Challenges of Applying Simplified LCA Tools in Sustainable Design

sustainability

Article Challenges of Applying Simpliﬁed LCA Tools in Sustainable Design Pedagogy

Suphichaya Suppipat 1 , Kulthida Teachavorasinskun 2 and Allen H. Hu 1,*

1 Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan; [email protected] 2 Department of Industrial Design, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +886-2-277-12-171

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.

Citation: Suppipat, S.; Further study in testing the tools and developing a database in collaboration with industries should Teachavorasinskun, K.; Hu, A.H. be conducted to compare and validate the results. Challenges of Applying Simpliﬁed LCA Tools in Sustainable Design Keywords: sustainability; Ecodesign; life cycle assessment; sustainable innovation; sustainable Pedagogy. Sustainability 2021, 13, design pedagogy 2406. https://doi.org/10.3390/su 13042406

Academic Editor: Bacenetti Jacopo 1. Introduction The awareness of social and environmental problems has been increasing over the past Received: 27 January 2021 decade. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations called for the Accepted: 20 February 2021 Published: 23 February 2021 action of all countries in 2015. SDG number 12 is trying to achieve environmentally sound management and efﬁcient use of natural resources, as well as trying to ensure sustainable

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral consumption and production patterns [1]. Thus, businesses and corporates have to pay with regard to jurisdictional claims in closer attention to the design and development of products that improve the social and published maps and institutional affil- environmental performances of the entire product life cycle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) iations. can be a helpful tool in Ecodesign if integrated into the company structure [2] and can be used to improve the environmental performance and determine the sustainability baseline of products [3,4]. LCA and Ecodesign can be combined simultaneously to examine and validate product redesign and decision making [5,6]. However, the study of Lindahl [7] showed that only 18% of engineering designer respondents applied LCA as a method Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. or tool in their design for the environment in companies. This finding might depend on This article is an open access article the tool’s degree of usability and degree of appropriateness. Simplification of product distributed under the terms and development projects is needed in the practicality of environmental LCA methods and conditions of the Creative Commons software tools used in the industry. Simplified LCA (i.e., streamlined LCA) was introduced Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// to evaluate the environmental factors of a product, process, or service life cycle efficiently creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ and provide the same type of results as a detailed LCA [3]. However, many of the current 4.0/). tools are very complex and not easy to use by designers [8]. Designers prefer methods and

Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042406 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 2 of 20

tools that need minimal or no training and do not require additional time or resources to interpret [9]. A level of expertise is needed to accomplish environmental assessment from the designers’ point of view and use the methods and tools more efficiently [9]. As a result, the LCA concept and simplified LCA tools should be introduced and trained in sustainable design education. Radical changes and transformations of socio-technical systems such as system innovations for sustainability [10] and sustainability-oriented innovation [11] are needed to achieve sustainability. These transitions cover product and process innovations; changes in user practices, markets, policy, and regulations; infrastructure, culture, and lifestyle; and an organization’s philosophy and values [10,11]. These innovation activities aim to contribute and realize the social and environmental value in addition to achieving economic returns for sustainability [10,11]. This study aims to identify the challenges in applying simplified LCA tools in improving the eco-efficiency of products and the possibility of achieving a higher level of sustainable innovation through action research by sustainable design classroom observation. The result of this in-classroom experiment is a proposal for further research in refining LCA-based tools for designers and improving the collaboration between sustainable design educators, design practitioners, and LCA experts. The following section summarizes the relevant literature on simplified LCA methods and tools for Ecodesign that are used in this study and defines the four levels of design innovation for sustainability. The third section presents the materials and methods applied in this classroom research. The fourth section discusses the results. The fifth section presents the discussion. The sixth section elaborates the concluding remarks.

2. Background In this section, six types of LCA-based tools for designers and product developers are presented. Three simpliﬁed LCA tools used in a practical manual of Ecodesign are introduced, especially emphasizing the analytical purpose of the tools and types of data. The four levels of design innovation for sustainability are also described, together with examples of electrical and electronic product cases.

2.1. Types of LCA-Based Tools for Ecodesign Recent review works show that several case studies of LCA-based tools applied by designers in the Americas and European countries are published widely in the academic and gray literature [2–4,6,9,12–16]. However, supporting evidence of LCA-based tool application in other manufacturing countries, except in Japan [17,18], is still rare. According to timing in the tool application to different stages of the product development process, Bauman and Tillman [19] categorized LCA-based Ecodesign tools into six types: matrices, dedicated software-based LCA, ordinary quantitative LCA, LCA-derived rules of thumb and proxies, combination tools, and LCA as a creative tool.

2.1.1. Matrices The tool is developed for designers to deﬁne the environmental hotspots of a product systematically by covering the main life cycle stages (i.e., production and supply of materials and components, in-house production, distribution, utilization, and end-of-life system) and environmental impacts in a straightforward manner [19]. A short descriptive statement about the materials used, recyclability, and major environmental impacts is required to ﬁll such a matrix with information. Moreover, the quantitative information on the mass of materials used, energy consumption, and toxic emissions needs to be completed by providing them in absolute numbers or a range of scales. Cooperation between designers and environmental staff is recommended because the results are based on the knowledge of the designer and required expertise [9,19]. The matrix can be used during early (i.e., planning), intermediate (i.e., conceptual design), and late stages (i.e., embodiment design) of product development [19]. Good representatives of matrices with a life cycle perspective comprise the Materials, Energy use, and Toxic emissions (MET) matrix [6,12,20,21], the Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 3 of 20

abridged LCA matrix [22], the environmental design strategy matrix (EDSM) [23], and the environmentally responsible product assessment matrix (ERPA) [24].

2.1.2. Dedicated Software-Based LCA This type of special LCA software tool, so-called “quick and dirty” LCAs, is developed to solve a crucial problem in a time-intensive issue of applying a full-scale LCA in product development [19]. These software tools allow the prompt execution of an LCA by providing built-in material and process databases (e.g., cradle-to-gate data) and many methodologies for designers and product developers. Moreover, according to a default of the LCA method, the results are shown as a single score (i.e., weighted results). Without using software tools, the numbers that express the total environmental load of various materials and processes can also be found in the standard Eco-indicator report available on the Internet [25]. This method helps designers and product developers compare and identify environmental strengths and weaknesses and investigate issues that need further improvement in the designs. Dedicated LCA software tools can be used during early (i.e., planning), intermediate (i.e., conceptual design), and later stages (i.e., detail design) of product development [19,26]. Examples of such dedicated software tools are ECO-it by PRé Consultants B.V. [12,27], EcoScan by NTO Industrial Technology [12,28], Environmental Priority Strategies (EPS) 2015 by GaBi Solutions [28–30], and Idemat by TU Delft [12,28].

2.1.3. Ordinary Quantitative LCA For better quality to support in-depth analysis of environmental tradeoffs, an ordinary quantitative LCA should be undertaken and requires environmental specialist assistance [19]. Furthermore, this type of quantitative LCA can be used not only for product evaluations but also for deﬁning rules of thumb and proxies. The tool implementation by Danish companies showed that it can enhance a broad average in the environmental improvement of products from 30% to 50% [31]. The ordinary quantitative LCA can be used during early (i.e., planning) and later stages (i.e., detail design) of product development [19]. Good representatives of this quantitative LCA are the environmental design of industrial products (EDIP) method and tools [31,32].

2.1.4. LCA-Derived Rules of Thumb and Proxies According to experience from the ordinary quantitative LCA studies, LCA-derived rules of thumb are simple design rules developed from consecutive case studies with the same unique feature in the major source of the environmental impact of products [19]. Proxies are simple metrics that assess a product concerning its essential environmental properties [19]. The metrics show the cumulative weight over the life cycle of various materials and energy used. LCA-derived rules of thumb and proxies can be used during the entire product development process (i.e., planning, conceptual design, embodiment design, and detail design) [19]. Examples of such rules of thumb and proxies are material input per unit of service (MIPS) [33], embodied energy in the building industry [34], and the Ten Golden Rules [6,35,36].

2.1.5. Combination Tools The highlight of combining LCA with other aspects of the assessment is to facilitate the designers and product developers with tradeoffs between environmental and other properties of the product such as technical performance or cost [19]. Bauman and Tillman [19] further explained that the combination tools are elaborate and simple due to the nature of the tools that draw upon various methodologies, but those methods and concepts are also already recognized by designers. The combined tools can be applied during intermediate stages in product development (i.e., conceptual design) [19]. Examples of such combined LCA tools are the eco-functional matrix [23,37], the environmental descriptors [6,38], and the combined quality function deployment (QFD) with LCA such as Green QFD [6,39]. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 4 of 20

2.1.6. LCA as a Creative Tool Most of the LCA-based tools in the previous categories are an analytical tool. A good example of an LCA-based creative tool is the reverse LCA (RLCA) suggested by Graedel [40,41]. RLCA creates the task of deﬁning a functional unit to identify the needs that the product is intended to serve more comprehensively. The tool focuses on the needs of environmental characteristics and function (i.e., human needs) rather than the physical design of products, and in this way, it enhances creative system thinking and encourages the discovery of innovation opportunities [19,41]. The LCA studies of reference products can be utilized as inputs for brainstorming sessions during the early stages of product development. Bauman and Tillman [19] stated that the environmental knowledge gained from the reference products possibly inﬂuences the designers’ mental frame of reference and can be applied intuitively in the design process.

