scholarly journals Cotton and Surgical Masks—What Ecological Factors Are Relevant for Their Sustainability?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10245
Author(s):  
Mélanie Schmutz ◽  
Roland Hischier ◽  
Till Batt ◽  
Peter Wick ◽  
Bernd Nowack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
High Demand ◽  
Surgical Masks ◽  
Support Decision Making ◽  
Better Than

With the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing facemasks became common. Many initiatives arose to develop new types of reusable textile masks in order to overcome a shortage of surgical masks for the health care personnel and for the civil society. Having such high demand of facemasks raises the question about what factors define their environmental sustainability. This paper presents a first simplified Life-Cycle-Assessment (LCA) comparing surgical masks and 2-layered cotton masks. The aim of the paper is to identify and understand the relevant ecological factors in order to support decision making on how textile masks could be designed in a more sustainable manner. The results of our simplified LCA show that the cotton masks were performing better than the surgical masks and vice versa depending on the environmental impact that was looked at. It was also found that the lifespan and the weight of the cotton masks are two variables having a great importance for their overall environmental performance.

Appropriate decision making in energy technology selection for developing countries: The Life Cycle Assessment approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 83-89
Author(s):  
Abeer Ali Khan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Technology Selection ◽  
Energy Technology ◽  
High Demand ◽  
Environmentally Conscious ◽  
Assessment Approach ◽  
Selection For

As the high demand of energy of the developing countries is met by importing energy and different energy technology, it has become increasingly necessary to discuss the environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of those technologies and make better decisions. Developed in the late 1960s, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become a wide-ranging tool used to determine impacts of products or systems over several environmental and resource issues. The LCA approach has become more prevalent in research, industry and policy with growing concern for the environment. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to introduce the use of LCA in the decision-making process while selecting an energy technology. In this way, more environmentally conscious decisions will be made as LCAs can provide a better basis for this process.

scholarly journals KOKON: A Germany-Wide Collaborative Research Project to Identify Needs, Provide Information, Foster Communication and Support Decision-Making about Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Oncology

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corina Güthlin ◽  
Hans-Helge Bartsch ◽  
Stefanie Joos ◽  
Alfred Längler ◽  
Claudia Lampert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Knowledge Database ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
Self Help Groups ◽  
Support Decision Making

Background: The German Cancer Aid set up a priority research programme with the intention to generate high-quality information based on evidence and to make this information easily accessible for health-care professionals and advisors, researchers, patients, and the general public. Summary: The Kompetenznetz Komplementärmedizin in der Onkologie (KOKON) received 2 funding periods within this programme. During the first funding period, KOKON assessed patients’ and health-care professionals’ informational needs, developed a consulting manual for physicians, developed an education programme for self-help groups, set up a knowledge database, and developed a pilot information website for patients. Funding period 2 continues with work that allows cancer patients and health-care professionals to make informed decisions about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). For this aim, KOKON evaluates training programmes for physicians (oncology physicians, paediatric oncologists, and general practitioners) and for self-help groups. All training programmes integrate results from an analysis of the ethical, psychological, and medical challenges of CAM in the medical encounter, and the knowledge database is being extended with issues related to CAM for supportive and palliative care. Key Message: A Germany-wide collaborative research project to identify needs, provide information, foster communication, and support decision-making about CAM in oncology is being set up.

scholarly journals A Software Tool for a Stochastic Life Cycle Assessment and Costing of Buildings’ Energy Efficiency Measures

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7975
Author(s):  
Edoardo Baldoni ◽  
Silvia Coderoni ◽  
Elisa Di Giuseppe ◽  
Marco D’Orazio ◽  
Roberto Esposti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Support Decision Making

This article presents a novel software tool for the assessments of life-cycle environmental impacts and costs, which is aimed to support decision-making in the design phase of retrofit interventions in the building sector. By combining Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) calculations and functionalities, this tool allows evaluating the long-term trade-offs between economic and environmental performance of investment projects in energy efficiency for buildings, while accounting for uncertainties in input parameters and economic scenarios. A major novelty of the software tool is the stochastic nature of both the LCC and LCA dimensions. The LCA is implemented with Monte-Carlo methods, while the LCC accounts for the probabilistic interdependence of macroeconomic variables over time. The software also includes advanced specific tools for parametrization and sensitivity analysis. Exemplary applications are presented in order to illustrate the novelty and the functionalities of the software tool.

scholarly journals Life cycle assessment and circularity indicators

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Rigamonti ◽  
Eliana Mancini
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Partial View ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Purpose In a context where the transition to a circular economy is increasingly required, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between sustainability and circularity. In this commentary we summarise what are circularity indicators and what is LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), and we discuss their potential role in improving circular decision making. Methods Based on literature, a focus on how circularity indicators and LCA could be used in circular decision making is presented. Moreover, an analysis of recent studies has been carried out to identify the relationship between LCA and circularity indicators. Results and discussion We can state that no authors have concluded that circularity indicators can be used alone to choose the best option in circular economy projects. This is because the circularity indicators only provide a partial view on the environmental performance of a system. At the same time, it appears that the circularity indicators are easier to communicate, and a high degree of circularity could help to build good relationships with customers and increase reputation among stakeholders, as well as to have an easier access to funding. Conclusions and recommendations At the end, we propose a procedure to include both the LCA and the circularity measurement in the assessment of circular economy strategies. While still at an early stage of conceptualisation, it gives an idea on how to integrate environmental sustainability aspects into circular economy initiatives.

scholarly journals Environmental Sustainability in Beef Production and Life Cycle Assessment as a Tool for Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-25
Author(s):  
Pedro Henrique Presumido ◽  
Fernando Sousa ◽  
Artur Gonçalves ◽  
Tatiane Cristina Dal Bosco ◽  
Manuel Feliciano
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Conservation Of Natural Resources ◽  
Intuitive Method ◽  
The Impact

The sustainability of meat production systems has been highlighted by the impact on the environment and the conservation of natural resources. The aim of this manuscript is to provide a specific review of the environmental sustainability of beef production in a life cycle assessment (LCA) context. Questions about the main environmental impacts caused by beef production were discussed. The phases of the LCA were detailed as well as the main functional units, boundaries of the systems and categories of impacts used in recent studies. LCA is a fast, easy and intuitive method that correlates human activities and their environmental performance in different sectors, such as beef production.

scholarly journals Permeable Pavements Life Cycle Assessment: A Literature Review

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Antunes ◽  
Enedir Ghisi ◽  
Liseane Thives
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Inventory Analysis ◽  
Permeable Pavements ◽  
Great Heterogeneity ◽  
Goal And Scope

The number of studies involving life cycle assessment has increased significantly in recent years. The life cycle assessment has been applied to assess the environmental performance of water infrastructures, including the environmental impacts associated with construction, maintenance and disposal, mainly evaluating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the consumption of energy and natural resources. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of permeable pavements and show studies of life cycle assessment that compare the environmental performance of permeable pavements with traditional drainage systems. Although the studies found in the literature present an estimate of the sustainability of permeable pavements, the great heterogeneity in the evaluation methods and results is still notable. Therefore, it is necessary to homogenize the phases of goal and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. It is also necessary to define the phases and processes of the evaluation, as well as the minimum amount of data to be considered in the modelling of life cycle assessment, in order to avoid heterogeneity in the functional units and other components. Thus, more consistent results will lead to a real evaluation of the environmental impacts caused by permeable pavements. Life cycle assessment studies are essential to guide planning and decision-making, leading to systems that consider increasing water resources and reducing natural disasters and environmental impacts.

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