Weighting with Life Cycle Assessment and Cradle to Cradle: A Methodology for Global Sustainability Design

Sustainable product design uses methodologies focused on eco-effectiveness and eco-efficiency for the proposal of innovative technological solutions and for the control of environmental impacts during the product life cycle. One of the main drawbacks of such techniques is their qualitative nature, associated with a decision-making process that is sometimes arbitrary, or with unverifiable data; this means that several complementary tools are currently being used to reduce the error in the results obtained. This situation makes the unification of procedures necessary. In this context, this research develops a methodology for the sustainable design of industrial products that integrates life cycle assessment (in its environmental, economic and social application) and cradle-to-cradle techniques. For this purpose, a new assessment process is proposed, based on damage, developing LCA+C2C endpoint indicators. The methodology is subsequently verified in a case study of products for sustainable mobility (city trike electric). The results show that an integrated LCA+C2C assessment can help to propose more balanced sustainable strategies and would be a suitable method to measure tradeoffs between economic, social and environmental results, for practical purposes and future redesigns. The unified method provides a procedure to design a solution with a trade-off between eco-efficient and eco-effective criteria; it also simplifies the design phases, facilitates the interpretation of the results and provides a quantitative scope to the cradle-to-cradle framework.

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Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Bio-Based Material in Construction: A Case Study of a Phase Change Material Panel

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10020160 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 160 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Mohammad Heidari ◽

Damien Mathis ◽

Pierre Blanchet ◽

Ben Amor

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Phase Change ◽

Phase Change Material ◽

Product Life Cycle ◽

Management Tool ◽

Data Intensive ◽

The Difference ◽

Change Material

Research Highlights: This is the first study that analyzes the environmental performance of wood-based phase change material (PCM) panels. Background and Objectives: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful environmental management tool. However, a full LCA, especially during the early design phase of a product, is far too time and data intensive for industrial companies to conduct during their production and consumption processes. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for simpler methods to demonstrate a company’s resource efficiency potential without being data or time intensive. The goal of this study is to investigate the suitability of streamlined LCA (SLCA) tools and methods used in the building material industry, and to assess their robustness in the case study of a wood-based PCM panel. Materials and Methods: The Bilan Produit tool was selected as the SLCA tool and a matrix LCA was selected as the most commonly used SLCA method. A specific case study of a wood-based PCM panel was selected with a focus on its application in building construction in the province of Québec. Results: As a semi-quantitative LCA method, the matrix LCA provided a quick screening of the product life cycle and its hotspot stages, i.e., life cycle stages with high impact. However, the results of the full LCA and SLCA tools were quantitative and based on scientific databases. The use of the PCM panel and heating energy had the highest environmental impacts as compared to other inputs. The results of the full LCA and SLCA also identified energy consumption as a hotspot. Insufficient material or processes in the SLCA databases was one of the reasons for the difference between the results of the SLCA and full LCA. Conclusions: The examined SLCA methods provided proper explanations for the bio-based material in construction, but several limitations still exist, and the methods should be improved to make them more robust when implemented in such a specific sector.

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Energy sustainability of Ecuadorian cacao export and its contribution to climate change. A case study through product life cycle assessment

Journal of Cleaner Production ◽

10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.11.003 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 112 ◽

pp. 2560-2568 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

David Pérez Neira

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Product Life Cycle ◽

Energy Sustainability ◽

Product Life

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Managing Choice Uncertainties in Life-Cycle Assessment as a Decision-Support Tool for Building Design: A Case Study on Building Framework

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12125130 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 5130 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Peter Ylmén ◽

Johanna Berlin ◽

Kristina Mjörnell ◽

Jesper Arfvidsson

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Decision Support ◽

Product Life Cycle ◽

Stratospheric Ozone ◽

Decision Support Tool ◽

Building Design ◽

Suggested Approach ◽

Support Tool

To establish a circular economy in society, it is crucial to incorporate life-cycle studies, such as life-cycle assessment (LCA), in the design process of products in order to mitigate the well-recognized problem of the design paradox. The aim of the study was to provide means in a structured way to highlight choice uncertainty present in LCA when used as decision support, as well as to mitigate subjective interpretations of the numerical results leading to arbitrary decisions. The study focused on choices available when defining the goal and scope of a life-cycle assessment. The suggested approach is intended to be used in the early design phases of complex products with high levels of uncertainty in the product life-cycle. To demonstrate and evaluate the approach, a life-cycle assessment was conducted of two design options for a specific building. In the case study two types of building frameworks were compared from an environmental perspective by calculating the global warming potential, eutrophication potential, acidification potential, stratospheric ozone depletion potential and photochemical oxidants creation potential. In the study, a procedure named the Decision Choices Procedure (DCP) was developed to improve LCA as an effective tool for decision support concerning design alternatives when less information is available. The advantages and drawbacks of the proposed approach are discussed to spur further improvements in the use of LCA as a decision-support tool.

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Inverse problem of life cycle assessment (LCA): its application in designing for environment (DfE)

Management ◽

10.1515/manment-2015-0062 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 224-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Magdalena Rybaczewska-Błażejowska ◽

Aneta Masternak-Janus ◽

Wacław Gierulski

Keyword(s):

Inverse Problem ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Product Life Cycle ◽

Abstract Model ◽

Nonlinear Functions ◽

Environmental Evaluation ◽

Several Variables ◽

Optimal Values

Summary The inverse problem of life cycle assessment, used in designing for environment, is about determining the optimal values of environmental inputs that provide the required environmental impacts. The notion of the inverse problem of life cycle assessment is explained here using a case study of a coffee machine (abstract model SimaPro, based on models Sima and Pro described in SimaPro 8.1 software). The dependencies between input and output signals were defined by nonlinear functions of several variables. Next, linearization was used and coefficient aki was calculated. On the basis of 3 hypothetical experiments, recommendations have been made on the reduction of the value of the factors that are the most detrimental for the environment: the consumption of aluminium, electricity, and paper for coffee filters, for the analysed product. The results prove the high applicability and usefulness of the proposed approach during environmental evaluation and enhancement of products over the full product life cycle.

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The Different Analysis of Carbon Footprint according to Life Cycle Assessment of Furniture Type: A case study of the Table

Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal ◽

10.21834/e-bpj.v2i5.654 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (5) ◽

pp. 315

Author(s):

Karuna Kwangsawat ◽

Yanin Rugwongwan

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Product Life Cycle ◽

Material Selection ◽

Publishing House ◽

Raw Material ◽

Furniture Manufacturing ◽

Raw Material Selection

This article attempts to present the process of preparing an analysis on differential Carbon Footprint of each furniture types according to their product life cycle. The case study on one type of furniture namely "Tables" is to assessment the environmental effect of the production process and the method of raw material selection in furniture manufacturing and by using carbon footprint is an indicator of its effect. By using different types of furniture and product grouping furniture to indicate and calculate the quantity of carbon footprint. During the study customer's perception in response to environmentally friendly products, the result is expected to be the quantity of carbon footprint could be classified into three levels, i.e. furniture with the high, the medium and the low level of carbon footprints.Keywords: Carbon Footprint; Life Cycle Assessment, Furniture Design, Environmental.ISSN: 2398-4287© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

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