Ch. Vlachokostas

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | AUTH · Faculty of Engineering

COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) hit Europe in January 2020. By March, Europe was the active centre of the pandemic. As a result, widespread "lockdown" measures were enforced across the various European countries, even if to a different extent. Such actions caused a dramatic reduction, especially in road traffic. This event can be considered the...

In this paper, the basic structure of an ICT platform of energy indicators, Openergy, is analytically presented, leveraging energy open data to help address the energy crisis more democratically. More specifically, its applicability as a dynamic tool for the management of climate, environmental, and socioeconomic information is described, and its e...

The permanent collection of the Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation includes important artworks of Modern Greek and European art, constituting it one of the most important in Greece. The Foundation collects, records, and studies cultural heritage, organizes exhibitions in collaboration with other institutions in Greece and internationally, as well as pr...

The decarbonization of energy system requires the promotion of sustainable energy policies. Towards this direction, a holistic approach is required that is based on an in-depth analysis of the links related to the energy system transformation chain. Among others, implementing electrification of road transport is widely discussed, mainly to encounte...

This global study, which has been coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization Global Atmospheric Watch (WMO/GAW) programme, aims to understand the behaviour of key air pollutant species during the COVID-19 pandemic period of exceptionally low emissions across the globe. We investigated the effects of the differences in both emissions and r...

Bioproducts, such as energy and fertilizers, are strongly interrelated with the biodegradable waste treatment processes, within a holistic management strategy. Although different forms of biological treatment technologies are available, anaerobic digestion represents a process of major importance in the overall management strategy of biodegradable...

The circular economy model has gained increasing attention in policy agenda in modern times of climate change and decarbonisation. Undeniably, reintroducing waste in supply chains and cover energy needs for local communities and enterprises assists to rational management of waste, promotes resource efficiency and properly applies the circular model...

Waste production is constantly increasing worldwide and constitutes a problem that is expected to deteriorate in the future. In parallel, ensuring access to affordable and sustainable energy for all is crucial considering current environmental, economic, and social concerns. Waste-to-Energy (WtE) is an effective solution to address both issues, the...

The assessment of an investment is currently carried out by using mainly financial tools. This work presents a new model for the assessment of the sustainability of an industrial investment and focuses on the development of a holistic framework with the use of indicators. With the use of multi-criteria decision analysis, the framework evaluates a t...

Interactions between technological solutions for managing waste and energy supply chains are multilateral and can vary significantly, depending on multiple criteria and different characteristics. This concept paper puts forward a conceptual framework for sustainable development based on the notion of “intelligence” for Waste-to-Energy (WtE) strateg...

There is much debate around promoting waste to energy incineration facilities in many communities globally, mainly because of social opposition against potential negative health effects of the operation of these installations close to urban areas. In this paper, a novel decision support approach is developed and its applicability is demonstrated fo...

Lately, the model of circular economy has gained worldwide interest. Within its concept, waste is viewed as a beneficial resource that needs to be re-introduced in the supply chains, which also requires the use of raw materials, energy, and water to be minimized. Undeniably, a strong link exists between the bioeconomy, circular economy, bioproducts...

Τhe problem of the deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and its consequences for economic and social development have received great interest over the past few decades. To facilitate sustainable development, it has become imperative to manage the use of resources in an environmentally conscious manner. To this end, life cycl...

Sustainable management of energy resources is a challenge which our society faces at economic, environmental and political levels. Smart homes are central in recent technology; however, the smart buildings concept cannot stand on its own. Smart buildings need ‘smart consumers’, i.e. citizens who interact towards intelligent use of energy. Creating...

In the past decades several attempts were made for the ad-hoc application of systems of indicators as decision-support tools towards sustainable urban development. The selected systems’ results are often questioned, either for the suitability of the selected system per se, or for its ability to characterize effectively urban sustainability. In the...

Due to some harmful effects on humans and the environment, particulate matter (PM) has recently become among the most studied atmospheric pollutants. Given the growing sensitivity to the problem and, since production and accumulation phenomena involving both primary and secondary P M 10 fractions are complex and non-linear, environmental authoritie...

