scholarly journals Application of life-cycle assessment to the eco-design of LED lighting products

Author(s):  
Shuyi Wang ◽  
Daizhong Su ◽  
You Wu ◽  
Zijian Chai

Abstract An approach for integrating life-cycle assessment (LCA) into the eco-design of lighting products was developed, and LCAs of five lighting products that are currently on the market were then carried out using this approach. Based on the results of these LCAs, the sustainability requests for lighting products were derived and embedded into the product design specification (PDS), thus ensuring that any product developed according to the PDS would have the desired eco-design features. A new sustainable lighting product was then designed according to the PDS and manufactured, after which the new product underwent LCA. Upon comparing the results of the LCA of the new product with the LCA results for the existing lighting products, the newly designed product was found to provide better environmental performance than the existing products (a 27–58% reduction in environmental impact).

2005 ◽  
Vol 895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Moropoulou ◽  
Christopher Koroneos ◽  
Maria Karoglou ◽  
Eleni Aggelakopoulou ◽  
Asterios Bakolas ◽  
...  

AbstractOver the years considerable research has been conducted on masonry mortars regarding their compatibility with under restoration structures. The environmental dimension of these materials may sometimes be a prohibitive factor in the selection of these materials. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool that can be used to assess the environmental impact of the materials. LCA can be a very useful tool in the decision making for the selection of appropriate restoration structural material. In this work, a comparison between traditional type of mortars and modern ones (cement-based) is attempted. Two mortars of traditional type are investigated: with aerial lime binder, with aerial lime and artificial pozzolanic additive and one with cement binder. The LCA results indicate that the traditional types of mortars are more sustainable compared to cementbased mortars. For the impact assessment, the method used is Eco-indicator 95


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Quintana-Gallardo ◽  
Jesús Alba ◽  
Romina del Rey ◽  
José E. Crespo-Amorós ◽  
Ignacio Guillén-Guillamón

The ecological transition is a process the building industry is bound to undertake. This study aimed to develop new bio-based building partition typologies and to determine if they are suitable ecological alternatives to the conventional non-renewable ones used today. This work started with the development of a bio-based epoxy composite board and a waste-based sheep wool acoustic absorbent. Six different partition typologies combining conventional and bio-based materials were analyzed. A drywall partition composed of gypsum plasterboard and mineral wool was used as the baseline. First, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment was performed to compare their environmental impacts. Secondly, a mathematical simulation was performed to evaluate their airborne acoustic insulation. The LCA results show a 50% decrease in the amount of CO2 equivalent emitted when replacing plasterboard with bio-composite boards. The bio-composites lower the overall environmental impact by 40%. In the case of the acoustic absorbents, replacing the mineral wool with cellulose or sheep wool decreases the carbon emissions and the overall environmental impact of the partition from 4% and 6%, respectively. However, while the bio-based acoustic absorbents used offer good acoustic results, the bio-composites have a lower airborne acoustic insulation than conventional gypsum plasterboard.


Author(s):  
Alessandro Musacchio ◽  
Andrea Corona ◽  
Luca Cencioni ◽  
Angela Serra ◽  
Pietro Bartocci ◽  
...  

Abstract Nowadays environmental impact assessment of a new product is necessary to meet rising sustainability requirements also in the Oil & Gas and Power Generation markets, especially for industrial gas turbines. From the conceptual phase to the detailed design, engineer’s work is supported by a wide range of tools aimed to define and evaluate typical parameters such as performances, life and costs, etc. However, considering environmental impact aspects from the early stages of product development may not be easy if the involved engineers are not provided by a specific Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) knowledge. Scope of this paper is to introduce and explain the development of a methodology aimed to define and evaluate the Key Environmental Performance Factors (KEPF) during the whole design process. The proposed methodology enables easy and fast eco-design evaluations and supports sustainable design assessments. Preliminary analysis of the entire processes involved in gas turbine (GT) design and production as well as testing and commissioning phases were performed to evaluate which factors affect mostly the Carbon Footprint of each process, referred to their specific functional unit. Extrapolating the KEPF from Cradle-to-Gate LCA they can be combined with case-specific qualitative and quantitative information such as material selection, manufacturing processes, mass quantity, presence of coatings etc. to provide environmental assessments. A case study of LCA applied to a heavy-duty GT is presented to outline the relative weight of each KEPF.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-66
Author(s):  
Tomasz Nitkiewicz ◽  
Agnieszka Ociepa-Kubicka

Abstract The article presents the activities of selected company - biomass manufacturer and user - with regard to environmental impact of biomass supply chain solutions. The biomass production facility of Biomass User Company is one of the most modern plant in Central Europe. It uses wooden and agricultural biomass to produce heat in biomass-fired steam boiler. The objective of the paper is to investigate the environmental impact with the use of life cycle assessment method. In our study, we define different scenarios for biomass transportation, concerning its supply as well as distribution. Life cycle assessment method is used to estimate environmental impact and to perform sensitivity analysis on transport modes, fuel mix structure and destination of self-cropped biomass. LCA ReCiPe endpoint indicator is used to measure environmental performance. As the results show, transport efforts are not significant factor while environmental impacts are concerned but are rather impact intensive type of activity and should be addressed with company environmental policies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toktam B. Tabrizi ◽  
Arianna Brambilla

