The application of life cycle assessment to design

This paper explores the practical application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to product system development. While life cycle assessment methods have been studied and demonstrated extensively over the last two decades, their application to product design and development has not been critically addressed. Many organizational and operational factors limit the integration of the three LCA components (inventory analysis, impact assessment and improvement assessment) with product development. Design of the product system can be considered a synthesis of individual decisions and choices made by the design team, which ultimately shape the system's environmental profile. The environmental goal of life cycle design is to minimize the aggregate environmental impacts associated with the product system. Appropriate environmental information must be supplied to decision makers throughout each stage of the development process to achieve this goal. LCA can serve as a source of this information, but informational requirements can vary as the design moves from its conceptual phase, where many design choices are possible, to its detailed design and implementation. Streamlined approaches and other tools, such as design checklists, are essential. The practical use of this tool in product development also depends on the nature and complexity of the product system (e.g. new vs. established), the product development cycle (time-to-market constraints), availability of technical and financial resources, and the design approach (integrated vs. serial). These factors will influence the role and scope of LCA in product development. Effective communication and evaluation of environmental information and the integration of this information with cost, performance, cultural and legal criteria will also be critical to the success of design initiatives based on the life cycle framework. An overview of several of these design initiatives will be presented.     

京津风沙源区防风固沙功能的时空变化及其区域差异

防风固沙功能是京津风沙源治理成效的关键监测指标。以往研究注重局地防风固沙功能的评估,对全区防风固沙功能的时空变化与内部差异揭示不足。基于京津风沙源区多期遥感数据,采用修正风蚀方程与GIS空间统计技术,评估分析了2000-2015年防风固沙功能的整体变化及其区域差异。结果表明:(1)京津风沙源区年均防风固沙量为28.98亿t,防风固沙能力为68.24 t/hm~2,且均随年份变化波动增加,年均增速分别为1.10%和0.71%;(2)京津风沙源区防风固沙能力呈西北高、东南低趋势,有49.06%的区域防风固沙能力高于70 t/hm~2,评估期内有54%的区域防风固沙能力明显提高;(3)浑善达克沙地亚区、典型草原亚区和荒漠草原亚区的防风固沙量累计为全区防风固沙总量的88%,燕山丘陵山地水源保护亚区和晋北山地丘陵亚区的防风固沙能力提升最显著;(4)锡林郭勒盟、赤峰市和乌兰察布市的防风固沙量合计占全区防风固沙量的77%,朔州市与包头市防风固沙能力较高,北京市与天津市防风固沙能力增速较高。因此,未来应重视分区施策治理与西部和北部防风固沙功能提升。     

生态农业建设中的水资源生命周期及系统功能响应

论文从生命周期角度，对原先自然环境恶劣、通过生态农业建设取得了良好效果的3个生态农业县的水资源利用进行了全过程研究。结果表明，水资源生命周期过程的进展情况受多种因素影响。目前，各生态农业县水资源生命周期过程仍处在发育的初级阶段。这一过程的完整性与系统生态、经济和社会功能的提高成正比。     

大同市土地退化现状与动态变化研究

通过对大同市水土流失现状与动态变化、土地盐渍化和耕地数量与质量情况动态变化、土地沙漠化现状与动态变化的现状调查来分析大同市土地退化的主要成因以及采取的环境保护对策与建议.     

中国产品生命周期影响评价方法研究

讨论了确定中国产品生命周期影响评价所需的标准化基准和权重的确定方法和程序，包括产品系统环境影响潜值计算，数据标准化，加权评估 以及计算环境影响负荷和资源耗竭系数4个步骤。标准化基准采用1990年中国人均环境影响总潜值来表达，而权重采用1990年的基准与2000年中国政府的削减目标所估算的基准之间的比值计算。     

奈曼旗沙漠化土地动态变化分析

本文利用两期TM卫片对奈曼旗五个苏木的沙漠化土地动态进行了分析。10年间沙漠伦土地总面积减少了457.82km^2，但同期耕地面积净增加了394.08km^2；同时，流动沙地面积增加了139.62km^2，图斑数降低到了50％，流动沙地明显扩展，斑块间发生合并，集中连片的趋势严峻。不同苏木沙漠化土地变化表明，土地利用方式对其有明显影响。     

A strategic design approach to develop sustainable product service systems: examples taken from the ‘environmentally friendly innovation’ Italian prize

The product service systems’ (PSS) sustainability potential is described in the framework of the new types of stakeholder relationships and/or partnerships, producing new convergence of economic interests, and a potential concomitant systemic resources optimization.In this perspective, it is argued that the design competencies should move towards those of the ‘strategic design’, thus introducing the concept of ‘strategic design for sustainability’: the design of an innovation strategy, shifting the business focus from designing (and selling) physical products only, to designing (and selling) a system of products and services which are jointly capable of fulfilling specific client demands, while re-orienting current unsustainable trends in production and consumption practices.Some examples of PSS are presented and discussed using the PSS categories ‘services providing added value to the product life cycle’, ‘services providing final results to customers’, and ‘services providing enabling platforms for customers’. The cases derive from an analysis of the ‘environmental friendly innovation’ yearly endowed prize submissions. The Politecnico di Milano University together with the Bocconi University and Legambiente (an environmental NGO) promotes the initiative in Italy.     

Climate Change and Energy Technologies

The long time scale of the climate change problem and the inherent nature of the carbon cycle bring important implications for present technology development efforts. Even if major technology improvements are achieved for non-carbon-emitting technologies such as energy-intensity improvements, wind, solar, biomass, and nuclear over the course of the 21^st century, most examinations of potential future greenhouse emissions conclude that additional technology development will be required to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations. The evelopment of an expanded suite of technologies including carbon capture and disposal, hydrogen systems and biotechnology hold the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations. This paper examines these technologies in the context of a global integrated assessment model of energy, agriculture, land-use, economics, and carbon cycle processes.     

Chinese life cycle impact assessment factors

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＬｉｆｅｃｙｃｌｅａｓｓｅｓｓｍｅｎｔ(ＬＣＡ)ｉｓａｎｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｍａｎａｇｅｍｅｎｔｔｏｏｌｔｈａｔｉｓｕｓｅｄｔｏｅｘａｍｉｎｅａｎｄｅｖａｌｕａｔｅｔｈｅｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｉｍｐａｃｔｓａｓｓｏｃｉａｔｅｄｗｉｔｈｔｈｅｅｘｉｓｔｅｎｃｅｏｆｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｓ(Ｊｅｎｓｅｎ,1998;Ｗｅｉｄｅｍａ,1997;Ｗｅｎｚｅｌ,1997).ＴｈｅｆｏｃｕｓｏｆＬＣＡｉｓｏｎｔｈｅｅｎｔｉｒｅｌｉｆｅｃｙｃｌｅｏｆｔｈｅｐｒｏｄｕｃｔ,ｉ.ｅ.ｆｒｏｍｔｈｅｅｘｔｒａｃｔｉ…