Deanna H. Matthews

Leveraging Social Networks To Motivate Individuals to Reduce their Ecological Footprints

What role can social networking Websites play in supporting large-scale group action and change? We are proposing to explore their use in supporting individual reduction in personal energy consumption. In this we summarize some existing uses of social networking on the Web and propose an approach that integrates feedback about ecological footprint data into existing social networking sites and Internet portal sites. Integrating such feedback into popular, commonly used sites allows frequent feedback about performance, while enabling the exploration motivational schemes that leverage group membership. We propose to compare different motivational schemes in three ways: reduction in C02 emission; lifestyle changes; and ongoing use by users who join the site (retention)

Environmental management systems for internal corporate environmental benchmarking

Corporate environmental benchmarking is difficult with the range and inconsistency of environmental information available, even from facilities within the same firm. Environmental management systems can assist firms in organizing internal corporate benchmarking efforts. They attempt to capture environmental impacts from activities throughout a facility under a single system and generally follow traditional benchmarking cycles of plan, do, check, and act. However, the systems lack important features that enable benchmarking. Based on a critical analysis of environmental management systems, the article recommends minor changes to extend environmental management systems for corporate environmental benchmarking. Consistent goals should be encouraged at all facilities to produce common metrics. Procedures should require data collection and reporting to a central office. Management review should monitor performance and determine where leading facilities can transfer better processes to lagging facilities.

Information Technology Products and the Environment

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become critical components of global infrastructure over the past few decades, and computers are now fundamental to most business processes. The global adoption of the Internet has only accelerated the transition from physical to digital infrastructure. More generally, the use of information and communication technologies has resulted in far-reaching changes in production processes and product characteristics.

Reducing environmental burdens of solid-state lighting through end-of-life design

With 20% of US electricity used for lighting, energy efficient solid-state lighting technology could have significant benefits. While energy efficiency in use is important, the life cycle cost, energy and environmental impacts of light-emitting diode (LED) solid-state lighting could be reduced by reusing, remanufacturing or recycling components of the end products. Design decisions at this time for the nascent technology can reduce material and manufacturing burdens by considering the ease of disassembly, potential for remanufacturing, and recovery of parts and materials for reuse and recycling. We use teardowns of three commercial solid-state lighting products designed to fit in conventional Edison light bulb sockets to analyze potential end-of-life reuse strategies for solid-state lighting and recommend strategies for the industry. Current lamp designs would benefit from standardization of part connections to facilitate disassembly and remanufacturing of components, and fewer material types in structural pieces to maximize homogeneous materials recovery. The lighting industry should also start now to develop an effective product take-back system for collecting future end-of-life products.

Energy consumption in the production of high-brightness light-emitting diodes

High-brightness light-emitting diodes (LEDs) form the basis for solid-state lighting (SSL) systems. SSL systems have the potential to reduce electricity consumption of lighting systems as they are much more efficient than current lighting technologies. One concern is that the full life-cycle energy requirements of SSL systems, including the production of the materials and LED components, may negate any savings during the use phase. As a start to estimating the life-cycle energy requirements of SSL systems, we present an estimate for the manufacturing energy consumption of high-brightness light-emitting diodes. Results are based on full-scale, research-scale, and laboratory-scale equipment energy use data, and data from logic chip production processes. Energy consumption estimates for wafer production are 15 kWh to 60 kWh (approximately 1,000 LEDs).

A Classroom Simulation to Teach Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment

Life cycle assessment (LCA) methods and tools are increasingly being taught in university courses. Students are learning the concepts and applications of process-based LCA, input-output-based LCA, and hybrid methods. Here, we describe a classroom simulation to introduce students to an economic input-output life cycle assessment (EIO-LCA) method. The simulation uses a simplified four-industry economy with eight transactions among the industries. Production functions for the transactions and waste generation amounts are provided for each industry. Students represent an industry and receive and issue purchase orders for materials to simulate the actual purchases of materials within the economy. Students then compare the simulation to mathematical representations of the model. Finally, students view an online EIO-LCA tool () and use the tool to compare different products. The simulation has been used successfully with a wide range of students to facilitate conceptual understanding of one EIO-LCA method.

The Green Design Apprenticeship

In order to convey the results of our industrial ecology research to broader audiences, the Green Design Institute research group at Carnegie Mellon University offers the Green Design Apprenticeship for local high school students. The Green Design Apprenticeship introduces participants to industrial ecology concepts and how they intersect with engineering. The content of the program has evolved to include the topics of life cycle assessment, energy and water resources, transportation, and the built environment. The program has resulted in exposing a new generation of scholars to industrial ecology and has also benefited the research of graduate students involved with the program. The process of developing the instructional materials for younger, novice students based on complex industrial ecology research was a challenging task requiring thoughtful and iterative planning. Through the development and delivery of the program, we have experienced awareness of where our own research fits into the larger industrial ecology scope, have improved our communication of complex industrial ecology concepts into simple terms, and have gained valuable insight for engaging students in our teaching.

How much electricity do you use? An activity to teach high school students about energy issues

Despite the regular demand for electrical power by common, everyday devices, few people recognize the total electricity consumption levels of household electronics and the associated impacts. To address this problem in an outreach program with high school students, we developed an exercise to have students estimate their personal electricity consumption as a means of introducing basic facts about energy issues. The activity requires students to estimate the annual electricity consumption for their bedroom (not an entire house). Students create a list of electrical devices, recording the rated wattage and estimating the hours the device is used. During the classroom exercise, students use a power meter to measure the actual power consumption of some common items on their lists. After students have calculated their annual electricity consumption, we discuss several points, such as the importance of both the wattage and the time an item is used, rated wattage versus actual wattage, efficiency of various energy sources, and changes students can make to reduce their electricity consumption. After the activity, students have a greater understanding of basic electricity concepts and an awareness of how their behaviors and decisions impact their overall consumption patterns.