Design for sustainability

Design for end-of-life and design for disassembly are enabling design strategies for the implementation of business models based on the circular economy paradigm. The paper presents a method for calculating the effective disassembly sequence and time for industrial products. Five steps support designers in defining liaisons and related properties and precedence among components with the aim to calculate the best disassembly sequence and time. The effective disassembly time is computed considering the actual conditions of a product and its components (e.g. deformation, rust and wear) using corrective factors. This aspect represents the main contribution to the state of the art in the field of design for disassembly. The corrective factors are derived from a specific data mining process, based on the observation of real de-manufacturing activities. The proposed approach has been used for calculating the disassembly times of target components in a washing machine and in a coffee machine. The case studies highlight the method reliability of both: definition of time-effective disassembly sequences and assessment of effective disassembly times. In particular, a comparison of experimental tests shows a maximum deviation of −6% for the electric motor of the washing machine and −3% for the water pump of the coffee machine.

Keywords: data mining , de-manufacturing , design for disassembly , disassembly planning , estimated disassembly time , target disassembly

In last years, an increasing attention on environmental matters is registered. Companies face environmental matters to increase the environmental performances of their products, forced by numerous legislations, normative and protocols and induced to the growing attention of consumers toward environmentally friendly products. However, observing the industrial context, it emerges there are several barriers for implementation of eco-design strategies inside design departments. The paper presents a tool which aims at both providing a basic guide on environmental sustainability issues and favouring the knowledge sharing among the different actors of the product design process. The core of the tool is a repository in which company materials, organized and collected in different forms, are collected. The repository contains several parts: training, guidelines, knowledge and milestone, accordingly to the type, structure and form of materials stored. The eco-design tool functions, structure, and workflow are presented and then preliminary test cases are described.

Keywords: Design engineering , Ecodesign , Sustainability

Sheet metal forming of tribologically difficult materials (e.g. stainless steel) or forming in tribologically difficult conditions (e.g. ironing, punching, deep drawing) require the use of environmentally hazardous lubricants, such as chlorinated paraffin oils in order to avoid galling. The present paper describes an environmental and economic evaluation of two alternative sheet metal stamping processes. The forming of a sheet metal component for boiler burners has been taken as case study for the analyses. In particular, two different lubricants (standard mineral versus polymer matrix-based lubricant) have been tested and compared. However, the differences among the two processes involves not only the lubrication phase, but also the electric energy consumption during the stamping and degreasing, as well as the typology of solvent (perchloroethylene versus water). Results obtained with the economic analysis show that the use of the alternative lubricant leads to a 16% reduction of the total manufacturing cost, mainly due to the optimization of the degreasing. Concerning environmental results, instead, no relevant differences can be observed for almost all the considered impact categories (ReCiPe midpoint and endpoint), since the optimized phases are not the most critical ones.

Keywords: Cost estimation , Degreasing , Life cycle assessment , Lubricants , Sheet metal stamping

Eco-design is a design paradigm aiming to the development of sustainable products. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is considered an eco-design tool able to assess the product environmental performances through a life cycle perspective. However, LCA shows some limitations in industry's daily practice and cannot be considered a standard for implementing eco-design. The paper aims to describe the implementation of a novel eco-design teaching approach involving company's employees from different technical departments. LCA analysis of company's product portfolio allowed to create a specific eco-knowledge, used to train designers and engineers on this subject for the implementation of eco-design actions during the development of new products (espresso coffee machine). Results highlighted relevant learning outcomes and significant improvements in terms of environmental sustainability of a new product design.

