Development of guide to assist in studies of Ecobenchmarking in products

• Grant number: 12/06939-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2012
• End date: May 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Production Engineering - Product Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Henrique Rozenfeld
• Grantee: Felipe Caldas Harding Guastelli
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The decisions taken during the product development process (PDP) determine most of the environmental impacts caused by-products from the time of extraction of raw materials to the final disposal. Ecodesign aims at improving the environmental performance of products through the integration of environmental performance of entrepreneurial choices towards sustainability, but without compromising other important products aspects, such as quality and performance. This concept suggests the implementation of several practices to achieve this goal. One is the Ecobenchmarking in products, which aims at considering environmental issues in benchmarking studies aiming at improving the environmental performance of the developed products. The biggest impediment to its application is the lack of specialists in the environment who are able to select the most appropriate practices and apply them correctly. This fact justifies the importance that implementation guides represent, offering support to companies conducting the search and comparing information in Ecobenchmarking studies. Considering that, this study has the objective of developing a guide composed of best practices in Ecobenchmarking. The guide will assist companies to implement Ecobenchmarking practices in the context of the Ecodesign Maturity Model (EcoM2).(AU)