Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing: Moving Toward Loop-Closing Structures - Systems Issues in Achieving Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing

在本研究中，将开发系统模型来模拟典型闭环结构的进化和学习特性。工业生态中的闭环结构包括材料回收、产品再利用和再制造，以最大限度地减少对整个生态系统的需求。这项工作的目的是建立在以个别产品或过程为重点的研究基础上，以更好地描述更大的社会-技术-生态系统的动态进化行为。需要考虑组织和文化规范和偏好，以确定关键的信息联系以及主要的经济和物质流动。将开发两个案例：铝在汽车中的应用；以及耐用产品和部件的替代材料选择。对经济、制度和环境变量之间复杂的相互作用进行建模可以提高对工业生态系统本质的理解。这种理解可以使传统工业过程转变为闭环过程，其中所有组件都具有整个系统的环境意识。这将导致制造业中更有效的设计、战略和政策选择。

9528621 Ehrenfeld In this research, systems models will be developed that simulate the evolutionary, learning characteristics of typical loop-closing structures. Loop-closing structures in industrial ecology are those that incorporate materials recycling as well as product reuse and remanufacturing to minimize the demands on the complete ecosystem. This work aims to build on individual product- or process-focused research to develop a better description of the dynamic evolutionary behavior of the larger socio-technical-ecological system. Organizational and cultural norms and preferences need to be considered to determine critical information linkages as well as primary economic and material flows. Two cases will be developed: aluminum use in automobiles; and alternate materials choices for durable products and components. Modeling of complex interactions among economic, institutional, and contextual variables could improve understanding of the nature of industrial ecological systems. This understanding could enable a transformation of traditional industrial processes to loop-closing processes in which all components are environmentally conscious of the entire system. More effective design, strategic, and policy choices in manufacturing could result.