Stephan Pfister: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2020

Name Prof. Dr. Stephan Pfister
Address
Ökologisches Systemdesign
ETH Zürich, HIF D 85.2
Laura-Hezner-Weg 7
8093 Zürich
SWITZERLAND
Telephone+41 44 633 75 71
E-mailstephan.pfister@ifu.baug.ethz.ch
URLhttp://www.pfister.rocks
DepartmentCivil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering
RelationshipAdjunct Professor

NumberTitleECTSHoursLecturers
102-0307-01LAdvanced Environmental, Social and Economic Assessments Restricted registration - show details
The combined course unit is only for Master students in Environmental Engineering. All other students enrol for one or both out of the single courses.
5 credits4GA. E. Braunschweig, S. Pfister, R. Frischknecht
AbstractThis course deepens students' knowledge of environmental, economic, and social assessment methodologies and their various applications.
ObjectiveThis course has the aim of deepening students' knowledge of the environmental, economic and social assessment methodologies and their various applications.

In particular, students completing the course should have the
- ability to judge the scientific quality and reliability of environmental assessment studies, the appropriateness of inventory data and modelling, and the adequacy of life cycle impact assessment models and factors
- knowledge about the current state of the scientific discussion and new research developments
- ability to properly plan, conduct and interpret environmental assessment studies

In the course element "Implementation of Environmental and other Sustainability Goals", students will learn to
- describe key sustainability problems of the current economic system and measuring units.
- describe the management system of an organisation and how to develop a sustainability orientation
- discuss approaches to measure environmental performance of an organisation, including 'organisational LCA' (Ecobalance)
- explain the pros and cons of single score environmental assessment methods
- demonstrate life cycle costing
- interpret stakeholder relations of an organisation
- (if time allows) describe sustainable supply chain management and stakeholder management
ContentPart I (Advanced Environmental Assessments)
- Inventory database developments, transparency, data quality, data completeness, and data exchange formats, uncertainties
- Software tools (MFA, LCA)
- Allocation (multioutput processes and recycling)
- Hybrid LCA methods.
- Consequential and marginal analysis
- Impact assessment of waterborne chemical emissions, sum parameters, mixture toxicity
- Spatial differentiation in Life Cycle Assessment
- Workplace and indoor exposure in Risk and Life Cycle Assessment
- Subjectivity in environmental assessments
- Multicriteria Decision Analysis
- Case Studies

Part II (Implementation of Environmental and other Sustainability Goals):
- Sustainability problems of the current economic system and its measuring units;
- The structure of a management system, and elements to integrate environmental management (ISO 14001) and social management (SA8000 as well as ISO 26000), especially into strategy development, planning, controlling and communication;
- Sustainability Opportunities and Innovation
- The concept of 'Continuous Improvement'
- Life Cycle Costing, Life Cycle Management
- environmental performance measurement of an organisation, including 'organisational LCA' (Ecobalance), based on practical examples of companies and new concepts
- single score env. assessment methods (Swiss ecopoints)
- stakeholder management and sustainability oriented communication
- an intro into sustainability issues of supply chain management
Students will get small excercises related to course issues.
Lecture notesPart I: Slides and background reading material will be available on lecture homepage
Part II: Documents will be available on Ilias
LiteratureWill be made available.
Prerequisites / NoticeThis course should only be elected by students of environmental engineering with a with a Module in Ecological Systems Design. All other students should take the individual courses in Advanced Environmental Assessment and/or Implementation of Environmental and other Sustainability goals (with or without exercise and lab).

