International Journal of Sustainable Engineering 

About: International Journal of Sustainable Engineering is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Sustainability & Supply chain. It has an ISSN identifier of 1939-7038. Over the lifetime, 647 publications have been published receiving 10714 citations. The journal is also known as: IJSE.

User‐centred design for sustainable behaviour

Abstract: Traditional eco‐design has a strong focus on the supply side. Even when focusing on the use phase of products, it still impacts directly under the control of the manufacturer dominate. However, the way users interact with a product may strongly influence the environmental impact of a product. Designers can try to influence this behaviour through the products they design. Several strategies have been proposed in the literature, such as eco‐feedback and scripting. Existing literature in this field has its limitations. Publications either focus on a single strategy, or do not take a design perspective, or lack empirical data. This paper will present a typology of the different strategies available to designers. This typology will be illustrated with examples and experiments related to two sustainability problems, namely littering behaviour and energy using products. Furthermore, a methodology will be presented for applying these strategies. This will be demonstrated in a case study on an energy meter.

A framework to minimise total energy consumption and total tardiness on a single machine

Abstract: A great amount of energy is wasted in industry by machines that remain idle due to underutilisation. A way to avoid wasting energy and thus reducing the carbon print of an industrial plant is to consider minimisation of energy consumption objective while making scheduling decisions. To minimise energy consumption, the decision maker has to decide the timing and length of turn off/turn on operation (a setup) and also provide a sequence of jobs that minimises the scheduling objective, assuming that all jobs are not available at the same time. In this paper, a framework to solve a multiobjective optimisation problem that minimises total energy consumption and total tardiness is proposed. Since total tardiness problem with release dates is an NP‐hard problem, a new greedy randomised multiobjective adaptive search metaheuristic is utilised to obtain an approximate pareto front (i.e. an approximate set of non‐dominated solutions). Analytical Hierarchy Process is utilised to determine the ‘best’ alternative amon...

A generic energy consumption model for decision making and energy efficiency optimisation in manufacturing

Abstract: Today, energy efficiency in production systems has partially been achieved on the component level, but methods are missing for the energy optimal operation of plants, machines and components. We therefore, propose a novel generic method to model the energy consumption behaviour of machines and plants based on a statistical discrete event formulation. It is lean, integrative and scalable and can be used directly in planning processes to make predictions of the energy consumption of different configurations in different scenarios based on any amount of available information. Using the modelling framework, we introduce applications in real-time, tactical and strategic decision making processes that make it possible to exploit the potential for energy consumption minimisation of any given machine or production system while obeying conflicting general conditions.

Sustainability by design: a subversive strategy for transforming our consumer culture

Abstract: transforming our consumer culture, by John R. Ehrenfeld, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2008, 272 pp., £18-00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-30013-749-1 This book takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the roots of a vision that holds potential to change existing habits, beliefs and activities and create new ones for sustainability. Ehrenfeld reminds us that sustainability is an ‘essentially contested concept’, much like freedom or liberty, where we understand their meaning but lack wisdom and capabilities to make them real. Much of this book sets out our common understanding of sustainability, and as Ehrenfeld defines it as ‘the possibility of flourishing’. He interweaves ideas from a range of disciplines to produce a narrative, which highlights what we do (badly), why we do such things and what we need to change. Also and importantly, he highlights how a design for sustainability approach can be fostered through reawakening our awareness of how we should care for ourselves, for others and for the world in which we inhabit. Broadly speaking, Ehrenfeld makes the useful distinction between the meta-concept of sustainability, on the one hand, and current action, on the other hand, that is predominantly focused on micro-managing efficiency gains in existing products, services and infrastructures. He terms this type of activity as ‘reducing unsustainability’ and emphasises that reducing unsustainability will not create sustainability as sustainability and unsustainability are not two sides of the same coin. Sustainability is not the result of making the present slightly better; it, he argues, belongs to a new world served by a different language, cultural habits and stories – and until we find ourselves in that new world we must be able to hold on to these multiple realities and use design to develop new language, tools, institutions and strategies that aid our transitional journey. Ehrenfeld’s is a thought-provoking approach that calls for the need to think differently. His ambition is not for a revolution but rather for a series of small changes that can make a big difference over time; and it is in the seeding of such change that design is accorded a key role, in achieving a transition of minds rather than technological innovation. Ehrenfeld suggests that through over-reliance on technology to solve problems, modern society has lost sight of some basic principles, namely: our sense of place within and as part of nature; our understanding of what it is to be a human being; and our ethical ability to act responsibly. He suggests that although it is beyond the reach of an individual or group to quickly alter the fundamental patterns of unsustainability, it is within our grasp to challenge our understanding of reality and adopt different perceptions of the world and different ways of behaving in it. A key phenomenological theme of the book is that humans have the unique capacity of Being-in-the-world; of leading meaningful lives. Our ability to do this though, according to Ehrenfeld, will be dependent on our ability to substitute traditional market satisfiers intrinsic to our culture of consumption for a more subversive design strategy that creates meaningful products and services ‘that can transparently restore the human capability for caring and coping in all dimensions of living’. Ehrenfeld points out that this could happen in many ways: from inscribing instructions through product semantics that inhibit normal routine behaviours; to engagement strategies which involve users more deeply in understanding product identity and function; to participatory design activity where users are intimately involved in reframing problem and design outcomes. He believes that sustainable cultures evolve through new paradigmatic elements; and the capacity of design to understand, and build on, these elements (new beliefs and norms) and to reimagine a world that is authentically sustainable.

Industrial applications of natural fibre-reinforced polymer composites – challenges and opportunities

Abstract: The growing industrial demand for sustainable materials has led to a paradigm shift in the focus from synthetic polymers towards natural fibres. This paper deals with the challenges and opportuniti...