Month: May 2023

The approach for sustainable industries and business or industrial sustainability primarily advocates consideration of economics, environment, ecology, equity, and ethics in decisions made in business context. While the focus is on efficient “lean” manufacturing and operations that save materials, energy, and money, care must be taken to ensure that the focus is not only on… Continue reading Sustainable Industries and Business

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is an internationally recognized building certification program for architects, contractors, owners, and operators (see Appendix H). It provides a framework for building design, construction, operation, and maintenance to achieve reduction in environmental impacts and improvement in conditions for building… Continue reading The Hannover Principles

Green chemistry is the process of designing of chemical products and chemical processes that reduces or eliminate the use and/or generation of hazardous substances. This process involves definition of the feed materials, reaction pathways, products, and reactor conditions to minimize the impact on the environment, including workers. Green chemistry uses all the chemical principles and… Continue reading Green Chemistry: The Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry

One of the internal applications of LCA is in process or product design and development. Recently, an LCA‐related tool called Life Cycle Product/Process Design (LCPPD) has started to emerge as an extension of life‐cycle thinking and as an aid in sustainable product and process design and development. The LCPPD procedure is outlined in Figure 10.2. LCA… Continue reading Integrating LCA in Sustainable Product Design and Development

Processes used in the manufacture of products follow known production guidelines and adhere to environmental rules and regulations and the ease at which this is done includes the ability of the designer to incorporate already existing designs, refine and adapt product mixes, and to manipulate products to use designs in ingenious manners to create complimentary… Continue reading Design for Manufacturing

Purposeful, cost effective, safe product design supporting sustainable environment works as a catalyst for viability in engineering multiple applications with continued attention to reuse, flexibility in maintenance and environmental constraints. Engineering research analysis expands product applications within known legal parameters. Modest to major product engineering changes include interchangeable parts, moveable manufacture locations, use of by‐products,… Continue reading  Design for Regulatory Compliance

Modern day businesses all aim to produce goods at a low cost while maintaining quality, staying competitive in the global marketplace, and meeting consumer preferences for more environmentally friendly products. To help businesses meet these challenges, EPA encourages businesses to incorporate environmental considerations into the design process. The benefits of incorporating DfE include cost savings,… Continue reading Why Do Firms Want to Design for the Environment?

Resource consumption and mitigation strategies for product production which minimizes environmental and health impacts. These design for the environment (DfE) practices have been adapted from USEPA (2017), Spangenberg et al. (2010), Allen and Shonnard (2012), and Allenby (2012). The following are the five main concepts that fall under the DfE umbrella. LCA is employed to… Continue reading Design for Environmental Practices

Starting from the introduction of sustainable development concepts in the “Brundtland Report” (WCED 1987), there have been many attempts to incorporate sustainability principles into engineering design. For example, the “Hannover Principles” express the view that human systems must be designed to coexist with natural systems, renewable resources should be used, safe and long‐lived products are desired,… Continue reading Sustainable Engineering Design Principles

Sustainable engineering is the design, commercialization, and use of processes and products that are feasible and economical while minimizing both the generation of pollution at the source and the risk to human health and the environment. The discipline embraces the concept that decisions to protect human health and the environment can have the greatest impact… Continue reading Sustainable Engineering