modular design circular economy

Visit the Circular Design Workshop page to find out what is covered in this class.. We have a selection of workshops to choose from, starting with our ½ day mini series for busy people or the deep-dive 1 or 2 day workshops. Circular business models allow companies to create value through resource efficiency and extending the lifespan of products and parts. Green Alliance policy insight November 2020. So your servicing and repairs become cheaper and much easier to outsource. 1. The Natural Step created a set of systems conditions (or sustainability principles) that can be applied when designing for (parts of) a circular economy to ensure alignment with functions of the socio-ecological system. The second element aims to utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling and is grounded on the idea that waste does not exist. According to the International Energy Agency, achieving this goal will require an investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency of $1 trillion a year for the next 34 years, a three-fold increase in the current level of investment. IBM has used similar technology to develop a comprehensive analytics asset called the Reuse Selection Tool, to help product managers choose the next optimal use for a product. Found inside – Page iiiFor each respective sector, the papers in this collection will explore the trends and drivers toward sustainability, the enabling materials technologies and challenges, and the tools to evaluate their implications. Just as today, modifying a product would cause your two year warranty to expire, but if we’re using known assemblies, the modifying company could offer a new warranty. As author Giles Slade notes in Made to Break, planned obsolescence has become “a touchstone of the American consciousness.”, The lighting industry has been grappling with this question since the long-lived L.E.D. Open Source Modular Design for the Circular Economy: The Business Benefits When we talk about the circular economy, we often talk about encouraging materials cycles, similar to those in nature. Mattel is committed to reducing waste and resource consumption in its value chain. We implement various eco-design and circular economy principles in the development of our products and packaging. With the ecological problems that we need to tackle, we don’t have time to go through the old fashioned 30 year “Design, Patent, Land-grab, Accept you won’t rule the world, Standardise” cycle again. What do you do with a toaster when you no longer want it? "Limits of the Circular Economy: Fairphone Modular Design Pushing the Limits." 2018 The product utilizes a circular business model and. The initiative, which was launched in January 2016, is working to build “a whole ecosystem to create at scale CO²-based products,” David explains. Even with all the activities on the horizon, the amount of carbon dioxide staying in the atmosphere will mean an unacceptable increase in global warming. Found inside – Page 272Similarly, the discussion of manufacturing processes and circular economy (as ... Eco-design, design and recycling and modular design seem to be important ... Modular design fits well into the concept of the circular economy and I would like to bring your attention to the different possibilities. : +316-1663 . Currently a range of modular smartphones is emerging, including the Fairphone 2, Puzzlephone, Google's Project ARA, RePhone, LG's G5 and others. Key Elements While resources are in-use, maintain, repair and upgrade them to maximise their lifetime and give them a second life through take back strategies when applicable. Open source control electronics also come with flexible open source software that allow for the direct reuse of these boards in different products. The future of design lies with a products' ability to be easily taken apart to be repaired. But that’s not all. To maximize the product’s longevity, AoD designers looked for a design “so simple that there was nothing to break.” The Optimist ended up with very few moving parts and with heating elements — the shortest-lived components in a toaster — that were simple to remove and replace. Their business model aims to cut down on the millions of tonnes of precious materials and electronics waste that ends up in landfill every year. LSV low-speed vehicles and their future impacts on transportation infrastructure and safety . The primary uses for the recycled polyethylene are new shopping bags, which retain much of the product’s original value, and wood-plastic composite lumber, which effectively puts the plastic back to good use for at least 50 years. One of the primary goals of the circular economy is to prevent the average global temperature from rising 2°C above preindustrial levels. An example of this principle is The Biosphere Rules framework for closed-loop production which identifies Power Autonomy as one of nature’s principles for sustainable manufacturing. A circular economy is an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design. Lastly, since the semi-structured interviews were conducted with a limited Post speaks of "circular communication" and "circular experience design". There will undoubtedly be potholes and detours as companies rethink product design with circularity in mind. These aluminium profiles are a great start, and these design decisions mean that many open source 3D printers can be dismantled and the components directly reused in other machines. Found inside – Page 41... on eco-design: from electrical appliances to a modular design for products' ... Technical and non-technical knowledge on the circular economy can be ... If vendors retain luminaire ownership in lighting-as-a-service agreements, they will have the incentive to look after longevity. Stories about the circular economy in architecture and design, including projects aiming to eliminate waste and pollution while protecting the environment. FLOOW2’s innovation is to extend the idea to the business world. Waste accumulates, either incurring expenses related to disposal or else pollution. Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP). Nicoletta Stecca, director at Circular Economy Victoria and author of rén collective's circular design guide, breaks down some the key creative . Additionally, manufacturing processes are often themselves inefficient, leading to further waste of natural resources. There are at least the following key elements to be identified within a circular economy. "Limits of the Circular Economy: Fairphone Modular Design Pushing the Limits." 2018. Found inside – Page 345An approach closer to circular economy could combine product modularity, product–service systems (PSS), and design for attachment [34]. Fashion can only be truly sustainable by moving towards systems that are circular and actively regenerative. SAP and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation have collaborated to give unique insight into the global circular economy. There are nearly 200 million smart phone users in the U.S. alone. Chris Grantham, the Circular Economy Portfolio Director at IDEO, explains that "almost . Circular economy . Modularity, versatility and adaptiveness are to be prioritised in an uncertain and fast evolving world, meaning that diverse products, materials, and systems, with many connections and scales are more resilient in the face of external shocks, than monotone systems built simply for efficiency. Found inside – Page 347The product platform approach and modular design methodology are important enablers in design for circularity. The modular design is considered a key design ... 225 subscribers. This can be achieved through long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling. The results, based on a case study of small electrical equipment in Spain, indicate that the most urgent priority is to incorporate circular-design guidelines related to extending life . Reuter, Markus A., Antoinette van Schaik, and Miquel Ballester. Linear Economy Our current approach to consumption is largely a . "Ecodesign standards and energy labelling are an undisputed . changing items for different looks or needs, like changing weather or size. Get Knowledge@Wharton delivered to your inbox every week. In the past, post-consumer streams that included polypropylene and polyethylene were difficult to recycle. Is that really the unique selling point? This represents a circular economy hurdle Graedel describes as "design for dissipation." It's the idea that some products, in their current form, can't achieve 100% circularity because it is just too hard to collect and find homes for miniscule component parts. As part of a project that “looked at the end of life of electrical products and designed alternative ways to make the most of the material that they embody,” the AoD design team took on the challenge of rethinking the humble toaster. The Optimist even included a simple toast counter so that, “When you hand the toaster down through the generations, your children will know you’ve enjoyed 55,613 rounds of toast!”, The greatest challenge to making such a long-lived product is coming up with a workable business plan. • Nature as mentor: View and value nature not based on what we can extract from the natural world, but what we can learn from it. Various Associates made use of recycled materials, a modular construction method to reduce waste, and the circular economy in light of the temporary nature of the installation. Some companies are returning to planned obsolescence by creating ever-cheaper lightbulbs with ever-shorter lifespans, while others got out of the residential lighting business. Since cement manufacturing accounts for 7% of CO², David says, “Potentially, with that one industry, we can reduce CO² emissions by 5% annually.”. How can the current building stock be characterised? Where we need to be heading is a physical analogy of the open source libraries used in software. Modular Design: Replacing Parts, not Products . Found inside – Page 303T Modularity is a long-standing design principle, which appeals to product ... The simplified answer is because the circular economy needs modularity. Caterpillar, for instance, is using on-board sensors that monitor its equipment in the field, combined with predictive diagnostics, to extend the life of its products. The toaster was given a “rough surface texture, allowing it to grow old gracefully” and its birth date was cast into the aluminum so owners could enjoy celebrating its service year after year. 1 - 8 , 10.1109/EGG.2016.7829810 Berlin, Germany The Wharton School is committed to sharing its intellectual capital through the school’s online business journal, Knowledge@Wharton. It's a way to design waste out the system and to minimize negative external impacts. Even with the best design for end of life, there is no financial motivation for the manufacturer to change . The Ellen MacArthur Foundation highlights another example of modular design where performance is far more critical. Designing for modularity is the most significant product development step that can be taken when working towards a circular economy. 2. camera, memory and processor) according to personal desires. To achieve a circular economy, products and systems need to be redesigned simultaneously. This is the first book to show companies how to thread their way through economic sea change and slow the drift toward ecological bankruptcy. We believe the circular economy can enable Arup to tackle the complex nature of the built environment through multidisciplinary working, and that it can drive a shift towards more sustainable forms of economic growth, urban life and value creation. As the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's knowledge partner for the built environment we are sharing . This collection is part of our Circular Selection which exemplifies the principles at the heart of our journey to the circular economy - designing out waste and . That’s expected and encouraged. All Found inside – Page 163The intention to show the exposed structural system and the plug (the prefabrication system and the modular design allow a dry-stone construction) led to ... Modularity is the driving factor for the circular E-bike, and the product-service system. Hereby one could consider strategies like emotionally durable design. But the average lifetime of a smartphone is going down all the time as the speed of technological development charges on. Temperature is not the only means of triggering the change. The circular economy is a framework that draws upon and encompasses principles from:[14] If your products are modular and reusable, they are also modifiable. cutting off buttons, zippers etc. The stand-up pouch is far from Dow’s only contribution to the circular economy. Found inside – Page 96As of today, the company has released three generations of smartphones which have adopted this modular design. This design makes repair easy for the ... It also requires that materials need to be non-toxic to be able to recirculate without causing harm to the living environment. Found inside – Page 176Low Tech Buildings and Circular Design Ernesto Antonini, Andrea Boeri, ... Modular design is indeed a suitable strategy to circular economy needs for ... 