SP1 Prepared by: Carlos Angelo D. Aguilar, ma, uap, piep

Main reference:

Life Cycle Design Sustainable product life cycle systems reduce environmental loads, resource consumption, and waste generation.

Life Cycle Assessment Life cycle assessment is a “cradle-to-grave” approach for assessing industrial systems. “Cradle-to-grave” begins with the gathering of raw materials from the earth to create the product and ends at the point when all materials are returned to the earth. LCA evaluates all stages of a product’s life from the perspective that they are interdependent, meaning that one operation leads to the next. LCA enables the estimation of the cumulative environmental impacts resulting from all stages in the product life cycle. (

The term “life cycle” refers to the major activities in the course of the product’s life-span from its manufacture, use, and maintenance, to its final disposal, including the raw material acquisition required to manufacture the product. (

Matsushita Graphic Communications Systems Inc.

Source: J. Fiksel, Design for Environment: A Guide to Sustainable Product Development, McGraw-Hill 2009

1. Design for Dematerialization Minimize material throughput as well as the associated energy and resource consumption at every stage of the life cycle. This can be achieved through a variety of techniques such as product life extension, source reduction, process simplification, remanufacturing, use of recycled inputs, or substitution of services for products. ( Fiksel )

Dematerialization Dematerialization is often broadly used to characterize the decline over time in weight of the materials used in industrial end products. From an environmental viewpoint, (de)materialization should be defined as the change in the amount of waste generated per unit of industrial products. - Robert Herman, Siamak A. Ardekani, and Jesse H. Ausubel (phe.rockefeller.edu) In economics, dematerialization refers to the absolute or relative reduction in the quantity of materials required to serve economic functions in society. “Doing more with less.”

Minimizing Material Consumption

“Removing the need to create a physical product.” “The energy savings associated with not having to transport that product.” -Jonathan Koomey of the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and Stanford ( )gigaom.com (phe.rockefeller.edu)

The mesh-wrapped Owari Orthodontics Office – Japan by Akinari Tanaka Built from a new building material comprised of recycled paper and plastic.recycled paper

Rolling Green-Roofed Environmental Center Made from 65 Shipping Containers by + APHIDoIDEA+ APHIDoIDEA

Shipping Container Housing for Victims of Japan Earthquake

2. Design for Detoxification Minimize the potential for adverse human or ecological effects at every stage of the life cycle. This can be achieved through replacement of toxic or hazardous materials with benign ones, introduction of cleaner technologies that reduce harmful wastes and emissions, including greenhouse gases, or waste modification using chemical, energetic or biological treatment. Note that, while detoxification can reduce environmental impacts, it may not substantially reduce resource consumption. ( /Joseph Fiksel )

World's First Carbon Neutral Office Building South Korea

Inflatable Bubble Building Barcelona by Cloud 9 Architecture

Green Roofed School in Créteil, France by Agence Nicolas Michelin & Associés Agence Nicolas Michelin & Associés

3. Design for Revalorization Recover residual value from materials and resources that have already been utilized in the economy, thus reducing the need for extraction of virgin resources. This can be achieved by finding secondary uses for discarded products, refurbishing or remanufacturing products and components at the end of their useful life, facilitating disassembly and material separation for durable products, and finding economical ways to recycle and reuse waste streams. Industrial ecology approaches fit within this strategy. Revalorization goes hand in glove with dematerialization, since repeatedly cycling materials and resources within the economy reduces the need to extract them from the environment. ( /Joseph Fiksel )

Hockenheimer Stool Transforms a Stack of Old Magazines into a Cool Chair by Lori Zimmer, 06/23/11Lori Zimmer

Karton Group Makes Cool and Quirky Furniture Out of Recycled Cardboard by Jenny Tranter, 06/17/11Jenny Tranter

Disassembly

Big Crunch by Raumlaborberlin

4. Design for Capital Protection and Renewal Assure the availability and integrity of the various types of productive capital that are the basis of future human prosperity. Here “capital” is used in the broadest sense. Human capital refers to the health, safety, security, and well being of employees, customers, suppliers, and other enterprise stakeholders. (Also important is the preservation of social capital; namely, the institutions, relationships, and norms that underpin human society, including bonds of mutual trust.) Natural capital refers to the natural resources and ecosystem services that make possible all economic activity, indeed all life. Economic capital refers to tangible enterprise assets including facilities and equipment, as well as intellectual property, reputation, and other intangible assets that represent economic value. Capital protection involves maintaining continuity and productivity for existing capital, while renewal involves restoring, reinvesting, or generating new capital to replace that which has been depleted. Thus renewal may include attracting new talent, revitalizing ecosystems, and building new factories.