Environmentally conscious product design through total quality management

The actions of governments, customers, and competitors are influencing corporate environmental management in unprecedented ways. Market requirements are affecting both revenues and costs in ways that individual firms cannot control. The uncertainty that these new requirements create underscores the critical importance of planning and implementing a systematic approach to the design of products and the processes used to build, ship, support, and recover them. In this article the author shows how Total Quality Management offers a useful framework for aligning a company'S market focus, its business plans, and its management of critical business processes. This alignment is critical, if companies are to create environmentally conscious products while remaining competitive in a global marketplace.     

Universities,government, and industry: An international perspective on developing environmentally conscious technologies

The educational and research roles of universities in environmentally conscious technologies are discussed from a historical perspective. The American university system, and in particular its interactions with government and industry, is compared with that of the United States' main trading partners including Japan, the NAFTA countries, and Western Europe. Examples of federally funded U.S. programs related to green design are also tabulated. The role of universities within the framework of society, politics, and economics is discussed in regard to emerging concepts such as sustainable development, life-cycle analysis, and design for environment, as well as the functioning of local recycling infrastructures. The means by which universities can contribute to environmentally conscious technology are summarized, as are the demands placed on the next generation of engineers.     

Environmentally conscious manufacturing and product recovery (ECMPRO): A review of the state of the art

Gungor and Gupta [1999, Issues in environmentally conscious manufacturing and product recovery: a survey. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 36(4), 811–853] presented an important review of the development of research in Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing and Product Recovery (ECMPRO) and provided a state of the art survey of published work. However, that survey covered most papers published through 1998. Since then, a lot of activity has taken place in EMCPRO and several areas have become richer. Many new areas also have emerged. In this paper we primarily discuss the evolution of ECMPRO that has taken place in the last decade and discuss the new areas that have come into focus during this time. After presenting some background information, the paper systematically investigates the literature by classifying over 540 published references into four major categories, viz., environmentally conscious product design, reverse and closed-loop supply chains, remanufacturing, and disassembly. Finally, we conclude by summarizing the evolution of ECMPRO over the past decade together with the avenues for future research.     

产品的振动冲击响应设计

在抗振缓冲设计中,人们通常按标准、合同中的要求进行设计,本文认为要按产品受振动与冲击后的响应进行设计,及如何按振动与冲击后的响应进行设计。     

HALT试验技术的研究

高加速寿命应力试验（HALT），是一种通过施加阶梯强化应力于试品，达到快速发现产品潜在缺陷，操作设计边际及结构强度极限的试验方法，主要应用于产品研发设计阶段。由于该方法效果明显，目前已越来越多的电子电气产品制造商认可并推广使用，成为研发设计工程师提高产品可靠性的重要试验手段。本文简要介绍HALT试验的目的，并结合实际，探讨了HALT试验设备的关键性能指标。另外，基于日常实践经验，重点分析和讨论了HALT试验过程中应该关注的一些技术处置措施，从而帮助测试人员正确执行HALT。     

The distribution of environmentally related well-being: a conceptual framework

Environmental economists have long concerned themselves with the ways in which natural resources and pollution can contribute to (or detract from) human well-being. However, the distribution of economic benefits and costs from environmentally related goods and services has been often overlooked. This article derives a conceptual framework that brings together the literature from the environmental justice movement, work on the so-called resource curse, and institutional environmental economics into a comprehensive whole. The conceptual framework gives rise to several interesting questions that can be used in studying the distribution of environmentally related well-being.     

Sustainability and materiality: The bioregional and cultural challenges to evaluation

The current debate on indicators for sustainability and life-cycle assessment of materials relies heavily on universalised systems theory, first developed by Bertalanffy in the 1950s. Various ecolabelling and environmental auditing schemes have attempted to account for all the variables required to measure the sustainability of a given product or material in relation to its resource use. The aim has always been to try and harmonise standards used to facilitate trade regardless of location and using a standard neo-classical economic framework. This paper questions the hegemonic position that synchronic systems analysis currently enjoys by proposing an alternative approach that recognises evolving and relative standards based on localised cultural and economic valuation. This alternative approach is underpinned by the concept of bioregionalism which combines physical, economic and cultural mapping of local resources using local parameters and evaluation methods. Recent bioregional research into local information on environmentally benign materials in Aberdeenshire, Scotland is used to illustrate one way of bringing a meaningful regional framework back into the debate on indicators of sustainability in relation to materiality.     

