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A conceptual tool for environmentally benign design: development and evaluation of a “proof of concept”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2020

Shakuntala Acharya Open the ORCID record for Shakuntala Acharya [Opens in a new window]  and
Amaresh Chakrabarti
Shakuntala Acharya*
Affiliation:
Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore560012, India
Amaresh Chakrabarti
Affiliation:
Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore560012, India
*
Author for correspondence: Shakuntala Acharya, E-mail: shakuntala.acharya@icloud.com; shakuntalaa@iisc.ac.in
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Abstract

Design is a decision-making process for which knowledge is a prerequisite. Most decisions are taken at the conceptual stage and have pronounced influence on the final design. The literature, therefore, recommends the incorporation of sustainability criteria, such as environment, at this stage. Difficulty in performing life cycle assessment (LCA) due to low availability of information at the conceptual stage for evaluation and highly abstract nature of solutions, inadequate incorporation of DfE (Design for Environment) guidelines and LCA reports into the design process, and a lack of effective communication of the same to the designers for prompt decision-making are major motivations for the development of a support. This paper discusses a “conceptual Tool for environmentally benign design” – concepTe – that supports designers in decision-making during the conceptual design stage, by offering environmental impact (EI) estimates of abstract solutions with associated uncertainty, for evaluation and selection of the most environmentally benign solution as concept. The EI estimates are calculated by a module in the tool based on a proposed EI estimation method, which requires the support of a knowledge base to fetch appropriate LCA information corresponding to the design element being conceptualized. This knowledge base is grounded in the domain-agnostic SAPPhIRE model ontology, allows semantic operability of the knowledge, and offers the results to the designers in a familiar domain language to aid decision-making. A “proof of concept” of the tool is developed for application in design of building in the AEC (Architectural design, Engineering, and Construction) domain. Further, empirical studies are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the “proof of concept” to support decision-making and results are found favorable. The paper also discusses the future scope for further development of the tool into a holistic design decision-making platform.

Keywords

Conceptual stage of designdecision-makingdesign for sustainabilitydesign toolenvironmental impact assessmentSAPPhIRE model of causality
Type
Research Article
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 34 , Issue 1: Thematic Collection on “Cognitive and Learning processes for transition to Design for Sustainability (DfS)” , February 2020 , pp. 30 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

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