Integrating economic input–output life cycle assessment with risk assessment for a screening-level analysis

Wright, Heather E.; Zhang, Qiong; Mihelcic, James R.

doi:10.1007/s11367-008-0006-z

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Further, most of these studies have focused on apparel products or specifically on textile dyes and other finishes Pammi et al 2012;Wright et al 2008). Dissemination of findings from the present study may help to foster the integration of more sustainable practices in the production and consumption of interior textile products, which, in turn, will mitigate some of the negative impacts of these products on human health and the environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Planned obsolescence has become so commonplace in the industry over the last 20 years that the term fast fashion has been coined to specifically denote low-cost clothing that imitates luxury fashion trends and encourages disposability (Joy et al 2012). More recently, the term fast furnishings has been applied to the design of low-cost home/soft furnishings, which similarly involves shortened cycles in the manufacturing, marketing, and consumption of residential and commercial interior textile products such as upholstery, window treatments, carpet/rugs, bedding, and decorative pillows, and likewise can have deleterious impacts on human health and the natural environment (Araji and Shakour 2013;Rastogi 2009;Wright et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chemical finishes and adhesives applied during the production stage (e.g., stain and flame retardants) may be released into the environment during the later stages of product consumption and disposal. For example, decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE) is a hazardous chemical commonly used as a flame retardant finish for interior furnishings that can seep into the ground during its slow decomposition and thereby negatively impact the health of humans and wildlife (Tremblay et al 1999;Wright et al 2008). Despite the regulation of hazardous chemicals in the USA and Europe, much of the world's textile manufacturing has moved to countries where the environmental standards are less strict and hazardous chemicals are more likely to be used during production (Abreu et al 2012;Niinimäki and Hassi 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An exploration of designers’ perspectives on human health and environmental impacts of interior textiles

Calamari

Hyllegard

2016

Text Cloth Sustain

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Fast fashion and fast furnishings contribute to the unsustainability of the textile industry in multiple ways, and the deleterious impacts of fast furnishings, in particular, have encouraged some companies to embrace more holistic and sustainable approaches to interior textile design. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore designers' perspectives on if and how decisions made during the design process for interior textiles may impact human health and the environment throughout the product life cycle, and if and how these decisions may be influenced by the engagement with and/or responsibilities toward stakeholders. This research was informed by multiple frameworks, including the design for the environment (DfE), product life cycle assessment (LCA), and stakeholder theory. Data were collected using an interpretive, qualitative research method that involved in-depth interviews with 12 US designers/design managers who specialize in the development of residential and/or commercial interior textiles. Findings revealed that participants demonstrated professional understanding of human health and environmental issues during the preliminary stages of the life cycle, including raw material selection, textile fabrication, and finishes and treatments, whereas understanding of such issues at the later stages of the life cycle (packaging and transportation, consumer care, and post use) tended to be more theoretical rather than strategic. Findings also revealed differences among designers employed by DfE-oriented companies and designers employed at more conventional companies with respect to their apparent understanding of how decisions made during the design process may impact human health and the environment throughout the product life cycle. This research contributes to our understanding of the role that designers may play in mitigating the negative impacts of interior textiles throughout the product life cycle. A limitation of this study is the size of the sample; conclusions are based upon the insights gained from 12 designers of interior textile products, and thus may not be generalizable to all designers/companies in the residential and/or commercial interior textile industry.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An exploration of designers’ perspectives on human health and environmental impacts of interior textiles

Calamari

Hyllegard

2016

Text Cloth Sustain

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“…One of the advantages of this approach is its ability to produce rapid screening-level inventories (Wright et al 2008) but high variations occur due to the necessary assumptions on prices (Moberg et al 2014), and monetary input output tables may violate the underlying mass balance. Unless no detailed data on the difference in consumer prices is available, mass based information should be preferred before monetary input output tables are applied (Merciai and Heijungs 2014).…”

Section: Simplification Of Life Cycle Inventory Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring energy efficiency and environmental impact of the woodworking industry in Germany

Diederichs¹

2015

Eur. J. Wood Prod.

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The forest wood chain is affected by the current policy framework in context with environmental and energy related issues in many ways. But since policy instruments interfere with certain parts of the forest-wood chain separately, there is no holistic monitoring installed which follows the development of the complete chain. Especially the development of environmental aspects of the production of wood products is a rather black spot. To include the environmental impact of the woodworking industry in long term evaluations of political decisions taken today, the monitoring of its changes is indispensable. The article presents a monitoring approach which combines comprehensive life cycle inventory data on product level with historical data on sector level. The approach is confirmed to be feasible for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions and the consumption of fossil fuels. The results show that from 2003 until 2012 the sawmill industry increased its average greenhouse gas emissions from 35 to 43 kg CO 2 -eq./m 3 and the wood based panels industry decreased the emissions from 353 to 325 kg CO 2 -eq./m 3 . In both cases, a change in the product mix of the two sectors was identified to be responsible. However, the results also indicate that both sectors gravely reduced their greenhouse gas efficiency due to a decreasing capacity utilization, which means that the environmental impacts for a specific type of wood product have changed distinctly over time. A comparison of the findings with displacement factors for wood products substitution was conducted to understand the relevance of the results. It showed that the development of environmental aspects of the woodworking industry needs to be taken into account for long term evaluations of political decisions affecting the forest wood chain. AbbreviationsCHP Combined heat and power EGHG Energy related greenhouse gas EPD Environmental product declarations FEC Final energy consumption GHG Greenhouse gas IOLCI Input-output life cycle inventory LCA Life cycle assessment LCI Life cycle inventory LULUCF Land use, land use change and forestry PEC Primary energy consumption PRODCOM Production communautaire SMI Sawmill industry WBPI Wood based panels industry

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“…Since a full and detailed LCA is a very demanding procedure and given the fact that the ISO standards provide a certain flexibility, the LCA approach is simplified and adapted according to the objectives of each study. These adapted versions are often mentioned under the term ''screening'' LCA, which is the case in this work, too (IFEU, 2008;Wright et al, 2008). The purpose is not to conduct a detailed LCA, rather than to include the key aspects of environmental assessment in a decision tool.…”

Section: Environmental Aspectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a decision support tool for the assessment of biofuels

Perimenis

Walimwipi²,

Zinoviev³

et al. 2011

Energy Policy

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Integrating economic input–output life cycle assessment with risk assessment for a screening-level analysis

Cited by 15 publications

References 21 publications

An exploration of designers’ perspectives on human health and environmental impacts of interior textiles

An exploration of designers’ perspectives on human health and environmental impacts of interior textiles

Monitoring energy efficiency and environmental impact of the woodworking industry in Germany

Development of a decision support tool for the assessment of biofuels

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