Abstract The research behind this licentiate is spread out over a decade of intensive development of environmental work in industry. A 1998 survey of Swedish companies with newly installed environmental management systems (EMS) concluded that such systems need more product-orientation. Data collected by companies as part of the process of creating their EMS between 1996-2001 offered further evidence that it is environmentally justified to seek improvements in the materials selection, use and disposal phases of products, i.e., to make the environmental improvement work more product-orientated. In a EU-funded project carried out between 2004-2006 it was demonstrated that developing an environmental product declaration could be a cost-effective product-oriented environmental action even for smaller companies. This licentiate thesis relates to methods for companies to orientate their environmental work on their products. In particular, it examines experience and provides insights on the possibilities for companies, including small ones, to use life cycle assessment in product development in order to design products with an environmental performance well above legal compliance. It is difficult to give general recommendations to companies about their environmental work because each company has its own unique business idea, customers, work culture, stakeholders etc. Nevertheless, the main findings of the licentiate thesis can be summed up in the following recommendations for, say, a small company in Europe without much previous experience of environmental work: §  Focus your environmental work on your products because you will accomplish more environmentally and the chance of profiting economically will motivate your personnel; §  Consider doing a life cycle assessment, LCA, on a strategically chosen product in order to learn more about your products and how to improve their environmental performance; §  Do not expect to find a general market demand for green products; start a dialogue with your best customers in order to create the demand; §  Engage an LCA specialist to do the LCA and work together with your personnel to interpret the results and generate improvement ideas; §  If your customers demand that you install an environmental management system, ask them if they would not prefer to receive an environmental product declaration on the particular product they are interested in, and a chance to discuss how its environmental performance can be improved.

The European furniture industry manufactures approximately 28 % of furniture sold worldwide and accounts for about 10 % of the European Union manufacturing GDP. The industry heavily contributes to environmental burdens and is currently undergoing a transition influenced by scientific research supporting developments within European policies and directives. Despite this development, integration of environmental considerations is lacking among companies in the industry. This can partly be explained by the complexity of the ecological design (EcoDesign) tools and frameworks available to support designers in their work. Therefore, this research seeks to minimize the gap between research and practice by testing existing EcoDesign practices on a furniture product. The research was conducted in conjunction with a Swedish company and analyzed one particular desk along with its packaging material. A comparative life cycle assessment validated two designs of the same desk and showed that the global warming potential was reduced by 44 % for the redesigned desk and 33 % for the redesigned packaging. Compared to the original design of the desk, the redesign achieved a 35 % energy footprint reduction and the redesigned packaging a 9 % reduction. The results demonstrated that EcoDesign implementations can reduce a product’s environmental impact but are best applied in combination with complementary evaluation tools for quantification and evaluations. / Den europeiska möbelindustrin tillverkar cirka 28 % av de möbler som säljs globalt och representerar runt 10 % av Europeiska unionens tillverknings­BNP. Branchen bidrar kraftigt till miljöbelastningar och genomgår för närvarande en omställning påverkad av forskning som stödjer utvecklingen inom europeiska policyer och direktiv. Trots denna utveckling saknas integrering av miljöfokus bland företag i branschen. Detta kan delvis förklaras av komplexiteten av de verktyg och ramverk för ekologisk design (EkoDesign) som finns tillgängliga för att stödja designers i deras arbete. Den här studien syftar därför till att minimera klyftan mellan forskning och praktik genom att testa befintliga EkoDesign­strategier på en möbel. Studien genomfördes i samarbete med ett svenskt företag och analyserade ett särskilt bord tillsammans med dess förpackningsmaterial. En jämförande livscykelanalys validerade två designs av samma bord och visade att den globala uppvärmningspotentialen minskade med 44 % för det omdesignade bordet och 33 % för den omdesignade förpackningen. Jämfört med den ursprungliga designen av bordet uppnådde den nya designen en 35 % minskning av energifotavtrycket och den omdesignade förpackningen en 9 % minskning. Resultaten visade att enkla EkoDesign­implementeringar kan minska en produkts miljöpåverkan och tillämpas fördelaktigt i kombination med kompletterande utvärderingsverktyg för kvantifiering och utvärdering.