2.2. Simplified LCA Tools Introduced in a Practical Manual of Ecodesign Simplified LCA is not intended as a comprehensive quantitative determination, but rather as a method to identify “hotspots” in the environment and highlight important opportunities for environmental improvements [3]. In the early stages of product development, it is considered an effective, helpful tool for eco-designers [3,19]. Various case studies showed the successful application of the simplified LCA methods to identify substantial environmental aspects and improve the eco-efficiency of electrical and electronic products [12,14,36,42,43]. Bauman and Tillman [19] mentioned different examples of simplified LCA tools such as life cycle-influenced matrices, LCA-derived proxies and rules of thumb, and software-based LCA tools. Three simplified LCA tools are introduced in “A Practical Manual of Ecodesign” published by Ihobe [12]: MET matrix, Eco-indicators, and software tools for LCA.

2.2.1. MET Matrix The MET matrix is a qualitative or semiqualitative approach that is used in each phase of the product life cycle to achieve a global view of the inputs and outputs [12]. This tool aims to identify the most substantial environmental concerns during a product’s life cycle, which can be used to establish various improvement strategies; classifying the environmental issues into categories is important [3,21]. The necessary prioritization of environmental aspects is qualitative and focused on the knowledge of the environment and a golden rule, not on statistics or ﬁgures [12]. The criteria for assessment are the material cycle, energy use, and toxic emissions [3]. “M” stands for utilization of materials in each stage of the product life cycle and refers to all the inputs (i.e., consumption) required [12]. “E” stands for the utilization of energy throughout the product life cycle, where the major impact is mainly from production and/or transportation [12]. Lastly, “T” stands for toxic emissions and refers to all outputs such as emissions, efﬂuent, or toxic waste produced in the process [12].

2.2.2. Eco-Indicators The Eco-indicator is a simple quantitative tool for designers and product managers; it is more precise than the MET matrix and considered a quantitative approach because the prioritization of environmental aspects is based on numerical calculations [12]. Eco- indicators were developed by a multidisciplinary team formed by forefront industries, scientists, and the Dutch government to evaluate the environmental impact caused by industrial input activities, focusing on the damage impact on ecosystem quality, resources, and human health [12,25]. As a consequence, tables of numeric values expressing the environmental impact according to the quantity or volume of each material, process, or transport have been obtained. These values are expressed in units of their own, called millipoints (mPt), which are not equivalent to any other standard measurement unit [12]. When applying Eco-indicators to the product, the quantitative data of all input activities and the related Eco-indicator scores in mPt of the three stages, namely, production, use, Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 5 of 20

and disposal, need to be ﬁlled in on the product life cycle sheet. At the end, the sum of all quantitative values in each stage is determined to quantify the total impact of the entire product life cycle. The higher the Eco-indicator score, the greater the environmental load [25]. The numeric values expressing the environmental impact of those common materials and processes are collected in advance [25], but obtaining the Eco-indicator scores requires a laborious process [12].

2.2.3. ECO-It ECO-it is a simple software-based LCA tool for product design teams that does not require advanced or special environmental knowledge for users to operate [12]. The evaluation is based on the Eco-indicator 95 [44] method providing the values for environmental guidance, not absolute values [12]. It calculates the environmental impact and shows which stages of the product life cycle contribute the most. This tool is considered a quantitative approach and a quick screening tool for improving the environmental performance of the product. The software comes with over 500 ReCiPe environmental impact and carbon footprint scores for commonly used materials, production, transportation, energy, and waste treatment processes [27]. Moreover, the users can edit and create their own databases with different scoring methods by using ECO-edit software [27]. This tool is considered the most complex tool compared with Eco-indicators and the MET matrix [12].

2.3. Levels of Design Innovation for Sustainability Sustainability-driven innovation was defined by Arthur D. Little [45,46] as the creation of new market space, products, and services or processes fostered by social, environmental, and sustainability issues. Likewise, sustainable innovation is a process where sustainability considerations (i.e., environmental, social, and financial aspects) are integrated into company systems from idea generation throughout research and development and com- mercialization [45]. Furthermore, sustainable innovation covers the spectrum of innovation levels from incremental to radical. The four levels of innovation can be identified in the context of environmental improvement as follows: (1) product improvement, (2) product redesign, (3) function innovation, and (4) system innovation [10,47].

2.3.1. Level 1: Product Improvement (Incremental) At this incremental level, the existing product has solely a small progressive improvement by replacing material, reﬁning the shape and form, reducing the product weight, reducing numbers of materials or parts, and restructuring parts. The improvements may focus on mitigating single environmental impacts for the existing product [10]. Examples of such product improvements are recycling plastic materials from used home appliances to make new products, biodegradable semiconductors, no-glue–no-screw products, portable washers (i.e., mini washing machines), and energy-efﬁcient refrigerators.

2.3.2. Level 2: Product Redesign (Green Limits) At this redesign level, the existing product has a major change in design but a limited level of improvement in technical feasibility. The product concept remains almost unchanged, but the product is completely rebuilt from an environmental life cycle perspective [10]. Examples include new washing machines with superior overall environmental performance, eco kettles, solar power chargers, hydroelectric battery lamps, air puriﬁers that use indoor plants for ﬁlter air, and power hand crack radios (i.e., self-powered emer- gency AM/FM radios).

2.3.3. Level 3: Function Innovation (Product Alternatives) At this functional level, the existing product may be replaced by a new product or service that satisﬁes the same functional needs. The innovation is not limited to current product concepts but is connected to how the functional purpose is accomplished [10]. Product–service systems can be considered at this level. Examples of function innovative Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 6 of 20

products are online platforms for home appliance sharing, laundromats (i.e., laundry services), washer–dryer machines, smartphones, copier and printer leasing and service, all-in-one printers, and teleconferencing.

2.3.4. Level 4: System Innovation (Radical) At this radical level, the existing product is designed for a sustainable society by applying systems thinking. A new system replaces the entire socio-technical system with its artifacts, structure, economic models, socio-cultural principles, and institutional framework [10]. Examples of such system innovation include mixed-use communities, smart home systems, smart cities, and the Internet of things network.

3. Materials and Methods Thailand, one of the manufacturing countries, is also aware of environmental issues and attempts to improve the quality of its products. Input sustainable thinking and environmental awareness through design education are crucial. Thus, the study was conducted during 2015–2018 in the sustainable design course at the Department of Industrial Design, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. This section describes the context of participation, data collection, and data analysis cultivated from the application of simpliﬁed LCA tools during in-classroom activities for four consecutive years.

3.1. Participants All participants were industrial design sophomores and juniors who registered for the sustainable design course during the second semester in 2015 (n = 13), 2016 (n = 18), 2017 (n = 10), and 2018 (n = 7). The sustainable design course is a three-credit elective course, comprising a one-hour lecture, four-hour independent study, and four-hour in- classroom activity per week, with a duration of 16 weeks. The study was conducted in the first four weeks of the course. In the first week of the study, 10 environmental impact categories, namely, eutrophication, acidification, photochemical oxidation, terrestrial ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, human toxicity, ozone layer depletion, global warming, and abiotic depletion, were introduced. The participants learned what the root causes and major sources of each impact category were. Moreover, background knowledge about the LCA concept, product life cycle (i.e., extraction phase, manufacturing phase, packaging and distribution phase, use phase, and disposal phase), LCA methodology, and the definition of a functional unit was brought up and discussed. In the second week of the study, three simplified LCA tools for designers, namely, the MET matrix, Eco-indicators, and ECO-it, were inaugurated. The advantages and disadvantages of the tools were discussed and considered. Then, the assignment about simplified LCA tool application was delivered at the end of the one-hour lecture. The participants were trained to use those three different tools during the four hours of the in-classroom activity, and one of the authors as an instructor provided several examples and acted as a facilitator during a tutorial session. In the third week of the study, the instructor provided an overview of the Lifecycle Design Strategies wheel [20,48] and showed various product and service design examples that applied these strategies to ensure the participants can understand the overall design concept of holistic approaches. The four levels of design innovation for sustainability [11,45,46], the definitions of eco-efficiency, and factor X [43,49,50] were introduced. In the fourth week of the study, the participants were requested to present their results from the assignment and their reflections on the tool application. The students were assigned to execute an Eco-redesign project by following the seven steps for implementation in “A Practical Manual of Ecodesign” published by Ihobe [12] and focus on the stage of environmental aspects to analyze the main environmental hotspots of the product throughout its life cycle. The task was to perform reverse engineering, assess the impacts of a small household appliance, and propose a redesign concept for reducing those impacts. Afterwards, all participants were divided into groups of two to four (depending on the total number of students in the class each year) and asked to Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 7 of 20

draw a product’s life cycle diagram and disassemble a selected home appliance to build raw material inventory data. All parts and components were separated into groups and weighed based on different types of materials and processes for a further calculation to find the environmental impact contribution from the entire product life cycle perspective. First, a functional unit and a process tree of the selected home appliance based on the data collection and product disassembly were defined. Then, the environmental impact contribution (e.g., single score indicators) in each phase of the product’s life cycle was calculated either manually or by software. A choice of the simplified LCA tools was limited to ECO-it software by PRé Consultants B.V. [12,27], Eco-indicator scores for materials and processes available in the Eco-indicator 99 Manual for Designers [12,25], and the MET matrix [3,12,20,21] because these tools are available publicly online and can be easily accessed. In addition, these tools are considered dedicated software-based LCA and matrix types that are normally applied in the early and intermediate stages (i.e., planning and conceptual design) of product development [19]. Lastly, they were requested to present a redesign proposal of impact reduction concepts, a list of problems and obstacles they encountered during the implementation of the tools, and any other food for thought and benefits they experienced by applying these tools.

