811 research outputs found

    An aesthetic for sustainable interactions in product-service systems?

    Get PDF
    Copyright @ 2012 Greenleaf PublishingEco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. However the application of this concept is still very limited because its implementation and diffusion is hindered by several barriers (cultural, corporate and regulative ones). The paper investigates the barriers that affect the attractiveness and acceptation of eco-efficient PSS alternatives, and opens the debate on the aesthetic of eco-efficient PSS, and the way in which aesthetic could enhance some specific inner qualities of this kinds of innovations. Integrating insights from semiotics, the paper outlines some first research hypothesis on how the aesthetic elements of an eco-efficient PSS could facilitate user attraction, acceptation and satisfaction

    The design with intent method: A design tool for influencing user behaviour

    Get PDF
    The official published version can be found at the link below.Using product and system design to influence user behaviour offers potential for improving performance and reducing user error, yet little guidance is available at the concept generation stage for design teams briefed with influencing user behaviour. This article presents the Design with Intent Method, an innovation tool for designers working in this area, illustrated via application to an everyday human–technology interaction problem: reducing the likelihood of a customer leaving his or her card in an automatic teller machine. The example application results in a range of feasible design concepts which are comparable to existing developments in ATM design, demonstrating that the method has potential for development and application as part of a user-centred design process

    Development and integration of environmental evaluation tools for the ecodesign of sustainable processes and products

    Get PDF
    Industry is recognized as one of the main sources of environmental pollution and resource depletion, both causing environmental degradation; nonetheless, its contribution to development and wealth creation is also acknowledged. Therefore, the identification of sustainable options in this area is a key factor. Nowadays, the attitude towards pollution prevention and control and cleaner production is not just a response to emerging environmental laws and regulations (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals -REACH-, Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control –IPPC- Law, Integrated Product Policy –IPP-), but also a matter of corporate responsibility. Further, it has proved to be a way to increase profits. The sustainability definition has received certain criticism for its vagueness, ambiguity and difficulty to translate this concept at different levels. To overcome the difficulties of its implementation, a wide variety of indicators have been developed and applied over the years, providing metrics essential at the action level. This thesis poses a contribution to the development of environmental evaluation tools adapted to particular production sectors, aiming at providing metrics to guide decision making for the ecodesign of sustainable processes and products. Integrative frameworks that combine methodologies of different nature were proposed as the most suitable way to achieve comprehensive evaluations. At the same time, the simplicity of tools was pursued to make its application easier and more attractive for enterprises, avoiding the need of in depth training

    Techno-Ecological Synergy: A Framework for Sustainable Engineering

    Get PDF
    Even though the importance of ecosystems in sustaining all human activities is well-known, methods for sustainable engineering fail to fully account for this role of nature. Most methods account for the demand for ecosystem services, but almost none account for the supply. Incomplete accounting of the very foundation of human well-being can result in perverse outcomes from decisions meant to enhance sustainability and lost opportunities for benefiting from the ability of nature to satisfy human needs in an economically and environmentally superior manner. This paper develops a framework for understanding and designing synergies between technological and ecological systems to encourage greater harmony between human activities and nature. This framework considers technological systems ranging from individual processes to supply chains and life cycles, along with corresponding ecological systems at multiple spatial scales ranging from local to global. The demand for specific ecosystem services is determined from information about emissions and resource use, while the supply is obtained from information about the capacity of relevant ecosystems. Metrics calculate the sustainability of individual ecosystem services at multiple spatial scales and help define necessary but not sufficient conditions for local and global sustainability. Efforts to reduce ecological overshoot encourage enhancement of life cycle efficiency, development of industrial symbiosis, innovative designs and policies, and ecological restoration, thus combining the best features of many existing methods. Opportunities for theoretical and applied research to make this framework practical are also discussed

    Resource efficient products in a circular economy – The case of consumables. From environmental and resource assessment to design guidelines