Globalisation combined with high urbanisation trends affects not only the traditional pillars of sustainability (environment, society, and economy), but also local identity. Customs and traditions are fading away and alienation is the result of new lifestyles deriving mainly from high interaction between locals and foreigners (focus on tourism). Fa...

A great number of tools that assess sustainability exist. The analysis of 18 urban sustainability indices and 7 urban sustainability systems of indicators that satisfy the research criteria, reveals a great variation in terms of variables used to express the level of sustainability and an unbalanced reflection on the ‘’traditional’’ dimensions of s...

The paper presents an approach to put forward Metropolitan and Peri-Urban Agriculture (MPA) in the framework of the MADRE Interreg MED project. The MADRE project, which stands for “Metropolitan Agriculture for Developing and innovative sustainable and Responsible Economy”, is designing a methodological framework in order to identify and characteriz...

Nowadays, over half of the world's population is living in urban areas. Urbanization has not led only to economic and social transformation, but also to high resource consumption and considerable environmental damage. This study aims to promote a holistic methodological approach in the urban context in order to foster policy modeling, efficient gov...

This chapter provides a review, derived from the extended survey conducted within the APPRAISAL project, of the integrated assessment methodologies used in different countries to design air quality plans and to estimate the effects of emission abatement policy options on human health.

This chapter provides a review, derived from the extended survey conducted within the APPRAISAL project, of the integrated assessment methodologies used in different countries to design air quality plans and to estimate the effects of emission abatement policy options on human health. The final purpose of this review is to foster the dissemination...

Production of olive oil is considered one of the largest agricultural business sectors in the Mediterranean area. Apart from its significant impact on the economies of countries in Southern Europe, Northern Africa and Middle East, olive oil production also involves considerable social and environmental considerations. However, despite their importa...

Tourism is one of the most climate-sensitive economic sectors, but also a contributor to climate change. With the effects of climate change becoming an increasing concern, the tourism sector must urgently and realistically respond by mitigating its emissions and adapting tourism businesses and destinations to the changing climate conditions. This w...

Mind mapping tools are used to stimulate thinking about sustainability and define its significance for urban planning. Such tools are based on keywords that are identified and structured through dialogue-based procedures. The approach can be used also for switching between highlighting sectorial aspects, such as territorial management and urban des...

In recent years, evaluating the robustness of environmental models results has become essential in order to effectively support decision makers to define suitable emission control strategies. This evaluation is performed in literature through uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. Therefore, the application of such methodologies to air quality Integ...

This work puts forward a generic methodological scheme, based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) principles, in order to estimate the environmental load in areas of considerable tourism activity. The possibility of combing LCA with Ecological Footprint Analysis (EFA), Environmental Indicators (EIs) and Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) is also discussed. T...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to put forward a methodological framework to provide a comparative assessment of available mitigation and adaptation strategies against climate change. Mitigation options aim at minimizing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, in an effort to reduce the rate of increase in global temperature. On the other ha...

The present study aims to promote a methodological scheme to combine the main environmental pressures that can be attributed to tourism activity in order to characterize environmental sustainability for a defined area of concentrated tourism (DACT). The methodological framework is demonstrated in the prevalent tourism destination of Northern Greece...

The present study aims to promote a methodological scheme to combine the main environmental pressures that can be attributed to tourism activity in order to characterize environmental sustainability for a defined area of concentrated tourism (DACT). The methodological framework is demonstrated in the prevalent tourism destination of Northern Greece...

Trees are vital for improving urban climate in many aspects and dimensions, especially for densely populated environments characterized by high levels of air pollution. This paper presents a decision-making scheme for benchmarking and prioritizing tree species in urban environments. Public authorities in real-life cases put forward trees species ba...

This paper proposes two configurations for a hybrid solar energy conversion device that can be used as a self-sustained, independent power generation system in isolated locations in hot climate areas. Given the strong dependence of photovoltaic cell conversion efficiency on operation temperature, the cooling of the backside becomes imperative, incr...

The rapid growth of the construction industry worldwide during the past decades has resulted to an enormous increase of the produced Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) quantities globally. In particular, the CDW waste stream constitutes the largest stream within the European Union (EU). CDW is generated from the construction, renovation, repai...

