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Eco-innovation of a wooden childhood furniture set: an example of environmental solutions in the wood sector.
Sci Total Environ. 2012 Jun 01; 426:318-26.ST

Abstract

The environmental profile of a set of wood furniture was carried out to define the best design criteria for its eco-design. A baby cot convertible into a bed, a study desk and a bedside table were the objects of study. Two quantitative and qualitative environmental approaches were combined in order to propose improvement alternatives: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Design for Environment (DfE). In the first case Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to identify the hot spots in the product system. As a next step, LCA information was used in eco-briefing to determine several improvement alternatives. A wood products company located in Catalonia (NE Spain) was assessed in detail, dividing the process into three stages: assembly, finishing and packaging. Ten impact categories were considered in the LCA study: abiotic depletion, acidification, eutrophication, global warming, ozone layer depletion, human toxicity, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity and photochemical oxidant formation. Two processes can be considered the key environmental factors: the production of the wooden boards and electricity, with contributions of 45-68% and 14-33% respectively depending on the impact categories. Subsequently, several improvement alternatives were proposed in the eco-design process (DfE) to achieve reductions in a short-medium period of time in the environmental impact. These eco-design strategies could reduce the environmental profile of the setup by 14%. The correct methodological adaptation of the concept of eco-briefing, as a tool for communication among environmental technicians and designers, the simplification of the analytical tool used and the LCA, could facilitate the environmental analysis of a product. The results obtained provide information that can help the furniture sector to improve their environmental performance.

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Publisher Full Text

Authors+Show Affiliations

González-García S
Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782-Santiago de Compostela, Spain. s.gonzalez-garcia@imperial.ac.uk
García Lozano R
No affiliation info available
Moreira MT
No affiliation info available
Gabarrell X
No affiliation info available
Rieradevall i Pons J
No affiliation info available
Feijoo G
No affiliation info available
Murphy RJ
No affiliation info available

MeSH

Conservation of Natural ResourcesHumansInterior Design and FurnishingsManufactured MaterialsRefuse DisposalSpainWaste ProductsWood

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22542234

Citation

González-García, Sara, et al. "Eco-innovation of a Wooden Childhood Furniture Set: an Example of Environmental Solutions in the Wood Sector." The Science of the Total Environment, vol. 426, 2012, pp. 318-26.
González-García S, García Lozano R, Moreira MT, et al. Eco-innovation of a wooden childhood furniture set: an example of environmental solutions in the wood sector. Sci Total Environ. 2012;426:318-26.
González-García, S., García Lozano, R., Moreira, M. T., Gabarrell, X., Rieradevall i Pons, J., Feijoo, G., & Murphy, R. J. (2012). Eco-innovation of a wooden childhood furniture set: an example of environmental solutions in the wood sector. The Science of the Total Environment, 426, 318-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.03.077
González-García S, et al. Eco-innovation of a Wooden Childhood Furniture Set: an Example of Environmental Solutions in the Wood Sector. Sci Total Environ. 2012 Jun 1;426:318-26. PubMed PMID: 22542234.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Eco-innovation of a wooden childhood furniture set: an example of environmental solutions in the wood sector. AU - González-García,Sara, AU - García Lozano,Raúl, AU - Moreira,M Teresa, AU - Gabarrell,Xavier, AU - Rieradevall i Pons,Joan, AU - Feijoo,Gumersindo, AU - Murphy,Richard J, Y1 - 2012/04/25/ PY - 2012/01/23/received PY - 2012/03/27/revised PY - 2012/03/28/accepted PY - 2012/5/1/entrez PY - 2012/5/1/pubmed PY - 2012/8/16/medline SP - 318 EP - 26 JF - The Science of the total environment JO - Sci Total Environ VL - 426 N2 - The environmental profile of a set of wood furniture was carried out to define the best design criteria for its eco-design. A baby cot convertible into a bed, a study desk and a bedside table were the objects of study. Two quantitative and qualitative environmental approaches were combined in order to propose improvement alternatives: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Design for Environment (DfE). In the first case Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to identify the hot spots in the product system. As a next step, LCA information was used in eco-briefing to determine several improvement alternatives. A wood products company located in Catalonia (NE Spain) was assessed in detail, dividing the process into three stages: assembly, finishing and packaging. Ten impact categories were considered in the LCA study: abiotic depletion, acidification, eutrophication, global warming, ozone layer depletion, human toxicity, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity and photochemical oxidant formation. Two processes can be considered the key environmental factors: the production of the wooden boards and electricity, with contributions of 45-68% and 14-33% respectively depending on the impact categories. Subsequently, several improvement alternatives were proposed in the eco-design process (DfE) to achieve reductions in a short-medium period of time in the environmental impact. These eco-design strategies could reduce the environmental profile of the setup by 14%. The correct methodological adaptation of the concept of eco-briefing, as a tool for communication among environmental technicians and designers, the simplification of the analytical tool used and the LCA, could facilitate the environmental analysis of a product. The results obtained provide information that can help the furniture sector to improve their environmental performance. SN - 1879-1026 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/22542234/Eco_innovation_of_a_wooden_childhood_furniture_set:_an_example_of_environmental_solutions_in_the_wood_sector_ L2 - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0048-9697(12)00481-0 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -