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According to the European energy consumption reports, the highest energy/fuel consumption in the residential sector is due to space heating, followed by water heating. Generally, the product used to warm water in residential buildings is a boiler system where a heat exchanger is the core of the system. The paper provides a Life Cycle Assessment analysis of a traditional heat exchanger used in domestic boilers with the aim to identify critical aspects and environmental hotspots for the development of a novel concept of the heat exchanger. The methodology used to collect eco-design guidelines from the Life Cycle Assessment analysis is proposed within the paper. Several eco-design actions were put into practice to reduce the environmental issues in each phase of the life cycle from the materials used, the manufacturing processes as well as the product geometry to increase energy efficiency during the use. Concerning the materials and manufacturing phase, a novel design based on a different material (e.g., stainless steel) was developed to replace a mix of materials (i.e., copper and aluminum alloy). Concerning the use phase, the overall product efficiency was increased allowing important savings in terms of gas/energy consumption, by the adoption of a novel design (e.g., spiral pipe). The new heat exchanger design shows better environmental performance in each Life Cycle Assessment indicator, saving more than 40% in CO2 emissions (Global Warming Potential) in the whole product life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduction of the environmental impact, energy efficiency and optimization of material resources are basic aspects in the design and sizing of a battery. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the environmental impact associated with the life cycle of a 7.47 Wh 18,650 cylindrical single-cell LiFePO4 battery. Life cycle assessment (LCA), the SimaPro 9.1 software package, the Ecoinvent 3.5 database and the ReCiPe 2016 impact assessment method were used for this purpose. Environmental impacts were modelled and quantified using the dual midpoint-endpoint approach and the "cradle-to-gate" model. The results showed the electrodes to be the battery components with the highest environmental impact (41.36% of the total), with the negative electrode being the most unfavourable (29.8 mPt). The ageing, calibration and testing process (53.97 mPt) accounts for 97.21% of the total impact associated with the production process's consumption of energy, and 41.20% of the total impact associated with the battery. This new knowledge will allow a more detailed view of the environmental impact of cylindrical cell LiFePO4 batteries, favouring the identification of critical points to enhance their sustainable production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper addresses the escalating global issue of electronic waste (e-waste), a consequence of the burgeoning demand for electronic products coupled with their transient lifespan. The rapid accumulation of e-waste is a significant concern, especially in the context of climate change, necessitating a detailed analysis of current management strategies and the development of sustainable management practices. The intricate relationship between e-waste and climate change is emphasized, illustrating how improper disposal and recycling practices substantially contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. A meticulous analysis is conducted to critique the prevailing e-waste management strategies, identifying their shortcomings and the urgent need for enhancement and globalization of these protocols. The paper argues for a fortified, universal approach to e-waste management to address the deficiencies in current methodologies. A set of strategic, sustainable solutions for e-waste management is proposed, encompassing comprehensive regulatory frameworks, advanced recycling technologies, the incorporation of eco-design principles, and the enhancement of consumer awareness. These solutions pivot around the circular economy concept, viewing waste as a valuable resource rather than a disposal predicament, thereby promoting sustainability. Short conclusion: The paper concludes that a consolidated, global approach to e-waste management is imperative for addressing the proliferation of discarded electronics and is pivotal in the wider context of mitigating climate change and fostering sustainable development. It underscores the transformative potential of sustainable e-waste management, transforming a formidable challenge into an opportunity for environmental conservation, economic growth, and societal progress, emphasizing the importance of viewing e-waste management as a vehicle for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circular economy (SE) is the foremost element for environmental improvement that reduces wastage and enhances production. This aspect requires the focus of new researchers and experienced policymakers. Hence, the current research examines the impact of SE practices such as internal environmental management (IEM), eco-design, and internal recovery on the SE targeted performance, such as environmental performance in Vietnam. The research also investigates the moderating role of environmental-oriented supply chain (SC) practices such as green purchases among IEM, eco-design, internal recovery, and environmental performance in Vietnam. The research collected the data from the respondents using survey questionnaires. The research also investigates the association among variables using smart-PLS. The outcomes revealed that the IEM, eco-design, and internal recovery are positively associated with environmental performance. The outcomes also exposed that the green purchases significantly moderates among IEM, eco-design, internal recovery, and environmental performance. The research guides the regulators in establishing regulations related to achieve the high SE targeted performance, such as environmental performance using circular economy practices such as IEM, eco-design, and internal recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the influence of consumer cooperation, eco-design, and green marketing on the adoption of green supply chain management in developing countries. The mediating role of innovation in this relationship is also examined. A survey method was employed, using a questionnaire adapted from previous studies. The sample comprised 250 respondents who were employees of small and medium size and multinational manufacturing industries in Bangladesh. Smart partial least squares (PLS) are currently being used for data analysis, while PLS-structural equation modeling is being employed to assess measurement and structural models. The findings reveal that consumer cooperation, eco-design, and green marketing significantly affect innovation. Furthermore, innovation acts as a mediator between these variables and the adoption of green supply chain management. This study identifies green supply chain management practices that have the potential to enhance organizational performance and motivate companies to implement strategic and operational changes, leading to significant economic, social, and environmental impacts. The research holds significant importance for emerging economies and green supply chain adoption considering the constraints at both organizational and government levels. It provides a framework for a synergistic combination of asset-based elements, innovation, and green supply chain management, benefiting small and medium size organization, multinational corporations, and the supply chain sector in achieving sustainable development goals. The implications of this study extend to supervisors and managers in the corporate world, assisting them in making informed decisions. By expanding the existing literature on the consumer cooperation, eco-design, and green marketing model to include green supply chain management, this study contributes to the field. However, it should be noted that the findings and recommendations may be influenced by contextual factors, and therefore, future research should explore other countries to identify regional and specific sectors, enabling a broader perspective and comparisons as well as green related aspects and performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It can be hard for enterprises to make the first move towards circular business models; technologies, information and design need to be linked and dynamic. The present paper proposes a methodology that guides enterprises in integrating environmental and economic aspects during the optimization of products' end-of-life. It overcomes the current literature limits because it focuses on multiple lifecycle stages and is not limited to end-of-life strategies; secondly, it encompasses both the economic and environmental sustainability perspectives. It expects its implementation to be supported by commercial solutions that enable the quantification of environmental and economic indices, such as degradation index, target price and target cost. The methodology was applied to an industrial case study (an electrospindle) enabling its validation and a deep reflection on the potential consequences of the analyzed scenario throughout the value chain and business departments. The results of the case study show that not all the scenarios are convenient; only the cases that expect components of the pneumatic cylinder group and shaft kit to be re-manufactured are environmentally and economically convenient. The first scenario, which is about disassembling the product to optimize the recycling flow, is currently not feasible from the economic perspective; however, the acquisition of a higher number of used electrospindles could increase its economic convenience, as the disassembly phase may be optimized. De-manufacturing strategies could extend the useful lifecycle of products and introduce additional revenue streams, with intangible effects: information about the use phase, marketing leverage, end-of-life treatment, policies forecasting and strengthened customer relationships. However, it may bring high risks as well, such as cannibalization and investments. For a more aware prioritization of to-be scenarios, future works may exploit more in detail the disassembly time quantification; additionally, the analysis of the main failure modes and events may stand aside from the economic and environmental as-is analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of success factors of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) dimensions (i.e., green purchasing, internal environmental management, cooperation with customers, eco-design, and investment recovery) and their impact on the Organizational Performance of Manufacturers in Pakistan on three pieces of levels of execution (i.e., Environmental Performance, Economic Performance, and Operational Performance), whereas GSCM practices in developing countries like Pakistan need to be explored. Data was collected from managers of 220 business firms in Pakistan through survey questionnaires with a purposive sampling technique. The target population consisted of managerial employees (business experts and executives) from private business firms, and partial least square-structural equation modeling was used for analysis. All GSCM dimensions were found significant in at least one of the performances, except eco-design on environmental performance and green purchasing on economic performance, either clearly or indirectly. The proposed model assembles and provides the respondents' distinctive working areas: electronic gadgets, automobile process and machinery sectors. Moreover, the appraisal of the connection between five developments of GSCM practices and three builds with the effect of the green distribution of authoritative execution in the Pakistan assembling setting offers an extraordinary theoretical commitment to exploring the green supply chain management field. First, this research is done by studying the green supply chain management dimensions of different performances of manufacturing firms in Pakistan, which has never been done before. Second, it contributes to the existing literature on critical success factors of GSCM. Manufacturing firms should implement GSCM practices to improve all three types of performance, i.e., environmental, economic, and operational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important challenges of this century will be to minimise as much as possible the energy consumption of the worldwide digital infrastructure to have a significant contribution on our emissions of CO2 reduction since energy consumption and emission of CO2 are directly linked. Therefore, after an introduction (part 1), in part 2 of this paper, we will describe the status of the worldwide production of electricity, the contribution of information and communications technology (ICT) in terms of electricity consumption, and the identification of the critical network segments that can have a significant environmental impact. In part 3, we will focus on the data centres and core services that represent important network segments responsible for the largest emission of CO2. In part 4, we will address the access and aggregation part, which represents the second important network segment to optimise. Part 5 will focus on the home networking and enterprise. And before an estimation of the energy savings obtained when adopting the innovations proposed, the impact of the vertical market will be discussed in part 6. Finally, the conclusion (part 7) will summarise the results and perspectives will be proposed to complete the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main policy addressing the packaging waste issue in the countries of the European Union has been to define recycling objectives along with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). With EPR, producers finance the recycling and management of waste generated by their products. Within this framework, they are expected to internalise waste management costs and engage in eco-design of their packaging, i.e., use less packaging and increase packaging recyclability (e.g., through substitution of materials). EPR has been extended worldwide over recent decades and applied to various waste streams. In this paper, by exploiting temporal variation of an original panel dataset of EPR compliance costs from 25 European countries (1998–2015) and four packaging materials, I evaluate for the first time whether these costs have led to packaging waste reduction and substitution of packaging materials. I find that the EPR financial incentive has resulted in very little (though statistically significant) packaging reduction and no systematic substitution effects between packaging materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of sustainable development and green supply chain management is considered at the underlying stage in the research and academic fields, particularly in the rising economies of Asia. This research investigates the persuasive force of the firm's green supply chain management practices with the mediating part of the competitiveness and investment recovery. Data was collected from the 12 ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 leather industries based in Pakistan. We distributed the 350 questionnaires at 12 leather industries, and the questionnaire was also transferred on Google Forms, and 50 questionnaire mail to different individuals who work in leather industries of other cities of Pakistan; out of 350 questionnaires, 183 were filled, and the remaining questionnaires were incomplete, and out of 50 emails, we get the response of 33 emails, and evaluated the model of this study by using the partial least square structural equation modeling PLS-SEM. We interact with the employees of leather industries and try to understand how they are following the green practices in their firms. This research uses resource dependence theory as the theoretical base. This study elaborates how the organization's behavior is affected by the external resources of the corporation. The actual outcomes uncover that green supply chain management activities positively impacting the firm's performance, where competitiveness and investment recovery play a mediating role among intra-organizational green practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of pursuing the circular economy (CE) is spreading more and more in industry, also driven by the introduction of new regulations, considerably affecting product design. However, a quantitative and rigorous evaluation of the environmental impacts of the results obtained by different design strategies used to implementing CE is missing in the literature. Those available only evaluate certain aspects of the life cycle of few products, belonging to specific application fields, in a qualitative way or they refer only to the global warming potential. This study provides a quantitative assessment of the environmental impacts reductions arising from the application of some common design strategies for implementing different CE options (e.g. reuse, waste to energy, remanufacturing), by using some standard indicators. The results were obtained by manually analysing 156 selected case studies of comparative life cycle assessment (LCA), extracted from 136 scientific articles. In them, the environmental impacts of design solutions for CE are compared with those of other solutions were wastes are not exploited. The obtained results have been used to evaluate the different design strategies for CE and to hierarchize them based on environmental sustainability of the solutions associated with them. In addition, an economic evaluation of the strategies, based on the life cycle costing methodology and exploiting the data available in the same articles, was also provided. Among the main achievements, it was found that the hierarchy of the CE options, pursued by the design strategies, to improve environmental sustainability is different from that provided by other studies. In addition, the environmental benefits associated with the different CE options strictly depend by the applied design strategies and the considered products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-feedback is a design strategy that reminds users of their resource consumption as they use a product. The ultimate goal is to promote pro-environmental behaviors in users by making them aware of the environmental impact of their consumption. The way these designs present resource usage information can significantly impact user perceptions. This paper investigates two aspects of resource usage presentation, quantitative feedback and emotional evocativeness, by evaluating 32 designs spanning electricity, materials, transportation, and water via surveys of 619 university students in the US and Saudi Arabia. Both these aspects are positively correlated with perceived product appeal and perceived effectiveness in encouraging sustainable behavior. It was found that presenting quantitative resource usage information was more helpful to respondents who could better estimate resource consumption, while the emotional evocativeness of a design aided respondents with lower and higher resource consumption knowledge to a similar degree. In addition, we found that images of living creatures and strong visual cues evoked strong emotions in users. Female participants, in general, responded more strongly than males to this emotional evocativeness. These experimental findings cast light on how to better design eco-feedback products to be more widely accepted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The built environment is a key sector for the transition towards a so-called circular economy, contributing to solve the global environmental challenges humanity is facing. As buildings interact with other sectors like transport and energy, a systemic approach is needed to assess the environmental relevance of circular economy practices. The purpose of this study is to develop and test an approach for the evaluation of overall environmental performance of urban projects. Methods: Combining Material Flow Analysis (MFA), the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI), and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) indicators allows for relating means (material recovery) and performance (protection of human health, biodiversity, and resources). Results and discussion: This study shows the ability of LCA to evaluate circular economy practices at the scale of an urban project. It also highlights LCA's limitations and shows that research is needed to improve resource depletion evaluation and biogenic carbon accounting in eco-design LCA tools. Results show that at the project scale, the MCI, one of the major circular indicators in use today, and MFA provide interesting information complementary to LCA but do not successfully evaluate the environmental performance of circular practices. Conclusions: Circularity indicators are complementary to LCA indicators and should not replace them in the eco-design process. Rather than setting circularity targets for a project, it is advisable to set environmental targets so that designers use circularity combined with other means to reach these targets in a systemic way. The choice and implementation of environmentally sound circular actions and strategies are at stake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical devices (MDs) are important health instruments, encompassing an enormous diversity of products, from simple ligatures to pacemakers, bone grafts or auxiliary life support machines. Despite the growing social and economic relevance of the MD industry in the health sector, its environmental problems have only recently started to be discussed. MDs companies worldwide are being pressed to assess the environmental impacts of their products by considering the full life cycle. These pressures are leading to the use of tools which promote fact-based environmental decision-making toward a more sustainable health sector. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and eco-design are well-known methods which may provide the MDs industrial sector with knowledge of the environmental impacts associated with their products and subsequently promote informed decisions leading to more sustainable materials, devices and services. This paper selects and reviews relevant studies using the methodology of LCA or eco-design, either applied in a singular basis or simulated, to access impacts of MDs. Seeking for a comparative analysis, this review is extended to LCA studies for the most used material in the MDs industry: the polymers. Results show that the number of studies is not vast, realizing the yet scarce use of either LCA and eco-design in the scientific literature for MDs. Nevertheless, it is observed that when applied either LCA and eco-deign can promote grounds for an increase in the environmental sustainability of MDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global supply chains (GoSCs) have become common for industries. However, relatively little research has emphasized products' complex supply chain environmental assessments. Against this background, this paper maps key environmental issues in the GoSCs of the West Africa cashew industry. The initial-oriented green design and supply chain-wide assessment of the kernel product system was conducted through an eco-design approach based on the matrix method, life cycle design strategy wheel and analytical hierarchical process. The results reveal static/technical eco-design issues that can reduce negative environmental impacts. Additionally, it highlights the strategic opportunities for redesign related to the selection of low-impact materials and gaseous emission. The main issues that arise in mapping the complex supply chains such as the need to re-examine some environmental issues such as solid and liquid residues from production and processing stages as more strategic concerns are discussed. In conclusion, the study points out that it is important not to compromise supply chain-wide assessment of environmental impacts and to understand both technical and strategic values of environmental issues in complex supply chains of products even at the initial stage of interest in green supply chain design. Thus, the eco-design approach of the study has potential to enhance environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eco-design approach was developed in the field of design and architecture in the second half of the twentieth century, with the aim of considering and reducing the environmental impact of products throughout their whole life cycle. The purpose of this study is to reveal how and the extent to which the carbon footprints of small houses that were designed with industrial construction techniques have been reduced during the production phase of the life cycle. For this purpose, the small houses and their materials were reconsidered to reduce their carbon footprints under the guidance of eco-design strategies according to the life cycle assessment method. The study focuses on 7 small houses, a reflective design process in which designs are reconsidered and the reconsidered small house designs in which carbon footprints are reduced as a result of the process within the scope of the Ecological Architecture course conducted by the Department of Architecture at Ataturk University. The CCaLC program was used in the study to calculate and compare the carbon footprints of the first small house designs and the small house designs reconsidered under the guidance of eco-design strategies. Small houses stand out due to their lower use of natural resources and low environmental impact at all stages of their life cycle. Using such houses as examples, this study reveals that the carbon footprints of buildings can be significantly reduced based on their materials by reflective design processes under the guidance of eco-design strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the environmental crises of recent decades, a turning point in the awareness of the fragility of ecosystems has been marked, i.e., environmental awareness. This has contributed to the development of various environmental laws and regulations such as the "Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment," the "Restriction of Hazardous Substances," and the "Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals" regulations and the "Energy Using Products" Directives. Our work contributes to the development of eco-friendly product manufacturing processes. In order to estimate and optimize the environmental impacts of a product, most of the methodologies, concepts, and tools that integrate computer-aided design (CAD) and life cycle assessment systems generally exploit the feature technology at the level of each feature independently of the others, i.e., "microplanning." The feature interaction technology (FIT) is treated only in few studies, but it is pivotal in the eco-manufacturing process. In this paper, we propose a new manufacturing-scenarios-based methodology by using FIT and a Multi-criteria Decision Support Method (MCDSM), which helps manufacturers maintain their marketplaces by producing goods in an eco-friendly way. In fact, this methodology helps designers choose from the CAD design phase the most ecological manufacturing process from possible existent scenarios in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welding is a widely used technology that allows the joining of thick metal plates for the development of large structures (e.g. piping, tanks, vessels). Many industries are intensively using welding for manufacturing and assembly activities. Sustainability assessment of welded structures is currently performed with misleading information in terms of data heterogeneity (nature) and quality (source). The data required to carry out a robust environmental analysis are spread among different documents and become available only when the project is finalized. This paper aims to define a data framework for a life cycle inventory of metal arc welding processes to preventively assess the environmental performances of different processes for comparison and decision-making analysis. The framework is presented as innovative solutions for life cycle inventory that provide (i) a common data structure (model), (ii) necessary data (input/output), and (iii) physical allocation/placement of data (project design documents). This study was performed in accordance with the international standard organization ISO 14040/14044 by using an attributional life cycle assessment (aLCA). Two structures (an oil and gas riser and a ship hull) were investigated considering the same functional unit: the manufacturing, use, and disposal of a welded structure able to guarantee the engineering requirements (according to a specific standard) in terms of strain, stress, and corrosion allowance over the expected lifetime of 20 years. In both cases, the share of welding process in respect to an overall product/structure life cycle impact assessment is strictly dependant on the project design choice and can be negligible for high-corrosion-resistance materials (e.g., Inconel alloy). On the other hand, the use of traditional metals (e.g., carbon steel) allows a large decrease of the environmental load, and the influence of the welding process becomes significant in a life cycle perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In a context of flourishing eco-labelling programs and environment policy for food products, LCA application to agricultural systems faces the challenges of being operational, accurate and exhaustive. This is particularly challenging for the newly developing LCA and ISO-compliant water footprinting, with many LCIA methods only recently developed, but no dedicated inventory method. To support the inventory of elementary water flows, LCA practitioners have a variety of tools available, ranging from databases (e.g. World Food LCA Database) to complex agro-hydrological models. To allow all LCA practitioners to fulfil their diverse agri-food LCA