Basic knowledge of environmental assessment tools is a prerequisite for this class. Students who have not yet had classwork in this topic are required to read an appropriate textbook before or at the beginning of this course (e.g. Jolliet, O et al. (2016). Environmental Life Cycle Assessment. CRC Press, Boca Raton - London - New York. ISBN 978-1-4398-8766-0 (Chapters 2-5.2)).
102-0317-00LAdvanced Environmental Assessments
Master students in Environmental Engineering choosing module Ecological Systems Design are not allowed to enrol 102-0317-00 Advanced Environmental Assessments (3KP) as already included in 102-0307-01 Advanced Environmental, Social and Economic Assessments (5KP).
3 credits2GS. Pfister, R. Frischknecht
AbstractThis course deepens students' knowledge of the environmental assessment methodologies and their various applications.
ObjectiveThis course has the aim of deepening students' knowledge of the environmental assessment methodologies and their various applications. In particular, students completing the course should have the
- Ability to judge the scientific quality and reliability of environmental assessment studies, the appropriateness of inventory data and modelling, and the adequacy of life cycle impact assessment models and factors
- Knowledge about the current state of the scientific discussion and new research developments
- Ability to properly plan, conduct and interpret environmental assessment studies
- Knowledge of how to use LCA as a decision support tool for companies, public authorities, and consumers
Content- Inventory developments, transparency, data quality, data completeness, and data exchange formats
- Allocation (multioutput processes and recycling)
- Hybrid LCA methods.
- Consequential and marginal analysis
- Recent development in impact assessment
- Spatial differentiation in Life Cycle Assessment
- Workplace and indoor exposure in Risk and Life Cycle Assessment
- Uncertainty analysis
- Subjectivity in environmental assessments
- Multicriteria analysis
- Case Studies
Lecture notesNo script. Lecture slides and literature will be made available on Moodle.
LiteratureLiterature will be made available on Moodle.
Prerequisites / NoticeBasic knowledge of environmental assessment tools is a prerequisite for this class. Students that have not done classwork in this topic before are required to read an appropriate textbook before or at the beginning of this course (e.g. Jolliet, O et al. 2016: Environmental Life Cycle Assessment. CRC Press, Boca Raton - London - New York. ISBN 978-1-4398-8766-0 (Chapters 2-5.2)).
102-0317-03LAdvanced Environmental Assessment (Computer Lab I)1 credit1US. Pfister
AbstractDifferent tools and software used for environmental assessments, such as LCA are introduced. The students will have hands-on exercises in the computer rooms and will gain basic knowledge on how to apply the software and other resources in practice
ObjectiveBecome acquainted with various software programs for environmental assessment including Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Risk Assessment, Probabilistic Modeling, Material Flow Analysis.
102-0317-04LAdvanced Environmental Assessment (Computer Lab II) Restricted registration - show details
Not for master students in Environmental Engineering choosing module Ecological System Design as already included in Environment and Computer Laboratory I (Year Course): 102-0527-00 and 102-0528-00.
2 credits2PS. Pfister
AbstractTechnical systems are investigated in projects, based on the software and tools introduced in the course 102-0317-03L Advanced Env. Assessment (Computer Lab I). The projects are created around a complete but simplified LCA study, where the students will learn how to answer a given question with target oriented methodologies using various software programs and data sources for env. assessment
ObjectiveBecome acquainted with utilizing various software programs for environmental assessment to perform a Life Cycle Assessment and learn how to address the challenges when analyzing a complex system with available data and software limitations.
Prerequisites / NoticePrerequisite is enrolment of 102-0317-00 Advanced Environmental Assessments and of 102-0317-03 Advanced Environmental Assessments (Computer Lab I) in parallel or in advance (both courses in HS).
102-0515-01LEnvironmental Engineering Seminars Restricted registration - show details 3 credits3SE. Secchi, P. Burlando, I. Hajnsek, M. Holzner, M. Maurer, P. Molnar, E. Morgenroth, N. Peleg, S. Pfister, R. Stocker, J. Wang
AbstractThe course is organized in the form of seminars held by the students. Topics selected from the core disciplines of the curriculum (water resources, urban water engineering, material fluxes, waste technology, air polution, earth observation) are discussed in the class on the basis of scientific papers that are illustrated and critically reviewed by the students.
ObjectiveLearn about recent research results in environmental engineering and analyse practical applications in environmental engineering.
102-0527-00LExperimental and Computer Laboratory I (Year Course) Restricted registration - show details 0 credits6PD. Braun, L. Biolley, F. Evers, M. Floriancic, P. U. Lehmann Grunder, B. Lüthi, S. Pfister, D. A. Silva Conde, A. Stritih, D. F. Vetsch, L. von Känel
AbstractIn the Experimental and Computer Laboratory students are introduced to research and good scientific practice. Experiments are conducted in different disciplines of environmental engineering. Data collected during experiments are compared to the corresponding numeric simulations. The results are documented in reports or presentations.
ObjectiveThe student will learn the following skills: basic scientific work, planning and conducting scientific experiments, uncertainty estimations of measurements, applied numerical simulations, modern sensor technology, writing reports.
ContentThe Experimental and Computer Laboratory is building on courses in the corresponding modules. Material from these courses is a prerequisite or co-requisite (as specified below) for participating in the Experimental and Computer Laboratory (MODULE: Project in the Experimental and Computer Laboratory):
- WatInfra: Water Network Management
- UWM: SysUWM + ProcUWM: Operation of Lab-WWTP
- AIR: Air Quality Measurements
- WasteBio: Anaerobic Digestion
- WasteRec: Plastic Recycling
- ESD: Environmental Assessment
- GROUND: Groundwater Field Course Kappelen
- WRM: Modelling Optimal Water Allocation
- FLOW: 1D Open Channel Flow Modelling
- LAND: Landscape Planning and Environmental Systems
- RIVER: Discharge Measurements
- HydEngr: Hydraulic Experiments
- RemSens: Earth Observation and Landscape Planning
- SOIL: Soil and Environmental Measurements Lab
Lecture notesWritten material will be available.