This book presents new concepts as well as practical applications and experiences in the field of information technology for environmental engineering. The book has three main focus areas: firstly, it shows how information technologies can be employed to support natural resource management and conservation, environmental engineering, scientific simulation and integrated assessment studies. Secondly, it demonstrates the application of computing in the everyday practices of environmental engineers, natural scientists, economists and social scientists. And thirdly, it demonstrates how the complexity of natural phenomena can be approached using interdisciplinary methods, where computer science offers the infrastructure needed for environmental data collection and management, scientific simulations, decision support documentation and reporting.The book collects selected papers presented at the 7th International Symposium on Environmental Engineering, held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in July 2015. It discusses recent success stories in eco-informatics, promising ideas and new challenges from the interdisciplinary viewpoints of computer scientists, environmental engineers, economists and social scientists, demonstrating new paradigms for problem-solving and decision-making.

Information technologies have evolved to an enabling science for natural resource management and conservation, environmental engineering, scientific simulation and integrated assessment studies. Computing plays a significant role in the every day practices of environmental engineers, natural scientists, economists, and social scientists. The complexity of natural phenomena requires interdisciplinary approaches, where computing science offers the infrastructure for environmental data collection and management, scientific simulations, decision support, documentation and reporting. Ecology, environmental engineering and natural resource management comprise an excellent real-world testbed for IT system demonstration, while presenting new challenges for computer science. Complexity, uncertainty and scaling issues of natural systems constitute a demanding application domain for modelling, simulation and scientific workflows, data management and reporting, decision support and intelligent systems, distributed computing environments, geographical information systems, heterogeneous systems integration, software engineering, accounting systems, control systems, as well as sustainable manufacturing and reverse logistics. This books offers a collection of papers presented at the 6th International Conference on Environmental Engineering, held in July 2013, in Lüneburg, Germany. Recent success stories in ecoinformatics, promising ideas and new challenges are discussed among computer scientists, environmental engineers, industrial engineers, economists and social scientists, demonstrating new paradigms for problem solving and decision making.

This monograph contains recent studies in eco-informatics, promising ideas and new challenges in information management for supporting sustainability in companies and other organization. The scope of this book includes sets of solutions which show different stakeholders’ viewpoints on sustainability. In individual chapters, authors discuss the role which Environmental Information Systems (EIS) play in the environmental conscious functioning of enterprise. New models, methods and tools supporting sustainability are presented. Emphasis is placed on the innovative approach to eco-friendly organization and coordination of transport, logistics processes and operations management. The information management and decision making in manufacturing and service organizations is highlighted. The scope of this monograph also encompasses topics related to the modeling and monitoring of climate change.

Increasing environmental concerns demand interdisciplinary approaches enabling engineers, natural scientists, economists and computer scientists to work together. Information technology is vital to all scientists involved in environmental engineering, covering modeling and simulation, information systems, formal methods and data processing techniques, tools and measurement techniques. This book presents the proceedings of the ITEE 07 conference, where new concepts as well as practical applications and experiences in environmental engineering were presented and discussed.

Information technologies have evolved to an enabling science for natural resource management and conservation, environmental engineering, scientific simulation and integrated assessment studies. Computing plays a significant role in every day practices of environmental engineers, natural scientists, economists, and social scientists. The complexity of natural phenomena requires interdisciplinary approaches, where computing science offers the infrastructure for environmental data collection and management, scientific simulations, decision support documentation and reporting. Ecology, environmental engineering and natural resource management comprise an excellent real-world testbed for IT system demonstration, while raising new challenges for computer science. Complexity, uncertainty and scaling issues of natural systems form a demanding application domain for sensor networks and earth observation systems; modelling, simulation and scientific workflows, data management and reporting, decision support and intelligent systems, distributed computing environments, geographical information systems, heterogeneous systems integration, software engineering, accounting systems and control systems. This books offers a collection of papers presented at the 4th International Symposium on Environmental Engineering, held in May 2009, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Recent success stories in ecoinformatics, promising ideas and new challenges are discussed among computer scientists, environmental engineers, economists and social scientists, demonstrating new paradigms for problem solving and decision making.

How the tools of information technology can support environmental sustainability by tackling problems that span broad scales of time, space, and complexity. Environmental issues often span long periods of time, far-flung areas, and labyrinthine layers of complexity. In Greening through IT, Bill Tomlinson investigates how the tools and techniques of information technology (IT) can help us tackle environmental problems at such vast scales. Tomlinson describes theoretical, technological, and social aspects of a growing interdisciplinary approach to sustainability, “Green IT,” offering both a human-centered framework for understanding Green IT systems and specific examples and case studies of Green IT in action. Tomlinson descrobes many efforts toward sustainability supported by IT—from fishers in India who maximized the sales potential of their catch by coordinating their activities with mobile phones to the installation of smart meters that optimize electricity use in California households—and offers three detailed studies of specific research projects that he and his colleagues have undertaken: EcoRaft, an interactive museum exhibit to help children learn principles of restoration ecology; Trackulous, a set of web-based tools with which people can chart their own environmental behavior; and GreenScanner, an online system that provides access to environmental-impact reports about consumer products. Taken together, these examples illustrate the significant environmental benefits that innovations in information technology can enable.

Environmental engineers support the well-being of people and the planet in areas where the two intersect. Over the decades the field has improved countless lives through innovative systems for delivering water, treating waste, and preventing and remediating pollution in air, water, and soil. These achievements are a testament to the multidisciplinary, pragmatic, systems-oriented approach that characterizes environmental engineering. Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges outlines the crucial role for environmental engineers in this period of dramatic growth and change. The report identifies five pressing challenges of the 21st century that environmental engineers are uniquely poised to help advance: sustainably supply food, water, and energy; curb climate change and adapt to its impacts; design a future without pollution and waste; create efficient, healthy, resilient cities; and foster informed decisions and actions.