Global Warming is accelerated by human activity since the industrial revolution. We are currently experiencing the 4th industrial revolution with recent breakthroughs and rapid developments in digitalization, Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT). The environmental impact of the information and communication technology (ICT) industry will increase up to 3.9 % of the global environmental impact by 2030. At the same time, ICT products are able to avoid environmental impacts by almost ten times their impact. The ICT industry is undergoing a transformation influenced by scientific research and industry standards initiatives that support developments of European policies and directives, as well as increasing user demand for environmentally friendly products. As a consequence, companies are required to account and report environmental impacts along their value chain and reduce impacts by implementing environmentally conscious design such as EcoDesign.  However, integration among companies in the sector is insufficient. This is partly due to the complexity and lack of experience in accounting and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and implementing EcoDesign tools. Additionally, research on the life cycle environmental impacts of ICT companies and products is limited. Therefore, this study aims to minimize the gap between research and practice by assessing the carbon footprint of an Internet Service Provider (ISP), calculating the carbon footprint of a residential router from a life cycle perspective and exploring reduction potentials through the application of EcoDesign.  The assessment of the value chain carbon footprint of the ISP identifies that roughly 74 % is attributed to the so called indirect emissions (Scope 3), in particular category 3.11, the use of products. This is also reflected in the carbon footprint of the router. Since it is constantly in operation mode, the use phase causes up to 90 % of its carbon footprint. Different carbon footprint reduction scenarios are explored, showing that reductions are achieved through the use of new manufacturing methods, recycled materials, low-power technology, green electricity and changes in user behavior. It is concluded that EcoDesign is useful to reduce the carbon footprint of a residential router and Scope 3 of an ISP. Therefore, companies in the ICT industry that aim to reduce their carbon footprint are advised to use EcoDesign in combination with complementary environmental impact assessment tools. / Den globala uppvärmningen påskyndas av mänsklig aktivitet sedan den industriella revolutionen. Vi upplever för närvarande den fjärde industriella revolutionen med de senaste genombrotten och den snabba utvecklingen inom digitalisering, industri 4.0 och „sakernas internet“. Miljöpåverkan från informations- och kommunikationsteknikindustrin (IKT) kommer att öka upp till 3,9 % av den globala miljöpåverkan fram till 2030. Samtidigt kan IKT- produkterna undvika miljöpåverkan med nästan tio gånger sin påverkan. IKT-industrin genomgår en omvandling som påverkas av vetenskaplig forskning och initiativ för industristandarder som stöder utvecklingen av EU:s politik och direktiv, samt av den ökande efterfrågan på miljövänliga produkter. Som en följd av detta måste företagen redovisa och rapportera miljöpåverkan längs hela värdekedjan och minska påverkan genom att införa miljömedveten design, t.ex. ekodesign.  Integrationen mellan företagen i sektorn är dock otillräcklig. Detta beror delvis på komplexiteten och bristen på erfarenhet när det gäller redovisning och rapportering av växthusgasutsläpp och genomförande av EcoDesign-verktyg. Dessutom är forskningen om IKT-produkters miljöpåverkan under hela livscykeln begränsad. Denna studie syftar därför till att minska klyftan mellan forskning och praktik genom att bedöma koldioxidavtrycket hos en Internetleverantör, beräkna koldioxidavtrycket hos en router för hushållsbruk ur ett livscykelperspektiv och undersöka möjligheterna till minskning genom tillämpning av EcoDesign.  Bedömningen av Internetleverantörens koldioxidavtryck i värdekedjan visade att 74 % av koldioxidutsläppen hänförs till de så kallade indirekta utsläppen (scope 3), särskilt kategori 3.11, användning av produkter. Detta återspeglas också i routerns koldioxidavtryck. Eftersom den ständigt är i drift är det användningsfasen som står för upp till 90 % av dess koldioxidavtryck. Olika scenarier för att minska koldioxidavtrycket undersöks och visar att minskningar kan uppnås genom användning av nya tillverkningsmetoder, återvunnet material, energisnål teknik, grön el och förändringar i användarnas beteende. Slutsatsen är att EcoDesign är användbart för att minska koldioxidavtrycket från en router för bostäder och Scope 3 för en internetleverantör. Därför rekommenderas företag inom IKT-branschen som vill minska sitt koldioxidavtryck att använda EcoDesign i kombination med andra verktyg för miljökonsekvensbedömning.

