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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Novel Materials Can Radically Improve Whole-System Environmental Impacts Of Additive Manufacturing, Jeremy Faludi, Cory M. Van Sice, Yuan Shi, Justin Bower, Owen M.K Brooks Dec 2018

Novel Materials Can Radically Improve Whole-System Environmental Impacts Of Additive Manufacturing, Jeremy Faludi, Cory M. Van Sice, Yuan Shi, Justin Bower, Owen M.K Brooks

Dartmouth Scholarship

Additive manufacturing often has higher environmental impacts per part than traditional manufacturing at scale, but new materials can enable more sustainable 3D printing. This study developed and tested novel materials for paste extrusion printing, and tested materials invented by others. Testing compared their whole-system environmental impacts to standard ABS extrusion, measured by life cycle assessment (LCA); testing also assessed material strength, printability, and cost. Materials were chosen for low print energy (chemical bonding, not melting), low toxicity, and circular life cycle (biodegradable, ideally sourced from waste biomaterial). Printing energy was reduced 75% (from 160 to 40 Wh/part), and embodied impacts …


What Design Practices Do Professionals Use For Sustainability And Innovation?, Jeremy Faludi, Alice M. Agogino Jan 2018

What Design Practices Do Professionals Use For Sustainability And Innovation?, Jeremy Faludi, Alice M. Agogino

Dartmouth Scholarship

Interviews with 27 professionals were performed to investigate what designers, engineers, and their managers value in sustainable design practices, and see how sustainable design practices might also provide innovation. Quantitative and qualitative analysis found that only 1/6th of design practices were valued for both sustainability and innovation; two often-mentioned practices were systems thinking and The Natural Step. Providing a new lens, broadening scope, and problem redefinition were some of the reasons these and other design practices were valued for both sustainability and innovation.


Golden Tools In Green Design: What Drives Sustainability, Innovation, And Value In Green Design Methods?, Jeremy Faludi Jul 2017

Golden Tools In Green Design: What Drives Sustainability, Innovation, And Value In Green Design Methods?, Jeremy Faludi

Dartmouth Scholarship

What do product design teams value in sustainable design methods? Specifically, what kinds of activities and mindsets comprise different design methods, and which ones do design teams believe drive sustainability, innovation, and other value? How could they be combined to improve sustainable design’s value to companies? This study was the first to deconstruct green product design practices into their constituent activities and mindsets to characterize them and hypothesize their potential synergies. It was also the first to empirically test and compare what practitioners value within three of these sustainable design practices—The Natural Step, Whole System Mapping, and Biomimicry. Others have …


Recommending Sustainable Design Practices By Characterizing Activities And Mindsets, Jeremy Faludi Jan 2017

Recommending Sustainable Design Practices By Characterizing Activities And Mindsets, Jeremy Faludi

Dartmouth Scholarship

How do designers, engineers, and managers choose the best sustainable design method for their work? How can different design practices combine to complement each other? This study makes recommendations by deconstructing 14 design methods, guides, certifications, and other practices into their constituent activities and mindsets, then characterizing those activities and mindsets. For example, some of the seven activity categories are analysis, ideation, and goal-setting; some of the eight mindset categories are priorities, abstract versus concrete goals, and environmental versus social goals. Recommendations are given for matching sustainable design practices to different usage contexts by their constituent activities and mindsets. It …


What Green Design Activities And Mindsets Drive Innovation And Sustainability In Student Teams?, Jeremy Faludi, Alice Agogino, Sara Beckman, Alastair Isles Jan 2017

What Green Design Activities And Mindsets Drive Innovation And Sustainability In Student Teams?, Jeremy Faludi, Alice Agogino, Sara Beckman, Alastair Isles

Dartmouth Scholarship

What sustainable design practices can also drive innovation, and what practices do people value? Previous analysis of sustainable design methods, and the opportunism of designers generally, has suggested that design methods should actually be examined at the level of their component activities and mindsets, as each of these provides different advantages that designers could mix and match. This study performed workshops of three sustainable design methods for a total of 327 students, then surveyed students about which activities or mindsets within each design method drove innovation value, sustainability value, and any other value. The design methods tested were The Natural …


Does Material Choice Drive Sustainability Of 3d Printing?, Jeremy Faludi, Zhongyin Hu, Shahd Alrashed, Christopher Braunholz, Suneesh Kaul, Leulekal Kassaye Feb 2015

Does Material Choice Drive Sustainability Of 3d Printing?, Jeremy Faludi, Zhongyin Hu, Shahd Alrashed, Christopher Braunholz, Suneesh Kaul, Leulekal Kassaye

Dartmouth Scholarship

Environmental impacts of six 3D printers using various materials were compared to determine if material choice drove sustainability, or if other factors such as machine type, machine size, or machine utilization dominate. Cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessments were performed, comparing a commercial-scale FDM machine printing in ABS plastic, a desktop FDM machine printing in ABS, a desktop FDM machine printing in PET and PLA plastics, a polyjet machine printing in its proprietary polymer, an SLA machine printing in its polymer, and an inkjet machine hacked to print in salt and dextrose. All scenarios were scored using ReCiPe Endpoint H methodology to combine …


