Journal of Urban Environmental Management

Abstract This study investigates the impacts of implementing a comprehensive Green Management Plan in the Bank Mellat Construction Company of Iran. The primary objective is to evaluate various dimensions of green management and its effects on the organization’s environmental, economic, and social indicators. The research adopts a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. In the qualitative phase, insights were gathered through in-depth interviews with 12 experts in green management and construction. In the quantitative phase, data from 180 experienced employees of the organization were analyzed. The findings reveal that the implementation of the plan has led to significant and positive improvements in environmental indicators, including reduced energy consumption, increased use of renewable energy sources, improved waste management, and lower levels of environmental pollution. Furthermore, educational programs, individual incentives, and green-related events have contributed to raising employee awareness and fostering an environmental culture within the organization. Additionally, the commitment and support of senior management have played a key role in the successful implementation of the plan. This study emphasizes that green management is an effective tool for promoting sustainable development and enhancing the economic and environmental performance of organizations. Moreover, the Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) model developed in this research serves as an efficient tool for identifying the interactions among key variables and improving organizational planning. The findings can serve as a model for other industries aiming to advance sustainability and environmental management.

Abstract Considering the three major problems of energy, raw material shortage, and waste, the development of environmentally friendly building materials is one of the development programs in the field of civil engineering. This study investigates the use of industrial and agricultural wastes in the development of sustainable clay blocks through activated geopolymerization technology with synthesized sodium silicate. Kaolinite clay was used as the initial matrix and supplemented with industrial fly ash, rice husk ash, and natural sands to synthesize sodium silicate additive. The alkaline activator was synthesized from silica sand through an optimized dissolution process with sodium hydroxide, and the SiO₂/Na₂O molar ratio was 1.5 and the H₂O/Na₂O ratio was 10. The samples were tested under different curing conditions and different concentrations of synthetic sodium silicate in clay blocks with different percentages of waste (0.5, 1, and 1.5%). Key findings show that: (1) compressive strength increased by 21–24% with 30 cc of alkaline activator at 150°C curing. (2) optimal substitution of 1% rice husk ash yielded maximum strength (1.81 MPa) that outperformed fly ash; (3) longer curing increased strength by 18–30% in 7-day specimens due to complete geopolymerization; (4) silica sand-derived activator was economically viable. The results confirm that waste-derived geopolymers reduce energy consumption while utilizing industrial/agricultural byproducts and provide a scalable route to environmentally friendly construction.

Abstract Tunnel operation and maintenance includes a set of activities carried out to maintain the safety, proper functioning, and useful life of tunnels during operation. This research aims to identify and prioritize IoT applications in the operation and maintenance of tunnels using multi-criteria decision-making methods. The Delphi method was employed to identify the criteria and sub-criteria. After implementing the Delphi method, the main criteria were categorized into three groups, and their respective sub-criteria were identified. Subsequently, data were collected using pairwise comparison questionnaires and analyzed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The results revealed that the security criterion, with a weight of 0.6404, holds the highest level of importance, followed by the maintenance and repair criterion with a weight of 0.2332, and the processing criterion with a weight of 0.1265, ranking second and third, respectively. Among the sub-criteria of security, the visibility of personnel and machinery ranked first. In the maintenance and repair sub-criteria, preventive maintenance of the tunnel structure ranked first, and updating information and data ranked last. Additionally, among the sub-criteria for tunnel processing operations, field analysis, exploration, and anomaly reporting ranked first, while preventing the waste of mineral resources ranked last compared to other sub-criteria. These results indicate that in high-risk environments such as mining tunnels, safety and preventive maintenance take precedence, while mineral resource efficiency is considered a lower priority.

Abstract This study designed and constructed an innovative solar distillation system with an emphasis on extremely low cost, ease of construction, and the use of locally available materials. It was tested under real-world climatic conditions in Iran, specifically in the city of Sirjan. The system's primary goal is to produce safe drinking water from contaminated sources without relying on fossil fuels or grid electricity. The key innovation lies not in thermodynamic principles, but in the practical feasibility of a truly affordable solution built using recycled and readily obtainable parts.Experiments were conducted during summer and autumn, using an initial water volume of 500 cc under various environmental conditions. Parameters such as ambient temperature, initial water temperature, and the volume of distilled water produced were recorded. Results indicated that the system's thermal performance is dependent on solar radiation. Under optimal conditions (midday on a clear summer day), it achieved an overall thermal efficiency of 19.6%, which is a commendable efficiency given its minimal construction cost. Microbiological tests confirmed the system's ability to completely purify water; total coliform counts dropped from 100 CFU/100ml in the input water to zero in the treated output. The innovative use of discrete mosaic mirrors, instead of a continuous parabolic mirror, played a key role in reducing cost while maintaining performance. Due to its simple construction, energy independence, and proven effectiveness, this technology offers a sustainable, practical, and cost-effective solution for providing safe drinking water in arid regions of the country.

