Research Publications

A life cycle design demonstration project was initiated between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Dow Chemical Company, and the University of Mic...

This paper highlights results from a collaborative life-cycle design project between the University of Michigan, the US Environemtal Protection Agency and United Solar Systems Corporation. Energy anal...

The U.S. EPA initiated the Common Sense Initiative (CSI) to develop "Cleaner, Cheaper, Smarter" environmental policy and management practices. This paper addresses the application of life cycle design...

Environmental management practices are currently undergoing two important shifts. First, companies, policy makers, environmental organizations and other stakeholders are increasingly focusing on the e...

Water-based cleaning of specialty garments is emerging as a potential alternative to dry cleaning. Perchloroethylene, the solvent used in dry cleaning, poses significant human and ecosystem health ...

This project presents and analyzes major findings of the "Industrial Ecology of the Automobile" Seminar Series, conducted by the former National Pollution Prevention Center (NPPC) now the Center for S...

Design offers an excellent opportunity to reduce environmental burdens associated with products and processes, which ultimately can lead to a more sustainable relationship between economic and ecologi...

The toxicity and use of the naturally occurring element mercury has been recognized for thousands of years. The state of Michigan has identified mercury as one of the primary pollutants of concern for...

The life cycle design framework was applied to photovoltaic module design. Two metrics were used to assess life cycle energy performance of a PV module: energy payback time and electricity production ...

    Evaluating Environmental Performance: A Case Study in the Flat Panel Display Industry develops a four step framework for evaluating environmental performance and explores how a manu...

Life cycle design (LCD) is a framework for designing product systems which are both economically and ecologically sustainable. Key elements of this framework are systems analysis, multicriteria ana...

The life cycle design framework developed at the University of Michigan was applied by AlliedSignal to improve the manufacture, use, and end-of-life management of automobile oil filters. Three oil fil...

Researchers at the University of Michigan applied their life cycle design framework in a research project with Optical Imaging Systems (OIS). OIS is a US manufacturer of high-performance, active-matri...

Product design offers tremendous opportunities for achieving pollution prevention. Through integration of environmental requirements into the earliest stages of product development, adverse environmen...

This document offers a guidance and practical experience for integrating environmental considerations into product system development. Life cycle design seeks to minimize the environmental burden a...

Most people don't think about how their clothes are going to be cleaned when they drop them off at a neighborhood dry cleaner. They are only interested in receiving professionally cleaned and pressed ...

INTRODUCTION Former journal title: Water Resources Update, until June 2004 On September 26, 1968, the National Water Commission (NWC) was established in the United States as a consequence o...

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 sy...

The environmental profile of goods and services that satisfy our individual and societal needs is shaped by design activities. Substantial evidence suggests that current patterns of human activity ...