LCA and ecodesign teaching via university-industry cooperation

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on a life cycle assessment (LCA)-based ecodesign teaching practice via university-industry collaboration in an industrial engineering undergraduate course. Design/methodology/approach A new course was designed and taught in the Industrial Engineering undergraduate course of a Federal University in Brazil. The course comprised explanatory lectures and a practical project developed in a partnership between the university and an industry partner where students had to develop Ecodesign proposals based on LCA to improve the environmental profile of both solid and reticulated paint brushes. To that end, students used the LCA software tool Umberto NXT v.7.1.13 (educational version), where they modeled the life cycle of four plastic brushes and assessed it using the impact categories of climate change and resource consumption, and the Ecoinvent v.3.3 database. After course completion, students, professors and industry collaborators were asked to provide feedback on the project performance and expectations. Findings The course design used was welcomed by both students and the industry partner. Students found the novel approach intriguing and useful to their future careers. The results also exceeded the industry partner’s expectations, as students formulated valuable insights. Professors observed that learning was made easier, as content was put into practice and internalized more easily and solidly. The approach was found to be a win-win-win. Practical implications Students acquired a fair share of knowledge on sustainability issues and potential existing trade-offs, which is valuable to industrial practices. The industry noticed the valuable contributions that academia can provide. The university profited from providing students with a real case challenging traditional teaching methods. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first case studies to show how LCA and ecodesign teaching practice can support sustainability learning in an industrial engineering undergraduate course.

Teaching life cycle assessment in higher education

“…This mirrors the outcome of the literature review in Section 3.1, where several authors (e.g. Margallo et al 2019;Sriraman et al 2017a, b) emphasize the importance of project-and problem-based learning approaches and others provide examples of real-life company cases being the core element of their teaching concepts (see Cosme et al 2019;Lockrey and Bissett Johnson 2013;Piekarski et al 2019).…”

“…Different authors reported the relevance of project-based learning (e.g. Lockrey and Bissett Johnson 2013 ; Margallo et al 2019 ; Piekarski et al 2019 ; Sriraman et al 2017a , b ), most of the time through a life cycle assessment project developed by the students and using one or different LCA commercial software. Some studies presented experiences with cases developed in partnership with industrial partners (Cosme et al 2019 ; Piekarski et al 2019 ).…”

“…Lockrey and Bissett Johnson 2013 ; Margallo et al 2019 ; Piekarski et al 2019 ; Sriraman et al 2017a , b ), most of the time through a life cycle assessment project developed by the students and using one or different LCA commercial software. Some studies presented experiences with cases developed in partnership with industrial partners (Cosme et al 2019 ; Piekarski et al 2019 ). As emphasized by Sriraman et al ( 2017a , b ), an appropriate pedagogy is essential to activate student engagement in the learning process and facilitate a deeper learning.…”

Opportunities for Improving the Environmental Profile of Silk Cocoon Production under Brazilian Conditions

“…Vollrath et al claim that, in most cases, studies on the environmental impacts of manmade fibers and natural fibers use the LCA methodological framework [13]. Among the many possible approaches to assess environmental impacts of processes and organizations, LCA seems the most promising one, since it can help minimize the environmental impacts of a given system [16], and many companies and governments view LCA as a valuable means to measure, communicate, and thus, improve product sustainability [17]. Since its rise in the 1980s, LCA has been increasingly becoming a strategic [18], solid [19], and versatile [20] tool.…”

An Environmental and Operational Analysis of Quality Function Deployment-Based Methods

“…Proponents of ecodesign in organizations generally include sustainability teams involved in the ecodesign agenda [8]. Nonetheless, ecodesign usually exceeds the environmental dimension of business performance [9] and enables opportunities for improvements in a range of projects [10]. Nowadays, sustainability-driven approaches have been taken by organizations, and even more attention is now being paid to environmental responsibility [11].…”