Life Cycle Design Guidance Manual: Environmental Requirements And
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United States Office of Research and EPA!600/R-92/226 Environmental Protection Development January 1993 Agency . Washington, DC 20460 . aEPA Life Cycle Design PB93-164507 Guidance Manual Environmental Requirements and The Product System Refl'OOuct'd by: National TechDcial Infonnalion Service us. Depattmelt ofCornrnerce Springfield, VA 22161 TECHNICAL REPORT DATA (Plt:au rt:ad IflStrut:tions on tht: rt:I't:ru bt:fort: com"lt:tin' 1. REPORT NO. 2 , 3. R PB9 3-16IJ50 1 EPA/600/R-92/226 1 • ---,-- 4. TITL.E AND SUBTITL.E 5. REPORT DATE Life Cycle Design Guidance Manual: Environmental January 1993 Requirements and the Product System 6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION COOE 7. AUTHORIS) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NO. 'Gregory A. Keoleian and Dan Menerey 9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME ANO ADDRESS 10, PROGRAM EL.EMENT NO. National Pollution Prevention Center CBRD1A University of Michigan 11. CONTRACT/GRANT NO. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115 CR817570 12. SPONSORING AGENCY NAME AND ADDRESS 13. TYPE OF REPORT AND PERIOD COVERED Final reoort Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory 14. SPONSORING AGENCY CODE Office of Research and Development U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA/600/14 r;nr;nn;:,ti nhi,., l1l;?I=.A 1S. SUPPL.EMENTARY NOTES Project Officer: Mary Ann Curran, 513-569-7837 16. ABSTRACT This document seeks to promote the reduction of environmental impacts and health risks through a systems approach to design. The approach is based on the product life cycle, which includes raw materials acquisition and processing, manufacturing, use/service, resource recovery, and disposal. A life cycle design framework was developed to provide gUidance for more effectively conserving resources and energy, preventing pollution, and reducing the aggregate environmental impacts and health risks associated with a product system. This framework addresses the product, process, distribution, and management/information components of each product system. Concepts such as concurrent design, cross-disciplinary teams,. multi-objective decision making, and total cost assessment are essential elements of the framework. Life cycle design emphasizes integrating environmental requirements into the earliest phases of design and successfully balancing these requirements with all other necessary performance, cost, cultural, and 1egal criteria. A multi-layer requirements matrix is proposed to assist the design team in identifying design requirements and ~esolving the conflicts between them. Design strategies for meeting environmental requirements are then provided. Finally, environmental analysis tools and life cycle accounting methods are presented for evaluating design alternatives. 17. KEY WOR'DS AND DOCUMENT ANALYSIS .. ~. DESCRIPTORS b.IDENTIFIERS/OPEN ENDED TERMS C. COSATI field(Group Design Design for the Product environment - process System Life Cycle 18. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT 19. SECURITY CL.ASS (Tllis Rt:po,rJ 21. NO. OF PAGES Unclasc;ified 190 Release to Public 20. SECURITY CL.ASS (This pagt:J 22. PRICE Unclassified EPA FOf'" 2220-1 (R .... 4-77) P"EVIOUS EOITION IS OBSOLETE EPA600/R-92/226 January 1993 LIFE CYCLE DESIGN GUIDANCE MANUAL Environmental Requirements and The Product System Gregory A. Keoleian Dan Menerey National Pollution Prevention Center University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115 Cooperative Agreement #817570 Project Officer Mary Ann Curran Pollution Prevention Research Branch Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory Cincinnati, Ohio 45268 RISK REDUCTION ENGINEERING LABORATORY OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY CINCINNATI,OH 45268 @ Printed on Recycled Paper PROTECTED UNDER INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCe NOTICE The information in this document was funded wholly by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Cooperative Agreement #817570 to the University of Michigan. It has been subjected to the Agency's peer and administrative review and has been approved for publica tion as an EPA document. This approval does not necessarily signify that the contents reflect the views and policies of the US EPA. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not consti tute endorsement or recommendation for use. ii PREFACE This guidance manual was developed as part of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Pollution Prevention Research Program. Through such research the EPA seeks to facilitate the development of technologies and products that result in reduced aggregate generation of pollutants across all media. The Life Cycle Design project was initiated to reduce environmental impacts and health risks through product and process design and development. For the last two decades the life cycle framework has been used principally for environmental analysis of products. Resource use and the generation of residuals or wastes have been quantified by performing inventory analyses of product life cycle systems. The basic methodology for inventory analysis is documented in Product Life-Cycle Assessment: Inventory Guidelines and Principles ~PN600/R-92r;.'fSwhich was published by the Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory of the EPA. Life cycle design is the application of the life cycle framework to product system design. The product system includes product, process, distribution, and management/information components. This project has been organized into two phases: Phase I - preparation of the first edition of this manual and Phase II - life cycle design demonstration projects. In Phase I, an investigation of the design literature and interviews with design professionals contributed to the development of goals, principles and a framework for life cycle design. Life cycle design is a proactive approach for integrating pollution prevention and resource conservation strategies into the development of more ecologically and economically sustainable product systems. Cross media pollutant transfer and the shifting of other impacts can be avoided by addressing the entire life cycle, which includes raw materials acquisition, materials processing, manufacturing and assembly, use and service, retirement, disposal and the ultimate fate ofresiduals. The goal of life cycle design is to minimize aggregate risks and impacts over this life cycle. This goal can only be attained through the balancing of environmental, performance, cost, cultural, legal, and technical requirements of the product system. Concepts such as concurrent design, total quality management, cross-disciplinary teams, and multi-attribute decision making are essential elements of life cycle design that help meet these goals. The complexity of product system design is a function of the conflict between various classes of design criteria, self-interests of the life cycle participants, and the time-cycles affecting product system development and implementation. Consequently, design activities to reduce aggregate environmental impacts and risks must be coordinated using a systems-oriented approach. The framework for life cycle design was developed to be applicable for all product domains. Individual firms are expected to interpret the manual for their own specific applications. The manual was written to assist not only design professionals but all other constituents who have an important role in life cycle design including corporate executives, product managers, production workers, distributors, environmental health and safety staff, purchasers, accountants, marketers, salespersons, legal staff, consumers, and government regulators. A coordinated effort is required to institute changes needed for successful implementation of life cycle design. iii Both AT&T Bell Labs and Allied Signal are participating in Phase II: Life Cycle Design Demon stration Projects. The purpose of these projects is to demonstrate the efficacy of life cycle design, and encourage its use by other fInns. The University of Michigan research group also welcomes comments and suggestions from other readers. Please direct your comments to Dr. Greg Keoleian at the address given below. National Pollution Prevention Center University of Michigan Dana Building 430 E. University Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1115 Greg Keoleian and Dan Menerey December 1992 iv ABSTRACT This document seeks to promote the reduction of environmental impacts and health risks through a systems approach to design. The approach is based on the product life cycle, which includes raw materials acquisition and processing, manufacturing, use/service, resource recovery, and disposal. A life cycle design framework was developed to provide guidance for more effectively conserving resources and energy, preventing pollution, and reducing the aggregate environmental impacts and health risks associated with a product system. This framework addresses the product, process, distribution, and management/information components of each product system. Concepts such as concurrent design, cross-disciplinary teams, multi-objective decision making, and total cost assessment are essential elements of the framework. Life cycle design emphasizes integrating environmental requirements into the earliest phases of design and successfully balancing these requirements with all other necessary performance, cost, cultural, and legal criteria. A multi-layer requirements matrix is proposed to assist the design team in identifying design requirements and resolving the conflicts between them. Design strategies for meeting environmental requirements are then provided.