Handbook of Sustainable Engineering

I am happy to announce the upcoming Handbook of Sustainable Engineering. As editor of this publication I would like to invite practicioneers from industry as well as academic researchers to contribute their experiences and send in abstracts.
If you are interested please refer to:
Handbook of Sustainable Engineering

Pro Carton Event Vienna

Our next generation understanding of sustainable products has been appreciated at the Pro Carton event in Vienna.
Summary of the talk.

Do you like honey?

We love it! Especially the one from our own hives.

Do you know about the Varroa mite? A parasite that is endangering bee populations in Europe, US and New Zealand. This mite is currently controlled using chemicals in the bee hive. We are developing an innovative treatment using heat instead of chemicals.

First set of tests show promising results. The ECODESIGN Varroa-Controller will be introduced to the market soon.

PS: It is not only about honey but about our food security: No bees mean no pollination resulting in less or no fruit and vegetables.

Carbon Footprint of products

These days large retailers assess their Greenhouse Gas emissions by looking at their supply chain in addition to their own operations. Currently an ISO standard for calculating and communicating the carbon footprint of produts is on the way.

What is your strategy to respond to such requirements?

Need help to understand the footprint of your product or need help to certify your calculations?  We offer tailor made solutions for you.

A detailed understanding of the carbon footprint is also a basis for target oriented product improvements.

Environmental Product Declaration

Consumers are paying more and more attention to the environmental performance of products. Especially in the B2B market Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) based on Life Cycle Assessment results are an excellent tool to communicate the environmental performance.

How does the environmental performance of your product look like?

Did you know that in France EPD will be mandatory by 2011 for all consumer products?

Three major crises we face today

We do face three major crises today. These are:

1. Global warming – climate change
2. Energy crises including Peak Oil
3. Food crises

All the three crises are interrelated. Question are today:

• How can a company prepare and adapt to the challenges of the future?
• How do the crises and their consequences effect the business model?
• What to do in order to stay competitive and successful on the market?

Answers to these and other questions we develop for our customers using the Sustainability Wheel based on our experience in developing sustainable technical solutions.

Interested? Call us today: +43 1 40 35 611 30

Re-shirt

Re-Shirt is a completely new approach to resource efficiency. Re-Shirt is giving a new life to T-shirts. Saving 10.000 Litre of water per T-shirt compare to conventional production.

What do you think about this new way of dealing with resources?

Email me know your opinion.

Environmental Audit

I am just coming back from a trip to Hong Kong doing an Environmental Audit at a plastic manufacturer in China. Significant energy saving potentials could be identified. Key Environmental Performance Indicators (KEPI) to monitor the energy performance have been developed and the cost improvements potential motivates to do even more in reducing the energy consumption in manufacturing plastic products.

If you are interested to carry out an Environmental Audit at your own products or manufacturing site please contact me.

ECODESIGN Workshop at the ICED 2007 in Paris

At the workshop on the 27th of August in Paris a product from a selected company was analysed with several scientific methods and approaches from scientists and experts from universities and research organisations active in ECODESIGN. The resulting improvement recommendations were evaluated and ranked based on their importance by all participants. The company now possessess a clear catalogue of prioritized tasks to be implemented based on the scientific state-of-the-art ECODESIGN knowledge and expertise. 

All participants are looking forward to the practical results to be presented by the company at the next workshop in 6 months. 

 

The ECODESIGN Special Interest Group aims at linking scientific research results from active universities and research centers with companies that are ready for implementing ECODESIGN methods for their benefit. 

Links

http://www.designsociety.org/ed-sig

 

ECODESIGN Tutorials

The ECODESIGN software tools for environmental product design can now be tested for their functionality and applicability in your organisation.

In just a few steps we are demonstrating and explaining how to use the freely accessible online tools with simple product examples.

Join us in the search for ideas to develop environmentally conscious products, products that do not only have a better environmental performance but also better operability, producibility and costs structure.

Use this to amplify your benefit and invite your customers, suppliers and partners to join you.

Ecodesign Tutorials from the Ecodesign Research Group at the Vienna University of Technology

I am happy to answer your questions and discuss ideas with you – do not hesitate to contact me.