Product Innovation and Eco-Efficiency


Book Description

Prefaced by Björn Stigson, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, this book is one of the few that treats this topic by putting representatives of industry at centre stage. The book systematically addresses the drivers, the tools, and sector-specific elements that play a role in this process. The five chapters in Part I are devoted to a general introduction to eco-efficiency and the related challenges to industry in its implementation. Part II contains 23 case studies, almost all written by industrial experts who tell how they deal with the challenge: what the motivators are, what tools can be used and how they can be implemented, and what are the specific elements in sectors like building, electronics and packaging. These contributions come from multinationals like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Akzo Nobel, Philips and Ciba-Geigy, as well as small and medium sized enterprises from such sectors as the building and furniture trades.




Eco-efficiency


Book Description




Eco-Innovation


Book Description

Eco-Innovation considers the impact industry has on our environmental surroundings whilst exploring the need for more sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development and the general understanding of the interdependence of the environment and the economy are both examined in this thought-provoking new book.




Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship


Book Description

The second edition of this exhaustive work (ECIIE) comprehensively covers the broad spectrum of topics relating to the process of creativity and innovation, from a wide variety of perspectives (e.g., economics, management, psychology, anthropology, policy, technology, education, the arts) and modes (individual, organization, industry, nation, region). This edition includes some 400 topical entries, definitions of key terms and concepts and review essays, from a global array of more than 250 researchers, business executives, policymakers, and artists, illuminating the many facets of creativity and innovation and highlighting their relationships to such universal concepts as knowledge management, economic opportunity, and sustainability. Entries feature description of key concepts and definition of terms, full-color illustrations, case examples, future directions for research and application, synonyms and cross-references and bibliographic references.




Eco-efficiency


Book Description

This book outlines the principles of eco-efficiency and presents case studies of their application from a number of international companies, including 3M and the Dow Chemical Company. The term "eco-efficiency" describes business activities that create economic value while reducing ecological impact and resource use. This book outlines the principles of eco-efficiency and presents case studies of their application from a number of international companies, including 3M and the Dow Chemical Company. It also discusses the value of partnerships--with other companies, business associations, communities, regulators, and environmental and other nongovernmental groups. In the conclusion, the authors argue that business must become more eco-efficient and that governments need to change the conditions under which business operates, including tax and regulatory regimes, to make them more conducive to eco-efficiency.




Sustainability Through Innovation in Product Life Cycle Design


Book Description

This book consists of chapters based on selected papers presented at the EcoDesign2015 symposium (9th International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing). The symposium, taking place in Tokyo in December 2015, has been leading the research and practices of eco-design of products and product-related services since it was first held in 1999. The proceedings of EcoDesign2011 were also published by Springer. Eco-design of products and product-related services (or product life cycle design) are indispensable to realize the circular economy and to increase resource efficiencies of our society. This book covers the state of the art of the research and the practices in eco-design, which are necessary in both developed and developing countries. The chapters of the book, all of which were peer-reviewed, have been contributed by authors from around the world, especially from East Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia. The features of the book include (1) coverage of the latest topics in the field, e.g., global eco-design management, data usage in eco-design, and social perspectives in eco-design; (2) an increased number of authors from Southeast Asian countries, with a greater emphasis on eco-design in emerging economies; (3) high-quality manuscripts, with the number of chapters less than half of that of the previous book.




Climate Change Research at Universities


Book Description

This unique book provides a multidisciplinary review of current, climate-change research projects at universities around the globe, offering perspectives from all of the natural and social sciences. Numerous universities worldwide pursue state-of-the-art research on climate change, focussing on mitigation of its effects as well as human adaptation to it. However, the 2015 Paris 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (COP 21)” demonstrated that there is still much room for improvement in the role played by universities in international negotiations and decision-making on climate change. To date, few scientific meetings have provided multidisciplinary perspectives on climate change in which researchers across the natural and social sciences could come together to exchange research findings and discuss methods relating to climate change mitigation and adaption studies. As a result the published literature has also lacked a broad perspective. This book fills that gap and is of interest to all researchers and policy-makers concerned with global climate change regardless of their area of expertise.




Consumer Product Innovation and Sustainable Design


Book Description

Consumer Product Innovation and Sustainable Design follows the innovation and evolution of consumer products from vacuum cleaners to mobile phones from their original inventions to the present day. It discusses how environmental concerns and legislation have influenced their design and the profound effects these products have had on society and culture. This book also uses the lessons from the successes and failures of examples of these consumer products to draw out practical guidelines for designers, engineers, marketers and managers on how to become more effective at product development, innovation and designing for environmental sustainability.




Innovation Discovery: Network Analysis Of Research And Invention Activity For Technology Management


Book Description

The use of bibliometrics for the analysis of technology management is on the rise in our increasingly technological societies. Many are using these tools to document or record the rise of various technologies, making it necessary to take stock of the value and application of scientometric methods and their measures.Innovation Discovery shows the current state of play within the field of management of technology, and discusses how we can use networks to explore, understand and generate theory around the innovation process. It looks at the different streams of analysis used to understand bibliometric data, and presents alternative and novel ways of applying these techniques.Written as a comprehensive review of approaches by leading researchers in the field, this book is suitable for graduate and post-graduate students and researches looking to expand their knowledge and embark on further investigations in technology management.




Design for Enhancing Eco-efficiency of Energy-related Products


Book Description

This brief textbook underpins the concept of eco-efficiency in product design and systematically addresses the essence of the integration of simplified life cycle assessment (LCA) methods and tools into industrial design. Fundamental steps of LCA-based tools implementation within the higher education context are proposed, using energy-related products (ErP) design as a prime case study. All chapters are designed to respond to the common frequently asked questions in LCA-based tools implementation during the sustainable product design process. The chapters are also enriched with discussions, data sources of simplified LCA tools, and examples of design assignments that provide constructive learning. Some assignments aim at encouraging tool users’ reflections while others tackle particularly at knowledge exchange. The examples can assist the reader to visualize challenges and opportunities to engage learners who are tool users. This textbook broadens LCA knowledge for industrial design and environmental engineering students as well as enhance their sustainable product design performance. For professional practitioners including industrial designers, product engineers, entrepreneurs and the like, this textbook can be used as a guide at the introductory level for integrating life cycle thinking into product design and development.