Sustainable Systems Our Group

Professors

Heather MacLean

Professor

Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Systems and Technology Assessment

Vice Dean Strategy, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

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Daniel Posen

Associate Professor

Canada Research Chair in System-Scale Environmental Impacts of Energy and Transport Technologies

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Shoshanna Saxe

Associate Professor

Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Infrastructure

Dean’s Spark Professor, Sustainable Infrastructure

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Current Postdoctoral Fellows

Name: Dr. Amirashkan Askari
Supervisor(s): Dr. Daniel Posen
Topic: Environmental (non)equivalence between Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies and the competing mitigation strategies to combat global warming

Name: Dr. Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe and Dr. Timothy C.Y. Chan (Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering)
Topic: Equitable prioritization of active transportation infrastructure in Canadian cities

Name: Dr. Jean Schmitt
Supervisor(s): Dr. Daniel Posen and Dr. Heather MacLean
Topic: Environmental impact assessment of electric vehicles; development of the FLAME model; impact assessment of carbon dioxide removal technologies.

Current PhD Students

Name: Praveen Siluvai Antony
Supervisor(s): Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: My PhD research broadly focuses on biofuels and public policies. In my first project, I developed a supply chain model for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from canola and estimated Canada’s near-term SAF potential. Specifically, I estimated the number of SAF plants that can be constructed, identified optimal locations, and quantified the life cycle carbon footprint of SAF supplied to the airports. In my current research, I focus on understanding the nature of changes in the carbon intensity of a matured technology in the market by performing a retrospective LCA using corn-ethanol from GREET as a case study.

Name: Sherry-Ann Ram
Supervisor(s): Dr. Daniel Posen and Dr. Deborah Tihanyi (Engineering Communication Program)
Current Work: Investigating the relationship between pro-environmental actions and carbon literacy among engineering students at UofT and whether engineering education can alter the relationship to reduce consumption GHG emissions among participants.

Name: Santiago Zuluaga
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe and Dr. Bryan Karney
Current Work: My work studies the different meanings and measures of value in the context of large horizontal infrastructure networks. I study decision-making strategies such as maintenance planning, specifically looking at the implications of using different notions of value in design- and operation-related decisions for large infrastructure systems. Currently, my work focuses on water and transportation networks.

Name: Nadine Alzaghrini
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean and Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: My work focuses on decarbonization strategies for the light-duty vehicles sector in the U.S.

Name: Bo Lin
Supervisor(s): Dr. Timothy C.Y. Chan (Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering) and Dr. Shoshanna Saxe
Current Work: I am currently focusing on developing quantitative tools to support cycling infrastructure planning. More broadly, my research is at the intersection of analytics, optimization, transportation, and sustainability. I am interested in designing scalable algorithms to improve transportation efficiency and equity, environmental wellness, and the social good.

Name: Angel Badewole
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean and Dr. Brad Saville (Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry)
Current Work: My current work is on life-cycle assessments of carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies at low technology readiness levels.

Name: Mengqing Kan
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean and Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: Due to my interdisciplinary background in environmental economics, policy, and sustainable business, I am interested in learning how to conduct quantitative analysis to inform policy and decision making for different stakeholders. I am currently investigating CCU pathways and evaluating how the emerging CCU technology can mitigate GHG emissions under different scenarios.

Name: Dijuan Liang
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean and Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: I am currently working on evaluating role of large-scale deployment of e-fuels in the U.S. light-duty vehicle fleet to meet the ambitious climate change targets.

Name: Lih Wei Yeow
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean and Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: I’m currently assessing the environmental and sustainability implications of decarbonizing the medium- and heavy-duty truck sector from a life cycle perspective.

Name: Miranda Doris
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean and Dr. Marianne Hatzopoulou
Current Work: My current research explores the impact of the upstream oil and gas industry on air quality in Northeast British Columbia to better understand the exposure of nearby local communities.

Name: Christiana Vann
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe
Current Work: My research will investigate the material consumption and related embodied greenhouse gas emissions linked to the construction of low-rise multi-family dwellings (MFD) around the world. The main objective of the research is to compare the MFDs in selected locations to identify factors affecting the sustainability performance of the building stock. This research will aid in the development of pathways for sustainable residential building construction while staying within resource, climate limits and maintaining social well-being.

Name: Emily Farrar
Supervisor(s): Dr. Marianne Hatzopoulou and Dr. Shoshanna Saxe
Current Work: I am interested in understanding pathways to improve air quality, decarbonize the transit sector, and improve community well-being. I am currently investigating how different trajectories of urban growth impact GHG and air quality emissions.

Name: Feras Abdulla
Supervisor(s): Dr. Marianne Hatzopoulou and Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: My research aims to evaluate the use of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies in different energy models and across diverse net zero emissions scenarios. My goal is to examine what conditions drive CDR usage, and to identify sectors where emissions reduction and mitigation measures complement or potentially compete with CDR.