This paper describes the structure of the Combined Environmental Stressors' Exposure (CENSE) tool. Individuals are exposed to several environmental stressors simultaneously. Combined exposure represents a more serious hazard to public health. Consequently, there is a need to address co-exposure in a holistic way. Rather than viewing chemical and ph...

The recent economic crisis in Greece resulted in a serious wintertime air pollution episode in Thessaloniki. This air quality deterioration was mostly due to the increased price of fuel oil, conventionally used as a source of energy for domestic heating, which encouraged the residents to burn the less expensive wood/biomass during the cold season....

Environmentally conscious product design has received significant attention recently. Apart from new products’ development, environmental considerations may also apply for products that manufacturers have already launched in the market. In this case, manufacturers can also make use of their considerable experience gained over the phases following p...

Many citizens live, work, commute, or visit traffic intensive spaces and are exposed to high levels of chemical health stressors. However, urban conurbations worldwide present monitoring "shortage" - due to economical and/or practical constraints - for toxic stressors such as xylene isomers, which can pose human health risks. This "shortage" may be...

This study offers a combined analysis of personal exposure to noise and air pollution within the metropolitan centre of Thessaloniki, Greece. The area is selected on the grounds that it is considered as one of the most polluted cities in Europe, especially with respect to air pollution. An extensive survey has been designed to provide detailed info...

Emission from road traffic has become the most important source of local air pollution in numerous European cities. Epidemiological research community has established consistent associations between traffic-related substances and various health outcomes. Nevertheless, the vast majority of urban areas are characterised by infrastructure's absence to...

This paper presents a decision support tool for manufacturers and recyclers towards end-of-life strategies for waste electrical and electronic equipment. A mathematical formulation based on the cost benefit analysis concept is herein analytically described in order to determine the parts and/or components of an obsolete product that should be eithe...

Emission from road traffic has become the most important source of local air pollution in noumerous European cities. Εpidemiological research community has established consistent associations between traffic-related substances and various health outcomes. Nevertheless, the vast majority of urban areas are characterized by infrastructure's absence t...

Management of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE also called e-waste) has become an issue of critical importance recently also in the frame of industrial ecology besides waste management per se, mostly due to their content in hazardous materials and the extensive implications of any intervention in a broad industrial spectrum. The effect...

This study aims at presenting a methodological approach in order to estimate health damages from particulate and photochemical urban air pollution and assess the order of magnitude as regards the corresponding social costs in urban scale. The analysis is conducted within an area of 50×50 km surrounding the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. The area is...

This work presents an ex post analysis of the reverse logistics system for the alternative management of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) in Greece, in view of the system's initiation in 2004. The aim was to predict how this system would provide guidelines concerning facility locations for WEEE collection and to calculate the transp...

Health can be impacted in many ways by exposure to chemical stressors in urban areas. Epidemiological research community has established consistent associations between traffic related air pollution and various health outcomes. Nevertheless, many urban environments, due to practical reasons (bulk of equipment) and mainly due to economical constrain...

This study presents a methodological scheme developed to provide a combined air and noise pollution exposure assessment based on measurements from personal portable monitors. Provided that air and noise pollution are considered in a co-exposure approach, they represent a significant environmental hazard to public health. The methodology is demonstr...

Environmentally conscious product design has received significant attention recently. Apart from new products’ development, environmental considerations may also apply for products that manufacturers have already launched to market. In this case, manufacturers can also make use of their considerable experience gained over the phases following produ...

This work presents an ex post analysis of the reverse logistics system for the alternative management of WEEE in Greece, in view of the system’s initiation in 2004. The aim was to predict how this system would provide guidelines concerning facility locations for WEEE collection and to calculate the transportation costs for WEEE management. A mathem...

Anthropogenic pressure on the urban environment has recently reached critical levels in numerous conurbations worldwide. In this context, taking specific measures as a response has become a necessity for environmental managers in an effort to confront such pressures and to move towards sustainable development. However, in practice, funding of abate...