Reverse logistics in Malaysia: Investigating the effect of green product design and resource commitment

Reverse logistics and green product design are green supply chain management practices that are being implemented to demonstrate firm's commitment to environmental sustainability. The generation of waste from electrical and electronic equipments prompts the viability of product recovery to salvage invested material and energy. Selection of various reverse logistics product disposition options relies on products’ residual value and the accessibility of reusable content for re-entry in forward supply chain. This study explores the effect of green product design and resource commitment on reverse logistics product disposition by employing empirical analysis on 89 returned mail survey received from ISO14001 certified electrical and electronic manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The results indicated that design for disassembly is necessary to harvest valuable inventories from every product disposition options except of disposal whereas design for environment and commitment of resources have slight influence on repair and disposal activities. As the evidences show that green product design and reverse logistics product disposition are interrelated, firms ought to undertake environmentally proactive approaches to generate benefits from resources that are undeservingly discarded as landfill waste.     

Response to the environmental and welfare imperatives by U.K. Livestock production industries and research services

Production methods for food from U.K. livestock industries (milk, dairy products, meat, eggs, fibre) are undergoing substantial change as a result of the need to respond to environmental and animal welfare awareness of purchasing customers, and to espouse the principles of environmental protection. There appears to be a strong will on the part of livestock farmers to satisfy the environmental imperative, led by the need to maintain market share and by existing and impending legislation. There has been support forthcoming in the form of Government-sponsored scientific research and technological development to provide the necessary framework for new environmentally sensitive practices. The agricultural community has itself made substantial responses to market demand through the inception of Farm Assured Quality Assurance Schemes. These appear to have a more sustainable future than the extremes of organic farming and free-range practices. Pollution of agricultural land with nitrate and phosphate by intensive livestock industries is a greater problem in some parts of continental Europe than it is in the U.K. The distribution of livestock out of intensive units and into mixed farming systems, would require substantial restructuring of the industry. Many of the animal welfare requirements which have been forwarded as a part of the environmental agenda for agriculture have been voluntarily accepted by livestock producers. However, some major aspects, such as alternative housing systems for pigs and poultry, remain unresolved. Analysis of the science and technology support for the environmental imperative, especially from Government sources, would suggest that, although dramatically increased in recent years, environmentally orientated research remains a relatively small proportion of the whole. Whilst a movement away from governmental funding of volume production appears to be justifiable, there has not been an equivalent balancing of effort toward funding for product quality, sustainability, environmental protection and animal welfare. Nevertheless, the university education system is producing a generation of more environmentally aware agricultural science graduates who are opting to pursue Government-sponsored environmentally orientated postgraduate research programs.     

Simplified LCA and matrix methods in identifying the environmental aspects of a product system

In order to effectively integrate environmental attributes into the product design and development processes, it is crucial to identify the significant environmental aspects related to a product system within a relatively short period of time. In this study, the usefulness of life cycle assessment (LCA) and a matrix method as tools for identifying the key environmental issues of a product system were examined. For this, a simplified LCA (SLCA) method that can be applied to Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) was developed to efficiently identify their significant environmental aspects for eco-design, since a full scale LCA study is usually very detailed, expensive and time-consuming. The environmentally responsible product assessment (ERPA) method, which is one of the matrix methods, was also analyzed. Then, the usefulness of each method in eco-design processes was evaluated and compared using the case studies of the cellular phone and vacuum cleaner systems. It was found that the SLCA and the ERPA methods provided different information but they complemented each other to some extent. The SLCA method generated more information on the inherent environmental characteristics of a product system so that it might be useful for new design/eco-innovation when developing a completely new product or method where environmental considerations play a major role from the beginning. On the other hand, the ERPA method gave more information on the potential for improving a product so that it could be effectively used in eco-redesign which intends to alleviate environmental impacts of an existing product or process.     

