Sustainable and Lifecycle Information-based Manufacturing

As green thinking enters the economic mainstream, U.S. industry is considering how to minimize the cradle-to-grave environmental impact of manufacturing. But monitoring the lifecycle of a fully recyclable, sustainable product -- not to mention modeling a product lifecycle on a computer, including its design, manufacture, use and eventual disposal  --  requires clear definitions and measurements for many new concepts. Just what does “fully recyclable” mean? What does “sustainable” mean? This program will provide definitions for such terms and determine how to measure them. In software models, precise information exchange between design, engineering, manufacturing and disposal steps is key for the adjustments that can make huge differences in profits or environmental impact. For green manufacturing systems to achieve their goals, rigorous, clearly-defined measurements are essential.

As green manufacturing has become more efficient and economical, industrial manufacturers are considering innovative production techniques that will benefit both the environment and their consumers. But they are confronted with too many choices involving ethical decisions and often vague concepts. Does “sustainable” have a precise meaning? Must the carbon footprint of every single object used be taken into account? Is it better to send disposable products to a landfill or to clean reusable products with potential waste of energy, water and perhaps chemicals? Having government and public agreement on these concepts is only the first step -- manufacturers using computer models to find the best practices to accommodate a triple bottom line of economics, environmental stewardship, and cultural relevance need to know that the software they rely on embodies a quantitative, precise understanding of this new green territory. The manufacturing floor, with its dependence on smooth-running software, simply cannot afford to use ill-defined concepts.

Even environmentally-minded consumers agonize over using unsustainable, unrecyclable Styrofoam coffee cups or disposable diapers, for example, or wasting wash-water when using the more permanent version. As an independent party -- and with a huge knowledge base in mechanical expertise due to its connections to the largest automotive and aerospace manufacturers -- NIST is uniquely qualified to determine objective measurements and standards for such heretofore subjective judgments.

NIST’s project in Sustainable and Lifecycle Information-based Manufacturing has three primary objectives. First is providing the standards requirements for sustainable manufacturing. This includes analyzing and defining the relevant standards from carbon footprint determination to energy resource management to hazardous material management. The project is also developing a scheme for computing the carbon footprint of any manufactured product -- a critical mathematical “score” that can help resolve concerns such as the issue of reusable versus disposable products.  As always, NIST is not looking to reinvent the wheel but to ensure that new standards mesh with current practices, so researchers are working to harmonize their green information standards with the existing software standards for manufacturing product data, known as Standard for the Exchange of Product model data (STEP).

 
Second, the project is providing the framework for environmental manufacturing models by determining the key attributes necessary for sustainable manufacturing. For example, a model that truly takes into account all environmental impacts would have to include, among other things, the energy costs of making the equipment that is used to manufacture the product and the cost of recycling the product at the end of its lifetime.

Third, project researchers are developing protocols for testing and simulating green standards.  Current manufacturing simulations, most of which are done by computer, would need to be extended to address such additional issues as energy consumption, pollution, and even unnecessary transportation costs and layoffs due to temporary production stoppages. NIST will also develop a test bed that will allow comparison of computer simulation predictions with physical prototypes.

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