objectives, a review of available inventory tools for field water flows and recommendations are needed.Methods: The selection of the appropriate method and tool for the inventory of field water flows in agri-food LCA studies depends on the objectives of the LCA study, data and resources available (time and skills). We analysed water inventory and agri-food LCA databases by evaluating the models on which they rely and their input data. Then, we explored the use of agro-hydrological models for LCA aiming at discriminating between different cropping system practices (LCA-based eco-design).Results and discussion: Water inventory and agri-food LCA databases provide estimates of theoretical water consumed by a crop and rely on data and methods that have limitations, making them suitable only for background agricultural LCAs. In addition, databases do not support the application of water availability footprint indicators (assessing quantitative water use and water quality alteration). For the LCA-based eco-design of cropping systems, the inventory of water flows should be based on a model simulating evapotranspiration, deep percolation and runoff accounting for crop specificities, pedo-climatic conditions and agricultural management. In particular, the model should account for possible water, salinity and nutrient stresses; assess evaporation and transpiration separately; and estimate runoff and drainage according to the system specificities. Yield should not be estimated with a model but with primary data. Recommended and default data sources are provided for each input parameter.Conclusions: The FAO AquaCrop model represents a good trade-off between accuracy, simplicity and robustness for LCA-based eco-design of cropping systems. However, this model is not yet applicable for perennial crops. Beyond a single model selection, this is a modelling approach that we characterised in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driving cycles currently available cannot be used for the eco-design of vehicles power trains because those cycles do not describe local driving patterns. The main difficulty in obtaining a representative driving cycle is the lack of a repeatable and reproducible methodology to ensure that the resulting cycle is representative of local conditions. We developed a methodology to address this need, based on simultaneous data of speed, altitude, fuel consumption and tail pipe emissions. The methodology consists of three steps: (i) route selection; (ii) obtaining a representative sample of real cycles from vehicles driven in the region of interest; (iii) identification of the typical driving cycle as the one out of the real cycles sampled, whose characteristic parameters have the minimum weighted differences with respect to the average values of all cycles sampled. This method does not require the measurement of fuel consumption nor the emission of pollutants. However, by following this method, a vehicle that reproduces the resulting cycle exhibits a fuel consumption, and tailpipe emissions similar to the average of these variables shown by the entire population of vehicles with the same technology being driven in that region. We applied it to a fleet of 15 buses of the same technology covering the same routes over 8 months, in an area of high altitude with flat and hilly terrain. Measured fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions for the resulting driving cycle were within the 4% of difference with respect to the average values of all cycles sampled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive manufacturing is an innovative manufacturing process that enables rapid manufacturing of functional products and parts. On the other side, considering environmental aspects in design is beneficial as it leads to lower costs, improved product quality, new business opportunities. Thus, in order to foster the potential of AM in product innovation and product manufacturing in the light of environmental concerns, a new design method is necessary. This paper proposes a method in the context of Design with Additive Manufacturing, to take into account the specificities of this manufacturing process in a Design to Environment approach. The method is focused on the Early Design Stages (EDS) of the product development process, which are crucial not only for choices regarding the product characteristics but also for the environmental parameters that need to be taken into consideration. The implementation of the proposed method in creativity session of the EDS underlined the need for dedicated supports in terms of environmental decisions. More and specifically the need for providing tools to capitalize the decisions made focusing on each Life Cycle Stage of the product was identified as a requirement for this support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of five determinants of the green supply chain practices on organizational performance in the context of Pakistan manufacturing firms. A sample of 218 firms was collected from the manufacturing industry. The green supply chain practices were measured through five independent variables including green manufacturing, green purchasing, green information systems, cooperation with customers, and eco-design. By using exploratory factor and simultaneous regression analysis, the results indicate that except green purchasing, rests of the four independent variables have been found statistically significant to predict organizational performance. However, the eco-design of green practices followed by green information systems has revealed the greatest impact on organizational performance. Therefore, the managers of the manufacturing firms should not only implement eco-design in their supply chain but also concentrate on proper monitoring and implementation of green information systems to increase their firms' performance. A main contribution of this research from theoretical side is that it is possible to notice a negative effect of 'green purchasing' towards organizational performance particularly in the scenario of Pakistan manufacturing industry. Another valuable result is that green purchasing is an important antecedent of firms economic performance in the US manufacturing firms (Green et al. 2012), although not significantly related to organizational performance in our study. In addition, we also discussed research limitations, areas for future research, and implications for practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco design and sustainable design are words with increasing relevance in the development of new products. One of the main reasons is the growing worry about the environmental issues that the planet is having nowadays, hence the demand for products with this aspect included. Now designers have the opportunity to adapt useful tools to estimate the environmental impact of a design concept in order to develop environmentally friendly products. However, it is only in the last stages of design process where design teams have enough information to calculate the impact of a proposal. This calculation is a tedious, expensive and demanding activity and involving a high level of knowledge about materials, manufacturing processes and eco-design strategies. For this reason, environmental impact estimations gain relevance in the early stages of the design process, where more risks can be taken with a lower cost. This article suggests a taxonomy to analyze product's shape; in order to offer a structured and systematic way of performing a morphology classification, being able to integrate this subjective aspect to other necessary variables needed to estimate the environmental impact. It offers a way to understand how shape, material and Manufacturing process are key aspects to make environmental impact estimations of preliminary concepts during the Conceptual Design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discussion on the new strategies related to the sustainable product development process has required a new perception of strategies in the design process. In this context, this paper proposes a method for integrated product development process oriented to sustainability. The method presents a logical sequence to promote the interaction between the definitions of product category, and the selection of design for environmental strategies for the product design. The proposed method consists of three steps: (i) definition of product category and phases most impacted by the strategies; (ii) definition of design for environment strategies for the product; and (iii) definition of recommendations for design. Its logical sequence promotes the interaction between the involved areas and its adoption does not depend on the integrated product development process model selected and does not generate any additional costs. Four case studies were developed to evaluate the method and the results showed that it is a comprehensive and practicable method that promotes significant reduction on resources and energy consumption in the product manufacturing processes. The method has great potential to support decision-making in the design process of a sustainable product since it guides the design towards the development of more efficient products and anticipates the visualization of critical points and the improvements that need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The French network Eco-design of Sustainable Systems (EcoSD) has initiated collaborative research projects in order to foster collaborations between academic and industrial partners. Two projects concerning eco-innovation processes, methods and tools have been carried out between 2012 and 2014. This paper first offers a synthesis of the projects, and questions the new directions to feed research in eco-innovation for the forthcoming years. The first project concerned the perception of eco-innovation by companies. It aimed at defining the features and goals of eco-innovation compared to eco-design through a survey with 12 French industrial partners. Results confirm that eco-innovation still is an emerging