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), developed over 30 years ago, has been helpful in addressing a growing concern about the direct and indirect environmental impact of buildings over their lifetime. However, lack of reliable, available, comparable and consistent information on the life cycle environmental performance of buildings makes it very difficult for architects and engineers to apply this method in the early stages of building design when the most important decisions in relation to a building’s environmental impact are made. The LCA quantification method with need of employing complex tools and an enormous amount of data is unfeasible for small or individual building projects. This study discusses the possibility of the development of a tool that allows building designers to more easily apply the logic of LCA at the early design stage. Minimising data requirements and identifying the most effective parameters that promise to make the most difference, are the key points of simplification method. The conventional LCA framework and knowledge-based system are employed through the simplification process. Results of previous LCA studies in Australia are used as the specific knowledge that enable the system to generate outputs based on the user’s inputs.Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), early design stage, most effective parameters, life cycle environmental performance


2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 801-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
JL Casamayor ◽  
D Su ◽  
Z Ren

The use of LED lighting products is growing rapidly. However, there are no in-depth, updated studies that show how to assess and compare these products for eco-design purposes. This research aims to inform eco-design by assessing and comparing the environmental impact of a new LED eco-lighting product with an existing LED lighting product. A cradle to grave life cycle assessment is conducted. The system boundaries include all product life cycle stages, except the maintenance of the luminaires and the manufacturing of the packaging. A novel functional unit is defined for the assessment, which is more suitable for LED lighting products. Six scenarios are considered, including three probable useful lives of the luminaires (1000, 15,000 and 40,000 hours) and two end of life options (domestic bin and recycling centre). The life cycle assessment results reveal that the new eco-lighting product has about 60% less environmental impact than the existing lighting product in all scenarios. The life cycle stages with the biggest impacts are, in decreasing order: (1) use, (2) manufacturing, (3) end of life and (4) transport. Recommendations for the eco-design of LED lighting products are proposed, and the challenges in applying life cycle assessment for eco-design are discussed.


Author(s):  
Elin Malmgren ◽  
Selma Brynolf ◽  
Erik Fridell ◽  
Maria Grahn ◽  
Karin Andersson

Pre-combustion onboard carbon capture could be part of lowering the environmental impact from the shipping sector.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-261
Author(s):  
Andrzej Marcinkowski ◽  
Krzysztof Zych

AbstractThe main objective of this paper is to compare the environmental impact caused by two different types of water boiling processes. The aim was achieved thanks to product life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted for stovetop and electric kettles. A literature review was carried out. A research model was worked out on the basis of data available in literature as well as additional experiments. In order to have a better opportunity to compare LCA results with reviewed literature, eco-indicator 99 assessment method was chosen. The functional unit included production, usage and waste disposal of each product (according to from cradle to grave approach) where the main function is boiling 3360 l of water during 4-year period of time. A very detailed life cycle inventory was carried out. The mass of components was determined with accuracy of three decimal places (0.001 g). The majority of environmental impact is caused by electricity or natural gas consumption during usage stage: 92% in case of the electric and kettle and 99% in case of stovetop one. Assembly stage contributed in 7% and 0.8% respectively. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses took into consideration various waste scenario patterns as well as demand for transport. Environmental impact turned out to be strongly sensitive to a chosen pattern of energy delivery (electricity mix) which determined final comparison results. Basing on LCA results, some improvements of products were suggested. The boiling time optimization was pointed out for electric kettle's efficiency improvement. Obtained results can be used by manufacturers in order to improve their eco-effectiveness. Moreover, conclusions following the research part can influence the future choices of home appliances users.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Michel ◽  
Achim Weiske ◽  
Kurt Möller

AbstractA life-cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to compare the environmental performance of different organic cropping systems with and without digestion of slurry and crop residues. The aims of the present study are: (1) to compare the environmental performance of organic farming dairy systems with the currently prevalent animal housing systems [solid farmyard manure (FYM) versus liquid slurry] as the main reference systems; (2) to analyze the effect of the implementation of a biogas digestion system on the consumption of fossil fuels and production of electrical energy; (3) to quantify the effects of the implementation of a biogas digestion system on the environment; and (4) to compare the obtained net energy yields with other means of obtaining energy by using the farmland area. The considered impact categories are greenhouse gas (GHG) balances, acidification, eutrophication and groundwater pollution. LCA results indicated that total emissions in systems based on FYM are much higher than in liquid slurry systems for most of the considered impact categories. The benefits of digestion of stable wastes in comparison with the reference system without digestion are mainly (1) the net reduction of the emissions of GHG and (2) energy recovery from produced biogas, while the disadvantages can be higher emissions of NH3 after spreading. The effects of additional biogas digestion of biomass such as crop residues (e.g., straw of peas and cereals) and cover crops are: (1) an optimization of the N-cycle and therewith higher yields; (2) higher energy production per unit arable land; (3) a further reduction of the GHG balance; but (4) higher N-related environmental burdens like eutrophication and acidification. The offsets of fossil fuel emissions were the largest GHG sink in most of the biogas digestion systems. The inclusion of a biogas plant into organic cropping systems and the use of the available wastes for production of energy largely increased the overall productivity of the farming system and matched very well the basic principles of organic farming such as a high self-sufficiency of the cropping system and reducing as much as possible the environmental impact of farming.


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