The healthcare industry is in the business of savings lives, it is also a major contributor of the global carbon footprint. This study aims to develop an environmental assessment of one Global Mini Anne CPR manikin, one of Laerdal Group’s best-selling products, using the Life Cycle Analysis method. The goal is to contribute with an approach that can be used in processes across the organization and help Laerdal achieve its sustainability goals.To conduct the LCA, this report refers to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)14040 standard for guidance, involving an Inventory analysis or the Life Cycle Inventory, a Life cycle impact assessment, and a Life cycle interpretation. The environmental footprint 3.0 LCIA method produced a result with 16 environmental impacts of the Global Mini Anne. The scope of this study is cradle-togate, which is a representation of the material acquisition, production, and assembly of the product. The total climate change impact of the study was 1,8 kg 𝐶𝑂2equivalent (eq.) for one unit. The results provide data for comparisons to other products in the company’s portfolio and creates an easy connection to their climate accounting tool which focuses on greenhouse gas emissions overview of the entire company’s activities.This study contributes to the current literature by generating an evidence-based assessment of the product and by providing the product team with concrete and actionable information to make improvements to reduce the products’ environmental impact.

La prise en compte des enjeux environnementaux est aujourd'hui un point essentiel dans la stratégie de développement durable des entreprises. La revue de la littérature montre que l'écoconception n'est pas simple à intégrer du fait de ses spécificités. Malgré le nombre important d'outils et de méthodes existantes, les entreprises rencontrent encore souvent des difficultés à intégrer l'écoconception dans leur processus de conception.Ces recherches proposent donc une solution couplant une méthodologie et une plateforme logicielle. La méthodologie guide l'équipe de conception à travers une série d'étapes à réaliser dans le processus de conception. Et pour gérer les activités d'écoconception, nous avons défini la structure d'une plateforme logicielle rassemblant les outils nécessaires à l'équipe de conception : des outils pour la conception du cycle de vie du produit, un outil d'évaluation des impacts coût et environnement, un outil d'aide à base de règles de conception et d'études de cas, un outil de suivi des indicateurs projet et des bases de données en relation avec le modèle produit et son cycle de vie.Les résultats de deux expérimentations industrielles démontrent la validité de notre proposition. Cependant, une limite de la plateforme a été identifiée lors du second cas d'étude. Une troisième expérimentation a donc été réalisée lors d'un atelier pendant une conférence internationale pour solutionner ce point. / Today the consideration of environmental issues is essential in relation to companies' sustainability policy. The literature review reveals that ecodesign is not an easy viewpoint to integrate due to its specificities. Despite the great number of existing tools and methods, companies still encounter difficulties for implementing ecodesign in their design process.This research work aims at providing a combined solution including a methodology supported by a software platform. The methodology guides the design team through a series of steps to realize in the design process. And, to manage ecodesign activities, we defined the structure of a software platform gathering the necessary tools for the design team: tools for the design of the product life cycle, an assessment tool for the cost and the environmental impacts, a guidance tool based on ecodesign rules and case studies, a monitoring tool for the project indicators, and databases in relation with the model of the product and its life cycle.The results of two industrial experiments demonstrate the validity of our proposition. However, a limit of the platform has been identified during the second case study. A third experiment has therefore been realised during a workshop in an international conference to tackle this point.