    Get PDF
    The circular economy (CE) is a concept to challenge the unsustainable production, consumption, and waste management of products, through the recirculation of resources and products through various means while reducing environmental impact. Within this concept, many measures are recommended for reducing environmental impact and resource use. However, to ensure and verify whether a measure is leading to its intended outcome, environmental and resource assessment is necessary. \ua0This thesis aims to investigate which measures are resource efficient and identify for which products different measures are suitable and under what circumstances they lead to their intended outcomes. Based on this, design methods are developed to enable the design of more resource-efficient products. Finally, this thesis aims to investigate more specifically the measures that are suitable for consumable products, as these products have not been examined thoroughly in the circular economy literature as durable products.\ua0The aims of this research were met by investigating which resource-efficiency measures exist and are applicable to products with different characteristics. This was done through life cycle assessment studies of specific consumable products. Further, a synthesis study was carried out in which lifecycle-based assessment studies of different products and measures were analysed. This research concludes that depending on a product’s characteristics, some measures are more relevant than others. In addition, the analysis shows that many measures lead to trade-offs between different types of environmental impacts and resources uses, as well as between different life cycle phases. For these findings to be practically useful, they were subsequently translated into design guidelines expressed as a design tool. \ua0Finally, a literature review was conducted of general product design guidelines in the CE and ecodesign literature to compile and analyse to what extent the design guidelines are applicable to different types of consumables. Among other factors, this review shows that, on average, less than half of the recommendations found in the general product design guidelines are possible to apply to consumables. Further, the CE literature was found to provide fewer relevant design considerations than the ecodesign literature. This work also identifies what aspects make product-types specific design guidelines transferable to other consumables

    Reducing the environmental footprint of interior wood doors in non-residential buildings - part 2 : ecodesign

    Get PDF
    Ecodesign is a concept that emerged few decades ago as a response to the larger concept of sustainable development. Multiple tools exist to address ecodesign. Life Cycle Assessment, a comprehensive, robust and recognized evaluation tool, enables to identify the product environmental profile. Based on previous LCA results on interior wood doors, this paper aims at proposing an ecodesign strategy based on the generation and evaluation of alternative scenarios. The three selected targets for environmental improvement are particleboard components, transportation and end-of-life. For the particleboard manufacturing, the use of adhesives based on bio-sourced resources was not very conclusive, except for the use of pine tannins in panel manufacture that showed promising results. Concerning transportation issues, switching from road to rail transportation, as well as having a local supplier, decreased the overall environmental impact of the door. The most notable alternative was the end-of-life recycling scenario. The reutilization of the door core in the door manufacturing process proved a great benefit due to the avoidance of new raw materials production. Developing services around door recovery and remanufacturing seems promising in reducing doors environmental impacts. This scenario would be readily viable and realistic

    The competitiveness of modern retail and the imperative to respond to the challenges of the circular economy

