Photo of Susie Wu

Susie Wu

PhD Student, Michigan State University
Landscape Ecology & Ecosystem Science (LEES)

wuruqun@msu.edu | 517-974-1750

Susie researches sustainability assessment; particularly, product ecodesign standards, green building designs, and the inclusion of simulation into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Currently, she is a PhD student researching life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA).

Her interest in LCA grew during her master's study and led her into LCA related work in China after graduation (e.g., eco-design, carbon footprint). Soon after, she found that partial LCA was popularized and caused many companies to incorrectly market themselves as sustainble, causing a "halo effect" or "green washing". Therefore, Susie she now aims to develop a holistic approach in estimating a product systems' overall sustainability in order to help the industry better improve performance and create effective policies.

Education

PhD Student, Geography | 2013 — 2018
Michigan State University, MI, United States

MS Energy Studies and Environment | 2009
The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

BS Agronomy | 2007
South China Agriculture University, Guangzhou, China

Publications

Journal Paper

  1. Wu, S.P. Fan, and J. Chen. 2015. Incorporating culture into sustainable development: A cultural sustainability index framework for green buildings. Sustainable Development. DOI: 10.1002/sd.1608
  2. Wu, S. J. Chen, D. Apul, P. Fan, Y. Yan, and Y. Fan. 2015. Causality in Social Life Cycle Impact Assessment (SLCIA). Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 20(9): 1312-1323. DOI: 10.1007/s11367-015-0915-6
  3. Wu, S. and D. Apul. 2015. Framework for integrating indoor air quality impacts into life cycle assessments of buildings and building related products. Journal of Green Building 10(1): 127-149. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/jgb.10.1.127
  4. Collier, J., S. Wu, and D. Apul. 2014. Life cycle environmental impacts from CZTS (copper zinc tin sulfide) and Zn3P2 (zinc phosphide) thin film PV (photovoltaic) cells. Energy 74: 314-321.DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2014.06.076
  5. Wu, R., D. Yang, and J. Chen. 2014. Social life cycle assessment revisited. Sustainability 6(7): 4200-4226. DOI: 10.3390/su6074200
  6. Susie R. Wu and Defne Apul. 2015. Framework for integrating indoor air quality impacts into life cycle assessments of buildings and building related products. Journal of Green Building. Winter 2015, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 127-149.
  7. Collier, J.; Wu, S.; Apul, D. Life cycle environmental impacts from CZTS (copper zinc tin sulfide) and Zn3P2 (zinc phosphide) thin film PV (photovoltaic) cells. Energy 2014, 74, 314-321.
  8. Wu, R.; Yang, D.; Chen, J. Social Life Cycle Assessment Revisited. Sustainability 2014, 6, 4200-4226.
  9. Wu, R. Energy Efficiency Technologies – Air Source Heat Pump vs. Ground Source Heat Pump. Journal of Sustainable Development 2009, 2, 2.

Poster Presentations

  1. Collier, J.; Wu, S.; Apul, D., Water Impacts from emerging thin film PV technologies: A case study of CZTS and Zn3P2, Borchardt Conference, 2014, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Research

This study is divided into Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing, Social Life Cycle Assessment, and comprehensive structural equation modeling (SEM). Susie performs life cycle sustainability analysis (LCSA) of proposed technologies and compares them to different alternatives. LCSA will be a combined analysis of life cycle costing (LCC), environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), and social life cycle assessment (SLCA). The LCSA model will be developed using Bayesian statistics that will allow the team to determine the parameter space necessary for the most sustainable designs.

Contact

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