Till följd av att Europeiska unionen försöker uppnå de globala klimatmål som ställts i och med Agenda 2030, uppkommer även förslaget Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulations (ESPR) av den Europeiska kommissionen. Förordningen har i mål att skapa en större hållbarhet på den europeiska produktmarknaden genom att kravställa redovisning som kan främja cirkularitet inom framtida produktlivscykler. Med ESPR framkommer även begreppet kring digitala produktpass (DPP), en digital representation av en fysisk produkt som redovisar produktrelaterad data i syfte av att främja cirkularitet, transparens och mer hållbara konsumentmönster. Det digitala produktpasset är en central del av ESPR och gäller för samtliga produkter som säljs på den europeiska marknaden. Denna studie har undersökt hur ett praktiskt fall av implementation av digitala produktpass har tagit form hos en svensk, medelstor möbeltillverkare. Studien har undersökt hur dynamiken, som uppstått på grund av ESPR i en tillverkningsbaserad sektor, tagit form och vilka förberedelser, problem samt möjligheter som uppstått i och med förordningen. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med centrala aktörer inom IT- och möbelproduktion har studien identifierat kritiska områden kring behovet av standardisering, utmaningar som medföljer teknologin samt osäkerheter kring validitet av data. Trots de tekniska och organisatoriska hinder som uppkommit, visar resultatet även på fördelar och möjligheter med DPP såsom ökad hållbarhet, större tillförlitlighet till kunder samt möjligheter till utökade och effektivisering av befintliga affärsprocesser och affärsmodeller. / In response to the European Union’s efforts to meet the global climate goals set forth by Agenda 2030, the European Commission has introduced the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulations (ESPR). The regulation aims to enhance sustainability in the European product market by requiring disclosures that can promote circularity in future product life cycles. With the introduction of ESPR, the concept of Digital Product Passports (DPP) emerged. A digital representation of a physical product that documents product-related data with the goal of promoting circularity, transparency, and more sustainable consumer patterns. The digital product passport is a central part of the ESPR and will apply to all products sold on the European market. This study has examined a practical case of how implementing digital product passports has taken shape at a medium-sized Swedish furniture manufacturer. The study explores the dynamics that have arisen due to ESPR in a manufacturing-based sector, examining the preparations done, problems that have arisen and opportunities that have emerged due to the regulation. Through semi-structured, qualitative interviews with key actors within IT and furniture production, the study has identified critical areas concerning the need for standardization, challenges associated with the technology and uncertainties regarding validity of data. Despite technical and organizational obstacles that have arisen, the results of this study also highlight the advantages and opportunities of DPPs, such as increased sustainability, greater reliability for customers, and opportunities to expand and streamline existing business processes and models.

Submitted by Mariana Dornelles Vargas (marianadv) on 2015-03-16T15:41:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 habitar_terra.pdf: 2080059 bytes, checksum: fee2fd522c25becce39553b3e586eb1d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-16T15:41:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 habitar_terra.pdf: 2080059 bytes, checksum: fee2fd522c25becce39553b3e586eb1d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Nenhuma / Problematizando os efeitos ecológicos não só de ordem ambiental, mas também social e mental, do habitar humano em um planeta que passa por intensas transformações, a presente pesquisa explora o campo do Design Estratégico para a Sustentabilidade, a fim de mapear seus conceitos mais relevantes e extrair do seu discurso manifesto o conteúdo subjacente que os engendra, destacando especial atenção às questões estruturantes e às forças políticas que os formalizam. Para tanto, selecionamos parte da obra de um autor em especial, o professor italiano Ezio Manzini, como o principal sintetizador de conceitos desta nova