This thesis investigates how to sustainably meet the thermal demand of an Indigenous-led Aquaponic Greenhouse in Alberta’s Boreal Forest using renewable heating technologies. Drawing on systems engineering, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and an integrative design framework grounded in Value Sensitive Design (VSD) and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), the study balances technical, economic, environmental, and social dimensions to inform decision-making.

A conceptual greenhouse design was developed, incorporating nutrient-film technique and soil-based growing systems alongside passive solar measures such as south-facing glazing, night curtains, and thermal energy storage. These passive features alone were found to reduce the greenhouse’s thermal load by up to 47%. Three renewable heating technologies including biomass boilers, biodigester systems with biogas, and ground source heat pumps were evaluated, individually and in hybrid configurations, against a natural gas baseline. A multi-criteria assessment using the Best-Worst Method revealed that hybrid systems generally outperform single-technology options by balancing cost, reliability, scalability, and environmental impact. Specifically, a biodigester–natural gas combination proved more cost-effective and flexible, while a ground source heat pump–biomass boiler system offered greater potential for off-grid operation and lower emissions.

The findings highlight that scaling up the greenhouse size enhances financial viability, though a pilot phase is recommended to address uncertainties and ensure reliability. Overall, this research demonstrates the feasibility of integrating TEK and community engagement with robust engineering methodologies to support food sovereignty, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and foster Indigenous self-determination in remote communities. The proposed framework can guide similar socio-technical projects, promoting holistic, value-driven innovation in community-scale infrastructure systems.

This research integrates a socio-technical perspective into the safety risk management of ammonia-powered ships, with a particular focus on the engine room. The objective is to develop strategies that enhance crew safety by examining the complex interactions between humans, organizations, and machines within this high-risk environment.

The international shipping industry, responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions, faces an urgent need to adopt more environmentally friendly technologies. Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) has emerged as a promising alternative fuel due to its carbon-free nature and higher volumetric energy density compared to other fuels. However, ammonia’s toxicity presents substantial challenges, especially in enclosed spaces like the engine room, where crew members are at increased risk of exposure.
Current research predominantly addresses the engineering aspects of ship design to minimize ammonia leakage risk but lacks a focus on safety risk management through a human-centered approach that enhances crew safety. This research addresses this gap by adopting a socio-technical system (STS) approach, emphasizing the intricate dynamics and implications of human interaction with new technology. The study demonstrates that incorporating a socio-technical perspective through the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) provides a comprehensive understanding of human-machine interactions, enabling the development of human-oriented modifications.

Employing a multidisciplinary approach, this research combines qualitative and quantitative methods. FRAM is used for qualitative analysis, offering detailed insights into interactions and performance variability within the socio-technical system. This research developed the complex STS relationships through Work-as-Done FRAM, identifying actor roles, time spent, location, and procedures related to engine room activities. Complementing this, Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) provide a deeper understanding of risk factors and their implications.

The findings indicate that adopting a socio-technical approach to safety risk management can significantly enhance the safety of ammonia-powered ships. This research has developed modification frame works that integrate human-machine interaction activities derived from FRAM with necessary system modifications. The study identifies on-board maintenance activities as having the highest probability of crew presence in the engine room (PER). By modifying the engine room layout and work procedures with the on-board maintenance as considerations, the Individual Risk Per Annum (IRPA) can be substantially reduced from the current value of 1.33E − 05 to 2.00E − 06. Normatively, these modifications result in an IRPA level that is lower than that of the currently operating LNG (CH4) powered ship engine room, which has an IRPA value of 3.16E −06. Thus, these modifications meet the risk acceptance criteria as outlined by the IGF Code guidelines.

The research provides several recommendations for stakeholders within the maritime industry. These include modifications to engine room layout and task locations to minimize human exposure to ammonia leaks, advancements in on-board maintenance procedures specifically for ammonia, enhancement of gas sensor response times, and digitization of the engine room logbook. These strategies aim to ensure safe operations and support the adoption of ammonia as a sustainable maritime fuel.

