Analysis and assurance of the ecological sustainability of technical Product-Service Systems in the early design phase

技术产品-服务系统(PSS)是一种技术产品，通过各种服务在整个生命周期内得到补充和延伸。PSS被认为是减少资源消耗和环境影响的一种方法。许多实证研究发现，PSS的环境效益是针对具体情况的，并不是普遍有效。然而，另一项确认指出，如果环境可持续性意识已纳入PSS的早期设计阶段，则PSS的办法在减少环境影响方面是有益的。目前的研究状况表明，在PSS的早期设计阶段没有充分考虑PSS的生态可持续性，这是项目提案的初始问题。拟议项目的总体目标是在早期阶段从环境可持续性的角度分析PSS的潜力，并利用研究结果减少PSS对环境的影响。第一个分目标是探讨PSS对环境的影响。第二个分目标是制定减少PSS对环境的影响的措施。第三个子目标是将分析和减少PSS环境影响的结果转化为一种方法，并将其集成到描述PSS生态设计任务和步骤的过程模型中。基于资本品行业的六个应用场景，分析了实物产品与服务之间的相互作用，并明确了PSS供应商、客户和合作伙伴系统中的生产要素。在此基础上，采用平衡PSS环境影响的基本方法，对PSS的关键过程进行识别和分类，探讨了PSS的环境影响。为了系统地推导和评价减少PSS的环境影响的措施，首先应以因果分析的形式确定其影响因素，并探讨其变化潜力。在此基础上，制定了减少PSS对环境影响的措施，并在一系列措施中系统化。为了能够选择措施，提出了客观冲突分析的评价概念和方法。最后将PSS对环境影响的研究成果转化为一种方法，并集成到PSS生态设计的一般过程模型中。

Technical Product-Service Systems (PSS) consist of a technical product, which is supplemented and extended over the entire lifetime by various services. PSS are regarded as an approach for reducing resource consumption as well as environmental impact. Many empirical studies have led to a finding that the environmental benefits of PSS are case-specific and not generally valid. Nevertheless, another recognition states that the approach of PSS is beneficial in terms of reduction of the environmental impact if the awareness of environmental sustainability is already integrated into the early design phase of PSS. The inadequate consideration of the ecological sustainability of PSS in the early design phase of the current research status represents the initial problem of the project proposal.The overall objective of the proposed project is to analyze the potential of PSS in terms of its environmental sustainability at an early stage and to use the findings to reduce the environmental impact of PSS. The first sub-goal is to explore the environmental impact of PSS. The second sub-goal is to develop the measures to reduce the environmental impact of PSS. The third sub-goal is to transfer the findings for the analysis and reduction of the environmental impact of PSS into a method as well as to integrate it into a process model, which describes the tasks and steps for eco-design of PSS.Based on six application scenarios from the capital goods industry, interactions between physical product and services are analyzed, and the production factors in the systems of the provider, the customer and the partners of PSS are specified. Based on this, the environmental impacts of PSS are explored by adapting the fundamental methods for balancing the environmental impact to PSS, identifying and classifying the critical processes of PSS. For the systematical derivation and evaluation of measures to reduce the environmental impact of PSS, their influencing factors should first be identified in form of a cause-effect analysis, and their change potentials should be explored as well. From this, measures to reduce the environmental impact of PSS are developed and systematized in a catalog of measures. In order to enable the selection of measures, an evaluation concept and a method for objective conflict analysis are developed. The findings on the investigation and reduction of the environmental impact of PSS are finally transferred to a method and integrated into a general process model for eco-design of PSS.