Mobility Model

Shaheen, Susan
Rodier, Caroline J.
Finson, Rachel S.
2003

The goal of the Smart Mobility Model project was to optimize individual mobility options through improved connectivity among modes, enhanced techniques to link landuse planning and transportation system design, advanced information technologies, and clean-fuel vehicles. The California PATH/Caltrans partnership with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) was initiated after campus planners expressed interest in learning how innovative mobility services and technologies (such as carsharing and smart parking management) might help to alleviate the transportation impacts of a campus...

Objective Correlates and Determinants of Bicycle Commuting Propensity in an Urban Environment

Cole-Hunter, T
Donaire-Gonzalez, D
Curto, A
Ambros, A
Valentín, A
Garcia-Aymerich, J
Martinez, D
Braun, L
Mendez, M
Jerrett, M
Rodriguez, D
Nazelle, A De
Nieuwenhuijsen, MJ
2015
Bicycle use for commuting is being encouraged not only to address physical inactivity, but also vehicular congestion, air pollution and climate change. The current study aimed to ascertain the urban environmental correlates and determinants of bicycle use for commuting (bicycle commuting) among the working or studying population in Barcelona, Spain. Adults (n = 769; 52% females) recruited whilst commuting within Barcelona (Spain) responded to a comprehensive telephone survey concerning their travel behaviour. Based upon...

Using Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC)to Form High-Performance Vehicle Streams. Definitions, Literature Review and Operational Concept Alternatives

Shladover, Steven E.
Nowakowski, Christopher
Lu, Xiao-Yun
2018

Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) is a term that has been used rather loosely in recent years, such that different people visualize different functions and capabilities when discussing CACC systems. Thus, there are now multiple system concepts that have been described under the CACC label, and the functionalities included in these varied concepts can be quite different from each other. At the heart of each CACC concept is the merging of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), a subset of the broader class of automated speed control systems, with acooperative element, such a Vehicle-to-...

Control of Heavy-Duty Trucks: Environmental and Fuel Economy Considerations

Zhang, Jianlong
Ioannou, Petros
2004

In this project we investigate the effect of heavy-duty trucks, equipped with different Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems, on the environment and traffic flow characteristics. The sluggish dynamics of trucks whether manual or ACC that is due to their limited acceleration capabilities filter speed disturbances caused by leading vehicles and lead to beneficial effects on the environment and traffic flow characteristics. This response however may lead to higher travel times in certain situations as well as invite cut-ins from neighboring lanes causing additional disturbances. A new ACC...

Geographical Routing Using Partial Information for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Jain, Rahul
Puri, Anuj
Sengupta, Raja
2001

In this paper, we present an algorithm for routing in wireless ad hoc networks using information about geographical location of the nodes. We assume each node knows its geographical position and the position of the node to which it wants to send a packet. Initially, the nodes only know their neighbors but over time they discover other nodes in the network. The routing table at a node S is a list ((pi, Si)) where pi is a geographical position and Si is a neighbor of node 5’. When node S receives a packet for a node D at position pos(D), it finds the pi in its routing table which is closest...

Model of Human Vehicle Driving - a Predictive Nonlinear Optimization Approach

Prokop, Günther
2000

When driving a vehicle the human acts as a controller in a highly dynamic environment. Thus human behavior in that control loop has to a large extent been described using control theoretical methodology. We develop a driver model, in which driving is seen as a model predictive control task in such a way that the driver accumulates knowledge about his/her vehicle's handling properties. He/she builds a model out of that knowledge and uses it to predict the vehicle's future reactions on his/her control inputs. The human's behavioral optimization is reflected in the driver model by using that...