Name: Davey Elder
Supervisor(s): Dr. Daniel Posen and Dr. Heather MacLean
Current Work: My research is in energy systems modelling, developing new modelling methods to robustly and quantitatively assess decarbonisation pathways. I am also constructing the Canadian Open Energy model (CANOE), developing backend data aggregation and pre-processing infrastructure.

Name: Jesse Ward-Bond
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe and Dr. Elias Khalil
Current Work: Understanding the carbon cost of urban infrastructure by combining LCA and remote sensing image analysis

Name: Shahid Hossaini
Supervisor(s): Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: My research seeks to incorporate critical mineral supply and demand dynamics into energy systems optimization models to assess trade-offs at the mineral criticality – GHG emissions nexus to inform energy, climate, and resource policies in Canada. I will also be contributing towards the development of the Canadian Open Energy model (CANOE).

Current MASc Students

Name: Nerea Rivelle
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe and Dr. Evan Bentz
Current Work: Reducing embodied carbon emissions in traditional reinforced concrete slabs by optimizing the thickness and the compressive strength of the concrete.

Name: Christopher Fitzgibbon
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean and Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: Decarbonization of northern energy systems via introduction of energy storage vectors.

Name: Zere Bekzhanova
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe
Current Work: My research will focus on analyzing the impact of building refurbishment on material intensity and related greenhouse gas emissions.

Name: Chaitanya Ahuja
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe and Dr. David Meyer
Current Work: My research seeks to quantify embodied greenhouse gas emissions associated with urban water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure, and identify reduction pathways including urban form design choices.

Name: Nick Martyn
Supervisor(s): Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: Infrastructure Resilience

Name: Keagan Rankin
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe
Current Work: My current research looks at how material efficiency strategies can reduce embodied emissions from infrastructure while still meeting social and economic needs; specifically, I am leveraging data on materials in residential buildings to find forms of housing that can meet rising demand without compromising emissions targets.

Name: Jeffrey Sauer
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe and Dr. Daniel Posen
Current Work: Rapid Emissions Reduction Policies and Pathways

Name: Felipe Rashid Zetter Salcedo
Supervisor(s): Dr. Daniel Posen and Dr. Heather MacLean
Current Work: Modeling future energy system scenarios to design optimal clean energy deployment strategies

Name: Avery Hoffer
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe and Dr. Evan Bentz
Current Work: Determining the optimal building height to minimize embodied GHG emissions per area of inhabitable space.

Name: Diana Zaraza Pena
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean and Dr. Bradley Saville
Current Work: Environmental impact assessment of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage technologies.

Name: Eric Guan
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean
Current Work:Advancing novel techno-economic and life-cycle assessment methodologies for CO2 electrolyzers and assessing candidate communities.

Previous Members

Postdoctoral Fellows

Name: Da Huo
Topic: Modeling life cycle GHG emissions and decarbonization pathways for light-duty vehicle fleets Name: Hatzav Yoffe
Topic: Estimating the carbon footprint required for building cities and establishing greenhouse gas emission budgets towards net-zero construction. Name: Alexandre Milovanoff
Thesis title: Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation Pathways for Light-Duty Vehicle Fleets Under Ambitious Climate Targets Name: Gursans Guven Isin
Topic: Construction Classification System Database for Understanding Resource Use in Building Construction Name: Nikolaos Kalyviotis
Topic: Embodied emissions in rail infrastructure Name: Lucas Pereira
Topic: Electricity systems, Construction GHG emissions, Environmental product declarations Name: Mohammad Nahangi
Topic: Embodied greenhouse gas assessment of a bridge: A comparison of preconstruction Building Information Model and construction records Name: Baishali Dutta
Topic: Impact of land management and climate change on emissions from bioenergy crops Name: Caroline Vanderghem Zapata
Topic: Biofuels (various)

PhD

Name: Aldrick Arceo
Supervisor(s): Dr. Shoshanna Saxe and Dr. Heather MacLean
Thesis: Uncertainty in Quantification of Material Use and Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Single-Family Dwellings Name: Alexandre Milovanoff
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean and Dr. Daniel Posen
Thesis: Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation Pathways for Light-Duty Vehicle Fleets Under Ambitious Climate TargetsName: Chibulu Luo
Supervisor(s): Dr. Heather MacLean
Thesis:Sustainable Energy Use in Dar es Salaam: Current Trends, Future Scenarios, and Policy Options

MASc

MEng

Name: Daniela Aguilar Bodden
Topic: Greenhouse gas inventory for Toronto Water operations Name: Allison Bennet
Topic: Construction classification system database for understanding resource use in building construction Name: Ke Sang
Thesis title: A Review of LCA Greenhouse Gas Emissions Results for Biomass Gasification Technologies: A Meta-Analysis