Design for sustainability

Nowadays, there is a pressing need to incorporate sustainable practices and promote environmental awareness. The fashion industry, characterized by resource-intensive consumption, significantly contributes to global sustainability threats. The authors proposed the adoption of Virtual Reality (VR) to design and develop the Fashion Footprint application, an experience aimed at enhancing sustainability awareness and fostering behavioral change. The findings suggest that VR technology is valuable in promoting sustainability awareness and driving positive behavioral shifts in the fashion industry.

Keywords: behavioural design , sustainability , virtual reality (VR)

Sustainability evaluations are increasingly relevant in the design of products. Within sustainability-related frameworks, circular economy (CE) has gained attention in the last few years, and this has vastly affected design, leading, for example, to design for circularity. This article deals with the wide range of product-level CE assessment tools, out of which some are applied to a case study from the building sector, namely a tiny house made with hemp bricks. Attention was specifically paid to those methods through which a single circularity indicator could be extrapolated. Overall, the objective of this work is to study the convergence of existing CE assessment methods in providing consistent circularity performances. The results show similarities in the overall circularity scores despite differences in the variables used to achieve that final score. Thus, despite the lack of standard methods, the results suggest that many of these tools are sufficiently interchangeable, also in consideration of consistent indications to improve the circularity of the tiny house. This means that consistent inputs are provided to anyone willing to redesign the tiny house with the objective of making it more circular irrespective of the assessment tool used.

Keywords: Circular economy , Eco-design , Impact assessment , Indicator , Product design , Product lifetime

Radical technological innovations are emerging in response to environmental, economic and geopolitical pressures. This affects how we design and manufacture new solutions. Additive manufacturing, one of the enabling technologies of the digital transition, can support more-sustainable manufacturing processes if developed through a system-level approach. In this Perspective, we adopt such an approach: we propose to use established sustainable design methods to innovate additive manufacturing systems and to consider how to make additive manufacturing an enabler of sustainable design in combination with conventional manufacturing. We then discuss how to implement our vision to enable additive manufacturing for sustainability

The increasing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and pollutants like particulate matter and nitrogen oxides (NOx) have led to environmental concerns. Hybrid and electric powertrains are being introduced as means to reduce pollutant emissions, especially at the local level. Additionally, the finite availability of fossil fuel sources, which are used to produce gasoline and diesel, highlights the need for alternative technical solutions. One approach to partly address these issues is lightweighting, which involves reducing the weight of vehicles to minimize their impact during the use phase. Mathematical models are employed to simulate the longitudinal dynamics of vehicles and estimate the energy required to accomplish driving missions. Appropriate metrics have been developed to quantify energy-saving effects that, in addition, can support the decision making, design, and development phase of future vehicles. To facilitate this process, it would be useful to build a database of ERV (Energy Reduction Value) and FRV (Fuel Reduction Value) figures derived through a unified procedure. Such a database would be useful in evaluating the effectiveness of vehicle lightweighting and its impact on energy consumption and pollutant emissions. The last phase of the analysis is the assessment of the overall reduction in the environmental impact of the vehicle throughout its life cycle by using the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) approach. From this study, it was possible to conclude that lightweighting can be an appropriate solution to improve the energy efficiency of vehicles and that appropriate metrics, can support the development of new car models. The potential to integrate enhanced energy efficiency, lower emissions, and higher safety features into our everyday vehicles would represent a significant advancement in the automotive industry. There is a gap in the scientific literature on the effects of lightweighting on vehicle dynamics and energy usage which deserves to be investigated.

The naval sector holds paramount importance for the global economy, yet it entails significant environmental impacts throughout the entire life cycle of ships. This review explores the application of life-cycle assessment (LCA) in the naval sector, a methodology for evaluating the environmental impacts associated with all the life stages of a product or service. LCA analysis in the naval context is essential for identifying and mitigating environmental impacts, thus promoting more sustainable development of the sector. This work provides a comprehensive overview of current LCA applications in the naval sector, highlighting major environmental impacts, in particular focusing on greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change. Additionally, this study integrates an analysis of greenhouse-gas emissions using a normalization approach, which has enabled the comparison of various types of fuels and ships, thereby enhancing our understanding of their environmental impacts. Moreover, the limits and challenges to applying LCA in the naval sector are discussed, offering insights for future research and developments in the field. This review aims to raise awareness among policymakers, designers, and operators in the naval sector about the importance of adopting LCA for more sustainable and responsible management of naval activities, thereby contributing to the protection of the marine and global environment.

Keywords: alternative fuels , environmental impact assessment , life-cycle assessment , ship propulsion , well to wake

Composite materials, pioneered by aerospace engineering due to their lightness, strength, and durability properties, are increasingly adopted in the high-performance automotive sector. Besides the acknowledged composite components' performance, enabled lightweighting is becoming even more crucial for energy efficiency, and therefore emissions along vehicle use phase from a decarbonization perspective. However, their use entails energy-intensive and polluting processes involved in the production of raw materials, manufacturing processes, and particularly their end-of-life disposal. Carbon footprint is the established indicator to assess the environmental impact of climate-changing factors on products or services. Research on different carbon footprint sources reduction is increasing, and even the European Composites Industry Association is demanding the development of specific Design for Sustainability approaches. This paper analyzes the early strategies for providing low-carbon aerospace and automotive composite components by design. The goal is to enable design approaches that consider the material life cycle from product and process design, material selection and fabrication, to eventual recycling and reuse. The investigation includes the design approaches and tools, and the aspects concerning ultimate trends of materials development, shapes generation, and manufacturing processes. Among these, we discuss the potential role of emerging technologies such as digital intelligence, Biocomposites, biomimicry, generative AI, and additive manufacturing. The aim is to identify the framework of possible drivers for Design for Sustainability approaches, rethinking lightweight products lifecycles and highlighting the resulting challenges and future developments. Moreover, as practical examples, a few innovative cases are provided to prove the effective potentials of such guidelines. The conclusive remarks discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the design drivers and the need for assessment and validation through vehicle Life Cycle Assessment approaches.

The main challenge to face in the development of energy-related products is represented by the adoption of effective design for sustainability strategies that encompasses the adoption of engineering design tools, knowledge collection, and reuse/sharing in technical departments. This present paper proposes an engineering design for sustainability methodology that assists engineers in developing energy-related products in compliance with ecodesign standards. The methodology uses virtual prototyping tools to assess energy consumption in compliance with energy labeling directives and analyze different use scenarios. The results obtained by numerical simulations (e.g., Finite Element Method—FEM, Computational Fluid Dynamics—CFD) are used to create specific design eco-knowledge in the field of energy-related products. Numerical results are linked with design configurations to understand the benefits introduced by engineering design choices. This knowledge is stored in a structured database with the aim of being reused when a new product is developed or improved/upgraded. The case study of an induction hob, belonging to the household appliance product family, is investigated to understand the potential and drawbacks of the presented approach in a real application. The results show that potential energy and environmental performance benefits are achieved (e.g., reduction of energy losses, achievement of A+ energy class, and overall life cycle environmental impact reduction). Additionally, a new set of ecodesign guidelines are defined for this product family and employed in developing new compliant products belonging to the same family.

Keywords: ecodesign , life cycle engineering , virtual prototyping

Designing mechatronic products requires interdisciplinary skills and as products become more complex, the design of mechatronic systems plays a critical role. To minimize waste production and pollution, a shift toward a circular economy is necessary, with mechatronic products being particularly impacted by such policies. Repairing plays a key part in achieving a circular economy. Through repairability, the product lifespan can be extended, and combined with maintenance the rate of product replacement can be reduced. Within this context, the goal of this paper is to propose a design methodology (based on the EN 45554:2020 standard) for generating and implementing eco-design rules for disassembly and repair. The methodology has four phases, the first one is the identification of target components (those that are more likely to fail during the lifespan). The second phase encompasses the experimental disassembly analysis which can be manual or virtual. The third phase is the assessment of the disassemblability index which includes the analysis of parameters that affect the disassembly phase. The last phase is the implementation of the eco-design methodology for all the components that do not meet the minimum repairability requirements. A case study of electro-mechanical ovens is presented, targeting replaceable components. The results show that the use of this framework and the eco-design actions derived from it are successful in improving the repairability of the product and increasing the disassemblability index (30% on average) through a virtual analysis. A sensitivity analysis has been conducted to study the impact of parameter weight modification. This research contributes to advancing repairability and supporting the circular economy paradigm in mechatronic product design.