3.2. Data Collection The results from the reverse engineering, the impact assessment of all small household appliances, and the proposal of new redesign concepts were collected in the format of a design project report. The students had to submit one report per group at the end of the fourth week. All redesign proposals of impact reduction concepts in each group were presented in short sentences and sketches. The tool users’ interactions with the tools and comments were derived from a participant observation during the second and third weeks of the tutorial session and the in-classroom activities. Reﬂective comments about the choice of the selected tool and their opinions on the tool application were also collected from the design reports and an online anonymous survey form.

3.3. Data Analysis The participants were asked to express their opinion on user experiences and further suggestions for each tool that they used in a reflective comment format presented in the design project report of each group. Individuals were also asked to express their points of view of the tool application anonymously in the online survey form after their presentation. All comments were analyzed into two aspects of the tool application, namely, challenges and opportunities, and a common theme out of both aspects for discussion was identified. All of the new design proposals of impact reduction concepts were analyzed by mapping onto the levels of design innovation for sustainability proposed by Brezet [10,47]. By doing this, the authors can evaluate whether the simplified LCA tools can help the designers achieve system innovation in product design.

4. Results The results are divided into two parts: the application of simplified LCA tools, and the challenges and opportunities identified from simplified LCA tools applied by industrial design students.

4.1. Application of Simplified LCA Tools In 2015, 13 student participants were divided into two groups of four and one group of five. Three different kitchen appliances were chosen for the project, as shown in Table1. In 2016, 18 student participants were divided into two groups of three and three groups of four. Four different home appliances were selected, as shown in Table2. In 2017, 10 student participants were divided into five groups of two. Various types of household appliances including headphones, an iron, a sandwich maker, speakers, and a water heater were selected, as shown in Table3. In 2018, seven student participants were divided into two Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 8 of 20

groups of two and one group of three. Three different small appliances were chosen for the design experiment, as shown in Table4. After the students applied at least one of three different simplified LCA tools along with collecting their product inventory data of the chosen home appliance, the results from 16 groups of students with 11 different types of electrical and electronic products are shown in Tables1–4. The 11 selected home appliances were (1) an electric pot, (2) a juicer, (3) a toaster, (4) a blender, (5) a sandwich maker, (6) a hairdryer, (7) an iron, (8) speakers, (9) headphones, (10) a CD player, and (11) a water heater. The most popular choice of simplified LCA tool application was Eco-indicators followed by ECO-it software and the MET matrix. The students defined a functional unit based on their user experience of the product including the frequency of use and the product lifetime. The highest environmental hotspot of electrical and electronic equipment came from the use phase due to high energy consumption. However, several of them that were not frequently used or used in a short period of time showed the highest impact in the production phase due to a considerable number of components and parts, such as the toaster, blender, speakers, and CD player. According to environmental hotspot analysis and impact reduction concepts, the redesign proposals showed several relevant points in product design and the cause of the highest impact in the use phase (shown in italics in Tables1–4). Examples include reducing the thickness of the material to allow the water to be heated quicker, changing the heating method, reducing the product size to match a functional unit, applying renewable energy, reducing the energy supply and time consumption during use, reducing the heat loss, finding alternative sources of energy, integrating the function with other products, redesigning the shape and form to enhance product performance, sharing the energy or electricity used with other products, and optimizing the energy used or the temperature to match a functional unit. However, considering the design proposal with the levels of design innovation for sustainability showed that the proposed concepts were still mostly at the levels of product improvement, product redesign, and function innovation. Only one group of students working on the water heater could propose a new design concept at the level of system innovation by introducing an idea of energy sharing for a home appliance cluster (see Figure1). Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9 of 19

Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9 of 19 Table 1. Application of simplified LCA tools in a product design process by industrial design students in year 2015 (n = 13).

Environmental Hotspot Table 1. ApplicationSimplified of LCA simplified Tools LCA tools in a product design process by industrial design students in year 2015 (n = Home Functional Based on Product Life Cycle Hotspot Analy- 13). Design Proposal SustainabilityAppliances 2021 ECO, 13, x FOREco-In- PEER REVIEWMET Unit Produc- Dis- sis 9 of 19 Use -it dicators Matrix tionEnvironmental Hotspotposal Simplified LCA Tools Home Functional Based on Product Life Cycle Hotspot Analy- - Reduce the number of Design Proposal Appliances ECO Eco-In- MET Unit Produc- Dis- sis parts Use Table 1. Application-it dicators of simplified Matrix LCA tools in a producttion design processposal by industrial design students- Reducein year the 2015 thickness (n = of 13). - theReduce material, the numberand allow of Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 theparts water to be heated 9 of 20 Environmental Hotspot Simplified LCA Tools - quickerReduce the thickness of Home Functional Based on Product Life Cycle Hotspot Analy- - ChangetheDesign material, ProposalABS and plastic allow to Appliances ECO Eco-In- MET BoilingUnit 2 L Produc- Dis- Needssis a large other types of plastic Electric Pot Table 1. Application of simpliﬁed LCAUse tools in a product design process by industrialthe water to design be heated students in year 2015 (n = 13). -it dicators Matrix of water for tion posal amount of en- becausequicker the Eco-indi- ✓ 2 hours, ✓ ergy/electricity - catorReduce score the of number ABS is of Environmental Hotspot- BasedChange on ABS plastic to Home Simpliﬁed LCA ToolsonceBoiling a week 2 L toNeeds heat thea large wa- highotherparts types of plastic Electric Pot Functional Unit Product Life Cycle Hotspot Analysis Design Proposal Appliances offor water 4 years for amountter of en- -- ChangebecauseReduce the tothe thickness100% Eco-indi- recy- of ECO-it✓ Eco-Indicators 2 METhours, Matrix ✓ Productionergy/electricity Usecled Disposalcatorthe material, aluminum score of and ABS allow is

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for 4 years ter - tocontainChange match thetoa functional 100% same recy- vol- - Change the heating method unitumecled aluminumof water - Redesign the form with less material, and Squeezing - Reduce the thickness Needs a large - ChangeReduce thethe productheating size contain the same volume of water Juicer oranges for ofmethod housing amount of en- to match a functional 20 minutes, -- ChangeRedesign to the other form types ✓ ✓ ergy/electricity unit - Reduce the product size to match a functional Squeezingtwice a - ofwithReduce plastic less the material,because thickness the and toNeeds generate a large the unit Juicer weekoranges for for10 Eco-indicatorcontainof housing the same scores vol- of - Reduce the thickness of housing amountmotor of en- 20 minutes,years Squeezing oranges for - ABSumeChange andof water to PVC otherNeeds are types high a large amount of - Change to other types of plastic because the ✓ 20 min, twice✓ a week ergy/electricity energy/electricity to X twice a X-- Reduceof plastic the the because product number thesize of Eco-indicator scores of ABS and PVC are for 10 years to generate the partsto match or rearrangea functionalgenerate the motor high week for 10 Eco-indicator scores of motor parts - Reduce the number of parts or rearrange years ABSunit and PVC are high Squeezing -- ChangeReduce the thicknessheating parts Needs a large - Reduce the number of Juicer oranges for methodpartsof housing or rearrange amountEco-indicator of en- 20 minutes, -- ReducepartsChange theto other product types - Change the heating method Toaster ✓ Toasting ✓ ergy/electricity Toaster twice a scores of alumi- size,of plastic the number because of the - Reduce the product size, the number of bread for 5 to generate the - Change the heatingEco-indicator scores of week for 10 Toasting bread for num, ABS, and parts,Eco-indicator and materials scores of parts, and materials ✓ minutes, ✓ motor method aluminum, ABS, and X 5 min, once a week for steelEco-indicatorX for hous- - RearrangeABS and PVC the insideare high - Rearrange the inside parts onceyears a week - Reduce the productsteel for housing and Toaster Toasting 13 years - partsReduce the number of - Use other types of plastic and 100% scoresing and of insidealumi- size, the numberinside of parts are high forbread 13 years for 5 recycled aluminum instead num,parts ABS,are high and - Useparts,parts other or and rearrange types materials of ✓ minutes, ✓ steel for hous- - plasticRearrangeparts and the100% inside recy- once a week ing and inside - cledpartsChange aluminum the heating instead for 13 years parts are high - Usemethod other types of Eco-indicator - Reduce the product Toasting plastic and 100% recy- Toaster scores of alumi- size, the number of bread for 5 cled aluminum instead num, ABS, and parts, and materials ✓ minutes, ✓ steel for hous- - Rearrange the inside once a week ing and inside parts for 13 years parts are high - Use other types of plastic and 100% recycled aluminum instead

Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 10 of 19

SustainabilityTable 2.2021 Application, 13, x FOR PEERof simplified REVIEW LCA tools in a product design process by industrial design students in year 2016 (n 10= of 19 18). Table 2. Application of simplified LCA tools in a product design process by industrial design students in year 2016 (n = Environmental Hotspot Sustainability18). 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 10 of 19 Table 2. ApplicationSimplified of LCAsimplified Tools LCA tools in a productBased design on Product process Life by Cy- industrial design students in year 2016 (n = Home Functional 18). Environmentalcle Hotspot Hotspot Analysis Design Proposal Appliances Unit ECO-SimplifiedEco-In- LCA METTools Ma- Produc-Based on Product LifeDis- Cy- Home Functional EnvironmentalUse Hotspot Sustainability 2021, 13it , x FORdicators PEER REVIEWtrix tion cle posal Hotspot Analysis Design Proposal10 of 19 AppliancesTable 2. ApplicationSimplified of simplifiedLCA Tools LCA toolsUnit in a productBased design on Product process Life by Cy- industrial design students in year 2016 (n = Home ECO- Eco-In- MET Ma- FunctionalBlending Produc- Dis- 18). Usecle Hotspot Analysis ChangeDesign the blendingProposal Appliances it dicators trix fruitsUnit for 3 tion posal Blender Eco-indicator ECO- Eco-In- MET Ma- Produc-Environmental HotspotDis- method, take the motor Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 Blendingminutes Use 10 of 20 Table 2. Applicationit dicators of simplified trix LCA tools in a producttion design process byposal indust rialscores design of copper students away,Change in year or the reduce 2016 blending (then = size Blender Simplified LCA Tools (makingfruits for 300 3 Based on Product Life Cy- Home ✓ FunctionalBlending ✓ andEco-indicator steel for mo- Reducemethod, the take product the motor size 18). minutesmL of cle Hotspot Analysis Design Proposal Appliances Unit Change the blending Blender fruits for 3 scorestor and of insidecopper -away, Reduce or reduce the the num- size ECO- Eco-In- MET Ma- (makingsmoothie), 300 Produc- Dis- Eco-indicator method, take the motor ✓ minutes Environmental✓ Use Hotspot andparts steel are for high mo- Reduceber, the and product rearrange size it dicators trix twicemL a ofweek tion posal scores of copper away, or reduce the size Simplified LCATable Tools 2. Application(makingof 300 simplified Based LCAon Product tools Life in a Cy- product designtor and processinside by- industrialtheReduce inside design the parts num- students in year 2016 (n = 18). Home ✓ Functionalforsmoothie),Blending 5 years ✓ and steel for mo- Reduce the product size mL of cle Hotspotparts are Analysis high ChangeDesignber, the and blendingProposal rearrange twicefruits a for week 3 - Redesign the struc- AppliancesBlender Unit Environmentaltor and inside Hotspot - BasedReduce on the num- ECO- Eco-In-SimplifiedMET LCAMa- Toolssmoothie), Produc- Dis- Eco-indicator method,the take inside the parts motor Home forminutes 5 years Use partsProduct are high Life Cycle turalber, and joints rearrang withoute it dicators trix twice a week tionFunctional Unit posal scores of copper away, or reduce theHotspot size Analysis Design Proposal Appliances (making 300 - nutRedesignthe insideand bolt the parts struc- ECO-it✓ Eco-Indicators METforBlending 5 years Matrix ✓ Productionand steel for mo- UseReduce- DisposalUse the 100% product recycled size mL of Changetural the jointsblending without Blender fruits for 3 tor and inside -- ReducealuminumRedesign the the andnum- struc- bio- Blender smoothie),Boiling 2 L Eco-indicator method,nut take and the bolt motor Change the blending method, take the motor minutes parts are high ber,tural and joints rearrange without twice a week Blending fruits for Needs a large - degradableUse 100% Eco-indicatorrecycled plastics scores of away, or reduce the size Electric Pot of water for scores of copper away, or reduce the size (making 300 amount of en- theinsteadaluminumnut insideand bolt parts and bio- Reduce the product size ✓ forBoiling2 hours,5 years 2 L 3✓ min (making 300 mL and steel for mo- Reduce the productcopper size and steel for ✓ X ✓ X - Use 100% recycled mL of of smoothie), twice a ergy/electricityNeeds a large to -- RedesignReducedegradable the the motorproduct plastics struc- and inside parts - Reduce the number, and rearrange the Electric Pot onceof water a week for tor and inside - Reducealuminum the andnum- bio- smoothie),Boiling 2 L week for 5 years heatamount the ofwater en- sizeinstead to match a func-are high inside parts ✓ for2 hours,5 years ✓ parts are high turalber, and joints rearrange without twice a week Needs a large - tionalReducedegradable unit the product plastics Electric Pot of water for ergy/electricity to nut and bolt once a week amount of en- theinstead inside parts for2 hours,5 years heat the water - Changesize to match the heating a func- ✓ for 5 years ✓ - Use 100% recycled - Redesign the structural joints without nut ergy/electricity to - methodtionalReduce unit the product once a week - aluminumRedesign the and struc- bio- and bolt Boiling 2 L heat the water - Applysize to renewablematch a func- en- for 5 years Needs a large - degradableturalChange joints the heating withoutplastics - Use 100% recycled aluminum and Electric Pot of water for ergytional unit Boiling 2 L of water for amount of en- insteadnutmethod and boltNeeds a large amount of biodegradable plastics instead ✓ 2 hours, ✓ - Change the heating X Drying 2 h, once a week for ergy/electricity Xto -- ReduceUseApply 100% renewable the recycledproductenergy/electricity en- to - Reduce the product size to match a functional once a week - Changemethod the hair dry- Hairdryer damp hair 5 years Needs a large sizealuminumergy to match and a func-heat bio- the water unit Boiling 2 L heat the water - ingApply method renewable en- forDryingfor 5 years 15 amountNeeds a oflarge en- tionaldegradable unit plastics - Change the heating method Electric Pot of water for - ReduceChangeergy thethe energyhair dry- Hairdryer ✓ minutes,damp hair 3 ✓ ergy/electricityamountNeeds a of large en- to - Changeinstead the heating - Apply renewable energy ✓ 2Drying hours, ✓ supplying method and time con- timesfor 15 a ergy/electricityheatamount and generate of en- to -- methodReduceChange the the product hair dry- Hairdryer oncedamp a week hair Needs a large - sumptionReduce the during energy use ✓ weekminutes, for 53 ✓ ergy/electricityheatthe the motor water to - Applysizeing methodto renewablematch a func- en- - Change the hair drying method forfor 5 years 15 amount of en- - Reducesupply andtheNeeds heattime losscon- a large amount of timesyears a Drying damp hair for heat and generate ergytional unit Reduce the energy supply and time - sumptionReduce the during energyenergy/electricity use to - ✓ X minutes,Drying 3 15 min, 3 times✓ a week ergy/electricityX to - Change the heating consumption during use Iron weekIroning for 5 the motor - ChangeReducesupply andthe heatironingtime losscon- and generate the times a for 5 years heatNeeds and agenerate large - methodChange the hair dry- - Reduce the heat loss Hairdryer dampclothesyears hair for Needs a large methodsumption during usemotor week for 5 amountthe motor of en- - Applying method renewable en- ✓ anIroningfor hour, 15 ✓ amount of en- - UseChangeReduce other the sources heatironing loss of Iron years ergy/electricityNeeds a large to - ergyReduce the energy ✓ twiceminutes,clothes a week for 3 ✓ ergy/electricity to heat,method and reduce the - Change the ironing method DryingIroning Ironing clothes for an heatamount the soleplate of en- - supplyChange and theNeeds timeironing con- a large amount of Iron ✓ forantimes 6 hour, years a ✓ heatNeeds and generatea large -- ChangeenergyUse other consumption the sources hair dry- of - Use other sources of heat, and reduce the energy X dampclothes hair for hour, twice a week for ergy/electricityNeeds a large X to sumption duringenergy/electricity use to Hairdryer twiceweek a for week 5 the motor - Changeheat,method and the reduce way the of consumption 6 years heatamount the soleplate of en- - Reduceing method the heat heat loss the soleplate ✓ anfor hour, 15 ✓ amount of en- - energyUse other consumption sources of Listeningforyears 6 years to ergy/electricity to - Reducesound amplifica-the energy ✓ twiceminutes, a week 3 ✓ ergy/electricity to heat, and reduce the Ironing heat the soleplate -- supplyChangetion and the the timeironing way con- of Iron musicfortimes 6 yearsfor a an Listening to music for heatNeeds and agenerate large energy consumption - Change the way of sound amplification Speakers clothes for Eco-indicator - sumptionmethodReducesound amplifica- the during num- use Listeninghour per to an hour per day, amount of en- Eco-indicator scores of - Reduce the number of materials ✓ week for 5 ✓ scoresthe ofmotor copper - bertionChange of materials the way of ✓ X musicday,an hour, 5 fordays an 5 days a week✓ for X - ReduceUse other the sourcescopper heat loss of and ABS are high - Avoid using copper, and change ABS to years ergy/electricityandEco-indicator ABS are high to - Avoidsound usingamplifica- cop- Speakers twiceListening a week to 5 years - heat,Reduce and the reduce num- the other types of plastic a weekhourIroning perfor 5 heat the soleplate tion Iron ✓ musicfor 6 years for an ✓ scores of copper - energyChangeper,ber of and materialsconsumption the change ironing Speakers day,years 5 days NeedsEco-indicator a large - Reduce the num- clotheshour per for and ABS are high -- methodChangeABSAvoid to using otherthe way cop-types of ✓ a week for 5 ✓ scoresamount of ofcopper en- ber of materials ✓ day,an hour, 5 days ✓ - Usesoundofper, plastic other and amplifica- change sources of Listeningyears to ergy/electricityand ABS are high to - Avoid using cop- twicea week a week for 5 heat,tionABS andto other reduce types the music for an heat the soleplate per, and change Speakers for 6 years Eco-indicator - energyReduceof plastic consumption the num- houryears per ABS to other types ✓ ✓ scores of copper - berChange of materials the way of day, 5 days soundof plastic amplifica- Listening to and ABS are high - Avoid using cop- a week for 5 tion music for an per, and change Speakers years Eco-indicator - Reduce the num- hour per ABS to other types ✓ ✓ scores of copper ber of materials day, 5 days of plastic and ABS are high - Avoid using cop- a week for 5 per, and change years ABS to other types of plastic

Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 19

SustainabilityTable 20213. Application, 13, x FOR PEER of simplified REVIEW LCA tools in a product design process by industrial design students in year 2017 (n 11= of 19 10). Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 19 Environmental Hotspot Simplified LCA Tools Func- Based on Product Life Cy- HomeTable 3. Application of simplified LCA tools in a product design process byHotspot industrial Anal- design students in year 2017 (n = Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW tional cle Design Proposal 11 of 19 Appliances10). ysis SustainabilityTable 20213. Application, EC13, x FOREco-In- PEER of simplified REVIEWMET LCA Unittools in a Produc-product design processDis- by industrial design students in year 2017 (n 11= of 19 Use 10). O-it dicators Matrix Environmentaltion Hotspotposal Simplified LCA Tools Func- Based on Product Life Cy- - Change to recycled ABS plas- HomeTable 3. Application of simplified LCA tools in a product design process byHotspot indust rialAnal- design students in year 2017 (n = tional Environmentalcle Hotspot High en- tic Design Proposal SustainabilityHeadphonesAppliances2021 , 13, 2406 Listening ysis 11 of 20 10). Simplified LCA Tools Func- Based on Product Life Cy- ergy/electric- - Remove the metal used for a HomeTable 3. ApplicationEC Eco-In- of simplifiedMET LCAto Unit toolsmusic in a Produc-product design processDis- byHotspot industrial Anal- design students in year 2017 (n = tional cleUse ity consump- logoDesign plate, and Proposal use the plastic Appliances10). O-it dicators Matrix for 3 hours Environmentaltion Hotspotposal ysis EC✓ Eco-In- MET Unit Produc- ✓ Dis- tion during engraving technique instead Simplified LCA Tools perFunc- day, Based on ProductUse Life Cy- - Change to recycled ABS plas- Home O-it dicators Matrix Environmentaltion Hotspotposal HotspotuseHigh for the en-Anal- en- - ticReduce the nylon fabric used Headphones Table 3. everyListeningtional day cle Design Proposal n Appliances Simplified LCA Tools ApplicationFunc- ofBased simplified on Product LCA Life tools Cy- in a productergy/electric-tire ysisproduct design -- process RemoveChangeDesign by industrialto tothe reduce recycled metal electricity designused ABS for plas- con- students a in year 2017 ( = 10). Home EC Eco-In- MET forto Unit music3 years Produc- Dis- Hotspot Anal- tional cleUse ityHigh lifetimeconsump- en- logoticsumption, Design plate, and and Proposal shorten use the the plastic time HeadphonesAppliances O-it dicators Matrix forListening 3 hours tion posal ysisEnvironmental Hotspot Based on Home EC✓ Eco-In- SimplifiedMET LCA ToolsUnit Produc- ✓ Dis- ergy/electric-tion during - engravingRemoveperiod during the technique metal use used instead for a perto music day, FunctionalUse Unit Product- LifeChange Cycle to recycled ABS Hotspotplas- Analysis Design Proposal Appliances O-it dicators Matrix tion posal useity consump-for the en- -- ReducelogoUse wrinkle-freeplate, the andnylon use fabricsfabric the plastic used forIroning 3 hours High en- tic ✓ ECO-it Eco-Indicators everyListening MET day Matrix ✓ tion Production during - UseengravingShorten Disposalthe techniqueuse time by instead spray- HeadphonesIron clothes for ergy/electric-tire product - DesignChange to to reduce recycled electricity ABS plas- con- forper 3 yearsday, ergy/electric- - Removeing fabric the softener metal usedmixed for with a to music useHighlifetime for the en- en- - sumption,ticReduce the and nylon shorten fabric the timeused Headphones aneveryListening hour, day 3 ity consump- logo plate, and use the plastic ✓ for 3 hours ✓ ergy/electric-tire product - periodRemoveDesignwater during to the reduce metaluse electricity used for con- a - Change to recycled ABS plastic ✓ fortotimes music3 years a ✓ tion during engraving technique instead - Remove the metal used for a logo plate, and per day, ity lifetimeconsump- -- Uselogosumption,Change wrinkle-free plate, the and methodand shorten use fabrics of the making theHigh plastic time energy/electricitythe forweekIroning 3 hours for 5 Listening to music foruseHigh tofor heat the en- en-the - Reduce the nylon fabric used use the plastic engraving technique instead ✓ every day ✓ tion during - Shortenengravingperiodfabric smoothduring the techniqueuse withoutuse time by usingconsumptioninstead spray- elec- during use Iron X clothesperyears day, for 3 h per day, every day ergy/electric-tiresoleplate product - XDesign to reduce electricity con- - Reduce the nylon fabric used use for the en- - ingReduceUsetricity fabric wrinkle-free the softener nylon fabrics fabricmixedfor used with the entire product anforIroning hour,3 years 3 for 3 years ityHigh consump- en- sumption, and shorten the time - Design to reduce electricity consumption, and everyMaking day lifetime - Shorten the use time by spray- lifetime ✓ clothes for ✓ ergy/electric-tire product - waterDesign to reduce electricity con- shorten the time period during use Iron fortimes 3 years a tion during period during use Sandwich sandwich lifetime -- Changesumption,ingUse fabric recycled the andsoftener method materialsshorten of mixed making the time with the weekan hour, for 35 useity toconsump- heat the - Use wrinkle-free fabrics Maker ✓ Ironingfor 5 ✓ NeedsHigh a en- large - fabricperiodwaterReduce smooth during the number withoutuse ofusing materi- elec- timesyears a tionsoleplate during - Shorten the use time by spray- - Use wrinkle-free fabrics Iron clothesminutes for amountergy/electric- of en- - tricityUseChangeals used wrinkle-free the method fabrics of making the Iron ✓ weekIroning for 5 ✓ useHigh to heat en- the ing fabric softener mixed with - Shorten the use time by spraying fabric peranMaking hour, time, 35 Ironing clothes for an ityergy/electric- consump- -- ShortenfabricIntegrate smooth the the use functionwithout time by usingofHigh spray-the elec- energy/electricity Iron ✓ clothesyears for hour,✓ 3 times a week ergy/electric-soleplate water consumption during use softener mixed with water X sandwichtimes a itytion to duringoperate - XUseingtricitysandwich fabricrecycled maker softener materials with mixed other with Sandwich an hour, 3 for 5 years ity consump- - Change the method of makingto heat the the soleplate - Change the method of making the fabric smooth ✓ weekMakingfor for5 58 ✓ useNeeds to heat a large the waterkitchen appliances (if possible) Maker times a tion during - Reducefabric smooth the number without ofusing materi- elec- without using electricity Sandwich sandwichminutesyears amountsoleplate of en- - alsChangeUse used recycled the method materials of making the ✓ week for 5 ✓ use to heat the tricity SandwichMaker Maker perfor time, 5 5 Needsergy/electric-High a en-large -- IntegratefabricReduce smooth the the numberfunction without ofusing themateri- elec- Makingyears soleplate - Use recycled materials minutestimes a amountityergy/electric- to operate of en- - sandwichtricityalsChange used ABS maker to with other other types of ✓ sandwich Making✓ sandwich for - Use recycled materialsNeeds a large amount of - Reduce the number of materials used Sandwich perMaking time, 5 ergy/electric- - Integrateplastic the function of the Speakers X weekListening for 8 5 min per time, 5 times ity consump- Xkitchen appliances (if possible)energy/electricity to - Integrate the function of the sandwich maker Maker for 5 Needs a large - ReduceDesign withoutthe number screws of materi- and Sandwich sandwichtotimesyears music a a week for 8 years itytion to duringoperate - Usesandwich recycled maker materials with other operate with other kitchen appliances (if possible) minutes amount of en- alseasy used to assemble Maker ✓ forweek for3 hours for5 8 ✓ useNeedsHigh for athe en- large en- - Reducekitchen appliances the number (if possible)of materi- per time, 5 ergy/electric- - Integrate the function of the ✓ minutesyears ✓ amount of en- -- ChangealsReduce used theABS number to other of types materi- of per day, ergy/electric-tire product sandwich maker with other ✓ times a ✓ ity to operate als used - Change ABS to other types of plastic Speakers pereveryListening time, day 5 ityergy/electric-lifetime,High consump- en- high - plasticIntegrate the function of the week for 8 - kitchenRedesign appliances the shape (if and possible) Highform to energy/electricity - Design without screws and easy to times a ityergy/electric- to operate -- DesignsandwichChange without ABS maker to withotherscrews other types and of fortoyears music6 years Listening to music for scoretion during of Eco- enhance sound amplificationconsumption during use assemble Speakers week for 8 easykitchenplastic to appliancesassemble (if possible) forListening 3 hours 3 h per day, every dayuseindicatorsity consump-for the en-for for the entire product - Reduce the number of materials used ✓ X ✓ High en- -- XReduceDesignUse recycled withoutthe number materials screws of materi- and pertoyears music day, for 6 years tiretion productABS during - Change ABS to other typeslifetime, of high score of - Redesign the shape and form to enhance sound ergy/electric- alseasy used to assemble foreveryBoiling 3 hours day 40 uselifetime,High for the en- high en- plastic Eco-indicators for ABS amplification Speakers ✓ Listening ✓ ity consump- -- RedesignChangeReduce the ABSthe numbershape to other and of typesform materi- to of per day, ergy/electric-tire product - Design without screws and - Use recycled materials forLto of 6music wateryears scoretion duringof Eco- - alsUse used recycled materials Speakers Listening ityHigh consump- en- enhanceplastic sound amplification Water everyfor show- day indicatorslifetime, high for - easyShare to electricity/energy assemble used for for 3 hours useergy/electric- for the en- -- UseDesignRedesign recycled without the shape materials screws and form and to Water Heater ✓ forto music6 years ✓ scoretion during of Eco- - Reduce the number of materi- - Use recycled materials Heater perering day, tire ABSproduct easyenhanceboiling to water assemblesound with amplification other home for 3 hours Boiling 40 L of water useindicatorsity consump-for the foren- als used High energy/electricity - Share electricity/energy used for boiling water ✓ Boilingeveryabout day 1040 ✓ lifetime, high - ReduceUseappliances recycled the number materials of materi- ✓ per day, for showering✓ about tiretion product during - Redesign the shape andconsumption form to during use with other home appliances Lminutes of water ABS - Use renewable energy such as so- X for 6 years usescoreHigh to boilof en- Eco- wa- - XUseals used recycled materials - Use renewable energy such as solar power everyBoiling day 40 10 min per time, twice lifetime, high enhancelar power sound amplificationto boil water, long Water forper show- time, indicators for - ShareRedesign electricity/energy the shape and formused tofor - Control the water temperature, not too high for 6 years a day for 20 years ter,ergy/electric-score long of prod-Eco- - Use recycled materials product lifetime Heater L twiceofering water a - boilingenhanceUseControl recycled water thesound water with materialsamplification temperature,other home than necessary ityuctHigh consump- ABSlifetime en- Water dayforabout show- for 10 20 indicators for - appliancesUseSharenot too recycled electricity/energy high than materials necessary used for ✓ Boiling 40 ✓ ergy/electric-tion during Heater minuteseringyears ABS - Useboiling renewable water with energy other such home as so- L of water useity toconsump- boil wa- - Use recycled materials Boilingperabout time, 10 40 High en- larappliances power Water ✓ for show- ✓ tion during - Share electricity/energy used for Lminutes of water ter,ergy/electric- long prod- -- ControlUse renewablerecycled the water materialsenergy temperature, such as so- Heater twiceering a useHigh to boil en- wa- boiling water with other home Water forper show- time, ityuct consump- lifetime - notSharelar powertoo electricity/energy high than necessary used for dayabout for 1020 ter,ergy/electric- long prod- appliances Heater ✓ twiceering a ✓ tion during - boilingControl water the water with temperature, other home minutesyears ityuct consump- lifetime - Use renewable energy such as so- dayabout for 10 20 use to boil wa- appliancesnot too high than necessary ✓ per time, ✓ tion during lar power minutesyears ter, long prod- - Use renewable energy such as so- twice a use to boil wa- - Control the water temperature, per time, uct lifetime lar power day for 20 ter, long prod- not too high than necessary twice a - Control the water temperature, years uct lifetime day for 20 not too high than necessary years

Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 12 of 19

Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 12 of 19 Table 4. Application of simplified LCA tools in a product design process by industrial design students in year 2018 (n = 7). SustainabilityTable2021 4., Application13, 2406 of simplified LCA tools in a product design process by industrial design students in year 2018 (n = 12 of 20 7). Environmental Hotspot Simplified LCA Tools HomeTable 4. Application of simplified LCAFunctional tools in a productBased ondesign Product process Life Cycle by indust rialHotspot design students in year 2018 (n = 7). Environmental Hotspot Design Proposal Appliances ECSimplifiedEco-In- LCA ToolsMET Unit Produc- Dis- Analysis Home Functional Based on ProductUse Life Cycle Hotspot O-it dicators TableMatrix 4. Application of simpliﬁedtionEnvironmental LCA toolsHotspotposal in a product design process byDesign industrial Proposal design students in year 2018 (n = 7). Appliances ECSimplifiedEco-In- LCA ToolsMET Unit Produc- Dis- Analysis Home Functional Based on ProductUse Life Cycle HighHotspot impact - Use recycled and recycla- O-it dicators Matrix tion posal Environmental HotspotDesign Based onProposal Appliances EC Eco-In- MET ListeningUnit to Produc- Dis- fromAnalysis printed ble materials Home Simpliﬁed LCA Tools High impact CD Player music for 3 FunctionalUse Unit circuit boardProduct Life- CycleUseReduce recycled the number and recycla- Hotspotof al- Analysis Design Proposal Appliances O-it dicators Matrix Listening to tion posal from printed ECO-it Eco-Indicatorshours MET per Matrix Production(PCB) and Useblekaline materials Disposal batteries used by ✓ ✓ ✓ High impact - Use recycled and recycla- CD Player musicday, every for 3 circuitthe number board - Reduceusing other the numbersources of en-al- Listeninghours per to from(PCB) printed and blekaline materials batteries used by ✓ ✓ day for 2 ✓ of alkaline ergy or using renewable - Use recycled and recyclable materials CD Player music for 3 circuit board - Reduceusing other the numbersources ofHigh en-al- impact from day,years every Listening to music for thebatteries number energy such as solar - Reduce the number of alkaline batteries hours per (PCB) and kalineergy or batteries using renewable usedprinted by circuit board ✓ XX ✓ day for 2 ✓ 3 h per day, every day of alkalineusedX power used by using other sources of energy or day, every the number usingenergy other such sources as solar(PCB) of en- and the number of years for 2 years batteries - Use recycled materials using renewable energy such as solar dayDrying for 2 of alkaline ergypower or using renewablealkaline batteries used power Needsused a - Reduce the use time by ap- dampyears hair batteries energy such as solar Hairdryer large - Use recycled materials Drying powerplying a dry hair towel for 30 Needsused a - Reduce the use time by ap- Hairdryer damp hair amount of - Integrate the function with - Use recycled materials ✓ ✓ minutes, ✓ large - Useplying recycled a dry hair materials towel - Reduce the use time by applying a dry hair Dryingfor 30 energy/elec- other home appliances to every other Drying damp hair for amountNeeds aof - ReduceIntegrate the the use function timeNeeds by with ap- a large amount of towel Hairdryer damp hair tricity to op- generate hot air ✓ XX✓ dayminutes, for 1 30 min,✓ every other large X plying a dry hair towelenergy/electricity to - Integrate the function with other home for 30 energy/elec-erate - otherUse renewable home appliances energy suchto everyyear other day for 1 year amount of - Integrate the function with operate appliances to generate hot air ✓ ✓ minutes, ✓ tricity to op- generateas solar power hot air day for 1 energy/elec- other home appliances to - Use renewable energy such as solar power every other Higherate en- - Use renewable energy such year tricity to op- generateas solar power hot air dayIroning for 1 ergy/elec- - Use recycled materials Iron erate - Use renewable energy such clothes for tricityHigh con-en- - Redesign the way to smooth - Use recycled materials year Ironing clothes for an as solar power High energy/electricity Ironing ergy/elec- - Use recycled materials - Redesign the way to smooth the fabric without Iron ✓ ✓ an hour, hour, once✓ a week for sumption the fabric without usingconsumption elec- during use XXclothes for tricityHigh con-en- X using electricity once a week 1 year during use - Redesigntricity the way to smoothto heat the soleplate Ironing ergy/elec- - Use recycled materials - Use wrinkle-free fabrics Iron ✓ ✓ foran 1hour, year ✓ tosumption heat the - theUse fabric wrinkle-free without using fabrics elec- clothes for tricity con- - Redesign the way to smooth once a week duringsoleplate use tricity ✓ ✓ foran hour,1 year ✓ tosumption heat the - theUse fabric wrinkle-free without using fabrics electricity once a week duringsoleplate use for 1 year to heat the - Use wrinkle-free fabrics soleplate

Figure 1. Mapping new design proposals of impact reduction concepts onto the levels of design innovation for sustainability (modified from Brezet [10,47]). Figure 1. Mapping new design proposals of impact reduction concepts onto the levels of design innovation for sustainability (modified from Brezet [10,47]). Figure 1. Mapping new design proposals of impact reduction concepts onto the levels of design innovation for sustainability (modified from Brezet [10,47]). Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 12 of 19

Table 4. Application of simplified LCA tools in a product design process by industrial design students in year 2018 (n = 7).

Environmental Hotspot Simplified LCA Tools Home Functional Based on Product Life Cycle Hotspot Design Proposal Appliances EC Eco-In- MET Unit Produc- Dis- Analysis Use O-it dicators Matrix tion posal High impact - Use recycled and recycla- Listening to from printed ble materials CD Player music for 3 circuit board - Reduce the number of al- hours per (PCB) and kaline batteries used by ✓ ✓ ✓ day, every the number using other sources of en- day for 2 of alkaline ergy or using renewable years batteries energy such as solar used power

Drying - Use recycled materials Needs a - Reduce the use time by ap- damp hair Hairdryer large plying a dry hair towel for 30 amount of - Integrate the function with ✓ ✓ minutes, ✓ energy/elec- other home appliances to every other tricity to op- generate hot air day for 1 erate - Use renewable energy such year as solar power High en- Ironing ergy/elec- - Use recycled materials Iron clothes for tricity con- - Redesign the way to smooth ✓ ✓ an hour, ✓ sumption the fabric without using elec- once a week during use tricity Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 13 of 20 for 1 year to heat the - Use wrinkle-free fabrics soleplate

Figure 1. Mapping new design proposals of impact reduction concepts onto the levels of design Figure 1. Mapping new design proposals of impact reduction concepts onto the levels of design innovation for sustainability (modified from Brezet [10,47]). innovation for sustainability (modiﬁed from Brezet [10,47]).

4.2. Challenges and Opportunities Identified from Simplified LCA Tools Applied by Industrial Design Students According to the students’ reflections, several challenges and opportunities were observed in the application of three different simplified LCA tools during product design and development, as shown in Table5. First, time consumption in data input when applying ECO-it software and in searching for the appropriate database in the software was an issue, while the tool users pointed out that the software facilitated them in the calculation, iteration, and comparison of the results. Second, the tool users complained about the availability of Eco-indicator scores for materials and processes that were still missing, namely, the production of composite materials (e.g., mica plate, polytetrafluoroethylene), brass, porcelain, nylon, silicone, and road transport by motorbike. Furthermore, math skills were highly required. The miscalculation in unit conversion was a problem and affected the result. However, applying the table of Eco-indicator scores helped them discover environmental hotspots based on the product life cycle and present the factors that markedly contributed the most to the environment. Moreover, the Eco-indicator scores in mPt reviewed a wide range of material, production, and transportation information in the quantitative aspect that can be utilized to compare the impacts between the product’s life cycle phases, materials, and processes more clearly and precisely. Third, the MET matrix, which was selected by only three groups of students, underlined the need for descriptive instructions of how to write the environmental evaluation into each cell of the matrix. The tool users were not sure what to write and how to describe each stage adequately and most of the time left the cells empty because some basic knowledge of materials science was required. However, due to the matrix structure, the tool users demonstrated that the matrix helped them look into the life cycle perspective and holistic Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 14 of 20

view of the product effectively and ensured the accuracy of their common sense about environmental problems. Overall, the common challenges in applying these simpliﬁed LCA tools for designers were how to derive and input the data such as the mass, weight, transportation distance, and product performance (i.e., quantitative and qualitative data) prior to conducting an environmental assessment and how to ensure that those data are adequate for evaluation. The results also revealed opportunities in the application of those tools such that designers or tool users can understand the big picture of the product’s life cycle and think thoroughly to reduce the environmental impacts as well as compare different materials and processes for the ﬁnal decision making.

Table 5. Reﬂections on user experience in the challenges and opportunities of simpliﬁed LCA tool application.

Simpliﬁed LCA Tools Challenges Opportunities

- The availability of databases is not very - Facilitate calculation and iteration. extensive for the moment. - Possibly adapt and include this tool in - Entering the data into the software takes the product design of a company. some time. Quantitative approach ECO-it - Enable comparing simple alternatives - Several parts are too small or too light to with the same type of product. weigh and cannot be accountable for the - Easier to use than expected. assessment.

- Several parts are too small to weigh and cannot be accountable for the calculation. If several toxic substances - Discover the environmental hotspots are hidden, this may not be considered. based on product life cycle. - Several parts are too small or too light to - Present a wide range of information. weigh. - Quantitative indicators can be used to - No Eco-indicator scores for composite compare the impacts between the materials such as the mica plate or product’s life cycle phases more Eco-indicators chemical coating such as precisely and clearly. polytetraﬂuoroethylene (Teﬂon®). - Show the factors that substantially - No Eco-indicator scores for brass, impact or contribute the most to the porcelain, nylon, and silicone. environment considerably. - Requires math skills. - Learn and compare the environmental - Unit conversion problems as a result of impact of materials from the indicator miscalculation. scores. - Lack of a local database, for example, road transport by motorbike.

- See more clearly from a life cycle perspective and a holistic view of the - Requires basic knowledge of materials product. science. - Can be used to recheck and ensure the Qualitative approach MET matrix - Not sure what to write and how to accuracy of our common sense about describe each stage properly. environmental problems. - Easy to apply.

Regarding the participant observation in the classroom, several groups of students experienced difficulty during reverse engineering (i.e., disassembly session); for example, several of the electronic components cannot be disassembled by hand (e.g., printed circuit board [PCB], motor, plug power cord, light-emitting diode [LED], fuse, thermostat, and adapter), and there are several unknown materials, especially plastics and composite materials. These challenges raised an issue on how crucial the importance of design for disassembly is for further material recovery and waste management aspects that designers need to consider. Furthermore, after an hour of three different simplified LCA tool trainings, the participants showed a good ability to use the tools during the in-classroom activity. Several positive comments were raised during the tool implementation such as “the software tool is more user friendly than expected,” “applying the tools helps to generate new ideas,” and “the Eco-indicator scores broaden some environmental knowledge about materials and processes.” However, several complaints, namely, how to define the Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 15 of 20

right functional unit, intensive time consumption in data collection, and complicated steps in data input to the software, were noted during tool application.

5. Discussion In this section, the crucial points of this study are discussed considering four aspects of applying simpliﬁed LCA tools in sustainable design pedagogy: the opportunities, the challenges, the further suggestions, and the limitations.

5.1. Opportunities The highlight of the practical application of simplified LCA tools from the design students’ reflections is to focus on and emphasize the environmental hotspots based on the life cycle perspective that designers might ignore such as the use phase and the end of life of the products. The design students can identify the main negative contribution in each phase of the product’s life cycle and compare the impact between different materials and processes by looking through the Eco-indicator scores to propose impact reduction concepts of a new product design proposal accordingly. The study of Bright and Boks [9] showed designers’ supporting opinions on the utility of LCA in Ecodesign, namely, identifying remarkable environmental aspects, evaluating environmental trade-offs, and being useful in creativity and early design phases. The result of this study is in agreement with that of the study of Bright and Boks [9] that the application of simplified LCA tools can help design students propose new design concepts in an incremental change. They are mostly based on the level of product improvement, product redesign, and function innovation, which are not yet represented in a radical change in the level of system innovation. The tools assist in delicately redesigning product structure and performance, especially in energy consumption during the use phase. This positive feedback represents the importance of how simplified LCA tools can enhance design performance in the environmental aspect of sustainability. The study of Piekarski et al. also supported that the integration of the LCA software tool within the design course is inspiring and useful for students’ future careers [51]. Previous studies of Bright and Boks [9], Rio et al. [26], and Piekarski et al. [51] addressed a crucial requirement of collaboration between designers and LCA experts to foster the systematically integrated environmental aspects into the design process. The need of adhering to a cross-industry innovation process can be emphasized to improve the performance of environmental innovation, such as new business models, new ventures and spin-offs, and new markets of technology application [52]. New design proposals at the level of system innovation can lead to system, institutional, and societal changes.

5.2. Challenges The results of the literature review showed several obstacles in the application of LCA- based tools such as time limitation, defining the functional unit, and limited utilization in product design [2,7,9,35,53]. These issues were also mentioned in the students’ reflections and emerged from the in-classroom activity observation. Moreover, the students shared several difficulties in disassembling parts and components of the selected home appliances (i.e., PCB, motor, plug power cord, LED, fuse, thermostat, and adapter) and finding the right Eco-indicator scores for unknown materials and processes. Furthermore, taking PCBs and LEDs apart was the most troublesome activity because they could not be separated manually by type of material. Special separation techniques such as shredding and crushing are required in practice at the end of home appliances’ life. Therefore, unknown plastics and other materials were assumed for the assessment, which might cause an error in the results of the environmental impact because several embedded toxic substances cannot be considered. For example, an Eco-indicator score of brass was not in the Eco-indicator 99 Manual for Designers [25] but was categorized in a group of other nonferrous metals (e.g., zinc, brass, and chromium) in the Eco-indicator 95 Manual for Designers, with the score ranging from 50 to 200 mPt [44]. The wide range of scores and unknown embedded substances can affect the assessment result and seems an unavoidable problem. In this Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 16 of 20

case, the availability of the database related to materials, manufacturing processes, and transportation modes is a noteworthy issue. Some common materials, labor-intensive processes, and short-distance transportation options cannot be found yet in the simplified LCA database. The social aspect of sustainability also cannot be tackled sufficiently by applying the three simplified LCA tools. Nevertheless, the matrix types tend to have a high potential to integrate a social issue into consideration during the design process. The tools that can enhance systems thinking and a holistic perspective of sustainability, especially the social aspect, are crucial to achieve the level of system innovation.

5.3. Further Suggestions The obstacles in the parts and components disassembly of the home appliances clearly review the crucial requirement in design for standardization, design for disassembly, and modularity in design for electrical and electronic products. Moreover, the Eco-indicator scores of the electronic components such as the LED, plug power cord, and PCB should be presented in an amount in mPt per unit or per standard size of the components instead of per mass of the components in kilograms. Furthermore, the information about new materials, processes, and transportation modes should be included and possibly updated in the simplified LCA database by the tool users. On this basis, designers can easily access the database and select appropriate data for the impact assessment. Given these obstacles, products with various numbers of components, such as electrical and electronic products, might not be a recommended choice for a design student or a beginner to learn how to apply LCA-based tools in practicing the Ecodesign process. Frequency and duration of practice are required to improve the learning curve of the simplified LCA tools. Moreover, some other simple products should be reconsidered for the first-time implementation. For example, painting brushes were applied in the LCA-based Ecodesign teaching practice of Piekarski et al. [51]. The study of Bright and Boks [9] underlined the design team needs; these requirements are a designer-friendly LCA-based tool, a tailor-made tool to meet a design team’s specific needs across varying industries, and a tool to help interpret the LCA results as important guidelines in the designer’s language. Various simplified LCA tools have been developed to match the design team’s needs [3,6,19]. For software-based LCA tools, a framework of resolving interfaces between usual design and Ecodesign software was presented [26], and a university–industry collaboration of introducing a real case in LCA with Ecodesign considerations was proposed [51]. The three simplified LCA tools used in this study perform with a good designer-friendly interface and a potential to be applied with various types of products. However, they do not yet cover the need for facilitation in interpreting LCA results and providing any designer’s language guidelines. As a result, a design guideline at the different levels of sustainable innovation should be embedded and/or linked to the simplified LCA tools for designers to apply in sustainable design pedagogy and professional practice. By doing this, the LCA result can practically facilitate and fully support industrial designers in creating a design proposal to achieve a high level of system innovation. Over the past two decades, the study of Adams et al. [11] showed that the foundations of sustainable business practice began to be established, as reflected in many prominent environmentally and socially concerned platforms and initiatives for a business being set up and created. The research results of Skordoulis et al. [52] revealed a moderate level of environmental innovation implemented in firms. The most implemented practices were the ISO 14001 management systems and the toxic substances usage reduction. However, environmental product innovation was found to be the least implemented practice [52]. To enhance a positive perspective for competitive advantage development such as improving the reputation and customers’ views of firms, more attention in environmental education should be paid to integrating innovation into their strategy and performance improvements [52]. Bright and Boks [9] also supported that LCA can be of good use in Ecodesign if it is embedded into the company structure. Firm competitive advantage may be possibly Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 17 of 20

enhanced by pursuing open innovation (i.e., using knowledge from internal and external environments of the firms) through co-creation, mitigation of climate change and environmental impact, and life cycle and energy efficiency by generating the university–industry relationship to improve simplified LCA and Ecodesign in product and process innovation. Different firm sizes tend to affect types of LCA tool implementation. The simplified LCA tools seem to be an effective starting point for small- and medium-sized firms.

5.4. Limitations Only three simplified LCA tools were implemented in this study. The result from this implementation more or less cannot be representative of all simplified LCA tool types. Furthermore, the Eco-redesign project was executed and applied only to electrical and electronic products. The other products in some other industries, such as textile, food, and automotive industries, should be considered a case study in the future. The other limitation is that the total number of participants (n = 48) for four consecutive years and the variety of home appliances selected (n = 11) in this study were quite low. Further research design, data collection, and analysis of the simplified LCA tool testing with Ecodesign among newly recruited design students must continue to be implemented to compare and validate the results. Finally, this implementation was conducted in an academic setting only. The tool implementation with a real case and an academia–industry connection should be considered, as in the study of Piekarski et al. [51], in order to reveal the results.

6. Conclusions When introducing three different simplified LCA tools, namely, ECO-it software, Eco-indicators, and the MET matrix, to industrial design students for application in the Eco- redesign project, 12 out of 16 groups of the students selected Eco-indicators to assess the life cycle impact of the chosen products and complete the assigned tasks. The 11 selected home appliances were evaluated for their environmental hotspots. The results show that seven of them (i.e., electric pot, juicer, sandwich maker, hairdryer, iron, headphones, and water heater) have the highest impact in the use phase, three of them (i.e., toaster, blender, and CD player) have a substantial impact in the production phase, and one of them (i.e., speakers) has the highest impact in either the use or production phase depending on the duration of use and product lifetime defined in the functional unit. New redesign proposals represent a positive potential of applying the simplified LCA tools to achieve the level of function innovation in sustainable innovation. However, the effectiveness to reach a higher level at system innovation has not been well achieved yet. Four major challenges remain in improving the eco-efficiency of the products in the early stages of development by applying the simplified LCA tools in sustainable design pedagogy. First, the needs for tool training and providing descriptive instruction are necessary for the first-time environmental evaluation of the products. Second, an issue in data preparation and input is the most time-consuming process. The availability of the database related to new types of materials, labor-intensive manufacturing processes, and short-distance transportation modes is also required. Third, the complexity of a study product can affect the precision of data selection and LCA results. Finally, the social aspect of sustainability might be overlooked in design concept generation due to some concerns of calculation skills and basic knowledge of material selection required during the impact assessment procedure. By applying the tools in the context of sustainable design pedagogy, the design students can gain various benefits in many ways, such as facilitating them to consider environmental problems delicately in all phases of the product life cycle and realizing the importance of design for disassembly, design for standardization, and modular design in electrical and electronic products, as well as improving their environmental and social critical and analytical skills to achieve a radical change in the level of system innovation. Further study on tool testing with newly recruited industrial design students should continue to be implemented to compare and validate the results. Moreover, the other types of products, a real-world case application, and an academia–industry partnership Sustainability 2021, 13, 2406 18 of 20

should be considered for future study of the simpliﬁed LCA tool implementation. Finally, a collaboration between industrial designers, scholars, and LCA specialists’ communities should be symbiosed to create more effective, user-friendly ways of LCA implementation.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, S.S. and K.T.; methodology, S.S.; formal analysis, S.S.; investigation, S.S.; resources, K.T.; data curation, S.S.; writing—original draft preparation, S.S.; writing—review and editing, S.S., K.T., and A.H.H.; visualization, S.S.; supervision, A.H.H.; project administration, K.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Funding: This research received no external funding. Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable. Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions. Acknowledgments: The authors express their gratitude to the Department of Industrial Design, Chulalongkorn University for student participation and facility support, and the Institute of Envi- ronmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology for financial support. The authors also thank KGSupport for their editing services. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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