计算机辅助设计在电子设备热设计中的应用

在产品研发阶段寻求最优化的解决方案，缩短产品研制周期、降低生产成本、确保产品质量是每一位设计者所面临的问题。通过对一个在研项目中发射机功放模块的散热进行设计，过程中引入一些软件来辅助设计，从而达到上述中的设计要求。     

Using life-cycle assessments in large corporations: A survey of current practices

Industries presently face a challenge to maintain competitiveness while creating minimal adverse impacts on the environment. The conventional concerns of product functionality, quality, and cost are further complicated by environmental considerations. Thus, corporate environmental strategies are evolving toward a life-cycle approach by implementing life-cycle analysis (LCA), design for environment (DFE), and environmentally conscious design and manufacturing (ECDM) practices. These life-cycle concepts provide a tool for industry to identify and evaluate opportunities to minimize environmental burdens from cradle to grave. A mail survey administered by Vanderbilt University's U.S.-Japan Center for Technology Management was sent to 175 U.S. corporations from the 1994 Fortune 500 list. The results show that more than half of the 56 respondents are using life-cycle concepts for environmental assessments, with marketing and cost issues as the primary motivation factors. Hi-tech and personal care firms are more active in implementing LCAs while chemical and intermediate companies are more involved with maintaining databases and utilizing LCA tools. The survey and this article show how life-cycle thinking has not been adequately integrated throughout corporate organizations, and most environmental efforts are initiated by the environmental affairs department. However, the percentage of top management involvement has increased since 1992 and is now at moderate levels. LCA methods need to be further developed in order to expand their industrial acceptability.     

Elements of effective DFE program management and product stewardship

Design for the Environment (DFE) is a systems-oriented approach for designing more ecologically and economically sustainable product systems. It couples the product development cycle used in business with the physical life-cycle of a product. DFE integrates environmental requirements into the earliest stages of design so total impacts caused by product systems can be reduced. With DFE practices, environmental, performance, cost, cultural, and legal requirements are balanced. Concepts such as concurrent design, total quality management, cross-disciplinary teams, and multiattribute decision making are essential elements of DFE.¹ In this article, the authors show how these DFE initiatives can provide the design and product development teams with the training, information, decision support tools, and procedures that ensure improved product development decisions and environmental performance.     

Green product purchase intention: Some insights from a developing country

This paper examines from the motivational perspective of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) how individual values and attitudes in a developing country influence purchase intention of a green product. It also investigates how values may affect attitudes towards environmentally responsible purchase intention. The study analyzed data collected from 257 working respondents who were asked their views concerning their value sets, attitudes and purchase intention of cloth diapers using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. Findings indicate individual consequences relating to amount of effort and convenience of consumers is negatively related to intention to purchase green product. Environmental consequences are not a significant predictor of environmentally responsible purchase intention. Conservation value was found to be positively related to attitude on environmental consequences but less intensely with individual consequences while both self-transcendence value and self-enhancement value were positively related to individual consequences. Individual consequences and self-enhancement value were negatively related to environmentally responsible purchase intention. This paper has shown that the extended TRA is applicable and also this paper has enhanced understanding of predictors of environmentally responsible purchase intention in a developing country context.     

Household ecological footprinting using a new diary-based data-gathering approach

Although the household level is recognized as a potentially important area for the application of ecological footprint (EF) analysis, almost no work has been reported in the academic literature on EF analysis at this level. This paper describes the application of a new, diary-based data acquisition methodology used in a component approach to estimate the EF of a small number of households in Aberdeen, Scotland. Feedback from householders indicated that the diary proved useful in educating participants about their environmental impacts and made EF findings convincing. The methodology was, however, time consuming for both participants and researchers, and it is concluded that future household level applications of EF analysis might combine a simplified diary with other forms of data acquisition. Findings also suggest that the presentation of EF results alone is unlikely to promote more environmentally conscious attitudes amongst householders unless specific EF components are identified for the householder to act upon.     