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is recognized as a priority waste stream internationally, mostly due to their volume and hazardousness. This paper presents an analysis for the quantification of WEEE management cost for Greece, taking into consideration scenarios for reverse logistics network's development and WEEE volume scenarios....

Wastes from construction activities constitute nowadays the largest by quantity fraction of solid wastes in urban areas. In addition, it is widely accepted that the particular waste stream contains hazardous materials, such as insulating materials, plastic frames of doors, windows, etc. Their uncontrolled disposal result to long-term pollution cost...

Managing urban air pollution necessitates a feasible and efficient abatement strategy which is characterised as a defined set of specific control measures. In practice, hard budget constraints are present in any decision-making process and therefore available alternatives need to be hierarchised in a fast but still reliable manner. Moreover, realis...

Public acceptance is considered most critical for the effectiveness of any integrated Municipal Solid Waste management scheme. Especially for alternatives widely debated, such as waste-to-energy (WtE) in areas without any prior experience, the widely discussed “Not In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) syndrome needs to be considered when planning the developme...

Development of strategies to control urban air pollution is a complex and multi–disciplinary process. In most real life cases, relevant policy making is characterised by the lack of information related to the economic value of the health consequences attributed to air pollution. This information is important to possess reliable economic estimates f...

State of the art epidemiological research has found consistent associations between traffic-related air pollution and various outcomes, such as respiratory symptoms and premature mortality. However, many urban areas are characterised by the absence of the necessary monitoring infrastructure, especially for benzene (C6H6), which is a known human car...

Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) materials possess considerable economic value, together with potential toxicity. The rapidly increasing sales of EEE worldwide, constitutes the rational management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) a matter of critical importance, both in economic and environmental terms. Taking into accou...

Due to the rapid growth of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) volumes, as well as the hazardousness of obsolete electr(on)ic goods, this type of waste is now recognised as a priority stream in the developed countries. Policy-making related to the development of the necessary infrastructure and the coordination of all relevant stakehol...

The use of indicators constitutes internationally an important tool for assessing the progress achieved towards sustainable development. Measuring the sustainability in urban areas – which are crucial engines of local socio-economic development, but at the same time present concentration points of environmental decay – is a major challenge for envi...

Construction industry is the most significant fields on a global scale, with respect to its economic, technological, and environmental impact. Its rapid growth over the last decades has resulted in an enormous increase of the produced construction and demolition waste, thus provoking a considerable burden on the environment. The proposed methodolog...

This study aims at presenting a combined air quality and GIS modelling methodological approach in order to estimate crop damages from photochemical air pollution, depict their spatial resolution and assess the order of magnitude regarding the corresponding economic damages. The analysis is conducted within the Greater Thessaloniki Area, Greece, a M...

Environmentally sound end-of-life management of Electrical and Electronic Equipment has been realised as a top priority issue internationally, both due to the waste stream's continuously increasing quantities, as well as its content in valuable and also hazardous materials. In an effort to manage Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), ad...

Preserving the natural resources and protecting the environment has become an internationally acknowledged prerequisite for sustainable development. There have been several international initiatives, agreements and cooperation, in parallel with legislation that enforces strict constraints and obligations to manufacturers for their products, based o...

Air quality transcends all scales with in the atmosphere from the local to the global with handovers and feedbacks at each scale interaction. Air quality has manifold effects on health, ecosystems, heritage and climate. In this review the state of scientific understanding in relation to global and regional air quality is outlined. The review discus...

Development of strategies to control urban air pollution is a complex and multi-disciplinary process involving a wide range of scientists with different expertise and interests. This paper presents an integrated assessment methodological scheme for the evaluation of air pollution control measures that are put forward in order to reduce sufficiently...

Air quality transcends all scales with in the atmosphere from the local to the global with handovers and feedbacks at each scale interaction. Air quality has manifold effects on health, ecosystems heritage and, climate. In this review the state of scientific understanding in relation to global and regional air quality is outlined. The review discus...

This paper aims at imprinting the urban air quality status and assessing the impact of various emission reduction scenarios on the photochemical and particulate matter air pollution levels in the Greater Thessaloniki Area, Greece. In particular, it is investigated under which conditions compliance with the EU air quality legislation can be achieved...