    Get PDF
    The retail business has been changing a lot in recent years. The traditional retail we knew, where people went to the physical stores to do their shopping, is increasingly becoming extinct. The act of buying is no longer just a singular event, but a shopping experience for the client, which starts with the dissemination in social networks and online platforms, to the physical stores and to all complementary activities which involve the consumer during their purchases. In recent years, demand has been increasingly selective, and consumers are evaluating new preferential factors beyond price, such as convenience, diversity and freshness of products at a retail location. However, the production and supply cycle of the products is a complex process, where companies do not always adopt the best practices to develop their business. In order to reduce production and distribution costs, there are retailers that choose not so environmentally friendly raw materials, such as plastics and fossil fuels, which have a very negative impact in the production, distribution and consequently during their life time. With this project, the main objectives will be to evaluate the evolution of retail in recent years, and how to adapt to a Circular Economy era, worrying about the sustainability of the environment and the reduction of waste, but keeping competitive and profitable at the same time.O negócio do retalho vem mudando muito nos últimos anos. O retalho tradicional que conhecíamos, onde as pessoas se deslocavam às lojas físicas para realizar as suas compras, está cada vez mais extinto. O ato de comprar não é apenas um evento singular, mas uma experiência de compra para o cliente, que começa com a disseminação em redes sociais e plataformas online, até às lojas físicas e todas as atividades complementares que envolvem o consumidor durante as suas compras. Nos últimos anos, a procura tem sido cada vez mais seletiva, e os consumidores estão avaliando novos fatores preferenciais além do preço, como conveniência, diversidade e frescura dos produtos num ponto de venda. No entanto, o ciclo de produção e fornecimento dos produtos é um processo complexo, onde as empresas nem sempre adotam as melhores práticas para desenvolver os seus negócios. A fim de reduzir os custos de produção e distribuição, há retalhistas que optam por matérias-primas pouco amigas do meio ambiente, como os plásticos e os combustíveis fósseis, que têm um impacto muito negativo na produção, distribuição e, consequentemente, durante a sua vida útil. Com este projeto, os principais objetivos serão avaliar a evolução do retalho nos últimos anos, e como se deverá adaptar à era da Economia Circular, preocupando-se com a sustentabilidade do meio ambiente e com a redução de desperdícios, mas mantendo-se competitivo e rentável ao mesmo tempo

    Sustainability in design: now! Challenges and opportunities for design research, education and practice in the XXI century

    Get PDF
    Copyright @ 2010 Greenleaf PublicationsLeNS project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropeAid, European Commission

    Agriculture Biomass: its potential in Slovakia and Serbia

    Get PDF
    The natural resources (oil, coal, natural gas) are insufficient to satisfy the needs of the people for electric and heating energy because sources of fossil fuels are limited. Emission of large quantities of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere, in the course of combustion processes of solid and liquid fuels have been disrupting the environment. The future lies in the renewable energy sources (RES) surrounding us. The rapid rise of crude oil prices in the early 70-ies of 20th Century focused global attention to the need for efficient use and finding new sources of energy. In addition, energy consumption is growing dramatically in developed countries. EIA expects that demand for energy will grow by 56% between 2010 and 2040 (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2016). In order to overcome the problems caused by the constant rise in the global population, rapid exploitation of many natural resources, increase of pollution and climate change, the World and Europe must radically change their approach to the production, processing, consumption, storage, recycling and disposal of biological wastes. European 2020 strategy indicates bioeconomy as a key element for sustainable and "green" development in the region (European Commission, 2012). Bioeconomy includes sustainable production of renewable biological resources and their conversion into food, biofuels, bioenergy and bioproducts (eg. bioplastics, biopesticides, etc.). It includes agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and paper production, as well as part of the chemical, biotechnological and energy industries. Agriculture is a major consumer but also can become energy producer. Bearing in mind the amount of biomass produced, and the possibilities for its utilization, the negligible amount of biomass that is currently used as an energy source. An important feature is that biomass combustion is not an increased content of CO2 in the atmosphere, as the ecological point of view is very important. The necessity of integrated approach to the biomass policy is given special importance. Biomass is preferred to other sources of renewable energy, due to the increase in the alternative sources of income it provides to the farmers, and the development of the regional economic structures. It is expected that throughout Europe a new “energy producing” division of agriculture is about to unfold, which, in close cooperation with the energy producing and service providing sections of the national economy, may greatly contribute to the reduction of the energy shortage, while finding new sources of income. Usage of biomass, which is mostly the agricultural waste, would reduce demand of the country for import of fuels, would promote environment protection, and the economy would prosper, which would contribute to the sustainable development of society. At this study the sources of biomass and its potential will be described, as well as energy from agricultural biomass, with special emphasis on the situation and potential of Slovakia and Serbia in biomass. The possibilities of the use of alternative renewable energy sources were considered, such as biodiesel, biogas and bioethanol. Also the opportunities for development and implementation of the second, third and fourth generation biofuels are listed. The study included both positive and negative impacts of the production and use of renewable energy from agricultural biomass (biofuels) compared to the fossil fuels
    corecore