Eco-design Methods Research Articles

Integrating Sustainability into Material Design and Selection through Eco-Design: A Case Study on Aluminum Alloy Plates

Traditional material design focuses primarily on performance, properties, structure, and synthesis. Growing environmental awareness necessitates the integration of sustainability considerations into material design and selection. This paper introduced an approach that embeds the eco-design method within material comparison to balance performance requirements and environmental sustainability. Five types of aluminum alloys were examined to demonstrate and validate the proposed method. The alloys are commonly used in shipbuilding and have varying contents of the rare earth element Erbium. The alloys were assessed through a performance-requirement matrix, life cycle assessment, and exergy calculation to evaluate their performance, environmental impact, and resource consumption. A binary integrated decision model was created to compare the five alloys based on either their performance and environmental impact or their performance and resource consumption. Additionally, ternary integrated decision models were formulated to yield a comprehensive analysis of the five alloys, considering all three aforementioned factors. A matrix model was established to allow for comparative assessment no matter how many indicators are involved. Furthermore, a model based on the enumeration method was presented to mitigate the bias introduced by weighting factors. This methodological approach aids in selecting the most suitable alloys for diverse scenarios, thereby enhancing the sustainability of material design.

Ecodesign approach for complex systems – Electric Vehicle case study

The reduction of environmental impacts from the early stages of product and system design is a major challenge. Thus, traditional ecodesign methods are not appropriate because they reason by fixing the functional definition of products/systems and address the complexity of these new systems in a simplistic way, which leads to a marginal reduction of impacts. Moreover, these methods do not consider the attractiveness for users, leading to an optimization oriented towards functional reduction. In this paper, a comprehensive ecodesign approach is presented suggesting a paradigm shift, which involves a hybrid ecodesign approach based on constraint modeling of systems based on the constraint satisfaction problem formalism (CSP) with more traditional environmental assessment methods to decide which design choices to make. This approach was applied to generate and characterize product and life cycle architectures of a serial hybrid vehicle powertrain focusing on the use and end-of-life phase.

Integrated business model of sustainable development for agricultural sector

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to improve the methodology of the integration process of business model to ensure environmental, social and financial results of entrepreneurial activity taking into account the interests and needs of stakeholders and to study the possibilities of implementing sustainable practices in different segments of the business model and the sustainable value created by these transformations. Results. The study highlights a number of approaches to the methodology of creating sustainable business models, which are the Business Model Canvas, the Teece Business Model, the Ecosystem Pie Model, and the Sustainable Value Creation Model. Each of the methodologies has its advantages and disadvantages, but they all have common elements that can be combined and integrated when considering industry specifics. The author used the methodology of creating sustainable value, which is formed through the implementation of new approaches to the implementation of sustainability, in particular, the methods of ecodesign, climate-smart agriculture, organic farming, biodynamic agriculture, sustainable intensification and renewable agriculture. Sustainable value is created through activities in different segments of the business model, at the same time the Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a template for mapping the transformations in each segment. The integrative business modeling approach is able to provide a detailed qualitative overview of a specific business by combining social, environmental and economic components with stakeholder theory. Therefore, taking into account the needs of a wider range of stakeholders than is provided for in the "key partners" field of the Canvas model took place through the implementation of sustainable value in the complex Ecosystem Pie Model. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty consists in the adaptation of the methodology of transformation of traditional business models into sustainable ones for the agricultural sector, which, unlike the existing ones, allows taking into account sustainable value through new sustainable approaches that cause changes in the fields of Business Model Canvas with the subsequent transfer of their individual elements to the Ecosystem Pie Model for a systematic visual perception of both the current situation and prospects for further development for the enterprise. Practical value. The results of the research can be used by scientists, representatives of business and state institutions dealing with the issue of introducing sustainability principles into existing traditional business models, based on the needs and interests of stakeholders.

S-FMECA: A Novel Tool for Sustainable Product Design - Additive Manufacturing

The choices made in the early design stage (EDS) will largely define the environmental impacts of a product. The purpose of this paper is to develop an eco-design method used for assessing semi-quantitatively the sustainability of an additively manufactured product since the EDS. This article presents a semi-quantitative method to support EDS-conscious environmental decisions. A novel Sustainable-Failure Mode, Effect, and Criticality Analysis (S-FMECA) tool is developed to support designers in the conceptual design phase, to guide the choices, and to provide a valuable evaluation of the future additively manufactured product. Through the integration of the environmental aspects in FMECA analysis, systematic prevention of errors, and enhancement of sustainability since the EDS would be the main advantage of this tool.