Environmental assessment of packaging: The consumer point of view

When marketing environmentally responsible packaged products, the producer is confronted with consumer beliefs concerning the environmental friendliness of packaging materials. When making environmentally conscious packaging decisions, these consumer beliefs should be taken into account alongside the technical guidelines. Dutch consumer perceptions of the environmental friendliness of packaged products are reported and compared with the results of a life-cycle analysis assessment. It is shown that consumers judge environmental friendliness mainly from material and returnability. Furthermore, the consumer perception of the environmental friendliness of packaging material is based on the postconsumption waste, whereas the environmental effects of production are ignored. From the consumer beliefs concerning environmental friendliness implications are deduced for packaging policy and for environmental policy.     

A design for environment methodology for evaluating materials

Industrial ecology is a new multidisciplinary field of study requiring that economic activity be integrated with, and have minimal impact on, surrounding natural systems. This systems-based approach is beginning to be implemented in private firms through the development of Design for Environment (DFE) methodologies and tools which support the integration of technological and environmental considerations in all economic activities. As part of this development process, a matrix system is proposed by the author by which the environmental and energy costs embedded in materials as used in generic applications may be identified, facilitating environmentally and economically efficient selection of materials. This Material Environmental Evaluation Matrix is supported by checklists which inform the evaluation process. A set of completed matrices for major materials in common applications forms the basis for an Environmentally Efficient Materials Database (EEMD). Once completed, the EEMD would inform consumers, product and process designers, business planners and managers, regulators and government purchasers, public interest groups, and others in their choice of optimal, environmentally and economically efficient, material options.     

Process design for the environment: A multi-objective framework under uncertainty

Designing chemical processes for the environment requires consideration of several indexes of environmental impact including ozone depletion, global warming potentials, human and aquatic toxicity, photochemical oxidation, and acid rain potentials. Current methodologies, such as the generalized waste reduction algorithm (WAR), provide a first step towards evaluating these impacts. However, to address the issues of accuracy and the relative weights of these impact indexes, one must consider the problem of uncertainties. Environmental impacts must also be weighted and balanced against other concerns, such as their cost and long-term sustainability. These multiple, often conflicting, goals pose a challenging and complex optimization problem, requiring multi-objective optimization under uncertainty. This paper will address the problem of quantifying and analyzing the various objectives involved in process design for the environment. Towards this goal, we proposed a novel multi-objective optimization framework under uncertainty. This framework is based on new and efficient algorithms for multi-objective optimization and for uncertainty analysis. This approach finds a set of potentially optimal designs where trade-offs can be explicitly identified, unlike cost-benefit analysis, which deals with multiple objectives by identifying a single fundamental objective and then converting all the other objectives into this single currency. A benchmark process for hydrodealkylation (HDA) of toluene to produce benzene modeled in the ASPEN simulator is used to illustrate the usefulness of the approach in finding environmentally friendly and cost-effective designs under uncertainty.     

Environmental and economic aspects of production and utilization of RDF as alternative fuel in cement plants: A case study of Metro Vancouver Waste Management

Municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal and management is one of the most significant challenges faced by urban communities around the world. Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) over the years has utilized many sophisticated technologies and smart strategies. Municipalities worldwide have pursued numerous initiatives to reduce the environmental burden of the MSW treatment strategies. One of the most beneficial MSWM strategies is the thermal treatment or energy recovery to obtain cleaner renewable energy from waste. Among many waste-to-energy strategies, refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is a solid recovered fuel that can be used as a substitute for conventional fossil fuel. The scope of this study is to investigate the feasibility of RDF production with MSW generated in Metro Vancouver, for co-processing in two cement kilns in the region. This study investigates environmental impacts and benefits and economic costs and profits of RDF production. In addition, RDF utilization as an alternative fuel in cement kilns has been assessed. Cement manufacturing has been selected as one of the most environmentally challenged industries and as a potential destination for RDF to replace a portion of conventional fossil fuels with less energy-intensive fuel. A comprehensive environmental assessment is conducted using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. In addition, cost–benefit analysis (CBA) has been carried out to study the economic factors. This research confirmed that RDF production and use in cement kilns can be environmentally and economically viable solution for Metro Vancouver.