Stephan Pfister: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2024 |
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 |
stephan.pfister@ifu.baug.ethz.ch | |
URL | http://www.pfister.rocks |
Department | Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering |
Relationship | Adjunct Professor |
Number | Title | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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102-0004-00L | Introduction into Environmental Engineering ![]() | 3 credits | 2G | P. Molnar, R. Boes, I. Hajnsek, S. Hellweg, J. P. Leitão Correia , M. Maurer, S. Pfister, J. Slomka, J. Wang | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | In this course students are introduced to how environmental problems in the areas of water quantity and quality, waste production and recycling, air pollution control, are formulated and solved with engineering methods. The course makes a connection between the theoretical Bachelor foundation classes and practical topics of environmental engineering in six main thematic areas. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | After completing this course, the student will be able to: - formulate key global environmental problems - develop a systems perspective and solutions to the problems (critical thinking) - identify and solve simple numerical problems in the domain areas - understand why/how we use data/models in environmental engineering - develop own interest in the domain areas and see career opportunities | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | Topics of study: 0. Introduction – description of the Earth System, main stressors, global warming, introduction into the methods and goals of environmental engineering. 1. Water Science & Engineering – definition of the global water cycle and hydrological regimes, surface/subsurface flow equations (advection, diffusion), water resources management, climate change. 2. Resource Management & Recovery – waste management, recycling, resource recovery, lifecycle assessment, water and carbon footprints. 3. Urban Water Technology – water quality parameters, municipal water and wastewater treatment processes and technologies, urban water systems (infrastructure). 4. River and Hydraulic Engineering – utility hydraulic engineering (hydropower production), protective hydraulic engineering (flood protection), waters protection (river restoration, ecological measures at hydropower plants). 5. Air Quality – air quality parameters, main air pollutants, air quality in cities/indoor, emission control, the plume dispersion model. 6. Earth Observation – satellite observation of the Earth System from space, methods, environmental applications (glaciers, forest, land surface change) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lecture notes | Course will take place in English and German (bilingual). The English textbook by Masters and Ela (see below) will be complemented by instructors materials to the individual thematic topics. Lecture presentations will be the main study material. There is no formal Script. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literature | - Masters, G.M., & Ela, W.P. (2014). Introduction to Environmental Engineering and Science, Third Edition, Prentice Hall, 692 pp, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ethz/reader.action?docID=5831826 - lecture presentations and selected papers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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102-0307-01L | Advanced Environmental, Social and Economic Assessments ![]() | 5 credits | 4G | A. E. Braunschweig, S. Pfister | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | This course deepens students' knowledge of environmental, economic, and social assessment methodologies and their various applications. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | This 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | Part 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 notes | Part I: Slides and background reading material will be available on lecture homepage Part II: Documents will be available on Ilias | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literature | Will be made available. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prerequisites / Notice | This 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)). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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102-0317-00L | Advanced 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 credits | 2G | S. Pfister | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | This course deepens students' knowledge of the environmental assessment methodologies and their various applications. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | This 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 notes | No script. Lecture slides and literature will be made available on Moodle. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literature | Literature will be made available on Moodle. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prerequisites / Notice | Basic 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)). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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102-0317-03L | Advanced Environmental Assessment (Computer Lab I) | 1 credit | 1U | S. Pfister | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Different 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Become acquainted with various software programs for environmental assessment including Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Risk Assessment, Probabilistic Modeling, Material Flow Analysis. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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102-0317-04L | Advanced Environmental Assessment (Computer Lab II) 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 credits | 2P | S. Pfister | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Technical 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Become 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 / Notice | Prerequisite 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). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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102-0515-01L | Environmental Engineering Seminars ![]() ![]() | 3 credits | 3S | S. Sinclair, P. Burlando, I. Hajnsek, S. Hellweg, M. Maurer, P. Molnar, E. Morgenroth, C. Oberschelp, S. Pfister, E. Secchi, R. Stocker, J. Wang | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | The 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Learn about recent research results in environmental engineering and analyse practical applications in environmental engineering. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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102-0527-00L | Experimental and Computer Laboratory I (Year Course) ![]() | 0 credits | 6P | D. Braun, F. Evers, M. Floriancic, S. Frei, P. U. Lehmann Grunder, B. Lüthi, S. Pfister, F. Rüsch, D. F. Vetsch, L. von Känel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | In 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | The 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | The 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 notes | Written material will be available. |