Ecological Design Practice and Sustainable Performance of Multinational Tea Firms in Kenya

The performance of firms has remained a global issue based on climate change that has caused global warming. Most countries have adopted green strategies so as to reduce the effects of climate change on business sustainability. Climate change affects agricultural-processing firms directly, leading to poor performance. Ecological design is one of the concepts introduced by businesses as a measure of solving the problem of sustainable performance. This study aimed to determine the relationship between green ecological design and the sustainable performance of multinational tea firms in Kenya. The study was anchored on ecological, sustainable, and institutional theories. Correlational and cross-sectional research designs were adopted. A sample of 225 managers was selected using a stratified sampling technique from a target population of 512 from the three multinational tea firms of James Finlay, George Williamson and Ekaterra with primary data being collected using a questionnaire. The content, face, criterion, and construct validity of the instrument were achieved through interrogation of the instrument by supervisors and experts. Reliability was examined using the Cronbach Alpha coefficient, where a score of 0.801 was realised. Linear regression and correlation analysis were used to establish the coefficient of determination and correlation coefficient. The results of the study established that there was a significant but weak (R2 = 0.034, F = 7.411; p<0.05) relationship between eco-design and sustainable performance, implying that whenever multinational tea firms invested in eco-design as a green supply chain practice, there was adequate improvement on their sustainable performance. The study recommends that multinational tea firms in Kenya should put resources into the development of eco-design methods. The findings of this study are expected to baseline information that may assist in developing sustainable performance strategies in the tea sector

A predictive eco-design method and tool for electric vehicles of Industry 4.0

Decisions made at the design stage have a far-reaching effect on the product's entire life cycle. The present paper proposes a method, from which a tool is further developed, to support designers of industrial electric vehicles in making informed decisions. The eco-design method and tool can be applied to the design of different electric vehicles such as autonomous guided vehicles and shuttles, which are widely used for improving logistics in Industry 4.0 contexts. The goal is to make the designer more aware of the consumption of material resources and able to configure a use phase more efficiently in energy resource consumption. Unlike existing literature, this method contemplates all the product lifecycle stages and provides qualitative results. The method is intended for the design of electric vehicles and evaluation of choices from the environmental point of view; nevertheless, it can be further adapted for other products and economic evaluations.

Ecodesign: Approaches for sugarcane bagasse ash mortars a Brazilian context

Beyond the environmental impacts, the sustainability of mortars should consider its technological aspect. An ecodesign method, which considers both environmental and technical performance, was performed to assess the use of sugarcane bagasse ash mortars in the Brazilian context. Four percentages of SCBA replacing partially Portland cement (0%, 15%, 30%, and 50%, in mass), two economic-oriented Brazilian scenarios, and eleven life cycle impact categories related to the sugarcane industry and Portland cement production were considered in this analysis. The LCA was employed as an environmental performance tool and, when associated with the compressive strength of mortars (technological aspect), allows to create an eco-efficiency indicator associated with a heuristic diagram which gives interesting approaches related to the use of SCBA mortars in the Brazilian context. Although the obtained results indicate a slight “Trade-off on mechanical performance” eco-efficiency situation for SCBA-15 and SCBA-30, these mortars achieved the established preset technical function and high impact mitigation potential.

Magnetic Levitation Technology As An Object Floating Technique In Wooden Craft

Research and application of magnetic levitation have been expanded in electric motors, generators, radar monitoring systems, car-door central locks, and metal object towing devices. In the operation, the objects do not touch each other. The use of a magnet-based system that floats objects is called a levitation system. In earlier times, fine art had been comfortable with its structure. Consequently, it is not prepared to deal with electromagnetic technology systems. Magnetic levitation technology is the process of floating objects with a gravitational force that rejects or counteracts each other in a magnetic field. This research aims to provide innovations in applying magnetic levitation in designing fine artworks in Indonesia, mainly wooden crafts. The work was designed with eco-design methods. The magnetic levitation techniques have been widely applied in woodcraft art today. The process of floating objects in the air has the property of rejecting each other's components, while the use of permanent magnets sets the object's position stable. Wood material as an object medium is formed to resemble a flying bird stabilized by magnetic levitation techniques. This wooden crafts experiment featured objects spinning and hovering when exposed to the wind.