área de pesquisa, assim como a de alguns interlocutores privilegiados por suas conexões com o método utilizado - a cartografia esquizoanalítica - e pela proximidade com o eixo temático ecológico: a Ecosofia de Gilles Deleuze e Félix Guattari e a Ecologia Cognitiva de Pierre Lévy. Ao fim, propomos algumas mudanças na rede de conceitos mapeada, com o objetivo de singularizar o percurso teóricoprojetual do nascente campo do Design Estratégico para a Sustentabilidade / Questioning the ecological effects, not only from environmental view but also from social and mental of human habitation in a planet that passes through deep transformation, this research explores the area of Strategic Design for Sustainability, in order to map its most relevant concepts and get from its manifest discourse the underlying content that engenders them, emphasizing a special attention to the structured questions and to the political motives that formalize them. For this, we selected part of a special author?s research, the Italian teacher Ezio Manzini, as the main concept synthesizer of this new research area, as well as an area of some speakers who were privileged by their connection with the used method - schizoanalitic cartography - and also by the nearness with the ecological thematic line: the Ecosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari and the Cognitive Ecology of Pierre Lévy. Summing up, we proposed some changes in the concept web that was mapped with the objective of singularizing the theoretical-project course of the Strategic Design's new area for Sustainability.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-08-24T12:37:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Fábio Ricardo Becker_.pdf: 1664082 bytes, checksum: e43db272faaa68a87cb6e74ed1a428bc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-24T12:37:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fábio Ricardo Becker_.pdf: 1664082 bytes, checksum: e43db272faaa68a87cb6e74ed1a428bc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-19 / Nenhuma / A redução dos níveis de produção e consumo tem sido um dos caminhos apontados para mitigação das mudanças climáticas, por consequência permite a redução do uso dos recursos naturais e a queima de combustíveis fósseis, além da redução de outros impactos ambientais e sociais. O presente trabalho aborda o comportamento do comprador organizacional, para isso avalia através de dois estudos experimentais a percepção do comprador para produtos desenvolvidos com atributos sustentáveis a partir de estratégias de ecodesign. O primeiro estudo contou com uma amostra de 139 estudantes e no segundo estudo a amostra foi de 52 gestores de compras. Os procedimentos e métodos utilizados seguiram a abordagem da análise conjunta (conjoint analysis) como estratégia de pesquisa. Os experimentos foram modelados considerando os atributos e seus níveis para a projeção dos estímulos (perfis do produto), além de considerar ainda a consciência ecológica e a intenção de compra do comprador organizacional. Os resultados mostram que, independente da preocupação ambiental e do preço, a durabilidade do produto e a sua eficiência no consumo de energia podem influenciar a decisão de compra, desde que sejam percebidas vantagens como redução de custos e melhor utilização dos recursos. / The reduction of consumption and production levels has been one of the highlighted ways to mitigate climate change, therefore allows reducing the use of natural resources and fossil fuels, as well as reduction of other environmental and social impacts. This paper addresses the organizational buyer behavior, for it evaluates through two experimental studies the perception of the buyer for products developed with sustainable attributes from ecodesign strategies. The first study involved a sample of 139 students and in the second study sample was 52 buyers. The procedures and methods used followed the approach of conjoint analysis as research methods. The experiments were modeled considering the attributes and their levels for the projection of the stimuli (product profiles), and also consider ecological awareness and purchase intention in organizational buyer. The results show that environmental concerns, price, product durability and its efficiency in energy consumption can influence the buying decision, since benefits are perceived as cost reduction and better use of resources.