Keywords: design for disassembly , design for X , design optimization , fasteners , product design

The growing use of additive manufacturing (AM) processes pushes research towards studying methods to reduce their environmental impact. The part build orientation is a significant process variable, which can be chosen through the Energy Performance Assessment (EPA), a straightforward method. The paper presents a method for identifying the best part build orientation considering energy consumption. The EPA has been adapted for this purpose, resulting in an approach based on four steps. The method was employed to determine the best printing direction for three parts and two AM technologies.

Keywords: 3D printing , additive manufacturing , ecodesign , energy efficiency , sustainable design

The EU has established specific design requirements for Energy-related Products (i.e., EU 2017/1369). This study aims to compare the environmental impact of two different technologies used in electric kitchen hobs through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Specifically, a comparison between a radiant hob and an induction hob is provided with a cradle-to-grave perspective in various use scenarios (i.e., Italy, France, Sweden, and Germany). This comparison provides valuable insights into the identification of environmental hot spots of these products. After the LCA interpretation, eco-design solutions have been proposed for hobs development oriented towards improved life cycle performances.

Keywords: Cooking Appliances , Cooktops , Eco-Design , LCA , Sustainability

In this paper a detailed life cycle analysis of a freestanding cooking appliance is presented. The work provided data collection (life cycle inventory) for a specific model of a freestanding cooker manufactured and used in the US market. Impact assessment was done using a dedicated software tool (i.e., SimaPro) to identify the most impacting life cycle phases as well as critical items that characterize each phase. Environmental impact results highlighted how the most critical aspect is related to product use due to the large consumption of electric energy, especially in a market characterized by a grid mix with a low percentage of renewable energy. The large volumes of the oven cavity and the adoption of traditional technology (e.g., electric radiant resistance) are also relevant contributions to the environmental impacts of the use phase. With respect to the manufacturing phase, the use of some specific materials in all the cooking appliances was the main reason for the highest impact, on top of these materials are the electronic components followed by metallic components which can be either made from stainless steel or carbon steel. In addition, the outcome of this work allows comparing this appliance to other cooking appliances available in the market, providing interesting insights in the development of eco-design actions.

Keywords: cooking appliances , LCA , range cooker , sustainable design

The mechanical properties of a commercially available hot-melt adhesive (HMA) have been studied under different environmental and loading conditions. To date, disassembly analyses including triggering features, design parameters, and time have not been fully investigated in the literature. In this study, experimental parametric studies have been performed on single lap joints considering the geometric features of the joint and a combination of thermo-mechanical effects. Disassembly time has been assessed through experimental analysis, considering variations in geometry, the use of alternative heat sources and different load conditions. Use of a heat gun as the heat source was found to lead to the highest variation in disassembly time compared to a static climatic chamber (i.e., industrial oven). In relation to the joint geometry, the disassembly time was mostly affected by the overlap length rather than the type or thickness of the base material. The outcomes of this study will drive the design of adhesive joints in mechanical applications, providing design-for-disassembly guidelines for the development of reversible joints employing hot-melt adhesives.

Keywords: Adhesive Bonding , Design for Assembly , Design for Disassembly , Disassembly Time

Product design plays a key role in supporting the principles of circular economy and sustainability by improving the repair and disassembly capabilities of products. The EN4555X standard series provides a framework and a set of indicators to evaluate these aspects for energy-related products. This paper focuses on applying the RSS (Repair Scoring System) introduced by the EN45554 standard to kitchen ventilation systems (T-shape cooker hood models). The study investigates the reliability of the repairability index by examining the impact of assumptions made during its assessment, particularly focusing on the data and parameters used for calculations. The methodology involves four key steps: identification of index parameters, experimental analysis, sensitivity analysis (SA) through data variation, and result interpretation. The experimental analysis involves computing the RSS index for the chosen range hoods, encompassing a SA developed by varying index's parameters. Results illustrate that introducing consistent parameter variations across models leads to changes in the Disassemblability Index. However, these alterations remain consistent across all cases, preserving the overall product ranking. Nonetheless, the study also indicates that altering parameter weights may lead to changes in product rankings within the repairability score. This highlights the importance of employing uniform weights within the same product category. In conclusion, this study underscores the importance of employing consistent methodologies and weights to uphold the reliability of repairability indexes when assessing product repairability.