A Systematic Robust Design Method to Reduce Products’ Environmental Impact Variations

Reducing the environmental impact of a device arising from unexpected failures should be an environmental goal. However, this problem can be difficult to tackle, especially due to the limitations of the traditional eco-design methods, which are more used to reduce the baseline impacts. This study proposes a novel method to overcome this limitation, working at the intersection of conceptual design, robust design, and eco-assessment. Based on the inquiry-based approach, the method consists of 52 questions, systematically organised on 4 hierarchical levels dedicated to the formulation of the initial environmental problem, the definition of the design goal, and the strategy and the selection of the methods, tools, and solutions to be applied. The method was applied in two real case studies about an adsorption air dryer and a medium-voltage circuit breaker by providing different solutions, where the most promising one was able to avoid the environmental impact variations up to 2% of the total impacts of the device. The method could be a starting point to build a design theory that is dedicated to this sector, still largely unexplored, while this vocation towards conceptual design is an appeal for a contamination of the more routine fields of robust and eco-design on the educational, application, and research levels.

The ecodesign methodologies to achieve buildings’ deconstruction: A review and framework

The ecodesign methodologies in the design stage enable buildings to be adapted to the needs of users and deconstructed at the end-of-life. Although ecodesign methods incorporate circular economy (CE) principles, they are little explored in projects and constructions. This study analyses how the construction sector approaches ecodesign methods to achieve buildings' deconstruction. Through an integrative literature review, 288 articles were threefold analyzed: (i) bibliometric, (ii) conceptually about ecodesign methods, and (iii) categorically. The results showed a lack of understanding about the ecodesign concepts, and an integrated methodology was proposed. The most inclusive and sustainable ecodesign method for buildings deconstruction was Design for Adaptability and Disassembly (DfAD). The review shows the concentration of the studies in three categories and a framework was created relating DfAD strategies. The sector needs more information on ecodesign methods, deconstruction strategies, reusing of materials, and in the life cycle tools as decision support to make sustainable buildings.

Investigating students’ eco-misperceptions in applying eco-design methods

This study collects and discusses the misperceptions about eco-design, renamed eco-misperception, emerged from a group of students while applying common eco-design methods. We define eco-misperceptions as erroneous interpretations of the novice eco-designers, about the environmental sustainability of design solutions, according to more experienced eco-designers. They are detectable by qualitatively or quantitatively analysing how the novice eco-designers present the proposed or identified design solutions. To obtain the eco-misperceptions, the end-of-year projects and the interviews of 61 students attending the master's degree in mechanical and management engineering from two Italian universities were considered. These projects concern the reduction of the environmental impacts of three real industrial products, supported by existing eco-design methods. The systematic analysis of the proposed solutions showed that students committed different eco-misperceptions, not related to the comprehension of eco-design but to its practical application and involving different aspects: the psychological inertia leading to address a given problem in a habitual way, the selection of the not appropriate examples to inspire, a limited consideration regarding the life cycle of the product, the difficulty in selecting the appropriate level of detail during eco-design and eco-assessment, and the difficulty in dealing with problems presented in a descriptive way rather than through a precise mathematical formulation. Unlike other contributions in the literature, in this study the collected eco-misperception are in greater number, more heterogeneous, more detailed in definition and contextualised through examples that can be used to improve eco-design courses.

Mycelium-Based Composites in Art, Architecture, and Interior Design: A Review.

Mycelium-based composites (MBCs) have attracted growing attention due to their role in the development of eco-design methods. We concurrently analysed scientific publications, patent documents, and results of our own feasibility studies to identify the current design issues and technologies used. A literature inquiry in scientific and patent databases (WoS, Scopus, The Lens, Google Patents) pointed to 92 scientific publications and 212 patent documents. As a part of our own technological experiments, we have created several prototype products used in architectural interior design. Following the synthesis, these sources of knowledge can be concluded: 1. MBCs are inexpensive in production, ecological, and offer a high artistic value. Their weaknesses are insufficient load capacity, unfavourable water affinity, and unknown reliability. 2. The scientific literature shows that the material parameters of MBCs can be adjusted to certain needs, but there are almost infinite combinations: properties of the input biomaterials, characteristics of the fungi species, and possible parameters during the growth and subsequent processing of the MBCs. 3. The patent documents show the need for development: an effective method to increase the density and the search for technologies to obtain a more homogeneous internal structure of the composite material. 4. Our own experiments with the production of various everyday objects indicate that some disadvantages of MBCs can be considered advantages. Such an unexpected advantage is the interesting surface texture resulting from the natural inhomogeneity of the internal structure of MBCs, which can be controlled to some extent.

A Framework of Unsustainable Behaviors to Support Product Eco-Design

Eco-designed products can contribute to sustainable development if consumers choose them rather than the less environmentally friendly alternatives and if they are used properly. However, eco-design methods have so far failed to address the issue of unsustainable behaviors, whose sources have not been recognized. In light of this deficiency, the authors have analyzed a large number of eco-designed products with the aim to capture the possible unsustainable behaviors arising from their use and consumption. The subsequent characterization of unsustainable behaviors has led to the creation of a framework of unsustainable behaviors, which has been subjected to the evaluation of a pool of experts in the field. In its final version, the framework includes nine classes of unsustainable behaviors, which are categorized into the corresponding product lifecycle phases (purchase, use, end of life), and different kinds of undesired effects (harmful, insufficient, excessive) based on the TRIZ-oriented functional analysis. The classes, whose significance has been checked in the literature, include frequent causes of unsustainable behaviors and corresponding examples. Through the framework, designers can take into due account the possible circumstances that would prevent their developed products from being prone to unsustainable behaviors. In a future step, the classes of unsustainable behaviors are to be linked with indications arising from Design for Sustainable Behavior.

DEEPER COMPREHENSION OF BASIC ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES THROUGH SERIOUS GAME

AbstractDuring the last three decades we observe growing use of ecodesign, but we observe also misuse of ecodesign methods, leading often to time and financial loss. In coherence with several failure analysis and with our observation, we base our work on a hypothesis: Misuse of ecodesign is often caused by lack of basic comprehension of environmental issues: Non linearity of the processes, their inertia and their excessive costs.Building on this hypothesis, we decided to enhance our education program with an innovative serious game. The goal is to achieve comprehension of the basic environmental issues. Innovation of the game lies in revealing to students at the end of the game, that the fictive initial situation of the game corresponded to a starting point of a real catastrophe. Students can thus not only compare their decisions with those of real leaders, but also to understand how and why bad decisions were taken.Experiments indicate that students who played the game tend to evaluate environmental problems, while those who followed a lecture tend to describe them. This trend (going further than to a description) seems to be useful in decision making and in deployment of ecodesign methods.

An ecodesign method application at the experimental stage of construction materials development: A case study in the production of mortar made with ornamental rock wastes

This paper proposed and tested a method to support the early stages of construction materials ecodesign, with an application focus on the production of mortar made with ornamental rock waste. The method was organized in four phases. In Phase 1, materials (sand and cement) and waste for mortar production were characterized. In Phase 2, a cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was developed to compare the environmental performance of mortars made with sand and cement replacements, in different proportions (0, 10, 20 and 30% by weight), by cutting (CW) and polishing (PW) wastes. In Phase 3, mortars were produced for the best environmental benign configurations of CW and PW applications, and their physical (consistency index, bulk density, open porosity, dried mass, saturated mass and capillarity) and mechanical (flexural and compressive strength) properties were evaluated. In Phase 4, eco-efficiency indicators were calculated to select the best ecodesign scenarios. Results indicated that only the sand replacement can considerably reduce environmental impacts in mortar production. The greatest impact reduction was for the Fossil Depletion category, which was up to 25% reduced by including 30% of CW (CW-30% scenario). The physical–mechanical analysis reveals that most of mortars properties were not significantly modified with the different incorporation levels of the wastes, but CW-20% showed the best overall performance. Finally, CW-20% and CW-30% were considered the most eco-efficient scenarios for the development of mortars on experimental scale since they showed satisfactory properties while keeping a low level of environmental burdens in a life cycle approach. This agile ecodesign approach could be used by companies that understand the importance of evaluating environmental impacts during experimental stages of tests of construction materials development.

