scholarly journals Design Guidelines Developed from Environmental Assessments: A Design Tool for Resource-Efficient Products

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4953
Author(s):  
Siri Willskytt ◽  
Sergio A. Brambila-Macias
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Resource Efficiency ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Life Cycle Assessments ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Design Case

The circular economy provides a potential solution to the take–make–dispose model of resource use that currently characterizes the economy. Guidelines for the circular economy often consist of prioritized lists of measures to achieve resource efficiency. However, for the purpose of designing products, such general prioritizations of measures are less useful. Instead, the tool developed in this study is based on learnings from numerous life cycle assessments and provides design recommendations for the improved resource efficiency of products based on product characteristics. The tool includes measures over the whole lifecycle of different products that lead to improved resource efficiency. The tool also demonstrates how different product types, such as different varieties of durable and consumable products, can become more resource-efficient and when trade-offs occur over the lifecycle of a product. The tool was tested in a design case where its usefulness and usability were evaluated using a comparative life cycle assessment and a questionnaire. The evaluation shows the tool is informative and provides design suggestions that lead to improved resource efficiency. The tool is considered usable and could be implemented in design practice.

scholarly journals Design of Consumables in a Resource-Efficient Economy—A Literature Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1036
Author(s):  
Siri Willskytt
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Specific Design ◽  
Design Considerations ◽  
Life Cycle Perspective ◽  
General Product

Consumable products have received less attention in the circular economy (CE), particularly in regard to the design of resource-efficient products. This literature review investigates the extent to which existing design guidelines for resource-efficient products are applicable to consumables. This analysis is divided into two parts. The first investigates the extent to which general product-design guidelines (i.e., applicable to both durables and consumables) are applicable to consumables. This analysis also scrutinizes the type of recommendations presented by the ecodesign and circular product design, to investigate the novel aspects of the CE in product design. The second analysis examines the type of design considerations the literature on product-type specific design guidelines recommends for specific consumables and whether such guidelines are transferable. The analysis of general guidelines showed that, although guidelines are intended to be general and applicable to many types of products, their applicability to consumable products is limited. Less than half of their recommendations can be applied to consumables. The analysis also identified several design considerations that are transferable between product-specific design guidelines. This paper shows the importance of the life-cycle perspective in product design, to maximize the opportunities to improve consumables.

scholarly journals Defining Requirements on Technology Systems Assessment from Life Cycle Perspectives: Cases on Recycling of Photovoltaic and Secondary Batteries

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 890-908
Author(s):  
Yasunori Kikuchi ◽  
Aya Heiho ◽  
Yi Dou ◽  
Izuru Suwa ◽  
I-Ching Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Material Flow ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
Life Cycle Assessments ◽  
Generation Capacity ◽  
Recycling Systems ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Technology Systems

Since the enactment of the “Feed-in Tariff” scheme in 2012, the solar power generation capacity in Japan has been steadily growing. Therefore, in the near future, the demand for the mass processing of spent photovoltaic (PV) panels is expected to increase. Secondary batteries, especially lithium-ion batteries (LiBs), have become important products for vehicles and mobile devices. The production of LiBs is also expected to significantly increase in the near future. In this study, we address the design of recycling systems for such emerging technologies. From life cycle perspectives, the requirements for the assessment of these technology systems are carefully defined through a bibliometric analysis of technology assessments, critical reviews of current research and developments in the recycling of PV panels and LiBs, and analysis of the intensities of life cycle impacts (such as greenhouse gas emissions and resource use). The necessities for life cycle assessments, material flow analyses, and other assessment methods are clarified, along with the conditions to be examined using these assessment methods.

scholarly journals Roadmap to Rebound: How to Address Rebound Effects from Resource Efficiency Policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Font Vivanco ◽  
Serenella Sala ◽  
Will McDowall
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Resource Efficiency ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Economic Modelling ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Rebound Effects ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Increasing Demand