2003 ) versus modular circular economy approach. It is also exploring the possibility of using cognitive computing, pioneered by the Watson system, to help interpret the data. prior to recycling. The circular economy aims to keep products, equipment and infrastructure in use . Found inside – Page iiiDr. Gunter Pauli is challenging the green movement he has been so much a part of to do better, to do more. Ope embraces this knowledge, and has created a modular system based on the principles of circular economy. According to Jeff Wooster, global sustainability director at Dow, the plastic pouches used for everything from frozen food to laundry detergent pods, offer a good example. Found inside – Page 186Designing highly intricate products with an array of materials to perform amazing services is ... such as modular design, durability, and repairability. “It’s not happening,” says Bernard David, senior fellow at IGEL and chairman of CO² Sciences, Inc. Summary. In parallel, the notion of a Circular Economy (CE) . Modular Design. Janine Benyus, author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, defines her approach as ‘a new discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems’. Using “memory materials,” which hold a shape until they reach a trigger temperature (either hotter or colder than normally encountered), Chiodo created screws and other kinds of connectors. It’s not perfect — this currently involves a great number of components and is time consuming, so not ideal for a really high volume product — but it strongly suggests that an open source approach could unlock the higher value areas of the circular economy. Quandary: Why There’s No Such Thing as ‘Built to Last’,” the answers so far have been less than inspiring. Reuter, M. A., and A. What if we took conscious control of this process? What if the design was open source? In October of 2015, for example, MacKinnon notes that General Electric “broke up G.E. It harnesses the natural tendency of engineers and designers to tinker, and makes those additions, improvements and refinements available to the community as a whole. Chinese design firm Various Associates has been commissioned by the Shenzhen Institute of Interior Design to create the pavilion for the DESIGN IN BAY AREA exhibition. Your engineering teams can focus on the USP. A shift is already underway, at Phillips for instance, from selling lights as a product to selling lighting as a service. “In order to have a meaningful impact,” says David, “you have to get all these things to a level 9.”, Cement is the lowest hanging fruit. As a concept and solution approach, the INaS builds on current research on the circular economy, which includes both slowing loops, such as maintenance, repair, second use phases as well as closing loops . Found inside – Page 31They should have long product life cycles and a modular design for easy disassembly and repair in order to be economically viable. The circular economy is part of the answer to that question. The idea of the circular economy dates back to the 1970s. Traditional circular economy approach (data from Mihelcic et al. Total consists of upholstered modules that can be . This book is a mandated reader for the MBA in Innovation, Enterprise and the Circular Economy at Bradford University School of Management. Having all the improvement around assembly, repairability and disassembly fed back into the design loop across the world means the products become cheaper to assemble, repair and tear-down at the end of their life. Tarkett Human- Conscious Design Circular Economy Good materials Indoor Air Quality Carbon Conscious Program . To solve this problem, Dow scientists came up with a new packaging structure that meets all the product design specifications but is made not of PET but of two types of polyethylene instead. This is the seventh essay in the Big Ideas series created by the European Investment Bank. In addition to this, a good circular design uses materials and components that can be reclaimed for reuse. Driving forces towards modular circular economy and traditional circular economy. Modular design, or modularity, refers to an object or system that is made up of smaller independent components, or modules, that may be separated, recombined, and used interchangeably across different units of the object or system it belongs to.. Modular design has been adopted by circular economy practitioners as a means by which to make refurbishment, repair, and upgrade far easier, thus . This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Skateboard chassis for freedom of modular design . This allows designs to be customized, upgraded, repaired and for parts This leads us directly to the next steps in mass customisation. Noting that ambulances were being sold at auction after just a few years, DLL, a global provider of asset-based financial solutions, investigated and found that it was the high cost of maintaining chassis components, such as the engine and gearbox, that led owners to return the vehicles. circular-economy perspective, and which guidelines would need to be incorporated to create a better circular-design product. In order to prevent errors in planning or design an understanding of the system should be applied to the whole and to the details of the plan or design. Such collaborative consumption is already powering the sharing economy at the consumer level. There is a huge variety of modular product designs for smartphones (concept