Abstract The design of sustainable spaces has become of great importance due to the impact of thermal comfort in urban open spaces on the feeling of comfort and satisfaction of citizens, as well as the optimal use of environmental conditions in creating comfort and saving energy consumption. Accurate prediction of thermal comfort and environmental thermal conditions in urban areas by various methods facilitates the improvement of urban planning and energy management. A review of previous studies shows the high ability of deep learning models in improving thermal comfort predictions. In this paper, a hybrid method based on deep learning is presented for predicting the universal thermal climate index. After preprocessing the dataset, the previous models that had high accuracy were trained and evaluated. Then, the three models with the highest performance were selected for the combined model, and the predictions of all three models were generated for the test set. To ensure dimensionality integrity, the predictions were converted into one-dimensional arrays. Finally, the final prediction was calculated by averaging the predictions of the three models. To evaluate the performance of the proposed model and to train and test the methods used in the combined model, the real data set of Mashhad city was used. Standard numerical prediction criteria including root mean square error, mean absolute error and coefficient of determination were calculated to evaluate the proposed model. The evaluation results showed that the hybrid model provides better performance in predicting the universal thermal climate index compared to previous methods.

Abstract In the last decade, porous concrete has been considered as one of the effective options in urban runoff management, especially in sidewalks and surface pavements. In the present study, the combined performance of nanoparticles (5 wt%) and mineral adsorbents (15% zeolite, travertine, scoria and pumice) in porous concrete to improve the quality of urban runoff was investigated experimentally and numerically. The samples were evaluated in the laboratory under the passage of 10 liters of runoff for 2 hours and under constant temperature, porosity and permeability. TSS, COD and lead concentration parameters were measured before and after the runoff passage. Experimental results showed that adding pumice with 5% nanoparticles resulted in 75% lead removal, combining 10% zeolite with 5% nanoparticles resulted in 32% TSS removal and 15% zeolite with 2% nanoparticles resulted in 23% COD reduction. In numerical simulation using COMSOL Multiphysics, after calibrating the model with laboratory data, lead removal was reproduced to approximately 80% (with an error of about 20% compared to the experiment) and TSS and COD removal were reproduced to 17% and 9%, respectively (difference of 14–15%). The results show that the addition of inorganic adsorbents and nanoparticles, by reducing pores and increasing the contact surface, plays an effective role in the absorption of physical and chemical pollutants in runoff.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize the drivers for enhancing the education and promotion of environmental behaviors among employees of governmental organizations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, using a strategic foresight approach. Methodologically, the study was based on the analysis of the structural cross-impact matrix within a strategic foresight framework, and in terms of purpose, it was classified as developmental–applied research. The statistical population comprised 35 experts, including university professors and senior managers of governmental organizations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through library research, structured interviews, and a qualitative scoring questionnaire (ranging from zero to three) in accordance with the structural cross-impact matrix, and were analyzed using MICMAC statistical software. The findings of this study showed that the drivers of combining training programs and courses with voluntary environmental activities and actions of employees, implementing and explaining environmental behaviors in human resource development programs, explaining and integrating environmental goals with organizational norms, values, and culture, and formulating and explaining clear strategies and policies to protect and improve the organizational environment are the most effective drivers of improving education and promoting environmental behaviors of employees of government organizations in the Republic of Iran. The results further revealed that identifying and prioritizing such drivers provides a foundation for designing targeted training programs with an environmental sustainability approach, thereby improving the performance of governmental organizations in resource management and reducing negative environmental impacts through the promotion of employees’ environmental behaviors.

Abstract In this study, a sulfur-coated magnetic carbon nanotube composite was synthesized through coating an elemental sulfur layer onto magnetic carbon nanotubes using a facile thermal process and subsequently employed for fabricating an Ag sensor. The influence of effective parameters including buffer pH, modifier dosage, and preconcentration time were also optimized using the differential pulse voltammetry method. A calibration curve was obtained in the range of 0.5 to 85 µg L⁻¹ under optimal experimental conditions. The detection limit was calculated to be 0.1 µg L⁻¹ based on the 3σ criterion. Real sample analysis including dam, well, and lake waters was successfully performed using the standard addition protocol. The sensor demonstrated satisfactory reproducibility with an RSD value of 3.5%. The sulfur coating, by creating specific binding sites for silver ions, dramatically enhances selectivity and sensitivity of the suggested method. The proposed method for Ag determination exhibits high efficiency and possesses applicability for routine analysis of environmental waters. The low detection limit, wide linear range, and remarkable selectivity, introduce this sensing system as an effective analytical tool for monitoring silver pollution in aquatic environments.