Embedded Files
Lesson Overview:
In this lesson, you will learn that the manner in which we approach any design project requires us as engineering or architects to use Whole System and LifeCycle thinking, especially given the fact that all projects have an environmental impact in terms greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other
Objectives:
In this lesson, you will learn what Whole System and LifeCycle thinking is and why it is an essential component of any viable sustainable design strategy.
A. Process
Whether you’re looking for ways to incorporate lifecycle thinking into your design process, design products with smarter use of energy and materials, or design net zero energy building, there are resources that can help!
1. Whole Systems and Lifecycle Thinking
Everything we make creates environmental impact throughout its lifecycle. To drive innovation while reducing these impacts, set environmental goals and identify the right problems to solve early in the design process.
Everything we make creates environmental impact throughout its lifecycle. To drive innovation while reducing these impacts, set environmental goals and identify the right problems to solve early in the design process.
The things we make create environmental impacts throughout their lifecycles, from manufacturing to disposal.
Whole Systems and Lifecycle Thinking involves looking at the big picture to understand how products or buildings are made, used and disposed of. This can help you identify where environmental and social impacts occur, and make changes to improve your design.
2. Incorporating Sustainability into the Design Process
The best opportunities for saving resources like materials and energy can often be uncovered early in the design process by identifying the most important problems to solve. Whole systems thinking can lead to new design inspirations by helping expand the problem definition and uncovering novel solutions to reduce environmental impacts.
Lifecycle thinking allows you to quantify environmental impacts so that you can prioritize, set metrics around, and most effectively reduce them. This process is not just about making things “less bad.” It can help unlock your creativity and lead to game-changing innovations.
3. Tools for Whole Systems and Lifecycle Thinking
In addition to the resources on this website, refer to the Okala Guide. This printed guide available from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) provides an introduction to sustainable design, contains basic LCA data, and outlines a simplified process for LCA. The environmental impact data is combined and weighted in standardized units to allow easier decision making.
The following software tools can help you quantify the environmental impact of your designs:
Eco-Materials Adviser: This tool within Autodesk Inventor provides environmental impact data on materials. It can help you make decisions around materials and process selection based on embodied CO2, energy, water, and cost. While it’s not a full LCA, it is designed to inform material selection early in the design process.
Sustainable Minds: This web-based LCA tool can help you estimate, evaluate, compare and track the environmental and human health performance of products throughout their lifecycle, in the earliest stages of design.
Assignments:
Turn in an electronic, comprehensive set of Cornell Notes delineating what you have read, discussed, and watched (e.g., movie) and Whole System and LifeCycle Thinking.
References:
Factor Ten Engineering Design Principles (See Attachment below)
WSLC - Sustainability Quick Reference (See Attachment below)
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse