Life Cycle Design Strategies Research Articles

Mapping the environmental aspect of kernel product system in complex supply chains of the West Africa cashew industry.

Global supply chains (GoSCs) have become common for industries. However, relatively little research has emphasized products' complex supply chain environmental assessments. Against this background, this paper maps key environmental issues in the GoSCs of the West Africa cashew industry. The initial-oriented green design and supply chain-wide assessment of the kernel product system was conducted through an eco-design approach based on the matrix method, life cycle design strategy wheel and analytical hierarchical process. The results reveal static/technical eco-design issues that can reduce negative environmental impacts. Additionally, it highlights the strategic opportunities for redesign related to the selection of low-impact materials and gaseous emission. The main issues that arise in mapping the complex supply chains such as the need to re-examine some environmental issues such as solid and liquid residues from production and processing stages as more strategic concerns are discussed. In conclusion, the study points out that it is important not to compromise supply chain-wide assessment of environmental impacts and to understand both technical and strategic values of environmental issues in complex supply chains of products even at the initial stage of interest in green supply chain design. Thus, the eco-design approach of the study has potential to enhance environmental sustainability.

Material saving and building component efficiency as main eco-design principles for membrane architecture: case - studies of ETFE enclosures

ABSTRACT Compared to the traditional materials, textile membrane and foil structural enclosures use minimal quantity of materials to cover spaces or close façades, thanks especially to their tensioning ability, by shaping themselves to the forces ways, with a few additional stiffening components. However the environmental compatibility, due to their actual fossil fuel origin, together with the thermal, optical, and acoustic performances are crucial factors to be verified during the design phase. The need of understanding their potentials and limits in terms of eco-efficiency is on the debate. Starting from these concepts, the aim of the research is to demonstrate the advantages of the Life Cycle Design strategy answering to the environmental sustainability of membrane building components.The authors found out two eco-efficiency principles for the application of membranes and foils, orienting the designers towards a more sustainable whole life spanned lightweight technology’s choice. The main advancement of this research is presented adding new ETFE membranes case studies to the initial analysis (Monticelli, Zanelli, 2016). The aim of this ex-post application of the principles on built examples is the demonstration of their validness for the designer’s need and the intention is to spread their use during the early design stage. The calculation on a wider and different use of membranes allowed to sketch benchmark reference rates. The results of the data analysis show how lightweight technologies offer a high degree of freedom in shaping geometries and forms, while only their optimized application can guarantee a sustainable and LCA effective result.

Information Management Platform for the Application of Sustainable Product Development Methods

A multitude of information is required to address sustainability aspects in product design decisions. However, information required for applying methods in the field of sustainable product development often overlaps. Moreover, specific improvement measures can primarily be identified if method results can be traced back to data origin. This paper presents a concept and implementation of an information platform which is integrated into a PLM system and integrates an ontology based knowledge model and a semantic wiki. The information platform shall avoid double work, improve documentation of information and assist in understanding the data basis of method results. This paper discusses requirements and solution elements and presents findings from applying the methods Lifecycle Design Strategies (LiDS) Wheel and the Product Sustainability Index.

Case study: Life-cycle design strategies at the saturn corporation

Case study: Life-cycle design strategies at the saturn corporation

Life Cycle Engineering and Design

This paper addresses the state-of-the-art in life cycle engineering/design. Actions taken by industry are discussed followed by a focus on life cycle design strategies, with special emphasis on design for low energy consumption in the use phase and design for disassembly. Life cycle design tools and methods and tools for design for recycling are further discussed generally with an overview of the tools most used by life cycle engineers. Finally, the implementation of life cycle design systems in industry's product development schemes is discussed.