This project will involve the initiation of a programme to investigate the adoption of sustainability practices of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within Reading and Wokingham. The student will use the concept of organisational metabolism to explore the decisions made by a case study SME towards reducing their resource demands.
Department: School of Construction Management & Engineering
Supervised by: Eugene Mohareb
Urban metabolism is an established approach for quantifying resource flows through cities; studies identify resource demands, assess their sustainability and suggest approaches for mitigation. However, these metabolism studies produce aggregated urban-level data, making sectoral-specific sustainability strategies difficult to develop. As a solution to this, this placement will begin a long-term study of "organisational metabolism", to enable a greater understanding of resource demands at the end-user level, making local authority policy formation towards a lower-resource economy possible. In collaboration with the PI, the student will use urban metabolism and material flow analysis as guiding methodologies to examine the adoption of sustainability initiatives in an organisation. The student and PI will audit an SME in the Reading/Wokingham area to collect data on resource flows (water, energy, materials and resultant wastes) and identify measures in which resource flows can be mitigated. A report on these findings will be prepared by the student and presented to the SME. This will be followed up with an exit interview towards the end of the placement to understand if any measures will be adopted and the motivation behind these decisions. This test case will inform a larger research project that aims to provide a disaggregated accounting of resource demands, allowing modelling of these demands based on a city's economic and social structure. This will ultimately allow cities to gain a spatial and temporal understanding of resource flows and how they can better exploit their potential.
• Conduct a literature review on implementation of environmental management in SMEs (25%) • Refine a methodology for studying organisational metabolism (20%) • Conduct site visits to assess an SME's operational resource demands and present findings (20%) • Develop recommendations on how these can be reduced and prepare a report to partner SME (30%) • Meet regularly with the PI to discuss findings (5%)
• Basic understanding of commercial energy demand, as well as environmental issues such as resource depletion and climate change (essential) • Strong interpersonal skills and an inquisitive nature (essential) • Quantitative skills (essential) • Familiarity with energy management, urban metabolism and auditing (desired) • Some travel required (site visits)
• Gain an understanding of business sustainability, organisational metabolism • Practice in literature review composition • Auditing skills for environmental sustainability
Most of the work will take place within the Engineering Building in the School of the Built Environment, with some travel by public transportation to SME operations. The PI or Industrial Liaison will accompany the student for part of this, until the student is familiarised with the process.
9:00 - 17:00
Monday 04 July 2016 - Friday 12 August 2016
Please apply via CV and covering letter (max one A4 page), making clear in your application how you meet each of the 'essential' and 'desirable' criteria. Please send this to Dr. Eugene Mohareb in the School of the Built Environment by email, e.mohareb@reading.ac.uk. Interviews will be conducted by Dr. Mohareb (PI) and Mr. David Miller (SBE Industrial Liaison).