The probabilistic damage stability method offers great design freedom when used as a base of design. However, due to the complexity of the calculation and amount of parameters that influence the attained index, much of this freedom is not being harnessed by designers. This research tries to give the designer more insight in where to look when trying to comply with the regulations, by providing an initial subdivision design and create an overview of the influence of the parameters on the attained index. Many parameters have been found that either direct or indirect influence the damage stability calculation. A selection of parameters is chosen from this list as a starting point that are commonly used in the subdivision of large single hold vessels. A parameterised base ship has been made in the DELFTship program that is used for the execution of the optimisation and sensitivity analysis. The exploration for a suitable optimisation method and sensitivity analysis is based on the properties of these methods and method requirements that apply to this specific research. The most important requirement for both methods is the number of iterations needed to obtain a reasonable result, as the damage stability calculation can take up to 15 minutes. This resulted in the choice for the SACOBRA optimisation algorithm. To guarantee the effectiveness of the design, a second level to the optimisation is added where, the number of bulkheads is optimised, while simultaneously optimising the steel weight. During the research, the cargo hold volume was added as this proved to be an effective objective to ensure the efficiency of the design. This resulted in the change to the SAMO-COBRA algorithm, where the single objective SACOBRA algorithm was still used as a verification method and to investigate if it could be used for experimenting with certain design choices. For the sensitivity analysis the Morris method was chosen, mainly for its low number of sample points needed to converge. This method can be applied to a broad range of models and is characterised by its simplicity. However, this simplicity resulted in a relatively low amount of insight generated regarding the influence of the parameters on both the objectives as well as each other. A correlation matrix was added to further provide knowledge and insight. A sensitivity analysis by hand was performed to verify the results of both analysis methods.

The first optimisation stage showed to be a relatively fast way to determine the amount of bulkheads compared to the attained index that can be expected. However, a relatively large margin of error is observed in this stage and more information is needed to be able to make a decision on how many bulkheads is used to further optimise. The use of the SAMO-COBRA method in the second optimisation stage proved to be effective at providing the naval architect with a range of design proposals, where the probabilistic damage stability regulations were used as a base of design. Furthermore, it is shown that for single hold ships in general, the priority of the algorithm followed the influence of the parameters on the distance they were able to create between the cargo hold and the outer hull. The influence of the parameters, resulting from the sensitivity analyses endorse these claims. The Morris method showed the high non-linear and non-monotonic behaviour of the parameters that were investigated. This made it difficult to distinguish the level of influence between the parameters. The combination of the Morris method, Pearson correlation matrix and the sensitivity by hand proved to be sufficient for determining the behaviour of the probabilistic damage stability calculation. In the end, this research proposes a new foundation of designing a ship with the probabilistic damage stability regulations as a base of design. After the initial design from the two stage optimisation all other design requirements are implemented in the design. If the ship then fails to comply with the regulations, the knowledge and insight from this research can be used to increase the survivability of the ship in order for it to comply again.

The expansion of the cruise market in the last decades and the significant increase in the size of cruise ships, led to a revision of the safety standards for passenger vessels which resulted in the introduction of the so-called "Safe Return to Port" regulatory framework (SRtP). These regulations strongly impacted every aspect of the life of passenger ships, from commissioning to operations. Clearly also the design of these vessels was highly affected, inducing the design companies to face with the risks entailed by SRtP regulations on a daily basis. Indeed these regulations require great complexity of the systems in terms of redundancy and segregation, and their great interdependence further complicate the assessment of the functional capabilities requested by SRtP. The complexity required in the designs and the difficulties in assessing the compliance with the regulations contribute to increase the risks associated with SRtP projects. Obviously design companies are negatively affected by these risks and preventing expensive re-designs in later stages of the process is mandatory to improve the company's performance. Due to the complexity of the task, a support method for the mitigation of the risks entailed by the non compliance of the designs with SRtP regulations is proposed. The method comprises a through analysis of the spaces on board and a software tool to support designers in the assessment of the correct placement of the components of the systems, in order to guarantee the required capabilities in every casualty scenario.