Sustainable test site decision-making : decision-making under technological-social-ecological considerations

Abstract

Sustainable technology advancements ushered in various industries and sustainable development methods have spurred. Recent technological innovations in environmental sensing, computing, and automation offer the potential to revolutionize existing industries. However, in highly innovative and therefore often high-risk fields, a principal barrier to sustainable technology adoption is the provision of a body of evidence to provide to regulatory, scientific, or investment communities. Physical test sites can serve to verify and validate technologies in their end-setting. Barriers to the development of physical test sites stem from the requirement to balance technological, social, and ecological stakeholders. The practical need for an interdisciplinary approach and the absence of theoretical work to support sustainable test site development in real environments often exceeds the capabilities of single companies or entire industries. Thus the present thesis reflects on the theorical and practical work on sustainable technology development in real environments and develops a framework for the development of test sites under technological, social, and ecological considerations.