IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i4p2406-d504555.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Challenges of Applying Simplified LCA Tools in Sustainable Design Pedagogy

Author

Listed:
  • Suphichaya Suppipat

    (Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan)

  • Kulthida Teachavorasinskun

    (Department of Industrial Design, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand)

  • Allen H. Hu

    (Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan)

Abstract

The growing recognition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been integrated globally into product design and business activities. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is considered a useful tool for designers to apply in the early stages of product design to mitigate the environmental impact. The study aims to identify the challenges of applying simplified LCA tools to improve the eco-efficiency of products and achieve a higher level of sustainable innovation. The study was conducted in a sustainable design course at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, for four consecutive years. All challenges and opportunities by using ECO-it, Eco-indicators, and the Materials, Energy use, and Toxic emissions (MET) matrix to assess the environmental impact in each phase of 11 home appliances are presented and discussed. Results show the positive potential of applying the tools to achieve function innovation in design for sustainable innovation. The needs for guided instruction, the availability of the database, the complexity of a study product, and the overlooking of social dimensions are four major challenges in applying the tools in the early stages of product redesign. Further study in testing the tools and developing a database in collaboration with industries should be conducted to compare and validate the results.

Suggested Citation

  • Suphichaya Suppipat & Kulthida Teachavorasinskun & Allen H. Hu, 2021. "Challenges of Applying Simplified LCA Tools in Sustainable Design Pedagogy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2406-:d:504555
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2406/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2406/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eleonora Foschi & Sara Zanni & Alessandra Bonoli, 2020. "Combining Eco-Design and LCA as Decision-Making Process to Prevent Plastics in Packaging Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-13, November.
    2. Inês Sousa & David Wallace & Julie L. Eisenhard, 2000. "Approximate Life‐Cycle Assessment of Product Concepts Using Learning Systems," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 4(4), pages 61-81, October.
    3. Deborah Sumter & Conny Bakker & Ruud Balkenende, 2018. "The Role of Product Design in Creating Circular Business Models: A Case Study on the Lease and Refurbishment of Baby Strollers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Virginia Lama & Serena Righi & Brit Maike Quandt & Roland Hischier & Harald Desing, 2022. "Resource Pressure of Carpets: Guiding Their Circular Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-13, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. German Arana‐Landin & Waleska Sigüenza & Beñat Landeta‐Manzano & Iker Laskurain‐Iturbe, 2024. "Circular economy: On the road to ISO 59000 family of standards," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1977-2009, May.
    2. Maria Rosa De Giacomo & Raimund Bleischwitz, 2020. "Business models for environmental sustainability: Contemporary shortcomings and some perspectives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3352-3369, December.
    3. Marcos Ferasso & Tatiana Beliaeva & Sascha Kraus & Thomas Clauss & Domingo Ribeiro‐Soriano, 2020. "Circular economy business models: The state of research and avenues ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3006-3024, December.
    4. Alessio Franconi & Fabrizio Ceschin & David Peck, 2022. "Structuring Circular Objectives and Design Strategies for the Circular Economy: A Multi-Hierarchical Theoretical Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-26, July.
    5. Jonas Keller & Carla Scagnetti & Stefan Albrecht, 2022. "The Relevance of Recyclability for the Life Cycle Assessment of Packaging Based on Design for Life Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, March.
    6. Phil Brown & Nancy Bocken & Ruud Balkenende, 2019. "Why Do Companies Pursue Collaborative Circular Oriented Innovation?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, January.
    7. Deborah Sumter & Jotte de Koning & Conny Bakker & Ruud Balkenende, 2020. "Circular Economy Competencies for Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-16, February.
    8. Valdonė Šuškevičė & Jolita Kruopienė, 2020. "Improvement of Packaging Circularity through the Application of Reusable Beverage Cup Reuse Models at Outdoor Festivals and Events," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Hatem Alhazmi & Faris H. Almansour & Zaid Aldhafeeri, 2021. "Plastic Waste Management: A Review of Existing Life Cycle Assessment Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-21, May.
    10. Piumal HERATH & Sivarajah RAJUMESH, 2022. "Green Supply Chain Management and Organizational Performance: A Study of Sri Lankan Apparel Manufacturing Organizations," Management Research and Practice, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(4), pages 19-36, December.
    11. Constantin Torcătoru & Dan Săvescu & Angela Repanovici, 2022. "Literature Review by Scientometric Methods on the Impact of the Circular Economy on Sustainable Industrial Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, April.
    12. Rocío González-Sánchez & Davide Settembre-Blundo & Anna Maria Ferrari & Fernando E. García-Muiña, 2020. "Main Dimensions in the Building of the Circular Supply Chain: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-25, March.
    13. Ruth Mugge, 2018. "Product Design and Consumer Behaviour in a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-4, October.
    14. Sara Zanni & Mariana Roccaro & Federica Bocedi & Angelo Peli & Alessandra Bonoli, 2022. "LCA to Estimate the Environmental Impact of Dairy Farms: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-15, May.
    15. Hsin Rau & Mary Deanne M. Lagapa & Po-Hsun Chen, 2021. "Anticipatory Non-Green-Phenomena Determination for Designing Eco-Design Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, January.
    16. Ackermann, Laura & Tunn, Vivian S.C., 2024. "Careless product use in access-based services: A rebound effect and how to address it," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    17. Ingvild Reine Assmann & Francesco Rosati & Sandra Naomi Morioka, 2023. "Determinants of circular business model adoption—A systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 6008-6028, December.
    18. Tinggui Chen & Yuling Zhang & Jianjun Yang & Guodong Cong & Guozhang Jiang & Gongfa Li, 2021. "Behavior Strategy Analysis Based on the Multi-Stakeholder Game under the Plastic Straw Ban in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-33, December.
    19. Damien Evrard & Helmi Ben Rejeb & Peggy Zwolinski & Daniel Brissaud, 2021. "Designing Immortal Products: A Lifecycle Scenario-Based Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-13, March.
    20. Deborah Sumter & Jotte de Koning & Conny Bakker & Ruud Balkenende, 2021. "Key Competencies for Design in a Circular Economy: Exploring Gaps in Design Knowledge and Skills for a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2406-:d:504555. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.