Increasing environmental awareness and stringent environmental regulations have motivated many companies to incorporate ecodesign into product development. To assist companies to address the challenge, this research p...Increasing environmental awareness and stringent environmental regulations have motivated many companies to incorporate ecodesign into product development. To assist companies to address the challenge, this research presents a design for environment （DfE） methodology to evaluate and improve derivative consumer electronic product development using a back-propagation neural network （BPNN） model and a technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution （TOPSIS） method. Based on use of a BPNN, the life cycle assessment （LCA） models are developed to estimate quantities of hazardous chemical substances and energy consumption for a derivative consumer electronic product throughout the product life cycle. A performance evaluation and improvement model for DfE is then devised based on the TOPSIS method to analyze the ecodesign performance and provide concrete improvement strategies. With the aforementioned analysis of environmental performance, an enterprise can profoundly understand and significantly enhance the relative DfE performance of a new product compared to the similar competitive products. Finally, we apply an optical mouse development project as a case to elaborate and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. These analytical results can let us understand the DfE performance ranking and acquire the maximum reduced quantity of each DfE criterion for each module of a new product. Meanwhile, to enhance the green competitiveness of the new product, we recommend that the engineers should decrease the area of the circuit board of the new product. In addition, the material of the USB cable for the new product should be switched from the PVC material to the PE material.展开更多
LCM （life cycle management） is a systematic approach, mindset and culture that considers economic, social, and environmental factors among other factors in the decision making process throughout various business or ...LCM （life cycle management） is a systematic approach, mindset and culture that considers economic, social, and environmental factors among other factors in the decision making process throughout various business or organizational decisions that affect both inputs and outputs of a product or service life cycle. It is a product, process, or activity management system aimed at minimizing environmental and socio-economic burdens associated with an organization＇s product or process during its entire life cycle and value chain. LCM＇s application is gaining wider acceptance both in the corporate and governmental organizations as an approach to reduce ecological footprints and to improve the sustainability of human activities. But where and how can it be used in agricultural engineering applications？ This study highlights the potential areas of LCM application in agricultural and allied sectors and how it can be utilized. The study revealed that LCM tools such as design for environment and life cycle analysis can be used to evaluate the environmental impacts of-and to improve the products, equipment, and structures produced by biosystems engineers as well as the processes used to generate them.展开更多
A sustainable materials management for metals should be achieved to conserve resources of metal minerals.For the sustainable materials management,material flows through the whole life cycle of materials have been reco...A sustainable materials management for metals should be achieved to conserve resources of metal minerals.For the sustainable materials management,material flows through the whole life cycle of materials have been recognized by material flow analysis(MFA) studies.Former MFA studies pointed out that cyclic use of metals could be enhanced not only by increasing quantity of recovered scrap but also by upgrading quality of the scrap.In general,the quality is degraded by contaminants which commingle at disassembling processes.The mixture of contaminants depends on usage of materials in products.Here,Type I ecolabelling has a potential to convey messages for avoiding mixture of contaminants to the producers of finished products.In this study,on the basis of a survey on existing certification criteria related to metals in the world,a general concept of certification criteria on sustainable materials management for metals in Type I ecolabelling system is proposed.Finally,we propose six criteria in the form of certification criteria in Type I ecolabelling system.展开更多
基金supported by the National Science Council under project No.NSC 99-222-E-251-001
文摘Increasing environmental awareness and stringent environmental regulations have motivated many companies to incorporate ecodesign into product development. To assist companies to address the challenge, this research presents a design for environment （DfE） methodology to evaluate and improve derivative consumer electronic product development using a back-propagation neural network （BPNN） model and a technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution （TOPSIS） method. Based on use of a BPNN, the life cycle assessment （LCA） models are developed to estimate quantities of hazardous chemical substances and energy consumption for a derivative consumer electronic product throughout the product life cycle. A performance evaluation and improvement model for DfE is then devised based on the TOPSIS method to analyze the ecodesign performance and provide concrete improvement strategies. With the aforementioned analysis of environmental performance, an enterprise can profoundly understand and significantly enhance the relative DfE performance of a new product compared to the similar competitive products. Finally, we apply an optical mouse development project as a case to elaborate and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. These analytical results can let us understand the DfE performance ranking and acquire the maximum reduced quantity of each DfE criterion for each module of a new product. Meanwhile, to enhance the green competitiveness of the new product, we recommend that the engineers should decrease the area of the circuit board of the new product. In addition, the material of the USB cable for the new product should be switched from the PVC material to the PE material.
文摘LCM （life cycle management） is a systematic approach, mindset and culture that considers economic, social, and environmental factors among other factors in the decision making process throughout various business or organizational decisions that affect both inputs and outputs of a product or service life cycle. It is a product, process, or activity management system aimed at minimizing environmental and socio-economic burdens associated with an organization＇s product or process during its entire life cycle and value chain. LCM＇s application is gaining wider acceptance both in the corporate and governmental organizations as an approach to reduce ecological footprints and to improve the sustainability of human activities. But where and how can it be used in agricultural engineering applications？ This study highlights the potential areas of LCM application in agricultural and allied sectors and how it can be utilized. The study revealed that LCM tools such as design for environment and life cycle analysis can be used to evaluate the environmental impacts of-and to improve the products, equipment, and structures produced by biosystems engineers as well as the processes used to generate them.
基金the Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) KAKENHI 22686084
文摘A sustainable materials management for metals should be achieved to conserve resources of metal minerals.For the sustainable materials management,material flows through the whole life cycle of materials have been recognized by material flow analysis(MFA) studies.Former MFA studies pointed out that cyclic use of metals could be enhanced not only by increasing quantity of recovered scrap but also by upgrading quality of the scrap.In general,the quality is degraded by contaminants which commingle at disassembling processes.The mixture of contaminants depends on usage of materials in products.Here,Type I ecolabelling has a potential to convey messages for avoiding mixture of contaminants to the producers of finished products.In this study,on the basis of a survey on existing certification criteria related to metals in the world,a general concept of certification criteria on sustainable materials management for metals in Type I ecolabelling system is proposed.Finally,we propose six criteria in the form of certification criteria in Type I ecolabelling system.