Keywords: Eco-design , Eco-knowledge , LCA , Teaching

The easy disassembly of certain product components is a prerequisite to guarantee an efficient recovery of parts and materials. This is one of the first step in the implementation of circular economy business models. Design for Disassembly (DfD) is a particular target design methodology supporting engineers in developing industrial products that can be easily disassembled into single components. The paper presents a method and a software tool for quantitatively assessing the disassemblability and recyclability of mechatronic products. The time-based method has been implemented in a software tool, called LeanDfD, which calculates the best disassembly sequences of target components considering disassembly precedencies, liaisons among components, and specific properties to model the real condition of the product at its End-of-Life (EoL). A dedicated repository has been developed to store and classify standard times and corrective factors of each disassembly liaison and operation. This knowledge feeds the two LeanDfD tool modules: (i) product disassemblability module, which allows to carry out the time-based analysis and to improve the disassemblability performance of target components, and (ii) product recyclability module, which estimates the quantities of materials that could be potentially recycled at the product EoL. The LeanDfD tool functionalities have been defined starting from the means of the user stories and the developed tool framework, data structure, databases and use scenarios are described. A group of designers/engineers used the tool during a re-design project of a washing machine, considering the disassemblability as the main driver. The case study highlights how the proposed DfD method and tool are able to support the implementation of re-design actions for improving product de-manufacturability and EoL performance. The LeanDfD features aid engineers in making a quick and robust assessment of their design choices by considering quantitative disassemblability and recyclability metrics.

Keywords: Design for disassembly tool , Disassembly sequence planning , Disassembly time , Recyclability

The present paper focuses on the recovery of energy from the unitary passage of people inside the turnstiles. Positioned at strategic points such as stadiums, buildings and fairs, the turnstiles are objects that interact with a large number of people, so we decided to take advantage of this peculiarity to get electricity immediately usable [1-3]. The issue of energy sustainability is increasingly discussed in terms of climate change that is undergoing our planet; hence an ever increasing awareness of avoiding energy losses in all phases of everyday life, even in those apparently unimportant. In our case, people do not have to change their habits or gestures during the turnstile approach, what changes is the concept of passing that becomes the protagonist and fundamental to reach our goal [4-5].

Keywords: Energy Harvesting , Inflow , Unitary Transition & Rotation

Industrial manufacturing is the largest end-use sector in terms of both final energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions (more than 30% of the total); its increase is rapidly altering the world climate. The need to mitigate the environmental impacts of manufacturing processes makes energy efficiency a key success factor for sustainable production. Accordingly, the scientific community's interest in energy management has grown considerably, resulting in several literature reviews on energy modelling and production systems analysis, emissions calculation, sustainability tools and benchmarking techniques. However, a comprehensive analysis of methods and tools aimed at improving energy awareness and assessing their effects on energy efficiency is lacking. To address this gap, this paper undertakes a systematic literature review of energy assessment methods and tools. From the 1367 papers retrieved by searching scientific literature databases, 64 scientific articles met the inclusion criteria and were analysed in detail. The study aims to provide scholars with a picture of the current state of scientific research and to identify the scientific works that could help industry practitioners in energy management. Following the ISO 50001 framework, the methods and tools were divided into three main groups (i.e. energy analysis, energy evaluation and energy-saving measures methods) and the specific findings relating to each group were synthesized. Finally, the paper addresses unresolved issues and challenges and makes suggestions for future research directions.

Keywords: Energy assessment tools and methods , Energy efficiency , Industry , Manufacturing processes , Systematic literature review

Composite materials are demonstrating the ability to face the challenge of competitive markets where high-performance, low costs, and reduced manufacturing time are mandatory. Vacuum bagging with autoclave curing is one of the most used manufacturing methods for carbon fiber composite parts. However, it shows some limitations, mainly due to manual operations and long processing time. Out-of-autoclave (OOA) methods, such as pressure bag molding (PBM), can lead to a strong reduction of the manufacturing time through the simplification of lay-up and curing phases. In this paper, a comparative analysis between the autoclave and the PBM processes has been performed, jointly considering both the economic and environmental aspects. An evaluation of the environmental impacts has been carried out following the standardized life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. In addition, costs related to these two manufacturing techniques have been estimated through a parametric approach and successively compared. Different scenarios have been considered to take into account various production batches, mold manufacturing techniques, and end of life alternatives. The analyses show conflicting results demonstrating that a global optimum scenario does not exist and, depending on the chosen indicator and production batch, the best alternative varies. Considering only the environmental indicators, the autoclave process can be considered the most sustainable option, due to the lower consumption of energy.

