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Since the publication of the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, there have been numerous studies on sustainability. These studies created new knowledge and tools for understanding and managing complex coupled human and natural systems. In this Critical Review, we used a topic modeling technique to analyze 12 526 peer-reviewed research articles and identify the research questions and the approaches that were used or developed in each of the studies. These approaches were then classified by function. The analysis revealed twenty-three categories of research questions and seven functional approach classesdesign for sustainability, modeling of complexity, sustainability indicators, life cycle sustainability assessment, decision making support, sustainability governance, and engagementeach of which is described here as an individual approach or tool within a larger sustainability toolbox. The article concludes with a discussion about using the sustainability toolbox as an integrated knowledge system to support transdisciplinary study and decision-making.

The purpose of this study is to explore the potential water, CO and NO emission, and cost savings that the deployment of decentralized water and energy technologies within two urban growth scenarios can achieve. We assess the effectiveness of urban growth, technological, and political strategies to reduce these burdens in the 13-county Atlanta metropolitan region. The urban growth between 2005 and 2030 was modeled for a business as usual (BAU) scenario and a more compact growth (MCG) scenario. We considered combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) systems using microturbines for our decentralized energy technology and rooftop rainwater harvesting and low flow fixtures for the decentralized water technologies. Decentralized water and energy technologies had more of an impact in reducing the CO and NO emissions and water withdrawal and consumption than an MCG growth scenario (which does not consider energy for transit). Decentralized energy can reduce the CO and NO emissions by 8% and 63%, respectively. Decentralized energy and water technologies can reduce the water withdrawal and consumption in the MCG scenario by 49% and 50% respectively. Installing CCHP systems on both the existing and new building stocks with a net metering policy could reduce the CO, NO, and water consumption by 50%, 90%, and 75% respectively.

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