Conventional building materials (CBMs) made from non-renewable resources are the main source of indoor air contaminants, whose impact can extend from indoors to outdoors. Given their sustainable development (SD) prospect, green building materials (GBMs) with non-toxic, natural, and organic compounds have the potential to reduce their overall impacts on environmental and human health. In this regard, biocomposites as GBMs are environmentally friendly, safe, and recyclable materials and their replacement of CBMs reduces environmental impacts and human health concerns. This study aims to develop a model of fully hybrid bio-based biocomposite as non-structural GBMs and compare it with fully petroleum-based composite in terms of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and human health impacts. Using a small chamber test (American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)-D5116) for VOC investigation and SimaPro software modeling with the ReCiPe method for evaluating human health impacts. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is used, and the results indicate that switching the fully hybrid bio-based biocomposite with the fully petroleum-based composite could reduce more than 50% impacts on human health in terms of indoor and outdoor. Our results indicate that the usage of biocomposite as GBMs can be an environmentally friendly solution for reducing the total indoor and outdoor impacts on human health.

Global economic trends have shown the progression of social inequalities and environmental deterioration in the grey economy. New economic practices and policies need to be developed in order to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). A green economy (GE) has a correlative role with the implementation of sustainable development (SD), which could revive the grey economy, human well-being, and social equity, as well as substantially decrease environmental risks and ecological scarcities. This study aims to develop a hybrid methodological and mathematical approach to prioritize the most effective variables from classified GE and SDGs criteria (23 criteria) to implement SD. This study has deliberated over the Decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique for considering interconnections among numerous criteria to collect the most effective variables (12 criteria) based on three pillars (3Ps) of SD. Likewise, the analytic network process (ANP) technique ranked these effective variables by considering their network relations based on three indicators. Lastly, integration was used to finalize and prioritize the most effective variables based on their weight from the ANP technique. This study will highlight the green economy with exclusive environmental issues and sustainable growth as the greatest effective variables among GE and SDGs criteria for SD implementation.

Measurement of environmental and energy economics presents an analytical foundation for environmental decision making and policy analysis. Applications of data envelopment analysis (DEA) models in the assessment of environmental and energy economics are increasing notably. The main objective of this review paper is to provide the comprehensive overview of the application of DEA models in the fields of environmental and energy economics. In this regard, a total 145 articles published in the high-quality international journals extracted from two important databases (Web of Science and Scopus) were selected for review. The 145 selected articles are reviewed and classified based on different criteria including author(s), application scheme, different DEA models, application fields, the name of journals and year of publication. This review article provided insights into the methodological and conceptualization study in the application of DEA models in the environmental and energy economics fields. This study should enable scholars and practitioners to understand the state of art of input and output indicators of DEA in the fields of environmental and energy economics.

Growing populations and rapid worldwide urbanization are recognized as constituting one of the most complex processes in the world and have raised concerns about the sustainability of cities. Sustainable development, a widely accepted strategic framework in city planning, singles out urban green spaces as a primary solution for addressing these issues. Growing empirical evidences indicate that the presence of natural areas contributes to a better quality of life in many ways. Urban green spaces serve as places of identity, memory, and belonging; enrich human life with meaning and emotions by providing important social and psychological benefits; and enhance the quality of life of citizens, which is a key component of sustainability. Despite our understanding of the benefits of urban green spaces, little is known about the benefits of historical urban green spaces. To highlight their importance with regard to environmental sustainability and citizens’ well-being, this study analyzes a number of historical Persian gardens that are still actively used by urban residents. The findings suggest that historical Persian gardens could accommodate many social functions and address many of the psychological issues relating to urban dwelling. It has been generally acknowledged that sense of community and place attachment is pivotal to creating sustainable urban environments. Historical gardens as physical components can cohesively weave together many parts of cities of any cities while providing places for public congregation as well as attracting a variety of local economic activities. All these attributes can make historical Persian gardens as a valuable municipal resource and a key ingredient for city’s living sustainability.