Keywords: Cooker Hoods , Design for Repairability , Disassembly , Eco-design , Sustainable Design

The metaverse, driven by mixed reality (MR), is positioned as the future market, revolutionizing product exploration in virtual space. Existing literature on this subject mainly focuses on Business-To-Consumer (B2C) perspectives, leaving a gap in understanding Business-To-Business (B2B) applications, particularly in the fashion industry. This paper introduces a “Mixed Tactile Catalog” (MTC) for B2B that combines a physical, foldable cardboard booth with an MR application linked to a Head-Mounted Display (HMD). Targeting the fashion sector's need for high standards in material evaluation, the MTC allows retailers and distributors to browse garments, customize material attributes, and receive visual and tangible feedback. Evaluation through a focus group of 10 industry experts revealed positive feedback. The MTC maintains the tangibility of traditional B2B showrooms and reduces the environmental impact by minimizing transportation, samples, and waste. This innovative approach offers an efficient and sustainable alternative to conventional physical showrooms, enhancing both economic and ecological aspects.

Keywords: Clothing , Extended reality , Haptic interfaces , Industries , Metaverse , Virtual reality , Visualization

One key aspect of the fashion industry is the presence of small manufacturing companies and their need to present a sample collection to the reseller and find wholesalers. This Business-to-Business (B2B) activity is characterized by complex storytelling and communication methods to convey the value of the products: materials, finishes, sizes, and fit options. Usually, the showroom is used to present the garment collection, a representative of the manufacturer, and one or more resellers. Setting up a physical showroom is expensive and requires the transportation of the entire collection. During the pandemic, when physical interactions were severely limited, companies had to adopt alternative solutions by using the Internet to communicate with other companies. By the end of this period, the use of such solutions proved to be extremely convenient and practical. We present a Metaverse-based showroom, that differently from the literature focuses on B2B fashion showrooms instead of direct sales or retail. We based on the VRChat and used Head-Mounted Displays (HMD) to recreate a real-life showroom. The users are remotely seated at a shared desk in front of the catwalk. The reseller can interact with the following functions: collection presentation, fashion show participation, and material/color configuration. We conducted a user study with 10 expert subjects, simulating two remote-selling scenarios of a jacket collection from a partner company with real experienced sellers and distributors user and assessing the user experience measurement. The user test is measured with the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ). The results showed positive evaluations in terms of attractivity, apprendibility, stimulation, originality, and positive outcomes regarding sustainability.

Keywords: Business-To-Business , Fashion Industry , Metaverse , Showroom , User Experience , Virtual Reality

Environmental managers attempt to increasingly incorporate precautionary principles into decision making. The literature lacks Machine Learning -based approaches for forewarning lifecycle environmental impacts. This paper proposes a method to support electric vehicle design. The main innovation of the work lays in merging Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Machine Learning foundations to provide support and awareness to designers. The present approach overcomes the present literature because it provides a method for the design phase, is based on a well-established methodology (LCA) and provides quantitative results from little inputs. The approach exploits machine Learning Methods to develop models with the design features of a generic electric vehicle (such as vehicle mass and distance traveled) in six phases (Problem definition; Data collection; Data Preparation; Modeling; Model evaluation; Model interpretation). Differently from existing environmental analyses, all stages of the product life cycle have been considered in building the database; moreover, the model provides quantitative results. Regression models and supervised algorithms were used. The obtained model can be used by product engineers, as well as those not experts on LCA. Moreover, the model guarantees the database and hypothesis's uniqueness, ensuring the results coherence and comparability. The level of accuracy obtained in the case study (error or 17%) is comparable with studies handling full environmental analysis (that should be more accurate), and outstanding, as the present case is for the design phase. Future works will focus on additional significative indicators, similar electric vehicle design and integration with prospective LCA approaches.