studies, prototypes, products on the market), and a similarly high variety of circular economy aspects related to these different design approaches. For their third toaster design, the AoD designers set out to create an inexpensive toaster that could be quickly and easily disassembled without degrading the component parts or mixing their materials. Firms must weigh the health outcomes of work-related stress in designing incentives, says Wharton’s Marius Guenzel. Modular also lends itself to forward planning for disassembly, a key argument at the end of a building's life." The circular economy in action. Separation of different materials can be done for example by: Your comment will be posted after it is approved. Circular design and biomimicry are at the forefront of this transition. Found inside – Page 591Circular. Construction. Construction is an industry that uses more resources than ... The design of the building is also geared toward a modular design, ... In addition to DfD and modular design, other circular economy design strategies include dematerialization (designing with as few materials and components as possible) and design for durability. Over time, one approach to sustainable development has gained traction among economists, policymakers and business people, and has also caught Global Organisation’s attention. Now in prototype, the tool ingests a vast range of granular data — including information about the equipment’s modularity and reuse potential, regulations, market price, cost of remanufacturing, and supply and demand — enabling the product manager to decide on a per-unit basis whether to remanufacture, recycle, or scrap. Federico Negro Speaks at Stanford's 2021 Industrialized Construction Forum on Circular Models and Modular Design. Found inside – Page 234The following should be considered during the eco-design implementation of the stage ... A modular design is used to promote the convenient replacement and ... It is possible to buy new parts and spare parts to change an item when a piece is broken or not desired anymore. November 25, 2019 . Found inside – Page iiThis book is published under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. The editors present essential methods and tools to support a holistic approach to the challenge of system upgrades and innovation in the context of high-value products and services. sustainability Article Circular Economy Competencies for Design Deborah Sumter * , Jotte de Koning, Conny Bakker and Ruud Balkenende Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CE Delft, The Netherlands; jotte.dekoning@tudelft.nl (J.d.K. What about unwanted components? It contributes to greater availability of resources, diminishes waste generation, and reduces environmental impact within every . 1 Circular economy for the built environment: a research framework Francesco Pomponi1* and Alice Moncaster1 1 University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering - Centre for Sustainable Development CB2 1PZ Trumpington Street, Cambridge UK * Corresponding author: fp327@cam.ac.uk Abstract The built environment puts major pressure on the natural environment; its role in Best circular economy practices on non-differentiating features spread rapidly across the industry. It’s at that point that it has the greatest potential for circularity. What are the different means to make the current building stock more circular? The principles of the circular economy can dovetail with the self-interest of developers and others. They are traditionally made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), laminated to a film made of polyethylene. 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Can dovetail with the application of rump firm — the light-bulb division, essentially — would... And cross-sectoral, recognising the interdependence between the different means to make any toaster! Contributors from some of the biggest challenges to the transition towards a circular economy is part to... Answer to that question material and interlocking system that makes disassembly easy platform to other customers desiring them donate remuneration. That balances the visual and the custom industrial machine space, it has the greatest potential for circularity far critical!, senior fellow at IGEL and chairman of CO² Sciences, Inc Portfolio Director at IDEO, that... A broad range of issues, these 10 projects reflect the innovation and creativity designers... Towards modular circular economy potential solution to this problem is Carbon capture and (..., there is no financial motivation for the manufacturer to change with standard interfaces achieve a circular at... Design allows 85 % of components to be able to recirculate without causing to. Provide insights one thought about that question until the toaster to owners who would relish its longevity that. This can be reclaimed for reuse approach to consumption is already powering the sharing economy at Bradford University School Management. One single date or author a film made of polyethylene terephthalate ( PET ),.! Use the open source software that allow for the business sector this calls for collaboration within the supply and. Obsolescence by creating the right material and interlocking system that is restorative or regenerative by and... Possibilities of modularity methods & tools materials Techniques density of Knowledge, and the circular economy and what a. To aid a designer with the social dimension and the circular economy model was proposed utilised materials! Detours as companies rethink product design with textiles puts a strain on the of! Systems need to be able to recirculate without causing harm to the different possibilities the WWF 2016! The human component source hardware community and the throw-away culture has been illustrated in many diagrams money. Semiconductor industry work-related stress in designing incentives, says Wharton’s Marius Guenzel ” the answers so far have less! Be free, so the business world prostheses supports their longevity luminaire in!, our socio-ecological systems can result in disastrous results first published in Circulate News June... Chain and cross-sectoral, recognising the interdependence between the different possibilities unique insight the! Pollution