Increasing demand for resources has been met with a new wave of resource efficiency policies worldwide. Such policies are, however, vulnerable to rebound effects when increased resource efficiency leads to additional resource use via behavioural and systemic responses. Yet, the implications of policy-induced rebounds are mostly unknown since most studies have focused on costless and exogenous efficiency improvements that are not linked to any specific policy intervention. After reviewing the literature, we provide guidance for the analysis of policy-induced rebounds. With regards to scope and method design, we highlight the untapped potential of life cycle assessment (to capture trade-offs between life cycle stages and environmental pressures) and macro-economic modelling (to reveal economic consequences beyond supply chain effects). We also find striking asymmetries in research efforts, leaving knowledge gaps for key resource efficiency strategies targeting, among others, materials, water, land, biodiversity, and waste. Lastly, rebound effects generally focus on a single resource, usually energy, and much is ignored about their implications in the context of resource interlinkages. A better understanding of such cross-resource rebounds is key to design and to assess the effectiveness of emerging policy paradigms such as the resource nexus and the sustainable development goals.

scholarly journals Environmental Trade-Offs of Downcycling in Circular Economy: Combining Life Cycle Assessment and Material Circularity Indicator to Inform Circularity Strategies for Alkaline Batteries

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1040
Author(s):  
Edis Glogic ◽  
Guido Sonnemann ◽  
Steven B. Young
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Small Reduction ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Alkaline Batteries ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Joint Interpretation

The application of circularity strategies to improve resource use and recovery should be considered with their potential impacts on the environment. Their effectiveness could be evaluated by combining the material circularity indicator (MCI) and life cycle assessment (LCA) methods. Environmental trade-offs may be underestimated for some strategies given that the loss of material quality with recycling has not been captured within the methodological framework of MCI. The current study demonstrates how significantly this limitation may influence the trade-offs in a case study. The methods are applied to several scenarios for the circularity improvement of alkaline batteries. The joint interpretation of MCI and LCA scores is carried out using waterfall charts and normalized indicator scores. Results suggest that improving circularity generally reduces environmental impacts, although there is large variability among two sets of values. For example, an increase of MCI score by 14% for two recycling scenarios translates to a small reduction of impacts in one case (0.06–1.64%) and a large reduction in another (9.84–56.82%). Observations from the case study are used to discuss the design and scope of MCI use and its combining with LCA. Lastly, we draw on the opportunities of the new comparative approach.

scholarly journals End-of-life management as a design tool: the case of a dry wood envelope

2021 ◽  
pp. 260-270
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Palumbo ◽  
Francesca Camerin ◽  
Chiara Panozzo ◽  
Massimo Rossetti
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Environmental Product Declarations ◽  
Dry Wood

This paper is part of the design strategies of reassembly and reuse of buildings according to the transition to circular economy. Specifically, the paper addresses the issue of architectural envelopes made of drywall and their executive design according to a Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) approach, based on a case study of a temporary wooden housing unit for which there are several scenarios of use and end of life once the first cycle of use of the components of the envelope has come to an end. In particular, the paper, based on the collection of environmental profiles of products through Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), wants to define a balance between the environmental impacts incorporated in the used materials and the benefits related to the adoption of dry construction techniques.

Integrating DFX Tools With Computer-Aided Design Systems

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uma-Sankar Kalyan-Seshu ◽  
Bert Bras
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Life Cycle Assessments ◽  
Environmentally Conscious ◽  
Life Cycle Design ◽  
Design Systems ◽  
Environmentally Conscious Design ◽  
Aided Design

Abstract The growing emphasis on environmentally conscious design and manufacturing approaches has placed new burdens on designers. The amount of information available to designers is of great significance in making life cycle assessments on a product. However, well-established commercial CAD systems do not provide means for evaluating most of the different life cycle aspects of the product being modeled. Hence there is a need to have a CAD-environment where the life cycle tools (DFX tools in this work) are integrated with these systems so that life cycle design is made possible. In the research discussed in this paper, the specific focus is to enable the quantification and enhancement of product assemblability, serviceability, recyclability, remanufacturability, de-manufacturability, and life cycle impact during product design. Guidelines for integrating some of the commercially available CAD packages (I-DEAS and Pro/ENGINEER) to these assessment models, and ways to use the input information to some these assessments for making other assessments are developed. A case study is given to illustrate the approach.

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