<p>Procurement in public and non-public organisations has the potential to influence product development towards more environmentally preferable products. In 2003, public procurement in Sweden was 28% of GDP. Different types of approaches can contribute some knowledge and thereby facilitate the choice of environmentally preferable products. The thesis focuses on procurement in Swedish Defence. According to a decision by the Swedish government in 1998, the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) and Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) are required to take environmental consideration in all phases of the acquisition process. The importance of a life cycle perspective is stressed in several SAF and FMV environmental documents. The starting point of this thesis was that environmental consideration should be taken in the Swedish acquisition of defence materiel, considering the whole life cycle of products. The aim was to produce suggestions for how this can be done.</p><p>In order to make this suggestion some Ecodesign tools were reviewed and evaluated and two methods for simplified Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) were compared. Suggestions of tools and methodology recommendations for environmentally preferable procurement in the Swedish defence are presented. For this purpose qualitative and/or simplified LCAs were suggested. The suggestions have been evaluated through interviews with actors in the process. When a simplified LCA is needed, the MECO assessment is recommended. Methodology recommendations for use of the MECO method in the Swedish Defence are presented. LCA is an appropriate tool for taking environmental consideration into the acquisition process, since it focuses on a product and includes its life cycle. If the environmental work lacks a life cycle perspective, there is a risk that the most significant aspects will not be considered. Four areas for use of LCA in the acquisition process were identified: Learning about environmental aspects of the product; fulfilling requirements from customers; setting environmental requirements; and choosing between alternatives.</p><p>The actors interviewed were interested in using LCA methods, but there is a need for an initiative by one or several actors if the method is to be used regularly in the process. It is important that the results are communicated within the organisations involved in the procurement process. Environmental consideration should preferably be taken early in the acquisition process and environmental questions should be integrated into other activities of the organisations involved in the procurement process. Such work would be facilitated if there were greater cooperation between the procuring and environmental units, in this case at FMV, SAF and the Swedish Ministry of Defence.</p> / QC 20100616

Les oxazolidinones sont des composés prometteurs pour des applications industrielles, mais aucune méthode ne convient à ce jour pour les produire à large échelle, à cause de l'utilisation de réactifs et de catalyseurs métalliques nocifs pour la santé et l'environnement. Une nouvelle méthode de synthèse de ces composés a donc été élaborée en utilisant des aminoalcools et du carbonate de diéthyle. Cette réaction est catalysée par un hydrogénocarbonate d'imidazolium biosourcé qui est produit par voie électrochimique afin de réduire son impact sur l'environnement.Cette méthode de synthèse d'oxazolidinones a ensuite été appliquée à la synthèse d'une oxazolidinone biosourcée. Pour cela, la synthèse d'un aminoalcool a été réalisée, et sa structure a été établie à partir de réactifs pouvant être issus de ressources renouvelables. La voie de synthèse a fait l'objet de modifications pour permettre la production de l'aminoalcool à plus grande échelle dans des conditions plus sûres.La seconde thématique de ces travaux porte sur les liquides ioniques, des sels liquides très peu volatils, couramment utilisés comme solvants. Ces composés sont généralement chers, ainsi, plutôt que de les éliminer à la fin de leur utilisation, il est plus intéressant de les recycler. Mais leur faible volatilité empêche leur recyclage par distillation, contrairement aux solvants organiques usuels. Il a ainsi été développé une première méthode électrochimique, économe en énergie, qui permet le recyclage de liquides ioniques biosourcés par la formation d'un hydrogénocarbonate d'imidazolium intermédiaire. Cette méthode a été comparée à d'autres procédés de recyclage grâce à une étude préliminaire du cycle de vie.Mots clés : oxazolidinone, aminoalcool, imidazolium, liquide ionique, biosourcé, recyclage, électrochimie, développement durable, écoconception, cycle de vie / Oxazolidinones are promising compounds for industrial applications, but nowadays there is not convenient method to produce them on large scale, because of the use of reactants and metallic catalysts harmful for health and environment. A new synthesis method of these compounds was thus elaborated using aminoalcohols and diethyl carbonate. This reaction is catalysed by a biobased imidazolium hydrogen carbonate which is produced by an electrochemical pathway in order to reduce its impact on the environment.This oxazolidinones synthesis method was then applied to the synthesis of a biobased oxazolidinone. To achieve this, an aminoalcohol synthesis was realised, and its structure was established from reactants that can come from renewable resources. The synthesis pathway was the object of modifications to permit the production of the aminoalcohol on a larger scale in safer conditions.The second thematic of these works is based on ionic liquids, very low volatile liquid salts, commonly used as solvents. These compounds are usually expensive, so, rather than to eliminate them at the end of their use, it is more interesting to recycle them. But their low volatility prevents their recycling by distillation, unlike common organic solvents. So, a first electrochemical method was developed, low energy consuming, permitting the recycling of biobased ionic liquids by the formation of an imidazolium hydrogen carbonate as intermediate. This method was compared with other recycling processes through a preliminary life cycle study.Keywords: oxazolidinone, aminoalcohol, imidazolium, ionic liquid, biobased, recycling, electrochemistry, sustainable development, eco-design, life cycle