topic and does not seem to be supported by any structured process. The second project made a focus on the stage of eco-evaluation and eco-selection of the most promising ideas. In order to understand the emergence of ideas with a high environmental potential, three groups of mixed academics and industrials were asked to test two methods involving mapping, selection, combination and environmental evaluation of ideas. Main results show that there is a large inter-group variability in the evaluation of the environmental potential of ideas. Lastly, three interlinked directions for research in eco-innovation are identified. The first direction deals with the eco-ideation phase, where appropriate stimulation mechanisms should be integrated to. The second direction deals with the environmental evaluation of ideas very early in the process. It is necessary to characterize the inputs and outputs from this phase, building a bridge towards a latter simplified environmental assessment. The last direction deals with the construction of an efficient eco-innovation process based on the two previous phases. The challenge is to reduce the gap between academia and industry, enabling companies to introduce an eco-innovation process into their current design process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to identify and select safeguard subjects and state indicators that are suitable for sustainability assessment in product and production development, using an interpretation of the Brundtland definition of sustainable development. The purpose is also to investigate how indicators selected in this way differ from other selections in the literature. Methods: We use a top-down approach, which starts with reviewing the Brundtland definition of sustainability and identifying the corresponding human basic needs to be satisfied. For each basic need, we identify relevant satisfiers, and for each satisfier, a number of safeguard subjects. The safeguard subjects represent critical resources for making satisfiers available. For each safeguard subject, a number of state indicators (=endpoint category indicators) are selected that are relevant for describing impacts from product life cycles on the safeguard subject. Results and discussion: Ecosystem services, access to water, and abiotic resources are identified as environmental safeguard subjects. Technology for transports, environment, textiles, housing, food, information, and energy, together with income, are identified as economical safeguard subjects. Human health, land availability, peace, social security, continuity, knowledge, jobs/occupation, and culture are identified as social safeguard subjects. In comparison with the other selections of safeguard subjects in literature, our safeguard subjects are structured differently and delimited in scope, but there are also many similarities. The best agreement is on environmental issues, but we classify human health as a social issue. For social issues, we identify fewer safeguard subjects and state indicators than recommendations from UNEP/SETAC. For economic issues, we diverse from current LCC and approach UNECE measures of sustainability. Conclusions: Identification and selection of safeguard subjects and state indicators benefit from a clear definition of sustainability, needs to be satisfied, and satisfiers. The interpretation of the sustainability concept has a large influence on which safeguard subjects that are included and which indicators that are needed to describe their state. Capacity building is an important sustainability indicator, which should be developed further for use in life cycle sustainability assessment. The top-down approach offers a good arena for a further research and discussions on how to structure and focus LCSA. Our results shall be seen as one example of which safeguard subject that may be identified with the top-down approach presented here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from food production and consumption can be made at the level of individual diet. Together with the food and beverage sector, consumers could play a significant role by making informed choices that benefit the environment and their own health. Communicating information on carbon footprints to consumers is challenging and should be made very simple, yet reliable. This sector is showing interest in using eco-design tools to decrease climate change impacts of their meals. Methods: A long-term concept for communicating information on carbon footprints associated with meals was developed in Finland. The criteria for a Climate Choice meal were created through stakeholder dialogue, and three restaurant operators piloted the concept in 25 restaurants. In addition to climate change impacts, possibilities to include other sustainability criteria were reviewed. The concept was based on simplified carbon footprinting of raw material production and processing of ingredients for 105 commonly selected lunches. The carbon footprint calculations allowed the development of the Climate Choice meal concept, its criteria, and piloting the concept. Based on experiences from restaurants and consumers from the pilot phase, final criteria were developed. Results and discussion: The Climate Choice meal concept was created using two alternative climate criteria: one for immediate implementation and another for future implementation, in cases where carbon footprinting is feasible for restaurants. The criteria for immediate implementation include a list of mainly plant-based ingredients with low carbon footprint. Regarding future criteria, it should be made easy enough for restaurants to estimate the carbon footprints of their meals, allowing labeling of meals when their carbon footprints are at least 25 % smaller than for an average meal. In addition to the two climate criteria, Climate Choice meals need to follow Finnish public catering nutritional recommendations, taking into account that fish species on the Red List of WWF's Finnish seafood guide are prohibited. Conclusions: To promote climate-friendly eating, a long-term concept rather than a short-term campaign is needed. There is interest among consumers and restaurants for information on food carbon footprints and sustainability. Lunch is regarded as a good opportunity for consumers to learn about climate-friendly eating. The main challenges are to produce sufficiently reliable background data and to raise consumer and the food and beverage sector interest and understanding of carbon footprints associated with food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to contribute to the growing research on green supply chain management (GSCM) strategies by relying on the Natural Resource Based View (NRBV) and relational view. Specifically, this study investigates the role of collaborative capability in moderating the effects of GSCM practices on firm performance. Using hierarchical regression, this study analyzes data from a survey of 230 South Korean manufacturers. The results show that the implementation of GSCM practices can improve both environmental and financial performance of the firm. Also, the findings indicate that firms can expect improved financial performance when they seek a synergistic effect by involving their partners in the GSCM implementation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of product innovation, the environmental dimension takes a new dimension and can not be separated from other product requirements which make it competitive. Many tools are available but not widely used by companies. In the present work we have adopted an approach using a qualitative evaluation matrix including parameters related to the ease of use of the product related to the organizational preparation for the appropriation of an eco-design approach, in addition to the standard factors of eco-efficiency. In order to help the designer to make a decision, an adapted TRIZ method is proposed ( Téoria Rechénia Izobrétatelskikh Zadatch or theory of inventive problem solving). The applicability of this method is justified by the many contradictions in the choices in a study of the life cycle and can help designers and companies to choose an approach to attain a satisfying level of eco-design for the resources invested in it. An application, based on inventive principles, will be adapted and completed.This matrix can help the designer to reduce the scope of his creative investigations. Verification of the results was made by application to various situations of patents published in eco-design and monitoring of student teams that meet the challenges presented during the competition '24 Hours of innovation.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this article is to signal the changes envisaged by ISO TC/207 SC1 for introduction in the new version of ISO 14001:2015 as well as to discuss the role of eco-design and life cycle thinking (LCT) in the context of Environmental Management Systems (EMS). Methods: A review of the proposed changes to be introduced in the new version of ISO 14000:2015 with particular emphasis on those related to LCT and eco-design has been carried out. Additionally, for the purpose of this article, the guidelines with regard to ISO 14006:2011 have been analysed in the context of the role that eco-design plays in an EMS. Results: The new version of ISO 14001:2015 includes many direct and indirect references to LCT. One of the key changes is organisations adapting a wider perspective to see how their environmental impact stretch across the whole supply chain. Another key recommendation is to use eco-design for identifying and assessing the environmental aspects in relation to products. The whole life cycle of the products should be analysed, which will result in the inclusion of indirect environmental aspects that are beyond the direct control of the organisation. Conclusions: The planned changes to ISO 14001:2015 with regard to the use of LCT and eco-design should be seen as a significant piece of information by eco-designers and life cycle assessment (LCA) practitioners since they provide a real opportunity to increase interest in eco-design tools amongst the environmental managers responsible for the environmental management systems within their organisations. It seems that now is the right time to initiate information campaigns and training on eco-design and LCA tailored specifically for organisations, which have implemented environmental management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite more than 20 years of economic progress, especially in emerging economies like Brazil, the gap between developed and developing countries is still large, and environment problems have risen significantly. In this context, this paper aims to make the Brazilian furniture production cleaner, analyzing the environmental requirements considered by the micro and small enterprises (SMEs) in made-to-order furniture industry during the product development process (PDP). Another attempt was to identify the internal and external factors that led to the incorporation of these requirements. In this regard, a comprehensive review of eco-design concept that consists of composing environmental requirements into the PDP, through methods, tools, guidelines and techniques, was carried out. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews and in loco observations, analyzing each activity of the PDP and the environmental requirements on 18 SMEs in Brazil. The outcomes show that the economic factors determine the way in which the enterprises respond to the environmental issues and how adequate their companies according to laws and regulations. Moreover, the small number of qualified professionals in this field lead to difficulties to structure the sector, in other words, to produce with less environment impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Eco-innovation strategies are increasingly adopted to ensure the minimization of environmental impacts. Nonetheless, only a comprehensive integrated assessment along the life cycle stages of a product may ensure a robust analysis of the benefit of the innovation. The object of the present study is the environmental assessment of furniture prototypes produced using certified wood and integrating eco-design criteria in their conception. The aim of the study was twofold: firstly, to evaluate the environmental profile of the furniture, highlighting possible hot spots of impacts, and secondly, to evaluate the capability of life cycle assessment (LCA) to identify the environmental benefit associated to the adoption of eco-innovation strategies, such as the following: ensuring short supply chain from raw material to production; using wood coming from certified forests (according to PEFC scheme); and the implementation of eco-design principles, also associated with green public procurement requirements. Methods: LCA has been applied in a case study related to the wood furniture sector in the alpine region of Northern Italy. Every activity was modeled using primary data, related to the inputs and outputs of the processes, provided directly by the designers and by woodworking firms. Input data related to forestry activities and wood extraction were collected and processed in a previous phase of the study. The life cycle of a prototype school desk from the cradle-to-gate perspective was analyzed. A woodworking plant was examined in detail, dividing the whole manufacturing process into four phases: panels production, woodworking, painting and steel parts processing. The system boundaries included all the activities which take place inside the plant as well as energy inputs, transports and ancillary products used. Results and discussion: The results highlighted that the working phases showing the greatest environmental burdens were the production of solid wood panels and the processing of iron parts. No concerns about chemicals, glues and paints were raised, due to the eco-design principles implemented in the production of the furniture. The choice of a short supply chain allowed for drastic reductions in the impacts associated to long-distance transports. Three sensitivity analyses were carried out to test the robustness of results concerning the following: (1) glue options, (2) drying phase and VOC emissions, and (3) transport options. Conclusions: This study proves to which extent eco-design criteria implemented in practice improve the environmental performance of products. All positive effects due to decisions taken in school desk design and conception were supported by evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are warning signs for impending scarcity of certain technology metals that play a critical role in high-tech products. The scarce elements are indispensable for the design of modern technologies with superior performance. Material scarcity can restrain future innovations and presents therefore a serious risk that must be counteracted. However, the risk is often underrated in the pursuit of technological progress. Many innovators seem to be inattentive to the limitations in availability of critical resources and the possible implications thereof. The present shortages in industrial supply with technology metals may be interpreted as a wake-up call for technology developers to tackle the issue with due consideration. The article reviews the materials scarcity phenomenon from the viewpoint of sustainable development ethics. The following questions are discussed: 'Should preventative actions be taken today in order to mitigate resource scarcity in future?' and 'Should technology developers feel responsible to do this?' The discussion presents arguments for industrial designers and engineers to create a sense of responsibility for the proactive mitigation of material scarcity. Being protagonists of the innovation system, they have the opportunity to lead change towards resource-aware technology development. The paper concludes by outlining ideas on how they can pioneer sustainable management of critical materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to the design of water treatment plants is hampered by: (1) a large diversity of unit processes, (2) the high variability of the operation conditions in relation with the water quality input, and (3) the range of possible technical solutions to fulfil the treatment needs. For a consistent prospective assessment, the LCA should be based on the simulated functioning of the unit processes rather than on average data, as it is most often the case when no real data are available. Here, a novel, integrated and flexible process modelling-life cycle assessment (PM-LCA) tool for design and LCA of water treatment technologies is presented. Methods: The tool (EVALEAU) was developed in Umberto® (v5.5) using the Python language for code scripting. A library of unit process (UP) modules was built. Each module is a detailed and highly parameterized model of a specific water treatment process, which is further linked with the software PHREEQC® for water chemistry calculation. Input data are: water composition, design, operation parameters, including literature or user-defined values. The modules are linked to Ecoinvent datasets (v2.2) for background processes. By combining the modules, water treatment chains can be designed and evaluated in Umberto® with a high level of detail and specifications. A sensitivity analysis toolbox (Morris method) was included for the identification of the process parameters mainly affecting the impact results. Results and discussion: The tool was successfully applied to the test bed case of an existing drinking water plant located in the Paris region. The conventional LCA results, based on average recorded data, were compared with the results obtained using the PM-LCA tool. Modelling results for technical parameters were also compared with data collected on site. An overall good agreement between simulations and real data was obtained, proving the relevance of the developed tool. Sensitivity analysis indicated that ozone production and transfer into water are the main technological parameters influencing climate change (taken as example since it is of high interest for stakeholders), which have therefore to be fine-tuned. Conclusions: The EVALEAU tool successfully solves the challenge of linking LCA results to the related engineering design choices, from the assessment and eco-design perspectives. The concepts and methodologies embedded within the tool provide the user with complementary views of the designed system, in terms of potable water quality, design and operation parameters and environmental impacts generated over its life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in production processes and products that result in improvement of environmental, economic and social performance of enterprises are an important element of the overall process towards more sustainable production. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the application of cleaner production and eco-design as sustainable production tools to improve the environmental efficiency of milk processing industry. Milk processing industry is one of the largest and dynamically developing branches of industry in the world. The main impact of milk processing industry on the environment is related to energy and water consumption, and waste and wastewater generation. A number of potential solutions to improve the environmental performance of milk processing industry, to reduce energy and resources consumption are analysed: substitution of cleaning agent in the milk receiving bar for washing of milk tankers with the specialised acidic detergent, integration of the automated CIP washing system in the butter bar, implementation of water recycling system to collect warm (35 °C) water, integration of the membrane technologies for the evaporation process and the use of filtrate received during the condensation for steam generation in the boiler house. Finally, an eco-design solution for cans of milk products is presented. All these proposals have been implemented in the milk processing company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activities in the area of sustainable consumption and production in Lithuania started in 1993 when the first cleaner production projects were implemented. The capacity in the area of cleaner production enabled further development and implementation of preventive environmental initiatives. Cleaner production activities have been followed by establishment of a system for development, financing and implementation of preventive innovations, implementation of environmental management systems (including development of new approaches for implementation, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises), product-oriented measures such as life cycle assessment, eco-design, and sustainability reporting. A very important role in building the basic capacity level and implementing the sustainable consumption and production initiatives in Lithuania has been played by the Institute of Environmental Engineering (APINI) at Kaunas University of Technology. This article presents an overview of activities in the area of sustainable consumption and production in Lithuania since 1992 as well as results/lessons learnt from these activities. To overcome barriers and to ensure progress in the area of sustainable consumption and production, a model of a system of sustainable consumption and production has been developed. The objective of the system is to minimise energy and material use as well as waste output, and to eliminate the 'rebound' effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main goal of this paper was to analyse the environmental profile of a structural component of a wooden house: a ventilated wooden wall, by combining two environmental methodologies: one quantitative, the life cycle assessment (LCA) and another qualitative, the design for the environment (DfE). Methods: The LCA study covers the whole life cycle of the ventilated wall manufacture as well as its distribution, installation and maintenance. To carry out this analysis, a Galician wood company was assessed in detail, dividing the process into four stages: the assembling stage, the packing stage, the distribution to clients as well as the final installation and maintenance of the wooden wall. Ten impact categories have been assessed in detail in the LCA study: abiotic depletion (AD), acidification (AC), eutrophication (EP), global warming (GW), ozone layer depletion (OD), human toxicity (HT), fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity (FE), marine aquatic ecotoxicity (ME), terrestrial ecotoxicity (TE) and photochemical oxidant formation (PO). Results and discussion: According to the environmental results, the assembling stage was the most important contributor to the environmental profile with contributions from 57% to 87%, followed by the production of the electricity required. The detailed analysis of the assembling stage identified the most important environmental hot spots: the production of boards used in the structure [oriented strand board and medium density fibreboard (MDF)] as well as the transportation of the cedar sheets from Brazil. Concerning the results of the DfE, a selection of different eco-design strategies was proposed from technological, economic and social points of view by an interdisciplinary team of researchers and company´s workers. The eco-design strategy considered the following improvement actions: (i) the substitution of the MDF in the wall structure; (ii) the use of German red pine sheets; (iii) the installation of solar panels in the facilities; (iv) the use of Euro 5 transport vehicles, (v) the use of biodiesel for transport; (vi) the definition of a maintenance protocol for the wooden materials; and (vii) the definition of a protocol for the separation of materials before disposal. Conclusions: The results obtained in this work allow predicting the influence of the selection and origin of the raw materials used on the environmental burdens associated with the process. Future work will focus on the manufacturing of a prototype of an eco-designed ventilated wooden wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent a key vector to introduce and diffuse eco-innovation in the market, because of their relevance to both the environment and the European gross domestic product. As they are often focused on continuous and incremental innovation of their products, the optimization of product eco-innovation paths can be considered a central aspect of their business. All phases of this process (awareness building and training, analysis, product (re)design and communication/certification) need to be supported to overcome the existing barriers, which mainly consist of lack of experience inside SMEs and cost of information, data, and tools. Information and Communication Technologies can play a role to lower some of the barriers, but currently the numerous services and tools available cover only specific aspects of the whole process, and are often too complex for their direct use by SMEs. The multilingual web-based platform Ecosmes.net here presented aims to integrate user-friendly and free-of-charge services and tools to support all phases of the product eco-innovation process in SMEs. The approach behind mainly consists in developing tailored, simplified tools, and in carrying out 'homogeneous product group' studies, as a basis for the production of pre-elaborated information and data to be used with the tools developed. Experience gained in 5 years of applications has confirmed that Ecosmes.net can facilitate the start-up of the product eco-innovation process, but has also shown that not all the potentialities have been fully exploited. Moreover, as the eco-innovation market is not developed enough to allow economic management of these kinds of online services, a public initiative is advocated to face this challenge and support a continuous upgrading. Modes and opportunities are proposed and discussed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposed a modular eco-design method for life cycle engineering of electronic and electricity equipment (EEE). This method can help designers improve the maintainability, reusability and recyclability of EEE. Using modular method for eco-design is not a new idea. But most former methods have two common problems. For many researches including our research, modular method is used as a redesign method to improve the environmental attributes of their products. In redesign process, the configuration or some components of the original product will be changed. These changes will bring two very serious problems wherein how to ensure the original main functions can be satisfied and the new assembly can be realized. Most of the former researches used an empirical method to analyze their redesign result to show that their redesign process works. To theoretically solve these problems by a risk control method is the most important contribution of this paper. We introduced functional and physical risk assessment as two constraints of redesign optimization process. With these two constraints, designers can control the redesign risk to an acceptable value. We believe that this method can be used not only for our modular eco-design but also for other redesign methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methods: The main objective of this study is to combine the environmental evaluation of a basic wood box used to store wine bottles by means of the integration of two environmental methodologies: a quantitative methodology known as life cycle assessment (LCA) and a qualitative methodology which is useful in integrating environmental aspects into design, that is, the design for the environment (DfE). The LCA study covers the life cycle of wood box production from a cradle-to-gate perspective. A wood processing company located in Galicia (NW, Spain) was analysed in detail, dividing the process chain into five stages: cogeneration unit, material assembling, painting, packaging and distribution to clients. Results: Abiotic depletion (AD), acidification, eutrophication, global warming, ozone layer depletion (OD), photochemical oxidant formation (PO), human toxicity (HT) and toxicological impact categories (HT, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity) were the impact categories analysed in the LCA study. According to the environmental results, the assembling stage contributed more than 57% to all impact categories, followed by the cogeneration unit and packaging. Contributions from packaging are mainly due to transoceanic transport activities related to the rope distribution and wood-based materials production. In addition, it is interesting to remark that all energy requirements were produced by on-site cogeneration boilers using a non-renewable fossil fuel. Several processes were identified as hot spots in this study: medium density fibreboards (MDF) production (with large contribution to ecotoxicity categories), energy production (with contributions to AD, GW and OD) and finally, the transportation of jute fibres (the main contributor to all the impact categories). Concerning the results from the DfE, the proposed eco-design strategies were evaluated from a technological, economic and social point of view by an interdisciplinary team of researchers and enterprise's workers. The results show that the strategies with more viability of improvement were: reduction of resources used, multifunctional design, substitution of MDF by plywood, substitution of jute fibres, alternatives to the ink, optimization of energy requirement, transport alternatives for the final product and inputs distribution and definition of a protocol for disassembling the product. Conclusions: The results obtained in this work allow forecasting the importance of the chosen raw materials as well as their origin for the environmental burdens associated with the wood-based box manufacture. Future work will focus on the manufacturing of a prototype eco-designed wood-based box. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background, aim, and scope Lightweight design is a common means of reducing a passenger car's fuel consumption. In order to calculate the resulting fuel savings, one has to estimate the total energy that is needed to move a certain weight over a defined distance in a distinct way, and express this energy in liter of gasoline or diesel. This can be accomplished by the so-called fuel reduction value (FRV) and based on a standardized driving cycle, e.g., the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). The aim of this paper is to explain the theoretical background of the calculation of fuel savings in automotive lightweight life cycle assessments (LCAs) of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in greater detail than it has been done before, to describe the resulting factors and their different applications, and to point out some notable particularities that need to be taken into account when conducting this type of LCA study. Materials and methods The first part of the paper explains the theoretical background of the FRV based on physical correlations and simulations. Based on these findings, its application in the context of automotive LCAs is described. The respective characteristics and preconditions are explained in detail. Results It is shown that for LCAs that deal with automotive parts or assemblies, it is not permissible to multiply their respective net weight by the FRV under the assumption that the vehicle's performance remains unchanged. However, the consideration of secondary lightweight effects concerning engine displacement or gear ratio is only possible under this assumption. This entails a significantly higher FRV, but in turn only allows for the calculation of the net fuel reduction, which is zero for the reference part and carries a negative sign for all lightweight design options. In practice, both FRV (0.12 and 0.28 l/ (100 km*100 kg) for diesel vehicles resp. 0.15 and 0.35 l/ (100 km*100 kg) for gasoline vehicles) are equally likely in case that no comprehensive information is available about whether a weight-induced power train adaptation will take place or not. This approach stresses the decision makers' responsibility to ensure such measures. Discussion It appears to be indicated from a scientific point of view to include power train adaptations in automotive lightweight LCA studies in order to preserve functional equality in terms of the vehicle's driving performance. Yet, in practice this adaptation will most likely not take place if the weight difference is rather small. If there is no reliable information available that a weight-induced power train adaptation is guaranteed to take place, then a scenario without power train adaptation should be presented to the decision makers as well in form of an equally probable best and worst case. Conclusions It has been shown that the fuel consumption in order to move a mass of 100 kg over 100 km can be obtained based on the NEDC driving cycle and the differential efficiency of gasoline and diesel engines. If possible secondary measures are taken into account (gear ratio and engine displacement) the resulting values can be augmented significantly. It has also been shown that it is advisable to utilize mass differences rather than mass ratios when calculating the lightweight effect on fuel consumption during the use stage. This implies that the resulting fuel saving of a lightweight component compared to the reference component carries a negative sign, while a lightweight vehicle's fuel consumption is positive. Recommendations and perspectives It is strongly recommended to follow the proposed calculation procedure in future automotive lightweight studies. The authors further recommend the use of both FRV (with and without secondary measures) and the appropriate and explicit communication of the resulting implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal electronic products have received little attention regarding life cycle assessment (LCA), possibly due to the fact that their energy consumption is not high in general. In fact, the European Union has decided to enforce a law (Directive 2005/32/EC, the EuP Directive hereafter) for regulating the environmental consequences of all energy-using products (EuPs), the scope of which also covers such personal electronic products. In complying with the directive, LCA is a useful tool to draw conclusion and to compare the performance of alternatives. In this connection, a pilot study is carried out to assess the environmental impacts of two personal electronic products through LCA, subject to the scope of the said directive. Main objective of this technical note is to raise the awareness of eco-design for personal electronic products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing recognition of the role teaching and learning experiences in technology education can contribute to Education for Sustainable Development. It appears, however, that in the Technology Education classroom little or no change has been achieved to the practice of designing and problem solving strategies oriented towards sustainable design. Brainstorming, Brainwriting, SCAMPER, Metaphoric Thinking, Outrageous Thinking, Mind Mapping and other problem-solving strategies used in the classroom could be suitable for eco-design, however, there appears to be little research data on their use. This paper examines and presents the ‘Advanced Systematic Inventive Thinking’ (ASIT) system as an eco-design strategy. ASIT is derived from a more complex engineering-based problem solving strategy known as TRIZ (the Russian acronym for The Theory of the Solution of Inventive Problems). Drawing on Stable’s (in press) call for new approaches to address sustainable design and achieve solutions through Technology Education, this article traces the history of TRIZ and the development of ASIT. It then argues that the ASIT strategy can be an effective methodology to be taught and used in the Technology Education classroom to solve problems in the ‘eco’ or sustainable design context. Several design scenarios have been included to illustrate how ASIT can deliver eco-design solutions to problems. These examples demonstrate the flexibility of the methodology and the diverse range of applications in which ASIT can be applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background, aim, and scope As the sustainability improvement becomes an essential business task of industry, a number of companies are adopting IT-based environmental information systems (EIS). Life cycle assessment (LCA), a tool to improve environmental friendliness of a product, can also be systemized as a part of the EIS. This paper presents a case of an environmental information system which is integrated with online LCA tool to produce sets of hybrid life cycle inventory and examine its usefulness in the field application of the environmental management. Main features Samsung SDI Ltd., the producer of display panels, has launched an EIS called Sustainability Management Initiative System (SMIS). The system comprised modules of functions such as environmental management system (EMS), green procurement (GP), customer relation (e-VOC), eco-design, and LCA. The LCA module adopted the hybrid LCA methodology in the sense that it combines process LCA for the site processes and input-output (IO) LCA for upstream processes to produce cradle-to-gate LCA results. LCA results from the module are compared with results of other LCA studies made by the application of different methodologies. The advantages and application of the LCA system are also discussed in light of the electronics industry. Results and discussion LCA can play a vital role in sustainability management by finding environmental burden of products in their life cycle. It is especially true in the case of the electronics industry, since the electronic products have some critical public concerns in the use and end-of-life phase. SMIS shows a method for hybrid LCA through online data communication with EMS and GP module. The integration of IT-based hybrid LCA in environmental information system was set to begin in January 2006. The advantage of the comparing and regular monitoring of the LCA value is that it improves the system completeness and increases the reliability of LCA. By comparing the hybrid LCA and process LCA in the cradle-to-gate stage, the gap between both methods of the 42-in, standard definition plasma display panel (PDP) ranges from 1% (acidification impact category) to -282% (abiotic resource depletion impact category), with an average gap of 68.63%. The gaps of the impact categories of acidification (AP), eutrophication (EP), and global warming (GWP) are relatively low (less than 10%). In the result of the comparative analysis, the strength of correlation of three impact categories (AP, EP, GWP) shows that it is reliable to use the hybrid LCA when assessing the environmental impacts of the PDP module. Hybrid LCA has its own risk on data accuracy. However, the risk is affordable when it comes to the comparative LCA among different models of similar product line of a company. In the results of 2 years of monitoring of 42-in. … [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A screening and simplified LCA method, is essential necessary to include environmental aspects in the stage of Research and Development (R&D) of products and processes. An interactive, iterative and integrative eco-design tool using the top-down approach in the identification of advanced materials is being developed in a joint project performed by six research institutes. The principles and methods as well as some examples for the validation of the screening LCA as well as its application in eco-design in case studies are presented in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the integration of product life cycle thinking into existing business routines. He raised two questions that focus on the involvement of government regulators in the prevention of market competitive forces, and the consumer's product acceptance. He provided an overview on the role of financial flows in the business and the importance of private and public decisions.