A Sustainable Design Method Acting As An Innovation Tool, Jeremy Faludi Dec 2014

A Sustainable Design Method Acting As An Innovation Tool, Jeremy Faludi

Dartmouth Scholarship

Product companies generally see sustainability as a burden limiting their design process, similar to cost or safety limits. A method for sustainable design was created, attempting to turn sustainability from a burden into an innovation tool with inherent business value. The method combines creative whole-systems thinking with quantitative sustainability metrics. It facilitates innovation by the creation of visual whole-system maps that encourage more thorough and more radical brainstorming. It facilitates sustainability by using quantitative measurements, such as lifecycle assessment or point-based certification systems, to set priorities and choose final designs. The method has been anecdotally tested in classes at four …


Sustainable Design Education Through A Self-Directed Online System, Jeremy Faludi, Adam Menter Aug 2013

Sustainable Design Education Through A Self-Directed Online System, Jeremy Faludi, Adam Menter

Dartmouth Scholarship

Sustainable design and engineering is an important topic, yet it is under-represented in educational institutions; moreover, it must be taught to practicing professionals, not just students. A free online system has been created to address both problems at once, providing educational materials for educators and also providing a self-paced program for professionals or students to earn a certificate in sustainable design. Called the Autodesk Sustainability Workshop, it is a collection of video tutorials and supporting materials (PDF reference guides, slide decks, quizzes, and other resources) that can be used either by individuals themselves or by educators (either in schools or …


Growing A Sustainable Biofuels Industry: Economics, Environmental Considerations, And The Role Of The Conservation Reserve Program, Christopher M. Clark, Yolanda Lin, Britta G. Bierwagen, Laurence M. Eaton, Matthew H. Langholtz, Philip Morefield, Caroline E. Ridley, Laura Vimmerstedt, Steve Peterson, Brian W. Bush May 2013

Growing A Sustainable Biofuels Industry: Economics, Environmental Considerations, And The Role Of The Conservation Reserve Program, Christopher M. Clark, Yolanda Lin, Britta G. Bierwagen, Laurence M. Eaton, Matthew H. Langholtz, Philip Morefield, Caroline E. Ridley, Laura Vimmerstedt, Steve Peterson, Brian W. Bush

Dartmouth Scholarship

Biofuels are expected to be a major contributor to renewable energy in the coming decades under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). These fuels have many attractive properties including the promotion of energy independence, rural development, and the reduction of national carbon emissions. However, several unresolved environmental and economic concerns remain. Environmentally, much of the biomass is expected to come from agricultural expansion and/or intensification, which may greatly affect the net environmental impact, and economically, the lack of a developed infrastructure and bottlenecks along the supply chain may affect the industry's economic vitality. The approximately 30 million acres (12 million hectares) …


Using Life Cycle Assessment Methods To Guide Architectural Decision-Making For Sustainable Prefabricated Modular Buildings, Jeremy Faludi, Michael Lepech, George Loisos Jul 2012

Using Life Cycle Assessment Methods To Guide Architectural Decision-Making For Sustainable Prefabricated Modular Buildings, Jeremy Faludi, Michael Lepech, George Loisos

Dartmouth Scholarship

Within this work, life cycle assessment modeling is used to determine top design priorities and quantitatively inform sustainable design decision-making for a prefabricated modular building. A case-study life-cycle assessment was performed for a 5,000 ft2 prefabricated commercial building constructed in San Francisco, California, and scenario analysis was run examining the life cycle environmental impacts of various energy and material design substitutions, and a structural design change. Results show that even for a highly energy-efficient modular building, the top design priority is still minimizing operational energy impacts, since this strongly dominates the building life cycle's environmental impacts. However, as an …


Using Participatory Scenarios To Stimulate Social Learning For Collaborative Sustainable Development, Kris A. Johnson, Genya Dana, Nicholas R. Jordan, Kathy J. Draeger, Anne Kapuscinski Jan 2012

Using Participatory Scenarios To Stimulate Social Learning For Collaborative Sustainable Development, Kris A. Johnson, Genya Dana, Nicholas R. Jordan, Kathy J. Draeger, Anne Kapuscinski

Dartmouth Scholarship

Interdependent human and biophysical systems are highly complex and behave in unpredictable and uncontrollable ways. Social and ecological challenges that emerge from this complexity often defy straightforward solutions, and efforts to address these problems will require not only scientific and technological capabilities but also learning and adaptation. Scenarios are a useful tool for grappling with the uncertainty and complexity of social-ecological challenges because they enable participants to build adaptive capacity through the contemplation of multiple future possibilities. Furthermore, scenarios provide a platform for social learning, which is critical to acting in the face of uncertain, complex, and conflict-laden problems. We …


Empirical Geographic Modeling Of Switchgrass Yields In The United States, Henriette I. Jager, Latha M. Baskaran, Craig C. Brandt, Ethan B. Davis Sep 2010

Empirical Geographic Modeling Of Switchgrass Yields In The United States, Henriette I. Jager, Latha M. Baskaran, Craig C. Brandt, Ethan B. Davis

Dartmouth Scholarship

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial grass native to the United States that has been studied as a sustainable source of biomass fuel. Although many field‐scale studies have examined the potential of this grass as a bioenergy crop, these studies have not been integrated. In this study, we present an empirical model for switchgrass yield and use this model to predict yield for the conterminous United States. We added environmental covariates to assembled yield data from field trials based on geographic location. We developed empirical models based on these data. The resulting empirical models, which account for spatial …