Keywords: Data science , Eco-design , Environmental sustainability , Life cycle assessment , Machine learning

The benefits of process optimization brought by multiple tools that appeared in shopfloors with the fourth industrial revolution are undiscussed; however, they need electricity to run and require critical materials. Additionally, the significant impact on sustainability that early design decisions can have over the entire lifecycle is well-recognized. The literature counts several environmental analyses of electric vehicles but narrows almost uniquely on passengers' cars. Currently, the literature should i) enwiden the range of analyzed products, ii) consider all stages of the product life cycle, iii) provide tools suitable for the early stage of design, able to return consistent results handling very little data. As electrification is concerned, in the literature there are approaches intended to assess the environmental impacts or focused on the design tool. The proposed approach, further applied to develop an eco-design tool, overcomes the existing literature by providing a tool i) able to handle few data, ii) that considers all the product lifecycle phases, and iii) allows designers to assess and compare alternative scenarios. A method is proposed, and a tool derived. Two applications concern an electric shuttle and an autonomous mobile robot; with the latter the gap of assessing the environmental impact of autonomous mobile robots is also filled. The obtained results are reasonably comparable with other existing works. Results are compared to a full LCA for the frame assembly and prove that i) the tool is reliable, and it more likely overestimates the impacts; ii) the design phase is subjected to high variability, and this affects the tool results. Future works may introduce additional types of batteries, deeper focus on the manufacturing phase; machine learning techniques may support future extension of the tool and create parametric models for conceptual and early design. The proposed method and tool can be extended to the economic sphere.

Keywords: Autonomous vehicles , Eco-design , Electric vehicles , Environmental analysis , Simplified analysis , Tool

Designers need to be aware early in the design phase of the environmental impact of their choices over the entire product life cycle. This paper proposes an eco-design method to support designers of different categories of electric vehicles, such as self-driving vehicles, cars, shuttles and buses. The methodology developed aims to realize a model for predicting the environmental impact of industrial electric vehicles. The proposed approach exploits machine learning methods to develop models with the design features of a generic electric vehicle, such as vehicle mass and distance traveled during its entire lifetime as independent parameters, to estimate the emissions of new products. The environmental impact indicator for this study is Climate Change, the dependent parameter chosen for the impact model. Machine learning algorithms were trained on training data retrieved from an automatic environmental impact estimation software tool based on an analytical approach. All stages of the product life cycle have been considered in the construction of the database, and the model provides quantitative results that consider the consumption of material and energy resources. Finally, the model is tested by estimating the environmental impact of a tourist shuttle.

Keywords: Data Science , Design , Life Cycle Assessment , Machine Learning , Sustainability

The improvement of environmental product performance is an important driver for product development. It is also related to the optimization of product packaging solutions. This paper addresses the question related to packaging eco-design strategies. A simplified approach, based on the Life Cycle Assessment methodology and Material Flow Analysis, is proposed to quickly compare alternative design solutions in terms of environmental impacts. Quantifying impacts and identifying the most significant design parameters for these products can assist industrial companies in avoiding potential impact transfer issues and finding the best solutions for their products. Multiple environmental impact categories and indicators are included to comprehensively consider impacts on the environment, resources, and human health. The proposed approach is applied to the environmental performance evaluation of several alternative design solutions for the packaging of a professional coffee machine. Alternative designs, starting from the selection of appropriate materials to the identification of solutions suitable for the reverse supply chain, will be compared and deeply analysed in environmental terms.

Keywords: Circular economy , Ecodesign , Environmental sustainability , Packaging

Nowaday the industrial interest, as well as the academic one, on the development and implementation of circular approaches is growing. In parallel, the use of composite materials steeply increased in the last decades which are hardly disposable. The present work proposes an eco-design method that guides the reuse and remanufacturing of scraps. The core is the re-design of processes that introduce materials derived from scraps from other value chains. Two cases are investigated: the first concerns the production of panels for the wind sector. Using scraps from the wind blades' trimming almost eliminates the emissions derived from the panel production. Also, the material of a component of an espresso coffee machine has been replaced by scraps from kitchen sinks; this process requires resources only for shredding. The case study allows to highlight also the importance of sharing information and networking among the actors of the supply chains and the relative distance of cooperating organizations.

Keywords: Circular Economy , Composite materials , Design for de-manufacturing , Industrial Symbiosis , Remanufacturing