Higher education institutions (HEIs) have voiced growing concerns about sustainability issues since Agenda 2030 was approved, but this is not enough for societal stakeholders seeking and delivering innovation and excellence. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action, and pose a challenge for HEIs as for the efforts made to fulfill them and knowing how to assess their performance. However, the metric management system implemented by HEIs quickly led to rankings emerging, which compare HEIs to metrics not related to the sustainability dimensions of the 17 SDGs. The main aim of the paper is to assess the level of reporting and alignment of SDG achievements with the overall the Times Higher Education (THE) ranking score. For this purpose, our study (i) models and quantifies the impact of HEIs’ disclosure of SDG information on HEIs’ overall THE Impact Rankings score, (ii) analyzes whether the best ranked universities are indeed significantly related to different SDGs than other not-so-well-ranked ones, and (iii) models the differences in the overall score and its alignment with distinct SDGs by dimensions, subjects, and geographical regions. In order to do so, a descriptive analysis, non-parametric tests, and linear and logistic regression analyses were performed. Our results reveal that the overall ranking is related to the reporting of HEIs’ SDG achievements. Moreover, the more positive actions related to health, education, industry, responsible consumption and production, climate action, and partnerships there were, the higher the position of HEIs in the general ranking was. However, we found differences between top-ranking universities and others in geographical location, disclosed information, and impact. Thus, the best-ranked universities are more committed to transferring knowledge to industry to satisfy its needs (SDG9), support strong institutions in their countries, and promote peace and justice (SDG16). Finally, SDG9 and SDG17 are the most relevant and constant SDGs when modeling the alignment of SDGs with HEIs’ dimensions (teaching, research, citations, industry income, international outlook) and subjects (technological and social sciences and humanities). HEIs integrating SDG actions into the strategic management of universities and, consequently, reporting their SDG performance to promote sustainability and contribute to sustainable development, is advisable.

Broiler production in modern poultry farms commonly uses mechanical ventilation systems. This mechanical ventilation requires an amount of electric energy and a high level of investment in technology. Nevertheless, broiler production is affected by periodic problems of mortality because of thermal stress, thus being crucial to explore the ventilation efficiency. In this article, we analyze a cross-mechanical ventilation system focusing on air velocity distribution. In this way, two methodologies were used to explore indoor environment in livestock buildings: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and direct measurements for verification and validation (V&V) of CFD. In this study, a validation model using a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was conducted to compare these methodologies. The results showed that both methodologies were similar in results: the average of air velocities values were 0.60 ± 0.56 m s⁻¹ for CFD and 0.64 ± 0.54 m s⁻¹ for direct measurements. In conclusion, the air velocity was not affected by the methodology (CFD or direct measurements), and the CFD simulations were therefore validated to analyze indoor environment of poultry farms and its operations. A better knowledge of the indoor environment may contribute to reduce the demand of electric energy, increasing benefits and improving the thermal comfort of broilers.

In the last decade, companies have started to disclose information on carbon emissions. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to look into this phenomenon in South America, which is a very important geographical area regarding climate change because of the local nature and developing economies. This paper explores the relationships between some corporate variables and two important decisions: (i) whether to report carbon emissions, and (ii) the impact on the evolution of carbon emissions. Logit and linear panel data models are used to determine the driving factors for decisions (i) and (ii). Our results show that regarding the carbon reporting decision, a company’s size, sustainability reporting, existence of a sustainability committee, and whether it belongs to a certain sector (telecom, utilities, and consumer discretionary) are significant positive factors, whereas the country is a negatively significant factor if the company is based in either Chile or Peru. Regarding the factors that lead to more sustainable behavior, our results reveal that a company’s size, the existence of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee, and the disclosure of a sustainability report lead to a decrease in emissions levels.

Background: Ariadne’s house, located at the city center of ancient Pompeii, is of great archaeological value due to the fresco paintings decorating several rooms. In order to assess the risks for long-term conservation affecting the valuable mural paintings, 26 temperature data-loggers and 26 relative humidity data-loggers were located in four rooms of the house for the monitoring of ambient conditions. Results: Data recorded during 372 days were analyzed by means of graphical descriptive methods and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results revealed an effect of the roof type and number of walls of the room. Excessive temperatures were observed during the summer in rooms covered with transparent roofs, and corrective actions were taken. Moreover, higher humidity values were recorded by sensors on the floor level. Conclusions: The present work provides guidelines about the type, number, calibration and position of thermohygrometric sensors recommended for the microclimate monitoring of mural paintings in outdoor or semi-confined environments.