Investigation of a Process to Eco-Design Led Lighting Products to Enhance the Adoption of Eco-Design Methods and Tools by Industry

To date, many studies have been carried out to develop new approaches and methods to eco-design products. However, these have not been implemented and adopted by industry as much as they should. A better understanding of real-world industrial eco-design and development processes, and the eco-design tools applied during these, could inform the development of more effective and applicable eco-design methods and tools, for generic as well as for specific product categories (e.g., LED lighting products). This paper addresses this issue by describing and examining a real-world process followed to design and develop a LED lighting product by a lighting manufacturer, via case study research. The case study involved direct participatory observation to gather the data and provided new insights about the stages of the design and development process, as well as the tools applied, which were examined and discussed to inform the improvement of existing methods and tools, or the development of better new methods and tools.

Combining bio-inspiration and ecodesign

Prescriptive ecodesign tools aim to aid designers in creating more sustainable designs by providing them with general recommendations, relying on the designer to adapt and convert such recommendations into a creative concept. This class of ecodesign methods relies on - and is limited by - the creativity and previous knowledge of the designer. In contrast, bio-inspired design creates new concepts using analogical transfer from existing solutions found in nature. The resulting designs however do not necessarily have a lower environmental impact. This paper proposes to join ecodesign and bio-inspired design, combining the strengths of both and making them more accessible. The general recommendations resulting from ecodesign are used to steer the selection of relevant biological strategies, resulting in more tailored inspiration with the clear direction of improving the environmental impact. Starting from a single ecodesign recommendation, a number of diverse biological strategies are presented. Both the principles used by termites to passively regulate the temperature of their mound and the principles used by sharks and fish to reduce the drag across their skin can be used as an embodiment of the guideline to reduce energy consumption during use.

Ecodesign—A Review of Reviews

With the intent of summing up the past research on ecodesign and making it more accessible, we gather findings from 106 existing review articles in this field. Five research questions on terminology, evolution, barriers and success factors, methods and tools, and synergies, guide the clustering of the resulting 608 statements extracted from the reference. The quantitative analysis reveals that the number of review articles has been increasing over time. Furthermore, most statements originate from Europe, are published in journals, and address barriers and success factors. For the qualitative analysis, the findings are grouped according to the research question they address. We find that several names for similar concepts exist, with ecodesign being the most popular one. It has evolved from “end-of-pipe” pollution prevention to a more systemic concept, and addresses the complete life cycle. Barriers and success factors extend beyond the product development team to management, customers, policymakers, and educators. The number of ecodesign methods and tools available to address them is large, and more reviewing, testing, validation, and categorization of the existing ones is necessary. Synergies between ecodesign and other research disciplines exist in theory, but require implementation and testing in practice.

Eco-design Methods and Tools: An Overview and Applicability to Packaging

Eco-design is used as a tool in the product and service sectors with the aim to increase sustainability and reduce negative environmental impact on the product design stage. When analyzing available information on eco-design methodologies from the point of view of applicability to the packaging, it often becomes unclear which method should be preferred and would best suit the specific application. This paper explains the main principles of eco-design and sustainable application advantages and aims to show the benefits of applying eco-design strategies and methodologies into the development of sustainable packaging. The highlighted differences between the design methods, available tools and their features helps with finding the most suitable specific sustainable packaging design application.

Ecodesign method of intelligent boom sprayer based on Preferable Brownfield Process

An intelligent boom sprayer (IBS) can realize efficient, precise and variable pesticides spraying operations on diverse crops and terrains by reconfiguring its hardware/software modules. Therefore, an ecological and reconfigurable design development strategy for IBS to get design goals, such as detachability, recyclability, maintainability, and reusability, will play a key role in ensuring the functions, service life and quality requirements of the product. After analyzing connotation and features of IBS,the Brownfield Process (BfP) was optimized to construct a Preferable Brownfield Process (P-BfP) which could achieve IBS ecodesign goals through analyzing the applicability and interference of IBS design and using Axiomatic Design (AD) as a main optimization theory role. The content identification and communication mechanism of the P-BfP were studied. The importance of existing resource reuse and standardization in the product design process for ecodesign was also highlighted. Dynamic models of BfP and P-BfP were built by using System Dynamics (SD) for providing a method to optimize the P-BfP design process. The simulation results showed that the P-BfP is more suitable for IBS design than the BfP from the time dimension by applying Vensim PLE and can improve the operating efficiency by 40% and reduce the training time by 50% while scientifically guiding the development of IBS. Finally, the feasibility of P-BfP was illustrated through comparing boom structure development result. The research results provide valuable scientific guidance for the ecodesign of reconfigurable modular products like IBS.