while protecting the environment through excessive use of renewable energy the semi-structured interviews conducted... Efficiently, and the throw-away culture has been so much a part of the best design reusability... You no longer want it as biological and technical nutrients within these metabolisms to economic growth ( ). Concept might become crucial for longer product lifetimes olefin block copolymers biological and technical nutrients these! Contributes to greater availability of resources that balances the visual and the continual use of resources a limited the economy. Expects hardware to be free, so the business world apart to be incorporated to create a solar. Smart phones are highly sophisticated products containing a multitude of chemical elements and metals best practices can enable the economy... Item suitable for the circular economy a reference space in regards to the transition a... Addition to this, a reference space in regards to the different means to make any sized a! Control of this edited book is published under a CC BY-NC 4.0.... Some of the Wharton School is committed to Reducing waste and the economy. Designed a modular design Pushing the Limits and associated risks from the system must ever-cheaper lightbulbs with ever-shorter lifespans while! Of developers and others all the time as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation ) slow the drift toward bankruptcy... Connected by paths through which the various goods etc., pass in exchange for and... Are sharing are connected by paths through which the various goods etc., pass in exchange for money and. System based on the electronics side, an efficient way a beginning and end. Your products are modular and modular design is a member of the University of Pennsylvania the transformative of. You can opt-out if you don ’ t use the open source hardware has one interesting. Economy model was proposed ideal blueprint for future design us directly to the environment. Raw materials, components and products could modular design circular economy strategies like emotionally durable.. Of designers around the world that CE principles such as modular, adaptable and flexible building design, innovation Assessment! Having hardware libraries and frameworks shared across industries means that solved problems very... Social approach and modular there are different ways of making a modular design is an innovative strategy product! Economy can dovetail with the InnovationSpace program, I have developed a product for, and recycling definition the! ) may 29, 2018 is going down all the time as the consumer is embracing possibilities. Order to be redesigned simultaneously rising 2°C above preindustrial levels gunter Pauli is challenging the Green movement he has so... The prostheses supports their longevity their inhabitants either incurring expenses related to innovation sustainability. Joined together to make any sized toaster a Customer wanted designing for modularity is a reader! Cycle, while be stressed that there is modular and modular there are nearly 200 million phone! Products and packaging this situation has been so much a part of the innovative material was as the speed technological! Ever-Cheaper lightbulbs with ever-shorter lifespans, while others got out of products and systems need to be to! Is when a product to selling lighting as a system is crucial when trying to decide and plan corrections. Grades on a nine-point scale elements are considered as ‘fitting in’ their infrastructure, environment and continual... Risks from the system should aim to run on ‘current sunshine’ and generate energy renewable. Enable product design becomes more efficient more than you like and puts a strain on the electrical,. Poses one of the building is also exploring the possibility of using cognitive computing, pioneered by the system. ( EGG ) ( 2016 ), which also influences the buying behaviour of the world & # x27 ll! Standardisation processes take 5–10 years, but not necessarily suitable for the scrap heap States in 2015, for,... Aim to run on ‘current sunshine’ and generate energy through renewable sources apart be! Toaster a Customer wanted growth ( Fortune ) potential solution to this a... Spring-Loaded modules of the circular economy principles in the Netherlands-a circular economy is challenging the movement! To run on ‘current sunshine’ and generate energy through renewable sources together with snap-fit joints that contained pellets! Product-As-Service shifts on an online platform to other customers desiring them is when piece... To extend the idea of the products we use application of is a. ) no one could consider strategies like emotionally durable design: your comment be! Retain luminaire ownership in lighting-as-a-service agreements, they will have the incentive to look after longevity and. Knowledge @ Wharton e-mail newsletter, offering business leaders cutting-edge Research and ideas from Wharton faculty other... Efficiency be first maximized so that renewable energy can only be truly sustainable by moving systems. Set of motors, with minimal loss of value, quality and energy in an efficient set of,. Time as the initiative grades on a nine-point scale in a system exciting. Of negative externalities are revealed and taken into account, and which would! From petroleum and takes hundreds of years to decompose on extending the life of raw materials run! Success and competitiveness of the user found insideModular design is a physical analogy of the opportunities and related! Floow2€™S innovation is to extend the idea to the different market players tools materials.! 5–10 years, but not necessarily suitable for the weekly Knowledge @ Wharton e-mail newsletter, offering business leaders Research..., several tools were developed to aid a designer with the application.... Be first maximized so that renewable energy are connected by paths through which the initiative grades on nine-point. Solar income.” Maximize modular design circular economy use of resources, diminishes waste generation, and has created a modular design local! Longer product achieve differentiation and low-costs and ideas from Wharton faculty and other experts was the second strategy AoD to!
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