Tools
DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENT
Design for Environment (DfE) is the systematic integration of environmental
considerations into product and process design. It uses design methods and tools
to improve the eco-efficiency of products/processes by optimizing raw material
consumption and energy use, improving waste management and pollution prevention,
improving product performance and quality, cutting costs and increasing innovation.
CANADA
Building
Sustainable Enterprises - Design for Environment workshop
The Design for Environment session begins by defining and examining the linkages
between sustainability, eco-efficiency and design for environment (DfE).
Canadian Design Engineering Network
The Network is an initiative of 33 Schools of Engineering in Canada, to promote
design engineering through collaboration, infrastructure, and knowledge sharing.
Design engineering is concerned with the technical aspects, as well as the legal,
economic, and environmental aspects, of product development. A number of the
schools have also been awarded Chairs
in Design Engineering several of which are focussed on environmental
issues.
Design For Environment Guide
The National Research Council of Canada has produced this Guide to make it easier
for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to get started with some practical
DfE applications.
Faculty of Environmental Design
This site provides information on the programs and design research projects
of the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary.
The EcoDesign Resource Society
(EDRS)
The EDRS is a not-for-profit organization which promotes environmentally responsible
('green') design, planning and development practices through research, education,
events, projects and communication. It works with the public and the design,
building and manufacturing industries.
INTERNATIONAL
Centre for Design at RMIT
The Centre for Design, at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)
in Australia, works with industry and others to develop and demonstrate new
design methods, tools and processes aimed at improving the environmental performance
of buildings, products and services. The site contains information on products,
research, publications and other resources.
Centre for Sustainable Design
The Centre for Sustainable Design, University College, UK, facilitates discussion
and research on eco-design in product and service development. This site contains
information on tools, conferences, research, publications, and producer responsibility,
particularly related to end-of-life management for electronics, automotive and
packaging.
Design for Environment Program (DfE)
The DfE Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency addresses industries'
need for information on how to incorporate environmental concerns into business
decisions. This site contains information on approaches and tools, publications
and industry best practices and related programs such as the Green Chemistry
and Green Engineering programs.
Green Design Initiative
This initiative based at Carnegie Mellon University, U.S. promotes environmentally
conscious engineering, product and process design, manufacturing, and architecture.
The initiative involves forming partnerships with industrial corporations, foundations,
and government agencies to develop joint research and education programs.
O2 Global Network
The O2 Global Network is an international network of designers and others interested
in EcoDesign. The site provides information on books, resources, links, and
products examples.
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ECO-EFFICIENCY INDICATORS
A number of organizations have developed material to measure eco-efficiency,
particularly energy waste and water intensity.
Building
Sustainable Enterprises - Eco-efficiency Indicators
The eco-indicators session will outline a common approach to the interpretation,
measurement and reporting of energy, waste, water and pollutant dispersion indicators.
Measuring
Eco-efficiency in Business
Under its Eco-efficiency program, the National Round Table on the Environment
and the Economy (NRTEE) has been testing energy, material and water eco-efficiency
indicators and has developed publications to assist companies in calculating
and using such indicators. NRTEE has recently released Calculating Eco-efficiency
Indicators: A Workbook for Industry.
Measuring
Eco-efficiency: A guide to Reporting Company Performance
This report, sponsored by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development,
aims to assist companies to measure their progress toward sustainable development
by providing a practical framework of indicators.
The Status of Eco-efficiency
and Indicator Development in Canadian Industry
This report, sponsored by Industry Canada, examines the extent to which the
concept of eco-efficiency and related indicators are being used by key industries,
and their impact on corporate environmental performance, productivity, competitiveness
and profitability.
Corporate Sustainabillity
Reporting Toolkit
The on-line Toolkit contains information and guidance on several key points,
including: benefits for reporters; key elements of a good quality report; and,
Canadian and international case studies and best practices
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EVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Building
Sustainable Enterprises - Environmental Management Systems
This session will begin by explaining what an environmental management system
is and will explore the business case for implementing an EMS through various
case examples.
The Standards Council
of Canada
The Council coordinates and oversee the efforts of the National Standards System.
It is a source of information on the ISO 14000 series of environmental management
system (EMS) standards which includes standards relating to EMS's, environmental
auditing, environmental labels and declarations, and life cycle assessment.
It accredits organizations that perform registrations to the ISO 14000 series
standards and, auditor certifiers and trainers that provide EMS auditors with
their training and credentials.
The International Organization
for Standardization
The ISO is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 140
countries. It is a source of information on the ISO 14000 series of environmental
standards including international comparisons of usage between countries.
The Canadian Environmental Auditing Association
(CEAA)
The CEAA promotes and supports the environmental auditing profession. Activities
include providing: information on current environmental auditing developments;
access to environmental auditor certification programs; a quarterly newsletter
"The Auditorial"; a directory of members, including certified auditors;
and publications such as "General Principles and Practice Guidelines for
Environmental Auditing".
Table of Contents
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), is the systematic evaluation of the environmental
aspects of a product or service system through all stages of its life cycle.
CANADA
CIRAIG newsletter
The CIRAIG was created in 2001 with the goal of joining the strengths of Quebec
and Canadian universities in the field of Life Cycle Management (LCM) and Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) and making them available to companies and governments.
The CIRAIG is also an official partner of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative
Canadian Raw Materials Database (University
of Waterloo)
The Canadian Raw Materials Database (CRMD) is a voluntary project involving
a cross-section of Canadian materials industries to develop a database profiling
the environmental inputs and outputs associated with the production of Canadian
commodity materials. The database uses the techniques of life-cycle inventory
(LCI), consistent with the method of life-cycle assessment (LCA).
Integrated Waste Management Model
(University of Waterloo)
The objectives of the project have been to provide Canadian municipalities with
tools that will enable them to evaluate the environmental and economic performance
of the various elements of their existing or proposed waste management systems.
The tools are based on the best information publicly available at the present
time, with the commitment to revise this information periodically to ensure
that it is kept up-to-date.
International
Council on Mining and Metals: International Workshop on Life-Cycle Assessment
and Metals
From April 15 to 17, 2002, a workshop was held in Montréal to discuss
issues related to LCA and metals.
Ecocycle
Ecocycle is a newsletter from Environment Canada that shares information on
policy and technical issues related to product environmental life-cycle management
(LCM).
The Athena Sustainable Materials
Institute
The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute is finding answers to critical questions
about the environmental impact of buildings and building products. The not-for-profit
Institute is a world-leading source of data, expertise and tools for designing
buildings with the environment in mind. LCA is a key part of their work and
Athena offers consulting services and training on LCA. Memberships are open
to individuals, companies, governments or other organizations.
The Life-Cycle
Design Lab
The Life-Cycle Design Lab is based at the University of Toronto and is part
of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department.
The Pembina Institute
The Pembina Institute is an independent, not-for-profit environmental policy
research and education organization. The Institute offers Life Cycle Value Assessments
for new "greenfields" projects, and for environmental and technical
upgrades and retrofits to existing operations as well as staff orientation and
training.
INTERNATIONAL
American Center for Life Cycle Assessment
In 2001, the Center was formed to build capacity and knowledge of LCA in
industry, government, and other organizations.
Centre for Sustainable Systems
The Center, based at the University of Michigan, utilizes the tools and methodologies
of life cycle assessment and design, industrial ecology approaches, and environmental
performance and sustainability indicators in its research.covering the automotive,
buildings, packaging, and renewable energy sectors.
Ecoinvent centre
The Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories is developing LCI data initially
including the areas of energy, transportation, waste disposal, construction,
chemicals, detergents, papers and agriculture, which is valid for Swiss and
Western European conditions.
Leiden University Institute
This site provides documents and data maintained by Centre of Environmental
Science at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Life Cycle Inventory Database Project
The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory along with the Athena Sustainable
Materials Institute, is leading an effort to develop a publicly available U.S.
life-cycle inventory (LCI) database to track the environmental impact of commonly
used materials, products, and processes.
SETAC Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) Advisory
Group
The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has established the SETAC
LCA Advisory Group. Its mission is to advance the science, practice, and application
of LCAs to reduce the resource consumption and environmental burdens associated
with products, packaging, processes, or activities. It does this through various
forums, publications and newsletters with chapters in North America and Europe.
Resources- Life Cycle
Assessment
This site is maintained by the United Nations Global Compact Network. It provides
an overview of Life Cycle Assessment and references for additional information.
The Centre for
Design
The Centre is located at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)
in Melbourne, Australia. This site provides information on the LCA activities,
events, publications and research of the Centre.
The Life Cycle Initiative
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Society of Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) have joined forces to establish information
on best practices for life-cycle assessment (LCA). This will complement the
framework of the standards and technical reports published by the International
Standard Organisation.
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TOOLS
Three Steps to Eco-efficiency
This tool assists small and medium-sized manufacturers to develop an eco-efficiency
program that is custom tailored to their business needs. The process involves
three steps: 1) self-assessment; 2) strategic planning; and, 3) benefit-cost
analysis. The tool is available as a package of user-friendly worksheets which
can be downloaded onto a computer or printed. When viewed by computer, the individual
worksheets contain hyperlinks to valuable resources on eco-efficiency.
Efficient
Entrepreneur Calendar
The United Nations and the Wuppertal Institute in Germany have jointly developed
the Calendar for small and medium-sized enterprises. The calendar guides businesses
through a "month-by-month" program that simultaneously saves money,
increases efficiency, and reduces environmental impacts.
The Environmental Management
Tool Kit
This site contains a series of downloadable tools that can help a company improve
its environmental performance while reducing waste, water, energy and other
costs.
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Eco-efficiency
