A combination of life cycle assessment and knowledge based engineering to evaluate the sustainability of industrial products

Abstract

The Life Cycle Thinking and the Knowledge Based Engineering approaches can be integrated in order to allow a preliminary-rough but effective Life Cycle Assessment, since the first phases of the design of an industrial product. In the present paper, we propose a general framework considering a number of different aspects, mainly concerning the manufacturing choices, but also related to the design of the product. The aim is to overcome the eco design paradox and to provide a tool supporting designer during the product concept to increase its sustainability.