Keywords: Autoclave , Cost analysis , Life cycle assessment , Out of autoclave processing , Prepreg , Scenario analysis

The growing attention to environmental sustainability is not reflected in the effective implementation of ecodesign principles in the industrial context. The main barriers are related to the propensity of companies to optimise only specific aspects directly affected by legislation and to the higher priority given to other drivers such as performance, cost and aesthetics. The present paper faces this issue by proposing an approach to support designers to concurrently deal with environmental, economic and technical performance in all the key phases of the product development process (selection of drivers, evaluation of design alternatives, preservation, sharing and reuse of knowledge, etc.). The approach is grounded on a multi-criteria index, called Product Impact Index (PII), which allows weighting different drivers, verifying the satisfaction of the company's goals, and comparing different design solutions. The method has been successfully applied in two case studies to support the redesign of a cooker hood and a freestanding cooker. Results confirmed its usefulness and effectiveness in overcoming the common barriers to ecodesign implementation in the industrial context.

Keywords: ecodesign , engineering design for sustainable development , knowledge management , Multi criteria index , sustainability

The assessment and monitoring of energy and resource efficiency is an essential activity toward the implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices. Existing energy/resource assessment methods and tools are not based on a comprehensive approach, lack on the use of specific key performance indicators, are dedicated to expert stakeholders and do not provide useful suggestions for improving production systems. This paper proposes an innovative method, called Resources Value Mapping that aims to map and classify activities and related energy/resource consumptions according to lean philosophy principles (value-added, non value-added, waste). A user-friendly map and two efficiency indicators (Cost Index and Muda Index) are proposed to quantitatively support the identification of criticalities related to activities, processes, lines, plants, etc., and to successively guide the decision-making process during the improvement strategies implementation. The method has been used to analyze a manufacturing plant that produces cooking appliances. The case study demonstrated the applicability of the method in real industrial contexts and its effectiveness in identifying the energy/resource flows (electricity and compressed air), departments (sheet department) and lines (mechanical and hydraulic presses) for which the waste and non value-added consumptions are prominent. The analysis highlighted that less of 20% of the resources consumed during the process creates value, offering wide margins for improvement. Finally, it aided the definition of an action plan leading to relevant reduction of resource consumptions, economic savings and environmental benefits.

Keywords: Energy efficiency , Key performance indicators , Lean manufacturing , Resources Value Mapping , Sustainable manufacturing

One of the commitments of the European community is to increase the share of energy produced from renewable sources in order to minimize costs and risks, or that the society has to bear to produce electricity, in addition to compliance with European pollutant gas (CO2, SO2, NOx and PM) objectives. An ever-increasing body of research aims to study the actual energy savings of buildings with systems of renewable energy production implemented with storage systems, evaluating the potential energy savings. To date, however, the analysis of the environmental impacts of the total life cycle was not taken into account. Thus, no assessment has been made whether the amount of energy saved (esaved) outweighs the energy needed for production, use and disposal (einvested). This study presents an approach for the analysis and evaluation of the energy flows, environmental impacts and cost of a new modular and integrated system of renewable electricity generation and intelligent electrochemical storage systems, that allows auto-production and self-consumption of electricity in residential buildings (smart grid). The results show that the total impact depends on the configuration chosen, from the consumption profile and the types of users. If the duration of use is short and the savings achieved are small, the expected benefits will not always be achieved, in terms of costs for the user and the environmental impact.

Keywords: Energy efficiency , Environmental impact , Self-consumption

End-of-life vehicles (ELV)represent a relevant waste source in Europe, even if ELV recycling is a priority of the European Union waste legislation and Environment Action Programmes (EAPs). End-of-Life Tires (ELTs)constitute a relevant portion of ELV waste. Textile fibre, which is a relevant portion of the ELT material, is considered as a special waste (European Waste Catalogue – EWC code 19.12.08). The main problem related to textile fibre is its contamination with rubber which does not allow to obtain a pure product economically and qualitatively useable. The aim of this paper is to illustrate an innovative technology for ELT fibre's recycling, which allows to transform textile fibre into a useful secondary raw material for different applications. In particular, the use of ELT fibre as additive for bituminous conglomerates has been investigated. The different processes have been analysed from an environmental point of view, applying the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. It came up there is an impact reduction in case the ELT fibre is reused as additive for bituminous conglomerates, instead of disposing it (through incineration). Moreover, the financial and economic sustainability of the related technological process has been evaluated to check whether the process is sustainable in the long term. Starting from the results of the Life Cycle Assessment, economic performance indicators have been calculated, by applying the European Commission methodology for cost-benefit analysis. According to the present cost-benefit analysis, in the medium and long term the system is financially viable, and the high economic profitability makes the process economically sustainable. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis as well as a risk assessment have been carried out in order to identify critical variables, evaluate risks and define risk mitigation measures. According to the sensitivity analysis performed, the project is not highly risky since even in the worst scenario the possible loss is moderate. Based on the results of this analysis, it can be concluded that this ELT fibre's recycling system can be replicated across Europe, conveniently fostered by national policies (such as subsidies, value added tax etc.).

Keywords: Circular economy , Cost-benefit analysis , End-of-life tyres , Second applications

The improvement of the waste management efficiency and sustainability in the electronics sector requires the disassembly and reuse of valuable electronic components, instead of their recycling for precious materials recovery. In this context, this study proposes a robotic system for the disassembly of electronic components, grounded on the revamping of an existing soldering machine. First, the feasibility of an automated process for the end of life (EoL) management of electronic boards is investigated: the disassembly and reuse of electronic components represents a potential cost saving opportunity for producers of industrial electronic boards, other than an effective means to improve the environmental sustainability of the electronics sector. Then, the automatic system has been designed; it is mainly composed by a wave soldering machine, a two-axis manipulator equipped with a suction cup for components picking, and a central control unit to coordinate the motion. Finally, the prototype of the disassembly equipment has been realized. The experimental tests aimed at setting the most relevant process parameters (e.g., working temperatures) and verifying the performance of the developed disassembly equipment. Results confirmed the effectiveness and the reliability of the prototype: all the 450 microprocessors disassembled from 50 boards resulted to be not damaged and thus directly reusable in new boards without the need of additional treatments (e.g., washing).

The book describes the significant multidisciplinary research findings at the Università Politecnica delle Marche and the expected future advances. It addresses some of the most dramatic challenges posed by today's fast-growing, global society and the changes it has caused. It also discusses solutions to improve the wellbeing of human beings. The book covers the main research achievements in the different disciplines of the physical sciences and engineering, as well as several research lines developed at the university's Faculty of Engineering in the fields of electronic and information engineering, telecommunications, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing technologies, energy, advanced materials, chemistry, physics of matter, mathematical sciences, geotechnical engineering, circular economy, urban planning, construction engineering, infrastructures and environment protection, technologies and digitization of the built environment and cultural heritage. It highlights the international relevance and multidisciplinarity of research at the university as well as the planned research lines for the next years.

Keywords: Higher education , History of UNIVPM , University development , University governance , UNIVPM

The development of new and valuable products, from conceptual design to production, is to date supported by advanced methodologies based on ICT tools allowing many controls and checks before proceeding to heavy spending investment decisions. The increasing use ICT allow highlighting product design process and solutions able to improve people's quality of life. Key product development principles based on human-centered approaches and eco-sustainability concepts prove to be themain factors affecting both the products' users as well as the product manufacturing staff. This paper outlines product's development approaches state of the art, foreseeing at the same time possible research trajectories to define manufacturing industry future scenario based on more sustainable economical, environmental and social design choices.

Manufacturing systems are among the main consumers of energy. Several methods and tools have been developed to support companies toward energy efficiency. However, they generally require high computational effort, onerous measurement campaigns or complex models. In this paper, a method to perform a lean energy assessment starting from the asset characteristics is proposed. It is based on a set of corrective factors that consider both technical and productive aspects. The final goal is to overcome the lack of precise data needed to identify hotspots from the energy point of view. A real industrial case study allows implementing the method and demonstrating its usefulness.

Keywords: Energy assessment , Lean phylosophy , Manufacturing systems

Advanced composite materials, especially those based on carbon fibers, have been attracting the interest of industrial companies for producing light and high-performance components. Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) and its variants have been recognized as the most promising processes to manufacture CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) products in a cost-effective way. However, recent research studies highlighted environmental concerns regarding the use of CFRP parts due to the high environmental load related to their production. In this context, the main scope of the present paper is to investigate and compare the environmental impacts of three alternative manufacturing processes for producing CFRP car hoods: RTM, High-Pressure RTM and Compression-RTM. This analysis has been carried out through the standard Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The system boundaries include all the flows related to manufacturing of the hood and an end of life. Results calculated by using the ReCiPe mid-point/end-point method suggest that the eco-friendliest variant is the Compression-RTM.

Keywords: CFRP car hood , Compression RTM , High-Pressure RTM , Life Cycle Assessment , RTM

The wine production constitutes an important sector for the Italian economy. Most of the wine producers are associated in local consortiums, which include small family companies involved in the production of similar products. This study aims to investigate the implementation of circular economy opportunities in the wine production chain. In particular, the reuse of glass bottles in the Piceno wine consortium (central Italy) has been analyzed to quantify the potential environmental benefits. The standard Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology has been used to compare the standard scenario (recycle of glass) against the circular scenario (cleaning and reuse of bottles within the local consortium). Results demonstrate that the reuse of glass bottles leads to relevant benefits in all the considered impact categories (ReCiPe Midpoint method). The avoided use of virgin glass offsets the additional resources (e.g. energy) consumed during the cleaning of used bottles.

Keywords: Circular economy , LCA , Reuse , Wine bottle

The increasing focus on environmental practices has led academia and industry to address eco-sustainability in different ways. Recent improvements to supply chain management (SCM) have also included environmental sustainability as a key factor, in addition to common drivers such as risk, supply quality, and cost. Although several eco-sustainable SCM approaches have been proposed, often those solutions remain too theoretical and difficult to implement. This paper contributes to this research topic by proposing a web-based platform capable of tracing suppliers and related processes along the entire product supply chain (SC). This platform is a powerful decision-making tool for improving overall SC environmental sustainability. A structured methodology is defined and implemented that can efficiently model complex SCs, share data between actors, and measure its environmental sustainability. To demonstrate the platform applicability and validate its effectiveness in industrial settings, a case study of industrial partners involved in the production of leather shoes is provided.

Keywords: Environmental sustainability , Supply chain management (SCM) , Supply chain traceability , Web-based platform

This paper presents an interactive tool called I-Tree for supporting eco-assessment according to LCA approach. It works with two levels of detail. Through the introduction of a software framework working as a product configurator, LCA data are gathered in an aggregated form. The final impacts are updated in real time during Data Entry and final results about impacts visualized by infographics in order to have the clear picture in the most concise way. Indeed, infographics allow the user to understand where are the main criticalities of the products in terms of environmental impacts, according to the different life cycle phases and then deepen in a second round of information gathering only the components that affect more on the final result. Test on industrial case studies demonstrated important savings in terms of time and resources.

Keywords: Eco-assessment , EPD , Green Passport , Infographics , Product configurator